Capsule

by Mel Torrefranca

“It’s not stolen,” Kat said. “It’s borrowed.”

  “Borrowed without permission is what it is!” Peter’s face turned bright red. “Do you know how much this could ruin our futures? We’re talking fines and—I don’t know—juvey.”

  “If we fail the game we’re done for anyway,” Kat said. “All that matters is completing these levels, right? After that, it’ll be like we never stole the car in the first place.”

  With every glance at the man’s face in the rearview mirror, Jackie’s arms grew colder. Her thoughts rushed with all of the possible scenarios. Sure, getting caught for this crime would be horrible—she was the one driving without a license—but this was horrible for the game as well. If they got caught, there’d be no way they could make it to the next two locations in time. It’d be a mess. An absolute mess.

  “Slow down!” Kat shouted. “Come on, Jackie. Just hang in there.”

  “Oh we’re dead. We’re dead.” Peter leaned forward, pulling at his hair. “It’s over.”

  Jackie could hear them, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. Her mind raced forward as the trees rushed by. She had to get out of here. She had to get away from this police car. Their lives depended on it. The game depended on it.

  “Jackie!” Kat shouted from the back seat. “Are you hearing me? Slow down. You’re speeding.”

  By the time Jackie checked the speedometer, the lights behind her were already flashing. The sirens knocked her back into reality. She slowly set her foot onto the brakes.

  “Jeez Jackie!” Peter slapped a hand against his face. “How fast were you driving?”

  The car decelerated as the sirens intensified.

  “Well slow down faster and pull over,” Peter said. “Dammit, we’re screwed.”

  “I don’t have a license.” Jackie gulped and pressed the brakes harder. “Holy crap, I don’t have a license.”

  The car came to a full stop at the side of the road, and no one said a word.

  The trio had run into a dead end.

  Through the rearview mirror, Jackie watched the police officer open his car door and slip into the shadows. She readjusted her grip on the steering wheel.

  “Jackie?” Peter reached over to nudge her, but by the time his arm was in the air, she’d already slammed her foot against the gas pedal, forcing Peter’s head against his seat.

  The police officer’s figure grew tinier in the mirror as they blasted down the road.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Peter watched the endless string of trees rush by the windows.

  Jackie’s jaw fell loose as she spoke. “I don’t know, okay?”

  The police car eventually emerged back into sight, shooting after them at lightning speed. Jackie was going sixty, seventy, eighty miles an hour. Twice the speed limit. The curves in the road threatened her control behind the steering wheel, and although Kat shouted from the back seat at the top of her lungs, Jackie was too focused to make out what she was saying.

  “Okay, okay.” Peter rubbed his forehead as he scanned the road ahead of them, finally coming to terms with the situation. “There’s a road coming up. Can you make the turn?”

  “At this speed?” Jackie noticed a lime green sign tucked between two trees labeled Greencrest Road. She peered at the rearview mirror. The police car trailed behind them, but she had enough time to slow down. After a deep breath, Jackie set her foot onto the brake pedal. The SUV slowed to fifty miles per hour before she made a sharp left turn onto Greencrest Road.

  The police car squealed to a stop.

  “He’s turning to follow us.” Peter’s seat belt was off now. He had his knees on the seat, fully facing the rear window. “Don’t look at me! Focus. We still need to lose him.”

  Jackie narrowed her eyes at the windshield. Greencrest was surrounded by so many trees the road was dark even at mid-day. She flicked the SUV’s high beams on as the police car’s lights flickered behind them.

  “I’m gonna be sick.” Kat leaned forward and hugged her backpack with an iron grip.

  “Take the next turn.” Peter was still focused on the rear window.

  Jackie nodded, taking notice of the upcoming road sign. The sharp turn shoved her against the passenger seat window, but she recovered her posture and straightened the SUV out on the right side of the new road. The surrounding redwood trees trapped them in a woody labyrinth, but the fading sirens left Jackie with more relief than her fear of escaping.

  Kat spoke through gritted teeth. “I’m not sure I can handle this.”

  “Oh really?” Peter faced the front of the car and clicked his seat belt back on. “Looks like the rebellious—”

  “No, I mean Level Four.”

  In only an instant the officer had caught up, and the dark air lit with a familiar mixture of red and blue. It’d be impossible to outdrive him, which meant their only option was to outturn him. Jackie raced the SUV toward the nearest road sign and swerved with a violent twist of the steering wheel.

  The curve was steeper than she’d expected. The SUV struck a steel trash bin off the side of the road, its two left wheels sliding off into a ditch.

  “Shoot.” Jackie kicked at the gas, but the car only whined in pain.

  “Try backing up first.” Peter set the SUV into reverse for her. “Hurry!”

  The SUV backed deeper into the ditch. With the sirens wailing behind them, Jackie switched the vehicle into drive and struck the gas pedal. The bottom of the vehicle scraped against the edge of the rocky road as the front wheel broke free from its trap.

  But the back wheel locked them into place.

  Heart pounding, Jackie removed her hands from the steering wheel. She’d given up, but only on Plan A. She scanned the passenger seat for her phone, and Peter was quick to read her mind. He held it toward her, Capsule already opened.

  Jackie swiped to the second page of the app as the police car stopped behind them. Her thumb hovered over the emergency button.

  “We’ll lose three hours.” Peter lowered his voice to a whisper, leaning closer. “Do you even know what it does?”

  Jackie met his eyes—two dark pits of fear. “What other choice do we have?”

  Peter’s skin flashed between red and blue as Jackie tapped EMERGENCY.

  11:50:03

  THE SOUR SCENT of asphalt infiltrated Peter’s lungs, luring him back into reality.

  His eyes opened.

  Above him was a fat clump of gray sky, a single bird shooting past the blinding canvas. Rocking tree branches bordered the far left and right edges of his vision. Unlike the redwood trees they’d been driving between earlier, these were short with smooth bark and spidery arms.

  Teleportation, really? Despite having no clue where he was, the lack of sirens was enough to leave Peter melting into the ground with relief. He turned his heavy head to the right, revealing a blur of tree trunks sprouting from thorny bushes. This day can’t possibly get any weirder.

  Peter lay in the middle of an unknown road, contemplating how a phone app could possibly transport him out of the SUV in a way that aligned with modern science. It wasn’t until the rumbling of a car engine filled his ears when he acknowledged the sharp pebbles pressed into his shoulder blades.

  An approaching car squealed as the driver slammed the brakes.

  I’m on a road.

  Peter stumbled to his feet and rushed to the opposite lane of the oncoming vehicle. The car came to a jumpy stop right where he’d been lying moments ago. As the wind weaved through his hair, Peter leaned forward, gripping his knees and exhaling a burst of breath.

  That would’ve been a stupid death.

  The driver’s door popped open. “Are you okay?”

  Peter froze, head still facing the ground as he waited for his heart to stop beating so damn loud. I take it back. He released the tight grip on his knees and straightened
his spine to face the driver. It can get weirder.

  “Peter?” Jay’s brows held still, but Peter could tell from his rapid blinking that Jay had transitioned from genuine concern to pure confusion. “What were you doing?”

  Peter’s eyes fell to the white line in the middle of the road—the road he’d been lying on only moments ago. “Sunbathing, apparently.” He spun in circles, searching for a sign of Jackie or Kat. Fog hovered over the asphalt in the distance, and dew drops occasionally trickled from a branch here and there—remnants of a recent shower. “Where are we?”

  Despite Jay’s tense forehead, his eyes were calm. “Is everything alright?”

  “No, not really.” Peter planted his feet onto the ground and stood firmly in front of Jay. “Just tell me where we are.”

  Jay gulped. “Quasso Drive.”

  An instant smile struck Peter’s face. The emergency button had not only saved them from the policeman, but had also brought them—or at least, him—right to the doorstep of their next level. All at the cost of three hours subtracted from the countdown. Not a grim deal.

  Peter shook his head, knocking the pride away. No, there had to be a catch. What if Jackie and Kat were hours away from him? Even if he opened the fourth level himself, without Jackie’s phone he wouldn’t know where to go next. If only they’d exchanged numbers. Gosh, why hadn’t they done that before? His focus landed on the befuddled Jay. “Did you see anyone else from school on the way here?”

  “Why would anyone from Brookwood be all the way out here?” Jay reached for the edges of his checkered flannel, avoiding Peter’s harsh gaze. “How did you even get to Quasso? There’s no way you could’ve biked.”

  “I see you’re familiar with my preferred mode of transportation.”

  Jay opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a buzz. Peter reached for the phone in his pocket for the first time since he’d been at Halos with Jackie and Kat. He’d hoped that the call would be from a random number—that Jackie or Kat had somehow found a way to contact him—but the screen simply read Mom.

  Peter reeled his arm back and chucked the phone at a cluster of trees. The ringing faded into the air as the device flew between a web of white branches.

  Jay cleared his throat. “Did you just—”

  “Yeah.” Peter faced Jay with crossed arms and zero remorse for his probably-broken phone. It was nearly seven in the evening and his family was most likely worried by the fact that he hadn’t come home yet. He wouldn’t be surprised if they’d contact the police soon, and although he didn’t know if it were possible for his phone’s location to be tracked, it wouldn’t hurt to eliminate the risk.

  “Okay, you’re obviously not in the right state of mind.” Jay took a step back, offering the largest smile he could offer to a boy like Peter—nothing more than a slight tilt of his lips. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

  Jay unlocked the car, and Peter raised his brows. Did I hear that right? Jay Mendoza, the most well-liked student at Brookwood High, sitting in a car with Peter Moon, the most well-hated?

  Understanding that his other options were hopeless, Peter walked around the front of Jay’s Honda and opened the passenger seat door. Resting on the cushion was a bouquet of yellow carnations, tied together at the stem with a golden ribbon. Before Peter could say anything, Jay swiped the flowers from the upholstery and set them gently onto the floorboard by the back seats. He fumbled into his normal driving form, eyes shooting back and forth between the dashboard and the rearview mirror an unnecessary amount of times.

  “I see you’re on the way to a date.” Peter slipped into the passenger seat and studied Jay’s reaction. The statement had been designed as a tease, but in reality it was a test.

  Jay’s expression sat still as Peter shut the car door. Jay was stiff, and that was all the evidence Peter needed to confirm his suspicion. He knew exactly what Jay was doing out here on the foggy road leading to Grovestown.

  “I’ll take you back to Brookwood soon.” Jay set the car into drive and pressed his foot softly against the gas pedal. “I just have to make a quick stop first.” The car soared down the road. Only someone like Jay could drive so smoothly.

  Peter scanned through the windows for the Level Four capsule, but his thoughts were directed elsewhere. It didn’t make sense. He’d been waiting for Jay to explode at him. Waiting for Jay to bring up the blog entry Peter had written about him months ago. He’d been waiting for the moment Jay would change his mind, pull over, and say, Get out, you freak!

  But it never happened.

  It was in Jay’s nature to search for answers. He’d do anything he could to win the approval of others, so naturally someone like Peter—someone who appeared to hate him—would bother Jay. The fact that Jay hadn’t asked him any questions about the blog entry he’d written was so wildly out of character it left Peter’s stomach churning. In fact, Peter was so uncomfortable he brought the topic up himself.

  “So about that entry I—”

  “Stop.” Jay spoke boldly for the first time since the beginning of their encounter. “I said I’d give you a ride, not talk about your problems.” Jay flinched as though his words were too harsh for him to stomach himself.

  “Actually, the entry was about your problems.” Peter chuckled at his lap. “But alright.”

  Jay drove for a while longer. Peter was convinced their conversation had come to an end before Jay spoke again. “New style?”

  It took a moment for Peter to realize Jay had referred to his outfit. Peter would never be caught dead in khaki pants and a striped polo, but he went along with it anyway. “I guess you could say that.”

  Jay took a deep breath and rested his back against the seat, shoulders tense. “By the way, I’m not mad at you for the entry you wrote about me. It’s not like I’m the only one you’ve—you know—disrespected on your blog.”

  Disrespected. What a delicate word choice.

  Jay continued. “I’m mad about the one you wrote for my sister.”

  Peter froze. “Jackie’s entry?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Because it’s true?”

  “Yeah.” Jay grinned. “But I really wish it wasn’t.”

  Peter raised his chin to the windshield, watching Jay through his peripheral vision.

  I’ve never seen one other person at Brookwood who wastes as much time as she does, Peter had written. She traps herself in video games to the point of complete social isolation.

  It wasn’t until the car ride with Jay when Peter finally had an answer as to why Jackie had chosen to help him and Kat in the first place, and this realization stabbed him. She doesn’t actually care about us. Jackie was playing for the thrill, the satisfaction, the dopamine rush with each completed level. Capsule was all a part of her addiction. It always had been.

  Peter didn’t know why a part of him died in that moment of understanding, but it did. A warmth inside of him faded into a hole of disappointment. Why do I care whether Jackie wants to help me or not? The rage Peter held for himself heated the blood pulsing through his veins. It’s mutually beneficial anyway. She has fun with her stupid game, and Capsule spares my life. All I care about is that she’s helping in the first place.

  But that empty feeling in his gut—it wouldn’t go away.

  For the first time, Peter saw something familiar in Jay’s eyes. He saw a frustrated glaze he’d only seen in the eyes of his little sister Grace.

  The eyes of his little sister when he’d stopped hanging her drawings on his bedroom wall, telling her he needed to get rid of clutter. “Clean room, clean mind,” he’d told her.

  The eyes of his little sister when he’d stopped watching shows with her in the living room. When he’d stopped eating her cookies and making her hot chocolate. When he’d stopped allowing her to join him on bike rides because she’d slow him down.

  It was those same eye
s Peter saw in Jay as he drove down Quasso Drive, thinking of the entry Peter had written about Jackie on Moral Moon. Jay was a boy whose entire happiness relied on how people perceived him, and Jackie was a girl with no interest or desire to make time for others—to make time for Jay. All she had time for were her games.

  And because Jay relied on people for happiness, he filled the void in his life with more people, like Kat—and Kat’s older sister Emmeline.

  “You know, I really did mean what I said in that entry about you.” Peter slumped forward to balance the lengths of his laces, half in habit and the other half in dread of what he was about to say. “But the part about Emmeline”—he rose with tense arms—“that was uncalled for.”

  When Peter finally faced him, Jay’s shoulders had loosened. His eyes remained focused on the road, but they were shinier now, the longing in his eyes dulled. Not completely gone—but dulled.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t asked me yet.” Jay made eye contact with Peter for a brief moment, and Peter was almost positive he’d seen him smiling.

  “Ask what?”

  Jay pointed to the road. “Where I’m going.”

  “Don’t have to.” Peter’s eyes drifted to the yellow carnations resting on the floorboard behind him. “I have a feeling we’re headed for the same place.”

  #001

  WELCOME BACK TO another torturous nine months at Brookwood High. I thought I’d kick off my sophomore year by launching Moral Moon, where I’ll be exposing the honest truth everyone’s too afraid to say themselves. It’ll be fun, trust me.

  Let’s start with Emmeline Pike. Yeah, the dead girl. It’s been over ten months since the accident and people are still talking about her in the halls like she left some kind of legacy behind. Spoiler alert: her only legacy is the long list of morons she pretended to love. Emmeline somehow managed to come up with a shitty excuse for every breakup, and her friends fell for it with tears in their eyes. What a bitch. That’s all I can say. It’s obvious she didn’t know who the hell she was. Sometimes I wonder if she ever realized that herself.