Coincidence

11:23 PM. 

"Yeah, you'll be fine. You can drive fast on straight roads, but when you see a road sign, slow down—not fully, but don't go too fast. Are you good at driving?" Malakai was on the phone, walking towards the convenience store to get a few snacks.

"~~~~~".

"You'll be fine then. Don't be stupid though".

"~~~~~".

"Aryt, go sleep. You need to wake up early".

"~~~~~".

"Aryt safe," Malakai said. He ended the call and was about to enter the store when someone of a similar height appeared in front of him, exiting the store. 

"What's up, Malakai". 

"Yo", Malakai replied. "Uhhhh, what was your name again?" Malakai asked, eyeing him.

"Lorenzo, I told you my name when we first met," Lorenzo bitterly said, holding a plastic bag filled with supplies in his right hand.

"That was ages ago", Malakai replied, wafting his hand in the air. "Congratulations on getting first place". Malakai's congratulations was sincere despite his face not showing it.

"You watched the stream?" Lorenzo said, surprised he did.

"Why does that shock you?" Malakai noticed the surprise in Lorenzo's voice despite his face not showing it.

"I thought you wouldn't care", Lorenzo replied. "It's not like anyone good had the challenge today. It wasn't interesting at all". 

"Well, I watched it in bed and woke up 5 minutes before it started," Malakai said, looking around and seeing the place deserted. It was only the two of them around. "How was it? Was your team good?" he asked, keeping the conversation going.

Lorenzo looked up at the clear, dark, starless sky, "Yeah, they were decent. Your friend was good. I thought she would hold us back, but she helped me out the most", Lorenzo replied. There was a pause. "How close are you two?" Lorenzo questioned, looking at Malakai and making eye contact. The vibe changed.

"We ain't that close. We're just friends", Malakai replied, trying to keep the conversation casual. He could sense Lorenzo was after something. Did he make it this tense on purpose? Or does he not know how to be subtle?

"Close enough to tell her about the challenge", Lorenzo quickly snapped back.

"At least he's direct", Malakai thought. He grinned, "She's my neighbour as well", he replied. "I thought I might as well tell her what to expect. I wanna see my friends do well innit".

"It must be a coincidence. Such a beautiful girl is your neighbour", Lorenzo said like he was onto something, looking at Malakai dead in the eyes. He didn't blink; he wanted to see if Malakai would get intimidated.

"Yup, just a coincidence", Malakai didn't know Lorenzo's goal here. Was he getting information? Information that he and Maria are friends? Is that information important? If he was getting information, he might as well gather some, too. "When does Ryan have his challenge?" Malakai asked.

"Ryan? why do you want to know about him?" Lorenzo questioned, finally blinking.

"Why not? I've already done my challenge; I ain't gonna do anything", Malakai replied in a friendly tone. "I just wanna know", he said, smirking.

"You might send someone to sabotage him", Lorenzo said, wary of Malakai's intentions. "I don't know what you're planning", Lorenzo spoke his thoughts, narrowing his eyes.

"Bro. Who do you think I am? I ain't Ryan. I ain't gonna sabotage anyone," Malakai replied, showing he knew what Ryan had done to David and Lucas in the minigames. 

He looked like he genuinely meant it. "His challenge is on Thursday" Lorenzo surrendered the information, trusting Malakai. "Do you know anyone who has the challenge on Thursday?".

"Yeah, a few friends", Malakai replied, nodding. "Don't worry, I won't tell them to do anything to Ryan. I ain't a bitch", he said, smiling at Lorenzo, clearly insinuating something. 

Lorenzo stayed calm, and even though Malakai insulted his friend in front of him, he knew that getting angry was useless. "I trust you, that's why I told you", Lorenzo said, even though he didn't trust him. 

"Ooooooo", Malakai adlibbed. "Let's see how much you trust me. What number did he get?" Malakai asked, tilting his head up.

"Two", Lorenzo answered. "Don't get the wrong idea; I don't trust you completely. I trust that you won't do anything to sabotage Ryan", Lorenzo cleared up. Lorenzo set up a little test for Malakai to see if he was a man of his word. He'd have to wait a few days to see if he would pass. All the talk about trust was bullshit, he didn't trust Malakai one bit.

"You know I'm not their boss. If my friends do anything, it's on them", Malakai replied.

"We'll have to see", Lorenzo shrugged.

The air was awkward around them. There was silence. The two were looking at each other; Lorenzo purposely made it awkward while Malakai entertained it.

"So what? Are we friends now?" Malakai asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't think we can be friends. My best friend doesn't like you. If he doesn't like you, then I don't know why I should like you", Lorenzo brutally replied; it was clear he didn't want to be friends.

"Aryt, I get it", Malakai said, understanding his logic. If one of his best friends didn't like someone, he wouldn't like that person either—basic friend code. 

"It was nice talking to you properly", Lorenzo said. "We'll see what happens the next time we speak". Lorenzo smiled creepily as he walked past Malakai.

Malakai watched as he went by.

"Yo, try walk beside Ryan. Sometimes I see you walk behind him; it makes you look like a bitch", Malakai said loud enough so Lorenzo could hear. He didn't get a response. It was proving hard trying to get under Lorenzo's skin. 

"weird guy", Malakai mumbled before finally entering the store.

October 25th. Wednesday, 12:11 PM. 

The teams were deciding who would drive. 

"Who's going to be the driver?" Dillon questioned his team; it was obvious Dillion had removed himself from that list. Everyone kept quiet; no one wanted to drive. Everyone wanted to be involved in the challenges and not be stuck in the car the whole time.

"I'll drive if no one wants to", David volunteered, stepping forward. Relief came over all his teammates.

"No, you can't drive. You need to be doing the challenges", Dillon quickly stopped him. The relief was gone.

"You've got people from classes A and B, so you'll be fine with the riddles", David replied, pointing at the girls from A (Sydney) and B (Sasha). "I'm big and clunky, so I'll be slow looking for the key. For the last challenge, it's climbing up a net. All of you should be fine," David explained as if it were an easy task to complete all of them.

"I'm not letting you drive; someone else has to do it", Dillon said, turning to the rest of his team. He turned his back to David; it looked like he had already decided David wouldn't drive.

"Wai-"

"I'll do it," Justin helplessly said, raising his hand. He felt that he would have been pressured into it if he hadn't volunteered. Justin was in the lowest class; he knew it was coming.

"Okay, good".

Sydney (1-A), Sasha (1-B), David (1-C), Dillon (1-D) and Justin (1-E) were on one team.

"I'll drive".

"Are you sure, Nada?" Delilah asked, slightly scared. 

"Yeah, Malakai told me what to do", Nada confidently replied with fire in her eyes, ready for the challenge.

"Will you be able to reach the accelerator?" Ash laughed, teasing Nada's height. 

Nada smiled sinisterly, "Don't start crying when I drive too fast", Nada said, staring at Ash. Ash scoffed, thinking she wasn't serious.

Delilah put both of her hands on Nada's shoulders. "I know your Malakai's student, but don't copy him. I don't wanna die today," she pleaded, knowing she was serious.

"Don't worry; I won't go that fast," Nada replied. "Buuuut, we do need to win," she grinned.

"I'm going to die today", Delilah said, looking down at the floor.

While all this happened, Alexander watched. The team introduced each other when they first met in the hall before going onto the couch. Alexander told them his name, and they all immediately recognised it. The name under Malakai's on the leaderboard. The name that would most likely be number one soon. That was the only time Alexander talked to his team; he was silent the rest of the time and let them do their own thing. He had this aura about him that felt like he was important, so no one tried to converse with him; not even Nada tried. It was like no one knew what to say to him. Was Alexander that confident they would win? He was 1/5 of the team; there was no way he could single-handedly bring his team to victory. How would he react if he didn't get first? Did he think there was a possibility that he would lose? All these questions would be answered in a few hours. 

Alexander (1-A), Reece (1-B), Delilah (1-C), Ash (1-D), Nada (1-E) were on one team.

"Yawwwnnn, I want to go home", Luke said, looking up at the sky with his hands in his pockets. Luke is in class 1-B, a laid-back guy with light brown hair that was slicked back.

"Is that why you wanted to drive? You're too tired to do the challenges", Marcus replied, looking at his other teammates. Marcus is in class 1-E, a short guy with a buzzcut. He's also Justin's best friend (You might remember him from chapter 21).

"Yeah", Luke answered. "But also because I didn't want to split them up", he said, pointing ahead.

Ahead of him was Lucas, surrounded by two pretty girls. A brunette with her hair styled in two buns and two strands hanging down either side of her face, with dark brown eyes that looked a completely different colour when the sun shined on them; her eyeliner made her eyes stand out even more. Her name is Jessica, and she is in class 1-D. The other girl had no make-up on and displayed her natural look. She had long golden blonde hair, which had curls at the tips, and dark blue eyes. Slightly taller than the other girl at about 5 feet 7 inches. Her name is Elizabeth, and she is in class 1-A. The two girls were talking to Lucas about who knows what, but it looked like Lucas was having fun.

"Being good-looking must be nice", Luke said, yawning again.

"Tell me about it," Marcus replied. "Don't sleep at the wheel," he nudged Luke.

"You don't have to worry about me", Luke said. "It looks like you need to worry about another guy".

Elizabeth (1-A), Luke (1-B), Lucas (1-C), Jessica (1-D) and Marcus (1-E) were on one team.

"Who are you lot supporting?"

"I don't know/ I have no idea/ All of them", Benjamin, William and Ray answered.

"Forget that. Who do you think is going to win?" William asked Malakai.

The four of them were watching the livestream in William's and Malakai's dorm. 

"I don't know", Malakai shrugged. "David probably", he said unconvincingly, lying on the beanbag.

"Delilah has Alexander on her team", Benjamin pointed out. "I'm guessing you don't want her team coming first".

"Eh. It's weird cuz I don't care that much. If their team comes first, then fair enough, but if they don't, then I guess that'll be nice", Malakai replied. "But Delilah and Nada are on his team; I'll feel like a dickhead if I was praying on their downfall", he said, pulling out his phone.

"You don't have to support anyone", Ray said.

"Yeah, you're right. I ain't supporting any of them. I hope team 6 wins", Malakai replied; team 6 had no one they knew.

"That's not what I meant", Ray giggled.

"I just hope it's interesting", William said, leaning back on the couch. "Yesterday was soo boring. Nothing happened", he complained

"If they added cameras in the challenge areas, then the livestream would be a hundred times better", Benjamin added.

"True", Malakai agreed. "But, there's some big names there; something will happen".