Blue - Dodge Mason

NINE

'Every player is hiding something'

"Hey, you two keep your eyes where they belong." Bishop snaps his fingers in front of my eyes and I look away from Dodge Mason behind the bar at Dot's. I looked at Nat as we broke out into fits of giggles. Nat rolls her eyes at Bishop, "Please they are, trust me." I pull my eyes away from Dodge again while he's cleaning again and this causes Heather to laugh at me. Nat continues, "And what kind of person doesn't have a social media account?" "No seriously, I'm not trying to sounds crazy but come on I literally post on instagram weekly how does he not have anything anywhere." I cross my arms Heather changes the topic, "Hey do you think now that the judges know who we are, that they're watching us?" "Of course they're watching." Nat shrugs, "How else are they gonna get intel on all the players? They're probably tracking where we work, and live, and hang out." "Watching what we do when we think there's no one watching." I add, "Keeping tabs on who we're with. They're studying all the players."

The front door jangled and in waltzed Ray Hall as he eyes our seating arrangement with a grin, "What, no invitation?" "Nope." Heather pursed her lips and Bishop lowered his head. Ray elbowed himself between the two and Bishop sighed, "Um, we were actually just leaving." "Hmm." I bit my cheek and Ray told us, "I'm just saying hello to the new kid." Before slapping Bishop on the back and heading over to the bar. We stood up and the other three started walking out the door. I rolled my eyes, watching Ray continuously ringing the bell at the countertop. I followed my friends out while muttering, "What a dick."

"Wait so Diggins really hasn't said when the next challenge is going to be yet?" Heather asked us and Bishop threw his hands up, "Hey don't look at me I'm not trying to be an accomplice." "Uh guys." Nat stopped us as we all started getting into the truck. I looked up, "What's that." It appeared that the letters on the sign above the theater that was used to congratulate the graduating class were mostly off, leaving scrambled, half-word variations. "Typical." Bishop scoffs, "Only a couple days after graduation and already half the letters have dipped out." I tilt my head, "Is it?" "It's a clue." Heather walks up to the sidewalk and my eyes travel to the spray painted Panic symbol.

My brows furrow as I look from the red paint back up to the falling apart sign, "The missing letters spell something." "G-R-A-N-A-R-Y." Heather reads out the letters that should have been in place, "Granary." "So we know where the next challenge will be." Nat tilts her head and I look at her, "The question is-" "When?" Heather finishes, "So it looks like we're looking for a start time." "Maybe we'll find it at the granary." I suggest. Before we can talk anymore about the clue I feel my phone buzz and I look up at them shyly, "Shit, I gotta get the truck back to Jeremy but I can drop you guys at Nat's on my way back. I'd go to the granary with you I just-" "You're all good Jacky." Heather smiles, "We'll tell you if we find anything." "Oh and we'll see you tonight." Nat's smirks at me and I look at her, "Tonight? Oh, no-" "Oh yes." She smiles, "Come on, you know we wouldn't miss it." On top of everything going on, I have a gig tonight. "It's not like I'll even be singing at it." I argue, "You don't need to come." "We wouldn't miss it Jacky." Bishop smiles reassuringly and Heather nods, "We're excited, and we're your friends, we're coming to support you whether you like it or not." "I love you guys." I shake my head, grinning, "I'll see you tonight."

Eventually I end up back home, giving Jeremy his keys back and apologizing for losing track of time. I sat on my bed and groaned, I wanted to go to the granary with them, who knows what they found and if they'd even tell me. And if they told me a time for the challenge, could I even trust it? I know Heather and Nat have a partnership and what I'm wondering is if I need one of my own. If their partnership and their drive to win Panic comes before our friendship, I need to be prepared.

I finished up straightening my hair and getting ready for my show tonight. It was a bit early, but I had something to do beforehand. My car was still acting up and I surprisingly got it to power on, even though it sounded like it was about to blow up. I drove up into town, past the brewery I was playing at, and then parked. Walking up to Dot's Diner I took a deep breath and knocked.