High School Royale

4〛Migration

Grace Harper - 11:01AM
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Grace's stomach growled. Across the room, Miguel and Dariel bounced a small rubber ball back and forth to each other, phones in hand. She hadn't looked at the standings much. About a third of the archery team were gone by now.

By now, they had taken the time to unveil each of their gifts. Miguel had received a remote control airplane with an attached camera; he was an honors student with an affinity for airplanes, who had known since he was six that he would be an aerospace engineer.

Dariel had received a large case of protein bars. As a member of the varsity soccer team, it made sense. This would be one of the most practical gifts for them.

Adam's gift was a knife, simple and to the point.

Maya's was interesting: She received an art kit, with several small bottles of paints, pencils, and paper. There was also a bottle of paint thinner, a pair of scissors, and a pencil sharpener.

Finally, there was Maisie's. She had received a vial of poison. Grace was initially shocked at how someone like her could receive poison, but she didn't elaborate when pressed, so they all left the matter at that.

Thankfully they had a bathroom; Grace couldn't imagine how awful it must've been to be trapped in a classroom.

Maya was on her phone texting.

"A friend?" Dariel asked.

She shrugged, her eyes glossy and voice cracking. "Well, I guess. Most of them died by the bracelets. The rest of them I wasn't with passed in the massacre. Right now... She's sort of a distant friend, but that's all I have left."

"I'm sorry," he replied.

"Fuck," Migurl cursed, setting down his phone. "Dariel..."

His expression darkened. "Who?"

"It's... It's Kyle. Damn it, we weren't even that close, but..."

Unable to finish his sentence, he brought his hands to his eyes.

Grace sighed, clutching her abdomen, then rose up from her chair, walking to the closet hall. Nick sat on guard, watching the office door. Adam and Maisie were organizing some supplies.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey to you," Nick replied.

Adam and Maisie slipped through the door, each holding a cardboard box.

"Comin' through," Adam said. "Grace, where do you want me to put these bandages?"

"I've told you ten times, bandages go in the–" she paused as her eyes set on the box. "Adam, these are pads."

"Oh... My bad."

His response earned a wave of slight laughter across the room.

"Where do–"

"I'll take it," Grace said, rolling her eyes and putting them into a cabinet, a slight smile threatening to break through. "So, did you guys end up finding any food in the storage closet?" she asked.

He sighed, standing up and walking into the room, bumping his foot into a cardboard box. She followed him. "This is all we found."

Grace crouched down, opening the flaps of the box. Inside were two boxes of cheese crackers, a case of granola bars, and two small bags of trail mix.

"Food is one thing we're lacking in," Adam reported. "We can get as much water as we want from the sink, and there's even three cases of distilled water, but we don't have enough food."