Are You The Complete Player?

2/2 WERE YOU HIS FRIEND?

Krystupas didn’t know what to make of Carmella’s revelations. She was Will Cortez’s sister. She apparently received a plane ticket, and an anonymous but threatening instruction to take the Frankfurt flight with the rest of the players participating in the French Open tournament. The message sender promised she would see Will again. Carmella also confessed to Krystupas that she was not a professional tennis player at all, and that she had never played tennis in her life.

She glanced at him to study his face when he remained silent after she finished telling him the truth.

“Do you really believe he’s still alive?” Krystupas finally opened his mouth to speak.

“I would like to believe he is. I’m so confused about the purpose of this tournament, but I wonder if the person behind this is someone who truly knows where he is or what happened to him,” Carmella answered.

“Why is that? Because they lured you in here?” Krystupas asked curiously.

“Yes, and the question earlier, that song. It’s our father’s favourite song. And word games? That was Will’s thing when he was still … before his disappearance,” Carmella said, swallowing the lump in her throat. She could feel tears threatening to come out, but she did her best to remain calm.

“It was. We were friends before he disappeared. I didn’t play in St. Petersburg that year because I had my surgery but, he was… he was my friend. The book I was reading on flight was a present from him,” Krystupas revealed.

At that, Carmella couldn’t help tearing up anymore. Krystupas pat her on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her from crying. “I’m sorry I’m a mess. I just… if the person who locked us here knows where he is, I want to win this tournament. I’d give anything to see my brother again,” Carmella said in tears.

Krystupas opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but thought better of it. He remained quiet and patiently waited for Carmella to calm down completely.

“If anyone asked, just say you’re a wildcard,” Krystupas said afterwards.

“Wh-what’s a wildcard?” Carmella asked nervously.

“Someone with great potential that the tournament organisers decided to give a playing spot to. No one would think it weird. The Cortez family has a legacy in tennis,” Krystupas answered.

“OK,” Carmella nodded. She was glad to finally have a legit-sounding excuse. She had been very uncomfortable with all the stares she was getting, most especially from girls. She knew it was because they didn’t recognise her and were wondering how she got mixed in with them.

“Your things are back in the room. Get all the sleep that you need, players, before the next game is played,” the voice on the speaker informed the players.

Some players ran to the big locker room to check their things right away.

“We should get going,” Krystupas suggested. But Carmella didn’t want to go in there with so many other players around. She was too anxious around many people. She was too embarrassed to mention that to Krystupas, though.

“Go ahead, I’ll get mine later,” Carmella said. Krystupas left without saying another word. Her gaze followed him absentmindedly until he entered the locker room. Krystupas seemed like a nice guy to her but he also seemed like he was holding back on something.

Or maybe he is just a normal guy and not all normal guys have a hidden agenda for being nice to a girl, she scolded herself in her thoughts.

She couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that someone was watching her, but upon glancing around, everyone was busy with their own stuff and there wasn’t even anyone looking in her direction. She heard hearty laughter to her right and upon glancing in that direction, she noticed three girls hanging out together, with a guy who was obviously dating one of the girls, laughing and joking around as if everything was normal.

“Hey,” one of them waved at her and motioned for her to join them. Carmella halfheartedly walked over to them.

“Carmella, right? Hiiiii,” the girl said in a singsong, cheery voice. Carmella was shocked when the girl initiated a kiss on both her cheeks. “I’m Lucija Babic, and these are my best friends Nika Ivanec and Selene Argyros. And this stupid-looking guy here is my boyfriend Pietro Romano,” Lucija added jokingly. The guy smirked and half-waved at Carmella.

“Hi, Carmella! Was RG supposed to be your first time playing as professional? You really don’t look familiar to us,” Selene observed.

“Um, yeah. The tournament organisers gave me a… wildcard,” Carmella said. She could feel her voice breaking, but she was crossing her fingers no one would notice.

“Cool,” Nika said. “I bet you really deserved it. It’s too bad this happened.”

“Yeah,” Carmella said while staring at her own feet awkwardly.

“From now on, Carmella, you stick with us. You need an ally to make it through the top 8. You need us and we need you,” Lucija said matter-of-factly. “You can be one of us if you want.”

Carmella didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t know any of these girls. Aside from Krystupas, she didn’t really know who to trust. She realised she couldn’t commit to an alliance she wasn’t sure she wanted.

“I’ll… think about it. I have to go get my things. I’ll see you girls later,” Carmella said, then started walking away as fast as she could without waiting for a reply.

When she was far away enough, she started feeling the sensation of being watched again. She made quick steps to be able to reach the locker room faster. Suddenly, she heard a breathing sound so close to her. Turning around, she fell on her feet when she noticed there was a guy behind her and it seemed to her like he had been following her without being noticed.

“Get away from me!” she yelled.

“Jesus Christ, relax,” the guy said. “Drew Martin from Canada.” He introduced himself coolly. “I heard you talking about Will Cortez. He was a great guy. It’s a pleasure to meet his sister. I did not know he had one.”

“Were you his friend?” Carmella asked.

“I guess you could say that. I was one of the last persons he talked to before his disappearance. I have no idea what you’re doing hanging out with Krys Pavlis though,” Drew replied.

“What do you mean?” Carmella asked again. She didn’t like the attitude of this guy, but he seemed to know things about everyone. She couldn’t help being curious.

“Krys and Will used to be really tight. But they had a falling out over who knows what. That was shortly before Will’s disappearance,” Drew said. “Anyway, it’s nice talking to you, Cortez. If you need an ally, I’ll be around waiting.”

Drew smiled at her which she only found sinister because of what he said about Krys and her brother. Why did Krys never mention about a falling out with her brother? She glanced at the locker room and noticed him by the door carrying a tennis bag and a luggage. The luggage was definitely hers.

People have falling outs with other people all the time, right? As Krys waved at her gesturing that he already got her things, she found herself giving him an awkward wave. If Krys was as shady as Drew was implying, he wouldn’t steal the question meant for her to save her life, right? She remembered he looked really nervous when he answered the question in her place. It was as if he weren’t sure of the answer. So why did he take a chance?

Carmella couldn’t fathom the answer to that but one thing was for sure: whatever went down between Krys and Will did not make Krys shady at all.

“How did you know which one is mine?” Carmella asked Krystupas when he walked towards her.

“I remember the same D/C sticker from the bag you had on your lap during the flight,” he responded. She smiled awkwardly. “So… are you from Washington, DC?” he asked.

She wanted to laugh hard at the question, but wasn’t sure he was joking and didn’t want to be rude. “No, I’m originally from New York. But I have been staying in Florida for a while,” she answered truthfully.

“I know it’s a Dashboard Confessional sticker, by the way. I was just curious to know where you’re from,” Krystupas said with a chuckle.

“You know that band?” Carmella asked in surprise.

“Yeah, second best band ever,” he responded. “Next to this alternative band called Lifehouse.”

Carmella gaped in total shock. Lifehouse and Dashboard Confessional were Will’s most favourite bands of all-time. And it was exactly how he would put it, the same way as Krystupas just did, verbatim.

Before she could open her mouth to speak, a creepy sound that seemed like a heart beating, played all over the speakers. The walls suddenly displayed holograms all around. On it were the names of the 50 players left in the competition, arranged by the number of points, from highest to lowest.

“All of you won corresponding points from choosing breadstick over bagel. However, the points you won were based on your ability to decide under pressure. The faster the player made their choice, the higher the points they received. Congratulations, everyone, for making it this far. The good news for those currently at the bottom is that you still have a chance to catch up,” a voice boomed to replace the creepy beating heart sound.

Everyone glanced at the scores. The top eight in the list was printed bigger than the rest. They were written in special font, and had a star with a WIC logo inside it beside each name.

SCORES AFTER GAME #1

1. MIRA IVANOVA (BELARUS) --- 300 points

2. CARMELLA CORTEZ (USA) --- 210 points

3. HANA WATANABE (JAPAN) --- 200 points

4. JOANNA KAMINSKA (POLAND) --- 200 points

5. MIROSLAV PETROVIC (SERBIA) --- 200 points

6. GRACE BROWN (AUSTRALIA) --- 200 points

7. MAREK CERNY (CZECH REPUBLIC) --- 200 points

8. BASIL ANDINO (GREECE) --- 195 points

Carmella felt relieved she was still one of the frontrunners, but was sad to see she only won 10 points from the bagel or breadstick challenge. But at least she won points. She could have been dead by now if Krystupas didn’t replace her original choice. She couldn’t help feeling guilty seeing that Krystupas only had 105 total points so far, and was one of the players on the bottom of the list. That was because he opted to save her as the timer counted down to zero. She glanced in his direction to check his reaction about the points posted. Maybe he secretly blamed her for getting only 5 points for himself. If she weren’t so stupid not to know the tennis symbolism of bagels and breadsticks, they both could have won bigger points.

“You’re one of the frontrunners,” Krystupas said to her, beaming.

“With such a good taste in music, I’m sure you will also figure out a way to work your way into the top 8,” Carmella responded, but she couldn’t return his excitement. How could anyone be happy when the rules implied that everyone else who wouldn’t make it to the top 8 would be dead? She felt a bitter taste in her mouth thinking of the possibility of Krystupas dying. He had been so good to her although they barely knew each other.

“I will,” Krystupas replied confidently. “We’re still allies, right?”

She nodded, forcing a smile. “Yeah, and better yet, you’re free to pick out our other alliances. I trust you.”

She could feel the eyes of the other players on her a few minutes after the scores were posted. “Krys? Let’s find a private corner to talk. We need to discuss our strategy,” she whispered.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Krystupas agreed.