Lexy Andrews

The Outbreak

It was Lexy's first off board quest.

If took her a while to figure out how she could manifest a quest that was made specifically for a board game, into a real life situation. But devine inspiration struck that day in school, and it became clear to her what she could do to fulfil her quest.

Lexy stood in front of Riverdale High. The sky was pitch black and the rain was beating down against her clothes. The perfect scene for a crime to be committed.

A few months ago however, no one would have ever suspected her to be the criminal.

Including herself.

She tied up her drenched hair as she made her way to the side of the building where she had left a window cracked open. She slid it open the full way and crawled inside.

The school was frozen in 1941 and had no security system. Not even cameras. The staff probably thought that simply locking the doors at night was enough. Considering a seventeen year old girl was lurking the hallways in the middle of the night, they were wrong.

Lexy stopped in front of the wall outside the office. She pulled her quest card out of her jacket to read one more time.

Remove the token of strength from its place of honour.

Now she understood why very few people played off board. There were actual stakes. If something went wrong, she couldn't just play the round again. If she was caught, she was in serious trouble.

But the letter said that these quests were only for the thick skinned. If she backed out now, she was only proving that she was about as delicate as a rose petal.

Her whole life she was always burying her feelings. But that was easy.

It was about time she did something brave

***

Riverdale High was erupting in chaos the next day. The office ladies had never seen the students so energetic so early in the morning.

Kevin and Josie were taken by surprise when they entered the school and saw a large group of people crowding the hallway, desperately trying to see over one another.

"Moose, what's going on over there?" Kevin stopped his fellow RROTC member who was walking down the hallway.

"Someone broke into school last night and stole the state basketball trophy." Moose replied with a slightly excited tone to his voice.

Everyone was always excited when something happened in Riverdale High. Good or bad.

"What!?" Josie exclaimed, grabbing Kevin's wrist and pulling him down the hallway. She elbowed her way to the front of the group. Kevin's jaw dropped.

Moose was right. There was a jagged hole smashed in the centre of the trophy case and glass was sprinkled all across the floor in front of it. The large, golden cup which used to stand proudly among all of the other prizes, was now gone, leaving an empty space behind it.

"Alright students, that's enough. This is obviously very shocking for us all but please don't let it disrupt your focus. Now let's just let the janitor do his job and treat this like any normal school day." Principal Weatherbee ordered the mob away.

Questions about the identity of the thief were already arising when the River Vixens came strutting around the corner as if they owned the hallway. Cheryl led the pack with Toni and Veronica at each side.

"You know what people should be asking?" Cheryl announced. "Why would someone bother stealing just one trophy when they could've had the whole case?"