1 PART 1___Day 1___Pre-Challenge One: The Entrance

"Greer, come on before you're late!" shouted his mom, Nancy McCarter, from the bottom of the steps. Her footsteps echoed in the narrow hallway as she walked up the stairs. She raised her knuckle up to the closed door then hesitated. She lightly tapped three times and opened the door, "Greer, I—" she paused. Underneath a pile of messy blankets and clean clothes lied Greer still fast asleep. A loud sigh escaped from Nancy's throat as she snatched open the curtains, letting in a flood of sunlight.

"Mom, shut the sun off!" said Greer, holding the blankets tighter over his head.

"Mom, shut the sun off?" she mocked. "What kind of question is that? Get up, MC!" She pulled the blanket down from his face.

Greer shot up. His voice impulsively deepened, "Mom, sto—"

"Mom, what?" Nancy snapped back; the tone of her voice just as intense. They were locked in a heated stare-off. Neither one of them backing down, not even to bat an eyelash. Their pride was too high to allow the idea of motion to be seen as anything other than submission.

"Man, whatever." The bass in Greer's voice faded away. This was his mother. He knew that he was never going to win against her. He folded his arms across his chest and turned away.

A satisfied smirk came across Nancy's face as she tugged the remainder of the blanket off. "Um… I'm not your 'man'. Hurry up and get dressed. You're going to miss the bus." She headed back downstairs, shutting the door behind her as she walked out.

Aw, man, Greer sat and pouted, why do I have to go anyways? It's the same stupid event every damn year! He cut his eyes over at his reflection in the mirror that was hanging from his door. What are you looking at? He sneered at himself. Greer studied his athletic frame for a moment. He smiled when he noticed the peach fuzz that had just begun to grow on his upper lip.

***

Downstairs, Nancy was preparing a quick breakfast for Greer to grab. A nice, simple meal of toast with peanut butter and a tube of yogurt. She bagged up the food and sat it on top of his backpack. A childish smiley face was drawn on the front with a dried-up Sharpie marker. The words "I Love You" scrawled beside it. Nancy made her way to the living room. She waited for Greer to come barreling down the steps, using the endings of her morning TV shows to keep track of how much time had passed. Three thirty-minute episodes had come and gone, and still, no sign of Greer making his way downstairs. Nancy grew impatient. She tapped her foot erratically on the hardwood floor. "MC! Get down here! If you miss the bus, you will be riding your bike to school. I refuse to take you," she said, making her way back to the staircase. Her hand was on her hip. She meant business. Greer made his way down the stairs, dragging his feet as he did so. He was dressed in his school uniform: khakis and a white polo shirt.

"Mom, it's been the same thing since seventh grade. The seniors always win anyway…" Greer made his way to the kitchen; he headed straight for the fridge. He made sure not to look at his mother. He knew that her eyes were shooting lasers beams at the back of his head. Greer grabbed a pint of chocolate milk from the back of the fridge and started to chug it down. Nancy made a noise in the back of her throat.

"So much sugar this early in the morning isn't going to help you. I already made your breakfast," she said, leaning against the small island countertop. Greer stopped drinking when he was three-fourths of the way through.

"Yeah, but…I was hoping that I could skip going this year," he said.

"Absolutely not. There has been buzz that the prize is going to be better than ever this year. Who knows…It could be a four-year scholarship!"

"I doubt that," Greer said, closing the fridge. "It's not like I'm gonna win. Besides, aren't you going to miss me? I'm gonna be gone for a whole week," he said, trying to sound as innocent as possible. He looked at her like he was a wounded bird, far away from his nest and afraid.

Nancy didn't buy it. "You're not going to manipulate me with that face. That hasn't worked on me since you were eight," she said. "And of course I'm going to miss you; however, it will be nice not having to clean up after you." She went over and gave him a hug. Greer huffed but still returned the hug.

"I clean up," he said.

"Yeah…after I tell you to several times over," she said. "You really need to go, or you are going to be riding your bike."

"Ahh…Okay," he said, picking up his breakfast and his backpack. He saw the smiley face and the "I Love You". He grimaced. "Really, Mom? What am I, five?"

"I told you I'm going to miss you. That's just a reminder."

Greer rolled his eyes and took his headphones out of his backpack before making his way to the front door. "Bye, Mom. Love you."

"Bye, MC. Go get that grand prize!"

***

The bus stop was only a block away from Greer's house. He walked quickly anyway. He was late. It was hot outside but not as muggy as usual. There was a nice breeze, though, and in July, every breeze counted for something. Greer breathed in as the breeze blew past him; every cell in his body craved it. His polo shirt stuck to his sweaty body. I should be enjoying what's left of my summer…Not going to some stupid, week-long meet-and-greet.

When he arrived to the bus stop, Lu Thompson and Ryan Davis were already there along with some other kids waiting for the bus. They were his best friends; they'd been pretty much inseparable since the second grade. Greer and Ryan became friends fast because they were on the same little league softball team. Lu became their friend almost by default. In a predominately black school, Lu was teased for being the chubby white boy. Greer and Ryan stood up for Lu and eventually built a friendship with him.

Now, Ryan was the one who got flak from other students for being a ballet dancer. He didn't mind the criticism; he knew that in the long run, the dancing made him a better football player. Ryan stood in the shade, his school uniform neatly pressed. Lu was next to him, leaning against the tree. He spotted Greer coming towards them.

"Hey!" Lu said, shielding his eyes from the sun. His round, pubescent face made him look younger than he really was.

"Hey, guys," Greer said as he made his way over to them.

"I thought you weren't gonna come," said Lu, rubbing the back of his neck. His face was red from the heat.

"Yeah, I know…Mom made me," Greer said.

"Don't worry about it, man. Mine did too," Ryan replied, dapping Greer's shoulder.

"I guess all of our moms made us come…My mom kept saying that there's supposed to be a big prize this year," said Lu.

"Yeah, that's what my mom said," Greer said, nodding. "Parents were never in the loop before…I don't know what changed this year."

They all looked up when they heard the bus rumbling down the street.

"Hey, Ryan? Weren't you bragging about getting your license last month? We should be pulling up at school in your car," Greer said, lightly punching Ryan on the shoulder. Lu laughed, his face turning redder. The bus came to a stop.

"I did get my license," said Ryan, shrugging. "My car is just out of commission right now. She's a 2001 Honda, remember?"

"Doesn't sound too reliable," Lu said.

"Ha! She's more reliable than any girl I've known!" said Ryan, laughing.

"What girl you ever know?" Greer asked.

They burst into laughter, and everyone got on the bus.

***

Ryan and Lu sat next to each other on the bus. They preoccupied themselves with a game of rock-paper-scissors.

"Best three out of five. Whoever loses gives the other five bucks," Lu said, pulling out a crumpled five-dollar bill from his pocket.

"You're on!" Ryan shouted, pulling out money of his own.

Greer sat across from them. He had his headphones on, but the music was low enough that it only blocked out the background chatter. He tried to smudge the smiley face with his finger, make it look meaner. It was no use…The permanent marker was as permanent as it could be. He gave up with the smudging and decided to eat his peanut butter toast. He had eaten three bites by the time they made it to the last bus stop. Familiar faces loaded on the bus. Except for one. Caramel skin, freckles, hazel eyes. She's the most beautiful girl I ever saw.

Greer quickly put away his toast and wiped the crumbs from his mouth.

"Hey! You cheated!" Ryan said to Lu. They were still playing rock-paper-scissors. "MC did you see that?"

"Huh?" Greer said, removing his headphones from his ears. He looked at his friends for a moment. "Sure, sure," he said, dismissively. He wasn't paying attention to their game. He was entranced.

"I didn't cheat! Your hand was moving too slow," Lu said.

"I wanna redo!" said Ryan.

The bus was pretty full. The girl walked timidly down the narrow aisle; yet, she was still graceful. She locked eyes with Greer. His palms began to sweat. I think I'm gonna have a heart attack.

"May I sit with you?" she asked Greer.

"S-Sure," he stammered. He hastily moved his backpack out of the way. Be cool…Just be cool.

She sat down and smoothed her pleated skirt. She smiled at him, showing her gap.

God, she's gorgeous.

"Hi. I'm Zara," she said, tucking a braid behind her ear.

"Hey. I-I'm Gear…I mean Greer," he said, taking a shaky breath. Pull it together, man!

Zara raised her eyebrow slightly, but her smile didn't leave.

Greer started over. "I'm Greer. But you can call me MC…Everyone does."

"Nice to meet you," Zara said.

"Those guys over there," Greer said, pointing to Lu and Ryan, "are my friends." They were still squabbling over who won. "As you can see…They're a bit slow," he continued, shaking his head.

Zara giggled.

"Hey, guys! Say hi to Zara," Greer said to his friends.

They stopped their arguing to look over at Greer. They were shocked when they saw the girl sitting next to him. Ryan's eyes were stretched wide and Lu's mouth was agape. Greer mouthed "say something" to them, and they finally snapped out of it.

"Hello…" Ryan said; he was still staring.

"Hi. I'm Lu," said Lu, waving slightly. "He's Ryan," he continued, nudging Ryan so he would stop staring.

Zara waved back shyly. "I'm Zara."

The bus suddenly screeched to a halt. They arrived at Marshall J. Walter High School. Home of the Eagles. Where the motto was: Always, always, always strive for excellence.

"Oh! We're here," Zara said, picking up her backpack and her notebook. "It was really nice meeting you Greer…MC… I have to go sign in; I'm new." Zara had already left the bus before he could even stand up.

"Bye!" Greer called after her, but he knew she couldn't hear him…She was long gone.

***

Even though the school year hadn't "officially" started, all students entering the ninth and tenth grade needed to report to their homeroom class. Juniors and seniors had to go to the gym or the auditorium. They had to do an "enrichment" assignment, which was a two-page paper about how the meet-and-greet/scavenger hunt will help them build character and social skills. After all…they did have to strive for excellence.

"This is stupid…" Lu said, readjusting the backpack strap on his arm.

"I know…We shouldn't even have to go to homeroom. We should just go straight to the train," said Ryan.

"Apparently, we have to get something from homeroom that we're going to need to get on the train…It's not all about the paper," Greer said; his eyes were searching the crowd of students.

"How do you know that?" asked Lu.

Greer wasn't paying attention. He was still searching the crowd. Ryan pointed to a poster on the wall adjacent to them; it read:

This year, you all will need something special to get on the train. Remember, the sooner you finish your enrichment assignment, the faster you can get on the train. It will not wait on you…If you miss it you will be disqualified. Sorry.

Go, Eagles!

"Oh," Lu said after seeing the poster. "Well, it's still stupid."

"We need to hurry up. My mom will kill me if I get disqualified before I even start," Ryan said, quickening his pace.

"Hey, Greer! You comin'?" Lu said, looking back at Greer. Greer was several steps behind Lu and Ryan. He had slowed to a snail's pace; still searching.

"He's looking for his girlfriend," Ryan said, rolling his eyes.

"Zara?" Lu said, chuckling. "Is that why he's walking like a zombie? She gonna beat us to the train if we don't get a move on."

"What if she doesn't know what to do? She's a new student." Greer said. His eyes were wide with panic.

"I'm sure she'll figure it out…If she doesn't, that's not our problem," Ryan said, shrugging his shoulders.

Ryan and Lu left Greer where he stood. They had a different homeroom than him.

She must still be getting registered in the office. Greer convinced himself, and hurried to his homeroom.

***

Greer's homeroom was a standard-sized classroom, but for that day, the classroom was filled to the brim with students. Greer found a seat in the back of the classroom. The desk he sat at was smaller, and it was clearly older. There were markings and scratches on it from countless board students. At the front of the classroom, near the teacher's desk, were stacks of boxes.

Mrs. Kats, the teacher, started her speech. "Once you finish your enrichment assignment, I will check and make sure it's satisfactory; then—" She paused to yawn. "Then I will give you one of these boxes. You need it to get on the train. Greyhound buses leave for the train in approximately thirty minutes…So I would make haste if I were you," Mrs. Kats said, yawning again. She needed to retire years ago, but she was still there. Some students had already started writing before Mrs. Kats finished speaking. But, of course, Greer was daydreaming.

He began to write furiously. By the time he was maybe a fourth of the way through, there were already students lining up for boxes. He thought he was moving quickly, but his preoccupied mind made him sluggish. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a boy open his box before leaving the classroom. There was a pair of shoes inside.

Why will we need those?

More than half of the class was gone by the time Greer made his way up to the front of the classroom. He had twelve minutes to make it to a greyhound bus.

Greer placed the paper down on Mrs. Kats desk and smiled at her, hoping it would make her look through it more quickly. She didn't.

"C plus," she finally said, marking the paper. "This will go towards your English credit next semester."

"Great," Greer said, trying not to sound impatient.

"What shoe size are you, dear?" Mrs. Kats asked, readjusting her glasses.

"Ten."

"I only have small, medium, and large," she said, clearing her throat.

"Okay, large," Greer said, starting to fidget.

Mrs. Kats took her time going through the boxes. "I'm sorry. I'm out of large."

"Medium, then," Greer said; the agitation seeped into his voice.

"Watch your tone," Mrs. Kats said with narrowed eyes. She handed him the box.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He half-jogged out of the classroom. Ryan and Lu were waiting for him near the lockers.

"Dude! What took you so long?" Lu asked, he held up his phone showing the time. They had about five minutes to get to the buses.

"I was distracted for a bit…And you know Mrs. Kats," Greer said.

"Oh, yeah. I had her for homeroom the first semester of freshman year," Lu said, frowning.

"Come on, guys. We gotta go," Ryan said, looking at all the students headed for the buses.

"I was hoping we could find Zara first…" Greer said, almost making it sound like a question.

"Seriously?" Lu and Ryan asked at the same time.

"Was she in y'all homeroom?" Greer asked desperately.

"Nope," Ryan said. "She might already be on one of the buses."

"But what if she's not?" Greer had panic in his voice. "Let's go check Mr. Beaux's class. He usually has freshmen for homeroom," Greer said; he was already headed in the other direction.

"Then we can go?" Lu asked, annoyed.

"We have, like, three minutes!" Ryan shouted. Greer had already turned the corner. Lu and Ryan ran after him.

"If we miss this bus, it's on you!" Ryan yelled in Greer's direction.

Greer ignored him and quickened his pace. He turned right at the stairwell, and then left at the restrooms, and made a beeline down the hall to Mr. Beaux's classroom. It was empty. Greer stood there for a moment shocked and a little disappointed. Ryan punched his shoulder lightly.

"Everyone probably on the bus," Ryan said with concern. "We need to go before there ain't any seats left."

There were a few stragglers here and there, but they looked like they wanted to be disqualified. Lu caught up to his friends, struggling to catch his breath.

"Guys…We gotta…Go…Now!" He said, placing his hands on his knees. He breathed in and out slowly for a moment. Ryan handed him his water bottle. Lu took a few swallows and handed it back to him. "Thanks."

"Let's go," Greer said. They all sprinted for the buses with less than two minutes to spare.

***

There were seven greyhound buses, and they were all packed. Greer, Lu, and Ryan managed to squeeze into the last one as the buses started to rev their engines. They flopped down in the seats as if they carried cement. Ryan drank the rest of his water and crunched the plastic bottle in his hand when he finished. "You owe us big time," he said.

"Yeah, yeah," Greer said, dismissively. He wasn't looking at Ryan, though. His neck craned up over the seat. His eyes searched the sea of heads. "We got here in time, didn't we?" he said, still searching.

"She's not here," Lu said, rolling his eyes.

"She's probably in one of the other buses," Ryan said.

"And if she's not?" Greer asked, sitting back more comfortably in the seat.

"Then she dodged a bullet. No dumb scavenger hunt for her," Ryan said, shrugging.

"We'll just have to hear your hormonal ass pout for a week," Lu said. Ryan howled with laughter, crunching his plastic water bottle even more. Greer frowned slightly, but for the most part, he tried to ignore them. He grabbed the box that was now a bit crumpled. As he expected, there were shoes inside. Black shoes. But they were not tennis shoes. The soles of the shoes were curved.

"Hey, y'all? Do your shoes curve?" Greer asked, holding up his shoe and showing the guys. Lu and Ryan opened their shoe boxes.

"Yeah," they both said.

All of the students had identical black shoes, no special treatment for anyone.

"I've never seen shoes like these before," Lu said.

"Neither have I," said Greer.

"They are rock climbing shoes," said Ryan, examining one of the shoes more closely.

"The school must have made a mistake with the order," Lu said.

"Yeah, I guess. Curved climbing shoes are usually more expensive, too. They help you grip the rock," Ryan said, putting the shoes back in the box.

"How do you know all this?" Greer asked.

"When I go get my cleats for football, I see people with climbing shoes sometimes," he said. Suddenly, all of the buses came to a halt.

"What the hell!" Lu yelled. He was staring out the bus window.

"Is that the train's platform up there?" Ryan asked with wide eyes.

"This gotta be a joke," Greer said.

Some students were ready to leave at that very moment. One girl was sobbing uncontrollably.

"I c-can't do this!" she cried.

The train's platform and the tracks themselves were raised at least thirty feet off the ground. The way to it was a rock wall. It looked very treacherous. Ryan started to put on his climbing shoes. "A little crazy…But this should be fun," he said, making sure his laces were tight.

"Are you serious? This is some kinda prank…We aren't actually going up that thing," Lu said, biting his finger nails. As soon as he said this, four ambulances pulled up to the site.

"Oh, my God," said Greer.

Hundreds of students started to file out of the buses, making their way to the clearing. On the ground, starting at the edge of the rock wall were layers of tarps. There seemed to be some kind of thin padding underneath. Greer and his friends were some of the last to get off their bus. They looked up at the wall in disbelief.

"What did we do last year to make them do this to us?" Lu asked, still biting his finger nails.

"Maybe it was the graffiti," Greer said.

"They can't punish us all for that!" Lu said, sounding defeated. He sat on the ground and started to put on his rock climbing shoes.

"I still think they're joking. I see stairs," Greer said.

Near the side of the rock wall stood Sara Brunswell and Garrett Fowler. They were both teachers at M.J.W. High. Sara was the art teacher. Most students would say she was enthusiastic, but others would say she was eccentric. She wore her hair up in a messy bun, and even in the July heat, she adorned a floral scarf. Her large framed glasses didn't quite fit her small, angular face. Garrett Fowler was the American History teacher. He suited his job well; he had the voice of an orator. He made the dullest parts of history brighter and the darkest parts of history a little easier to bear. He usually wore a tweed suit in class, but on this day, he wore a cotton shirt and jeans. Both the teachers had bullhorns in their hands.

"Hello, students of Marshall J. Walter High!" Sara said in a sing-song voice. "As you can see," she said, gesturing to the rock wall, "We are doing things a bit differently this year."

"I hope your parents have good insurance," Garrett said chucking. His attempt to lighten the mood didn't work. Many of the kids in the large crowd groaned.

Sara gave Garrett a look and then tried to reassure everyone. "Don't worry! We have trained professionals here if anyone gets hurt…Also, Marshall J. Walter middle schoolers will not be joining us this year. I know that's a relief to you all." There was an explosion of applause, and the uneasiness of the crowd settled just a bit.

"Thank God! That's one less thing we have to worry about," Greer said, wiping sweat from the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Lu said.

"If you can't make it up the rock wall before the time is up, you will be disqualified. Fortunately, Mr. Fowler and I will not participate with you. We'll take the stairs," she said as she started to ascend the steep stairs with Garrett. "Happy climbing!"

"Good luck, Eagles!" Garrett said, pumping his fist in the air.

"Wait, that's it? We can start?" said one student. Shoe boxes flew everywhere, and the mayhem began.

"I didn't hear anybody say we could start! Did you hear 'go'?" another student said. Ryan and Lu started to push their way through the crowd to get to the rock wall. Greer was still rushing to get his climbing shoes on.

"Come on, man! We gotta get a good spot on the wall," Ryan said to Greer.

"Ow!" Lu screamed after someone elbowed him.

Dozens of students had already forfeited; they were trampled, bruised, and bloody before even making it to the wall. Some of the more confident students tackled the wall head on. One of those students was Chase Gonzalez. He didn't mind stepping on fingers to make his way to the top, and he was one of the first ones to make it to the platform. Certainly, he was athletic and arrogant enough to be a football player, but his grades prohibited him from doing so. Along with Greer, Ryan, and Lu, Chase was also in the tenth grade, but he had been held back…twice.

"Yeah, baby!" Chase said once he got on the platform. He rushed to the train. Others that already made it on the platform did the same.

Sara came to the edge of the platform with her bullhorn. "Five minutes remaining! Hustle, hustle!"

Ryan, Greer, and Lu shoved their way to the rock wall. Lu and Greer started up at the wall with fear, but Ryan grabbed one of the handholds aggressively. He began to climb, ignoring the groans of the other students who had fallen around him.

"Come on, guys! It's not so bad once you get up here," Ryan called to his friends. He was almost halfway up the wall.

"Well, it's bad if you fall," Lu said, looking at some students being carried away on stretchers.

Greer started to climb the wall gingerly; he took deep breaths to calm himself. You got this…Just one foot after the other.

Lu wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and began the ascent.

"If I die, one of you better write me a damn good eulogy," Lu said, breathing heavily.

"You're not gonna die! Just take it easy, Lu," Ryan said. He stepped onto the platform and smiled down at his friends. "See? No big deal," he said, dusting off his pants.

"Easy for you to say, twinkle toes," Greer said. He was almost at the top.

"Two minutes everyone! Let's go!" Sara called.

Lu clutched the rock wall tighter and pinned his face against it when other students rushed up around him. Someone bumped into him and almost made him slip. He shrieked and dug his feet into the grips of the wall. His face had turned pale, a sickly white. "I don't think I'm gonna make it," Lu said. He looked like he was going to throw up.

"Come on, Lu!" Greer said, hoisting himself over the edge of the wall. He took a sigh of relief. Greer had finally made it to the platform. "Just a little more; you can do it!"

"Y'all have less than a minute! You know what happens if you don't make it!" Garrett called; he continued to encourage the students by clapping his hands. "Go, go, go!"

Many students made their way up to the platform, but Lu was still holding on to it for dear life. He began to climb again, slowly but surely. He made it up the wall with seconds to spare. He lied down on the platform, his body shaking.

"God, I hope we don't have to do that again next year," Lu said, closing his eyes.

Ryan helped him up, "Yeah, I don't know."