Senior Standoff | RETIRED VERSION

Season 1 - Episode 2

Ky and I sat exhausted in the car for a moment, staring out the windshield at the school. Other people were leaving their cars and trickling into the building. We were in no such rush. Despite downing a cup of coffee on the drive in, I was still dead tired.

After getting a text from Liv asking when I was getting there, Ky and I sucked it up and got out of the car. He headed off his own way to meet up with his friends. I went towards my locker, where Liv met me every morning last year.

While wandering through the sea of people, I spotted a girl pulling a white envelope off her locker. She and her friends started squealing in excitement, and I knew: she was the first nomination I'd seen. Chantal Bellinger. I wasn't surprised, but I hadn't predicted it.

Liv was leaning against the corner when I made it to my hallway. The instant she saw me, she rushed over, losing it.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting for you!" she demanded.

"What's the deal? It's barely even after seven," I replied.

"I couldn't wait for you any longer. Just hurry up!"

She grabbed my wrist and yanked me around the corner. I had never seen her so worked up this early in the morning.

And then my breath caught in my throat.

There was a white envelope taped to my locker. It had to be a mistake. Did they put the envelope on the wrong locker? Whose locker was next to mine?

I peeled away the clear piece of tape that secured it. My name had been written across it in golden ink. Was this real? Why would anyone want to nominate me?

"Liv?" I said, looking up at her.

"I know! Now do you get why I needed you to get your ass up here?" she replied.

I carefully tore the envelope open, finding a decorative card inside. Gold foil vines were stamped around the edges, the words in the middle written by hand.

Congratulations, Aspen! You've been nominated to play Senior Standoff 2015 with Asher Brandt!

"Wait, what?" I said, holding the card out to Liv. "Look at this."

"Asher?" she asked. "Have you even talked to him?"

"Besides last night? No."

We took turns passing the card back and forth, looking over it again and again. This was unbelievable. Me, Aspen. The girl who sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria had been nominated. How? And, more importantly, how had I been nominated with Asher? Neither of us were Prom Court material, and we weren't exactly overrun with a following of adoring fans. Asher was the absolute last person that would ever care about this game.

"Good morning, Aspen Faust!" Just like that, James Overton was in my face. Mateo Reynosa stood behind him, being sure to capture every move on his zillion-dollar camera.

"Oh, hi," I said, surprised and awkward.

"How are you this morning?" James asked, his voice as loud and animated as it had been in last night's video.

"Tired, confused, surprised, take your pick," I told him.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone could have predicted your nomination. Do you have anything to say about the game?"

I shrugged. "Just that I'm really looking forward to playing."

"And we're all looking forward to seeing you play! We'll be seeing a lot more of you soon. Good luck!"