Page 19 of Stop and Seek
“Welcome back class! You all can call me—ah ha—PrincipalDecker for the remainder of the night. How wedoin’?”
Whoops and hollers filled the open space, and Theo groaned under his breath.
“This is going to be the longest hour of my life,” he muttered.
Rachel leaned closer. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“I know everyone has been reliving their glory days—I’m looking at you, Stephanie,” Decker continued.
A girl laughed, way too loud, and Theo rolled his eyes.
“But I think it’s time to shake things up. Who’sgamefor agame?”
Reaching over, Theo groped around until he found Alyssa’s stacked, spike bracelets, and pulled her closer.
“The hell did you get me into?” he whispered into her ear.
“I didn’t know either,” Alyssa shot back. The glow-in-the-dark makeup smeared over her lids and cheeks made her look like some raver ghost. “Stop complaining. It’ll be fun.”
“We’re bringing back a game some of you might remember—Stop and Seek,” Decker’s voice boomed, his grin was wide as murmurs started to ripple through the crowd.
“But this time,” he went on, “no boundaries. We got the entire school to ourselves. This includes,” he paused for dramatic flair, waving a hand, “outside. Yes, you’re welcome. I know. I’mamazeballs.”
Theo pursed his lips. Fantastic.
He hadn’t thought about that game since middle school, where it always ended with some kid crying or 'accidentally' locked in a broom closet.
Him. He was the fucking kid.
“This was such a disaster last time,” Ethan said, chuckling.
“Yeah, andMr. Congenialityup there almost got everyone suspended,” Rachel mumbled. “But I guess that’s half the fun.”
“I’ve got a little twist in mind,” Decker continued. “Regular base rules: one half hides, and the rest of you seek. But—get ready, kids—you can yell ‘freeze’ when someone’s found you. Don’t forget: freeze or you’reout. This means no talking, moving,nada. Thirty seconds of silence and you’re good to go! Just imagine you’re speaking in front of people. Wait—”
He laughed, and half the crowd followed like trained seals.
The spotlight cut out, plunging everything into sudden shadow. The overhead lights didn’t kick in either.
Dark didn’t begin to cover it.
Someone’s shin hit a metal bleacher with a hollowclang.Another person cursed loud enough to echo. Rank heat clung heavier in the sudden pitch-black, and a hundred small phone screens blinked to life.
That’s when the buzz started.
Theo’s phone went off like it was having a seizure in his pocket.
“Right! Right, sorry guys,” Decker said, disembodied in the dark. “I almost forgot. Eddie—love you, man—set up a group chat for the occasion. Now, you’re welcome to peace out but you’ll miss our grand prize.”
Theo’s heart fell and he squeezed his eyes shut.
God. Dammit.
The girl at check-in, smiling too wide, asking for his number when she gave him that stupid, sticky name tag.Everythingasked for phone numbers nowadays—grocery stores, websites, even the postal service. He hadn’t registeredit as weird.
But now it was in the group chat.
