wild games

intro

the day starts off as any normal day did. a week into senior year sees thirteen teenagers grumbling about early mornings, algebra class, and homework they haven't finished.

reagan coulter catches her ride into school with her lifelong best friend, tony padilla, alongside clay jensen. the three listen to a mixtape tony threw together as they glide along the curved roads in tony's shiny red mustang.

jessica davis drives her own little green mini, whilst courtney crimsen studies her english notes at the breakfast table. zach dempsey helps his little sister with her science homework and then drives in himself, stopping to pick up tyler down on the way. tyler busies himself with sorting through the photos on his camera, picking out yearbook pictures and deleting the bad quality shots.

ryan shaver pens his usual poem inside a leatherbound journal, sitting in the window seat of monet's coffee shop, sipping daintily at a latte and dreaming of winning awards for his writing. marcus cooley looks over the first draft of his valedictorian speech, crossing out lines and jotting down new ideas as they come to him.

montgomery de la cruz beats himself up for having to repeat his senior year, then dons his varsity jacket and douchebag facade in preparation for the day. lastly, sheri holland smoothes down the fabric of her cheer uniform, then checks her gym bag to ensure her neon overalls are neatly folded for her after-school community service.

i know that's only eleven - our other two students, justin foley and alex standall do not attend classes, for vastly different reasons. justin dropped out and began working in a local mechanic shop, bunking down in a studio flat with one room containing his bed and kitchen, his bathroom a closet-sized space with a shower and toilet squashed in side-by-side.

alex is recovering from a suicide attempt in hospital. his life revolves around daily physical therapy and memory exercises to regain his cognitive functions.

it's strange to think these thirteen, all so different in personality, are irrevocably connected; their lives drawn together by tragedy and circumstance, a messy tangle of hurt, lies, and betrayal.

a year after the events that pulled them all into a hurricane of heartache, they truly all believe the worst is past them. but they are wrong. as they continue on their daily routines, they are unaware that a slip of paper in a plain, cream envelope is waiting for them. inside those envelopes? the beginnings of a game that will change their lives, even more than before.

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