Grant Me A Wish

by Amanda Adair

  “I’m really happy here,” Sofia says, this time being more assertive. “I really want to stay here.”

  Katherina looks at Ray. “And we want you to stay there.” She shakes her head. “I mean if you want to be with us that’s fine, too, but going to school and graduating there was the plan.”

  “Why are you calling then?,” Sofia asks. “Why are we having dinner together via skype?”

  “We have an early Christmas present for you,” Ray says. “For you and Aspen.”

  Mom smiles at me. If they’re not planning on taking Sofia to the Philippines does it mean the curse is broken?

  “You are going to spend Christmas with us,” he says. “And spend New Year’s in Australia. We’re going to Australia.”

  “Really?,” I ask. I would love to see Australia. I’ve never been there.

  “Yeah, sure,” Sofia says and gets up. “I want to hug you.” She turns towards my parents. “I’m gonna hug you instead.” She thanks them several time while her arms are wrapped around their bodies.

  I realize I haven’t said anything. “This is amazing,” I say. “Thank you so much. I’d love to see Australia.”

  They’re going to send us the dates and details in a few weeks. After my parents and Sofia’s parents update each other they end the call. The rest of the evening we eat masses of food and drinks lots of coke. Mom promises to keep some of the leftovers, especially the dessert, so we can take them to school and share them with Sage and Cris. I haven’t mentioned that Cris is suspended. I thought her mom would talk to my mom and she will figure it out. But apparently Cristina’s mother doesn’t want anyone to know that her daughter can’t go to Horace Blake at the moment. Mom told me she’s met her at the grocery store yesterday.

  Before we go back to our rooms at half past eleven Sofia says, “I don’t have to move to Manila.” She looks like a six-year-old birthday girl that got a Barbie Dreamhouse, a remote controlled racing car, an iPad, an Xbox and a three-tiered marzipan cream cake with chocolate filling. “We’re going to Australia for Christmas.”

  “I’ll be dead by then,” I reply and go to my room.

  chapter 35

  Sofia thinks she’s safe. At least she is for now. I am still scared as hell that a psycho comes for me and stabs me. Every minute of every day. I don’t want to be dead. But I know I don’t deserve to live because I have taken a human life. I owe the universe. It’s karma, isn’t it? But what about my friends? Sofia, Sage, Finna and Cris? What have they done to deserve this? I don’t even think Remi deserves to die for wanting to break up with me. Maybe we weren’t the perfect couple after all. It was our friends, our families and environment who wanted us to be together, not us.

  “Aspen,” Sofia shouts in front of the closed door of my bedroom. “We need to go.”

  I remember our first day as if it was yesterday. When it was me who urged her to hurry up. Maybe if she hadn’t moved here … I can’t think like that. It’s Tansy’s fault. And she didn’t move here, she comes from this region and introduced the game to Seneca.

  I put on my rain coat since I want to be prepared for the showers and clouds announced by the weather forecast. I grab my bag and lay my hand onto the doorknob but pause briefly. There is something in the back pocket of my jeans. I remember what it is. A necklace. I’ve put the jeans into the washing machine but it’s still there. I totally forgot about it. I open my hand in front of me and look at the golden chain. It has a small round pendant that has the outline of a world map engraved. I turn it around. There are two letters. S & R.

  I open the door and say, “is this your necklace?”

  Sofia looks at the necklace, which hold in front of her face. She looks confused. “No. Where did you find it?”

  “In the locker room,” I say and put it back into my pocket. “Let’s go.”

  I wanted Sofia to drive but she doesn’t even have an American driver’s license. Hers is from Greece and it’s only valid for motorcycles, not cars. She couldn’t get a license for cars since the minimum age is eighteen.

  I stare at the road while driving. There is one girl whose name starts with R and only three girls on the lacrosse team whose names start with an S. Rachel, Sage, Sara and our newest team member Sofia. It could be Sara’s, I tell myself. Her boyfriend’s name is Dan but maybe her mom’s name starts with the letter S. Could be anyone. Anything. Her cat could be named, so “S and R” stands for Sara and Rapunzel. Rachel could have a dog called Scotch or Shadow. It could be Sofia’s, and those letters stand for Sofia and her dad Raymond. But Sofia says it isn’t hers. I don’t want to think about what the R could stand for. I’m trying to push these thoughts away into the furthest corner of my brain.

  “Do you think Cris can come back to school?,” she asks.

  “Nope,” I say and turn onto the one-way street that leads to Horace Blake. “She didn’t just blackmail a teacher, she also made Mrs. Boyd give her much better grades than she deserves. They won’t just tell her ‘that wasn’t so nice’ and send her back to school.”

  “It’s unfair that she’s just suspended while Finna lost her ability to walk, jump, swim,” Sofia says when I park the car.

  I apply the parking brake and say, “I don’t think Amaris’ game cares about distributing the punishments fairly.”

  “I’d rather get a virus and die than lose my legs,” she says. “But I don’t want my parents to get hurt. What have they done?”

  “Maybe the game knew your parents would get sick and chose this story on purpose,” I say but I realize that wasn’t so smart. “But I could be wrong.”

  “You think they’re catching the virus anyway?,” she asks.

  “No,” I say. “I have no idea. The game’s stupid, what do I know.”

  “If it’s really a game, there has to be something we can do in order to win,” she says.

  I nod, then we get out of the car and into the building. It feels like the school is empty but it’s just because Finna and Cris aren’t here. We’re meeting Sage in front of the classroom. She looks tired and doesn’t talk much. I’m glad she doesn’t because I don’t want to talk either. She’s even wearing a hoodie today. I’ve never seen her wearing a hoodie, not even when exercising.

  They’ve finally found a substitute teacher for math. Rumors have it that Mrs. Boyd won’t be allowed to work as a teacher anymore. I can’t tell if I care. Math teachers are all the same. They think girls are stupid (yes, even the female ones) and they may be good with numbers but not with words, so you never understand their problem definitions or explanations. It’s the same with the substitute teacher. He’s saying something but it seems like a foreign language. I’m good at math and I get good grades but it’s because I’m mostly learning all of our tasks and suggested solutions by heart. In the tests all that’s different are the numbers. Sage told us that there are three approaches to study math. The first option is to memorize and put a lot of effort into practicing. That’s what I do. The second option is to be born as a math crack. That is Sage. She truly understands the calculations she does. She has a knack for complex structures and abstract concepts. The third is to cheat. That’s what Cris did because math was about to ruin her life. It’s sad but there is no other way to understand the most horrible subject of them all. I’d rather have weapons training, home economics lessons or lectures on the global history of capitalism.

  The morning takes forever to end. The only thing that makes me happy now is food. We’re on our way to the cafeteria when I realize what I have in my bag.

  “Let’s eat in the atrium,” I say and turn around. Sage and Sofia follow me. I hear them talk about the dinner and all the leftovers.

  The atrium is favorite place at school. We’re not allowed to sit here with our trays, but no one says anything if we just snack and drink in the seating areas. There are turquoise plastic benches and white tables.

  “What do you have?,” Sage asks expectantly.

  “Calzones,” I say.

  “Wh
at’s that?,” she asks.

  “Like pizza but the dough is wrapped around the cheese and vegetables,” I explain.

  “A wrapped pizza?,” Sage says and grabs one out of the box I’ve opened. “Love it.”

  “And we have some donuts and tiramisu left,” Sofia adds.

  “You are my heroes,” Sage says and looks at me, then at Sofia. She’s sitting between us.

  I breath in and ask her, “is this your necklace?” I get the necklace out of my pocket.

  “What is this?,” she asks but I hand it to her, so she can have a deeper look at it. “It’s not mine.”

  “I found it in the locker room,” I say.

  “The cheerleaders have practice before us,” she says. “Maybe it belongs to one of them.

  I grab the necklace and put it into my bag. “I’ll just give it to the secretariat,” I say.

  That’s not what I’m going to do but I will check whether Sage or Sofia go there and ask for it. It can’t be Sofia. She barely knew Remi.

  chapter 36

  “Why don’t you ask her about Gigi,” Sofia says as we’re waiting for Sage outside of the restrooms.

  Because I’m afraid what she might tell me.

  “Because I don’t know why she didn’t tell us,” I say.

  As the door opens I accidentally wince. I can’t help it.

  “Why are you so jumpy?,” Sage asks and puts a lipstick into her bag.

  Sofia turns towards her. “Tansy said she saw you with Gigi.”

  “Who is Gigi?,” Sage replies.

  “The girl from camp,” I say. “Tansy saw her in your house.”

  “My house?,” Sage asks and steps forward to make way for a cleaning lady that wants to enter the restroom. “You have to be more precise. There are many people at my house, mostly guests and friends of my parents. What does she look like?”

  “We don’t know,” I admit. “You’ve talked to her.”

  “Do you mean Becca?,” she suddenly says and bursts out laughing. “She’s the daughter of my mom’s friend and I’m supposed to show her around, but obviously I have to go to school.”

  I don’t know what to say.

  “She’s living at your house?,” Sofia asks.

  “Not really, they’re staying at a hotel,” Sage says, then turns towards me. “Tansy’s a bitch. I can’t believe you trust her.” She walks past us. “Come on, we have few lessons left.”

  Those few lessons in the afternoon stretched like chewing gum. I was so glad when the bell rang and announced freedom for today. While Sofia wants to look for and shop some new clothes (which is almost impossible in a town like Seneca) I’m spending the afternoon at Watson’s. This time I’m on the second floor and not next to the window. Because I’m not here to look outside, I’m here to finish my homework and another essay. And maybe I’m also searching for more details on Amaris and her game, other victims and a way to beat the game. I’m so focused on my coursework that I lose track of time. When I look at my phone there are three missed text messages from Sofia and Sage. Today the lacrosse team has one of its teambuilding days. This time it’s a BBQ night, other times it is a movie night or a trip to a museum. Once we even drove to a fun park and spend the whole weekend there. It started fifteen minutes ago, but most girls will be there later.

  Before I head over to my team I drive to Horace Blake to store my books in my locker. I hate carrying them around when it’s not absolutely necessary. The school is still open and unlocked, so I hurry to get there. Except those students who were forced to stay there for detention and a few teachers and cleaners nobody’s there.

  Before I meet my team I decide to stop by the meadow behind the main building. I can’t avoid this place forever. Standing in front of the spot where I saw Remi’s lifeless body makes me uncomfortable but right now I just enjoy the silence. I expected to see his body, to smell his perfume and hear the screams again but it’s just a meadow, nothing special.

  “Hey,” a female voice appears behind me. “Sorry, do you know where the lacrosse team is meeting? I’m new and I’m supposed to join them.”

  I turn around and look at a brunette girl with pretty blue eyes.

  “I’m on the team,” I tell her.

  “Oh, great,” she says. “I’m Linda.”

  “Aspen,” I say. “We’re meeting at a roofed BBQ area close to the town hall. It’s right behind these woods.”

  “That way?,” Linda asks and points in the direction of the trees.

  “We can go through the woods, sure,” I say and look at the street. “It’s not that far.” She’s right. We can walk there. It takes about fifteen minutes and I can come back later and get my car.

  I follow Linda, away from the sports ground and through the woods. The wind in here sounds like someone’s whispering and because of the storm tonight there are many sticks and slippery leaves lying around on the small path we’re on. I’m trying to spot the other girls, but they aren’t there yet. Linda suddenly stops and turns around, looking past me. Before I can even think of turning my head something hits it. I fall to the ground before I black out.

  Part II Dead or Alive

  chapter 37

  When I gain consciousness the first thing I notice is the horrible smell. It smells like dust and wasteland. Like wherever I am right now is not a place anyone should spend time at. It smells like the perfect place to store corpses and hide kidnapees.

  The second thing I notice is the darkness that surrounds me. Slowly I get accustomed to the stench and the lack of light. At first I can’t tell if my eyes are open or closed or if I’m blind. But as my eyes get used to the low lighting in here I realize I must be in a basement. The room is empty and there are no windows or doors, no furniture or lamps, just a staircase that leads to a door upstairs.

  The third thing I notice as I try to move and get up are the handcuffs that chain me to a pipe on the wall. I can’t break loose. If I try it makes a terrible noise that sounds like pot-banging. Like I’m at a birthday party with hundreds of kids and their metal pots. I’m leaned against the walls and pipes with a posture that slowly causes some awful back pain. My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, and my head hurts.

  I’m alone with my thoughts and feelings, which results in overthinking and my mind’s production of possible horror scenarios. I’m alone for several hours until someone comes down the stairs. It feels like several hours but since they’ve stolen my bag, phone and watch I can’t say for sure. There is no indication for the time of the day, no daylight and no clock.

  “Awake?,” a female voice starts talking to me. Only as she steps out of the shadow I can see her face.

  “Linda?,” I ask as I recognize her.

  It’s hard to recognize faces when you’ve met them once, but I couldn’t have been unconscious for long. She’s still wearing the same clothes, we’re just in a different location. Not outside but in a room I can’t escape from.

  “Aspen, you’re a smart girl,” she says. “You must’ve figured out that there’s no Linda.”

  I’m no random victim. She’s been following me and planning on taking me with her. But who hit my head? And with what? There must be someone else in this house. I can’t check if there’s a wound on my head. I can’t move my hands.

  “I don’t know you,” I say.

  She doesn’t look dangerous. Maybe she’s the assistant of some rapist. I’ve heard of girls who were kidnapped and tortured. But she knows my name. How? Did they wait for me to fall into their trap? Wait, I think, my story wasn’t to get kidnapped but to get stabbed.

  She doesn’t have a knife … yet.

  “Don’t worry,” she says. “You don’t have to stay here forever. We’re gonna give you what you deserve.

  I want to ask her what that is supposed to be, but I can’t. Down here I’m everything but cheeky. I’m frightened and I still don’t want to die.

  Without another word she walks away, out of my sight and upstairs. I hear her close the door. I’ve never
seen this girl in my life. Why would she kidnap me?

  Never, really, I’m sure of that.

  I would recognize her face. There aren’t many people in town. There’s one person I’ve never seen before. Someone Tansy told me about. A person that came to town for who knows what reason. It must be her. It must be Gigi.

  She’s probably here to take us down one by one. It’s not uncommon for people to get crazy. Experiencing something like the game can turn one mad. Does she want to kill us? Has she already killed Sofia, Sage or Cris? Are they dead?

  I don’t know how much time has passed when I hear the door get unlocked once more. It’s Linda or Gigi.

  “Are you Gigi?,” I say before she’s even downstairs.

  She ignores me and says, “I have some water for you but don’t get the wrong impression. I don’t care about you. I just don’t want you do die right now.”

  Not right now? But at some point I’m supposed to die? Why hasn’t she killed me already? I don’t know this girl and I have no idea what she could want from me.

  The thought hits me like a lightning hits a tree. Tansy must be her partner in crime. Who else? It was her who told me about Gigi. She wanted me to trust her and she was successful. I trusted this girl and I regret it now, being held captive in a dark and smelly cellar.

  “Are you Gigi?,” I repeat. “Are you the girl from summer camp?”

  “Listen, girl, just shut up,” she says.

  Her language is quite aggressive and doesn’t fit her appearance. She looks like a typical book worm. A young librarian. Add glasses and curl her hair and it’s Hermione Granger that is standing in front of me, live and in color. It’s a Potterhead’s dream come true.

  “I don’t owe you an explanation,” she adds.

  “Did you remove the sewn-in tracking device from my clothes?,” I ask to make her insecure. “Probably not, so you’ve screwed up, the police will be here soon. The location is constantly send to my parents.”