Senior Standoff | RETIRED VERSION

Season 5 - Episode 2 | NOT REVISED

The sun was still low in the sky as I pulled up to Asher's house on Saturday morning. My back seat was packed with my towel, flip flops, and a change of clothes. Our last event was a game of Survivor. Pictures had been posted on Instagram all night as the AV club set up James's massive backyard for our challenges. Meanwhile, I'd been strategizing my entire drive over.

"Come on, lazy ass!" I called out the open passenger window. Asher sat on his porch in a black wife beater and swim trunks. A pair of sunglasses was perched atop his head. He stood up and crossed the lawn to my car, tossing his backpack in the back seat with my stuff.

I began rattling off my ideas before we even reached the end of the street.

"All right, so we need to be in the final three to ensure our spot on Prom Court. I definitely don't want Ky and Hailey to have a guaranteed spot, so we need to get them voted out as early as possible," I explained.

"Sure," Asher agreed. His words seemed vacant.

"I doubt the rest of the school will vote them out, so I think it's up to us to earn immunity for ourselves and make sure they don't get it so other players will vote them out."

"Makes sense."

"I've got puzzle challenges down, and you'll be good at endurance. We should have this down."

"We should."

We fell into silence. Tension was thick in the air. My fingers went for the radio to turn on whatever CD was currently in to relieve the discomfort.

"Pen," Asher said quietly before I could press any buttons.

"Yeah?" I asked.

More uncomfortable silence.

"Nothing," he eventually said, head falling back against the seat. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"You know you can tell me anything," I said.

"Of course I do," he said.

I could feel the rift between us opening just a bit wider. Regret flowed through me. I'd pushed him away by giving him an ultimatum, and now things were falling apart. He'd been keeping things from me. Having trouble speaking to me. And it was my own fault.

I just had to remind myself that this was better than being some play thing. I was better than that. Deserved better than that. No matter how much this distance between us hurt.

*

The sun warmed my bare skin, covered only by my sparkly bikini. The small, wooden crate that I was standing on had stopped burning my feet a few minutes ago. Now, other parts of me were burning. My muscles in my arms, my shoulders, even my back. Fingers wrapped around a bowl of watered down paint, if I lost my focus now, I'd be covered in bright pink for the rest of the day. On either side of me were the final two people in this specific challenge. One of us was winning immunity for the next council meeting, where another team would be voted off. Asher and I had come too close to being voted off twice before. The stakes were getting higher.

Spencer looked sturdy to my right. Both of his arms were in the air, holding his bowl like it weighed nothing. Like his arms weren't getting tired. We'd been standing like this for ten minutes now. Quite a few people had lost when their arms gave out. Unfortunately for me, Asher sneezed and dropped his bowl. I was our only hope of guaranteeing we remained in the game this time.

"We're reaching the eleven minute mark now," James said in front of us. Mateo swept the camera across the three of us. "Spencer, Aspen, and Chantal are all still holding on. Chantal and Aspen are starting to look a little rough."