EQAO

Chapter 17 - Collin Marcos

The hallway was bare. I went to the door next to the room I had just come out of, and knocked.

"Who is it?" a familiar voice asked.

"Collin?"

"Jessica?"

There was a pause, some shuffling, and then Collin's voice came,

"Come in."

I opened the door to find Collin sitting on a lower bunk, with lots of stuff crammed underneath.

"What's all that?" I indicated the assortment of items.

"Just stuff." he said, waving a hand, "Why aren't you with your friends?"

"Well," I sat down on the bunk across from him, "in each room, there are only four beds..."

"...and five of you." he finished.

I smiled at him,

"How come you got a room to yourself?

He shrugged,

"I guess people just like to keep away from me."

"Why?"

"I'm not a very social person."

"Don't worry about that, I'm not either."

He snorted,

"The girl with four best friends isn't very social?"

"Well we go to school together, and see each other over the summer, but after a full day of being with them, I just want to be alone. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends, and would do anything for them, but I just can't handle so much socializing and being with people."

He nodded, understandingly. We didn't say anything for a minute, then Collin said,

"So, you need a place to crash?"

—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—*—

I was alone. Afraid. Blind. Or at least, I thought I was blind, until I saw a single ray of light coming from far ahead of me. I walked towards it, and every time I stepped, a distant laugh became louder. I reached the light, and it vanished, leaving me in total darkness again. The laughter however, did not vanish. I covered my ears from the painful laugh that had turned into a shriek. I fell to the floor, and lost track of who and where I was. Then, I saw Michelle's anxious face. My whole body ached, and I couldn't figure out why, until I saw that Michelle, Anika, Sameera, Kat, and I were all bound together by a green and scaly rope. The rope was attached to something large that was pulling us towards a glittering surface. To my horror, I realized that the rope was a tail that was attached to a crocodile. I struggled to escape, but it was no use. Then, suddenly, Collin was there. His hand was stretched out towards me, and his voice was so close to me,

"I can only save you."

Only me? He can save only me...?

"Ah!"

I was sitting bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat, holding my swollen head that I had just hit on the top bunk above me. I heard a yelp, and a crash behind me. I turned to see Collin standing beside an armour stand that he had evidently knocked over in his haste to pull on the breastplate.

"Oh-h," I stammered, "s-sorry."

I turned away, and could feel my ears heating up rapidly.

"It's okay." he answered, sounding embarrassed as well, "Are you okay? It sounded like you hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm fine." I mumbled.

An awkward silence spread over the room, as Collin finished dressing, and I pretended to go back to sleep. After what felt like several hours, Collin left the room without another word. I slowly got up, put on my armour, and walked to the room next door with a creepy smily face above the door.

"Morning!" called Kat as I walked in.

"You know, we don't actually have any idea what time it really is." Anika pointed out.

Kat rolled her eyes, and looked at me concerned,

"Why are your ears red, Jessica?"

Anika, Michelle, and Sameera turned to look at me.

"It means..." Michelle started.

"...that Jessica is..." Sameera continued.

"...embarrassed!" finished Anika.

All three of them started exclaiming,

"Oooh! Jessica's got a crush!"

"I do not!" I said sharply.

"Who is it?" Sameera asked, ignoring my statement.

"I bet it's that guy she was talking to before the Games started." Anika said.

"Oh yeah!" Michelle said smugly, "What was his name, Cole? Connor?"

"His name is Collin, and I don't have a crush on him." I said, my voice shaking, "He was changing when I woke up, and I almost saw him. That's why I'm embarrassed."

"Almost?" Sameera raised her eyebrows.

"So that's who you shared a room with last night." Michelle said thoughtfully.

"Can we please just go fight to the death or something?" I pleaded.

"Guys," Kat said, "I think we're the last ones here. We should probably get going."

"Fine." Anika shrugged, "But don't think you're off the hook!"

I can't believe my friends thought I actually had a crush on a guy. Especially a guy who will probably get killed if we don't.