The Game

Last Dinner

"Do you think J.T. will be there tonight? I hope he is. I can't wait to know what his position is and Sydney's! What do you think they got?" Tom bounces on his toes next to me as we walk out of Skinker and back to the Mess Hall.

"Why wouldn't J.T. come to dinner?" I ignore his questions about their positions.

"Well if he wants to spend some time with Marlow before everything starts, he might have dinner with her instead of with us." Tom sounds kind of jealous but I know he just misses his best friend.

Before I can reply, someone grabs my arm and turns me around. I groan so annoyed with these dumb boys interrupting my day.

"What?!" I yank my arm away from J.T. and being pauses for a moment to smack Tom to say hello to him.

"Hey, man, how's your team so far?" J.T. Asks and I tap my foot still annoyed wanting to know why he grabbed me.

"It's good so far, Nat and Matt Grisham are sharing a room." Tom blurts out and I give him a weird look. He's so random sometimes. J.T. turns and raises his eyebrow at me. I stare right back at him.

"I have to talk to you, later," J.T. growls at me in his deep voice. I'm about to say something rude but his eyes stare at me and he looks anxious. I nod, agreeing then turn away to join the line for food.

J.T. and Tom talk behind me in line but I keep my nose out of their business. Especially is they are discussing Marlow. Although J.T. is rather private so I'm not sure if he would be opening talking about her.

Sydney is already sitting at our table when we finally arrive. She perks up when she sees all of us. Although she still looks a little tired, I can tell she is more confident than she was this morning and when I saw her a few hours ago after we met our teams.

I drop into the seat beside her and saying a quick hello then immediately dig in to my food, not realizing how hungry I was.

"I got the technology position," Tom starts off the conversation, grinning. "I was a little worried I wouldn't but Dr. Donovan said the teachers tried to place everyone in the spot best for them and their team..." Tom trails off and looks around the table. "What did you guys get?"

"Chameleon," I offer then go back to my food because Tom and Sydney already know what position I have but I figure I'll just share for Tom's benefit, to keep the conversation moving.

"Weapons," J.T. adds in stonily with no further description. There is a pause and Tom and J.T. stare across the table at Sydney. I nudge her under the table.

"I got Team Leader," Sydney eventually says but ducks her head waiting for their responses.

"Huh, really?" J.T. asks and I kick his shin causing him to flinch. "Jeez."

"That's so cool! You're a great leader." Tom reaches across the table and holds out his hand for a high five. Sydney straightens up and smacks his hand, grinning now.

"Thanks, Tom."

"Yeah, Syd. You're great. That's not surprising." J.T. tries to back track and luckily Sydney is always in a forgiving mood because she beams at him too.

"You guys really think so? Nat tried to assure me earlier but I don't know I'm still nervous."

"No, of course. I get it. Your team is really lucky." J.T. continues his short, complimentary sentences.

"Oh and Nat is rooming with Matt Grisham." Tom blurts our, again. I drop my fork onto my plate and fix him with a hard stare. Does Tom know what Matt and I did last year? No, he couldn't. Well maybe. He is pretty sneaky.

"Yeah. What the hell is that anyway?" Sydney turns to face me, slapping her hand against my arm, grabbing me tightly. I look at her startled, by her language and her grabbing me. She notices my reaction and looks down at her hand before releasing me. "Sorry, he's just so hot though. I'm confused. Like should I be annoyed that you're the only girl forced to share a room with a guy or should I be jealous because he's like the hottest guy ever?" Sydney poses the question but doesn't expect me to answer it so I go back to eating while she ponders.

"Maybe you should talk to a teacher," J.T. speaks up. When he sees Sydney and I exchange a glance, he clarifies, "'maybe you should talk to Loralee. She might be able to change that."

I sigh and push my food away from me, finished. I take a minute to drink my water before responding to any of them.

"I am fine sharing a room. I've shared a room with boys before. Normally one of us leaves after the night but have you guys seen these rooms? They're huge. He's on his side of the room. And I'm on mine." I lift my hand to signal that I'm done discussing it and I receive a few groans of protest but no one says anything further, for a few seconds.

"Could be fun," Sydney says softly then looks over at me with a small smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. I laugh automatically. Oh Sydney, if only you knew.

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A/N: this chapter is a little shorter than usual but I decided to break up the last night before The Game starts. It was going to be too long to do in one chapter, so we will have this chapter and then one more after it still with their friend group.