Are You The Complete Player?

1/2 TRUTH OR DARE?

CHAPTER EIGHT: TRUTH OR DARE?

Carmella Cortez was still shaking after that last challenge. First, she had freaked out thinking she would have to strip naked in front of everyone, then she panicked thinking about having to stand on a table for hours, possibly days. It would have been a difficult task for anyone but as the only person in the competition who was not an athlete, she knew she was not as physically fit as the others in her batch and would likely not be able to stand for as long as they could. If Marek had not volunteered to take one for the team, she guessed that she would have been the first one to tire out. She felt grateful for his bravery. She also felt grateful for Krystupas and his attempt to help her.

“Hey,” Carmella said as she walked up to him. He was lounging on his bed.

“Hey,” he repeated, sitting up. “That was a crazy challenge, wasn’t it?”

“Definitely,” she responded. “I am still trying to calm my nerves over the whole thing. I just came over because I wanted to say thanks… you know, for trying to steal and get me out of that.”

“Carmella, there is no need to thank me for that. I’d do it again if I had to,” he said, sounding sincere. “We promised we would have each other’s backs. I was just showing you that I meant it.”

“It’s still worth telling you how much I appreciate it. As the only one in here who doesn’t, you know,” she glanced around making sure no one was listening and lowered her voice slightly, “play tennis, I know that I’m kind of an outsider. No one really knows me, yet you’ve made sure I never really feel alone. Thank you, Krys.”

“Of course,” he said with a hint of a smile on his face. It looked like he was about to say something more but was interrupted by a commotion nearby. They both looked and saw a small group gathered around Borysko, laughing. At the center of it all, was Emerson Fischer.

“We have sure seen a lot of gross things around here, but your skinny, naked body was the worst of it all,” he said, gaining booming laughter from his crew. “Even worse than the baby rats, which is a lot coming from one of the guys who had that challenge.”

Everyone kept laughing. Borysko’s face was as red as a tomato.

“No wonder you’re ranked so low,” Emerson chuckled. “You’ve probably never lifted a weight in your life. I’m surprised you even have the strength to hold a tennis racket.”

“Man, I really regret coming up with that challenge,” Astro said, shaking his head. “If I’d known who would have been chosen beforehand, I would have come up with something different.” There was more laughter from the group. “I think WIC should have eliminated him though. He kept his glasses on,” he teased, reaching for Borysko’s glasses. “Those should count!”

“Come on, man, cut it out,” Borysko said so quietly it was nearly a whisper and batted Astro’s hand away from his face.

“What was that? Speak up, we can’t hear you,” Emerson taunted.

“His voice is so low,” said Francois. “It must be his tiny balls. Did you guys see them? They were like little grapes.”

The group erupted with even more laughter just as Krystupas and Carmella joined them.

“Wow, yeah, that is so hilarious,” Krystupas said. “Is that why you peed yourself, Laurent? From laughing so hard?” He waved his hand in front of his nose a few times as if waving off a bad scent. WIC had not opened the showers to them yet and the players who had wet themselves during the previous challenge were reeking of urine, and Francois was one of them. He shot Krystupas an offended glare.

“Where is your sense of humour?” he said, though he sounded less confident and aggressive than he did just a moment ago.

“Yeah, bro,” Emerson said. “Lighten up. You can’t have a nude challenge and expect there to not be some teasing. It’s just a little good old-fashioned fun, isn’t it, Adamovich?” He draped his arm around Borysko’s shoulder as if they were the best of friends. Borysko immediately shrugged him off.

“I don’t think he finds it fun,” Krystupas said. “Leave him alone.”

Emerson eyed him for a moment, raising his eyebrows slightly as if about to challenge him but then noticed Carmella standing there and turned to her instead.

“It’s too bad you weren’t picked for that challenge,” he said to her, grinning. “I’ve never watched you play in a tiny little outfit, unlike the other girls here. It would have been interesting to see what you look like under that uniform. I bet you’re as sweet as caramel, Carmella.”

Carmella’s eyes widened with horror. Krystupas shoved Emerson and got in his face.

“Krys, stop, it’s fine, let’s just go,” Carmella said, tugging on his sleeve. She didn’t want him to start a fight. It wasn’t worth it. Not when WIC was watching and would probably use the drama to torture them, or worse, would say Krystupas was making an attempt on Emerson’s life and that he broke the rules.

“Watch who you mess with, Fischer,” Krystupas said to him, glaring hard.

“Oooh, I am so scared,” Emerson said sarcastically, then looked at Carmella once more. “When you’re ready to dump this Lithuanian loser, come find me. I’m betting we’d make a great team,” he winked.

“Yeah, thanks but no thanks,” Carmella said, pulling Krystupas away.

“Come, Borysko,” Krystupas said, as he walked away, shooting Emerson another glare over his shoulder. Borysko obediently followed. Maxim laughed as he watched him go, mumbling something about grapes.

Over in a far corner, Adam, Adela and Joanna were sitting side by side, next to Hana Watanabe who was trying to comfort her best friend.

“Stop beating yourself up over this, Jo. It wasn’t your fault,” she said.

“Yes, it was,” Joanna sniffled. She had never really relieved herself of guilt for Liam’s death and found it hard to stop crying thinking about all the things she could have done differently. She was even more gutted over the fact that Liam’s girlfriend Freja had volunteered herself to lose over the grief of losing him. It made her feel responsible for her death too.

“It really wasn’t,” said Hana. “You were the one trying to stop the guys from killing—” she paused, glancing towards Adam and deciding to change her wording so as not to sound insensitive. “You were the one trying to stop them all from doing something stupid. It’s not your fault that Liam couldn’t control his impulses. That guy always had rage issues. Remember when he threw a fit on court because he didn’t like the brand of water bottle that they were handing out to the players? I had never seen anything like it in all my years both playing and watching tennis.”

“Yeah,” Adam said, gaining a surprised look from Joanna. “I remember that match. He blamed his loss on the tournament, saying that the brand of water was not of good quality, and it affected his hydration during the match.” He paused to shake his head at the memory. “He was always doing stuff like that. Always starting fights and breaking things on court or in his hotel room. He was a very angry, very impulsive guy. You couldn’t have stopped him no matter how hard you tried.”

“You’re…you’re talking,” said Joanna, through her tears.

Adam gave her a slight smile. “You feel so responsible for two deaths that weren’t even caused by you, but you forget that you saved another life…mine. We don’t even know each other well but you were so kind, trying to keep me going after losing Kathy. You’re a good person with good intentions. You gave me the motivation to keep trying in this sick game. Whatever happened to Liam and Freja was never your fault.”

Hana nodded to his words and gently rubbed her friend on the back. Joanna smiled tearfully at them both, beginning to feel a little better about herself. To her surprise, Adela, who had not said a word since she joined them earlier, spoke up as well.

“In a way, that sort of helps me too,” she said. “I’ve been kicking myself so hard over Tereza’s death, thinking that if I somehow make it out of here alive, my parents will also blame me for it, but I am realising that there was really nothing I could have done.” Her voice was cracking a bit with emotion but otherwise, she sounded strong.

“What happened to her?” Hana asked softly.

“She took off her bracelet, just like WIC said,” Adela explained, looking down at the bracelet on her own wrist. “We knew this might happen the moment WIC gave us these stupid things. You see, Tereza never liked sleeping with any kind of jewellery on her. It bothered her. If she fell asleep wearing anything of the sort, she would somehow take it off in her sleep, without realising what she was doing. I can’t count the number of earrings she lost in hotel rooms because of this. It was the reason she stopped traveling with expensive ones,” she chuckled sadly at the memory and her eyes filled with tears. “I’m going to miss my sister so much, but I know she wouldn’t want me to blame myself for what happened to her. I also don’t think anyone else who died here would want any of us to feel guilty for what happened to them. The only ones responsible for everything that has happened here is WIC, not us.”

“You’re right about that,” Hana said and gave Adela’s hand a little squeeze.

“Hi, is this like, the grief corner?” someone said sounding very sad. They all looked up and saw that it was Lucija Babic.

“Is that what they’re calling it?” Hana responded, sounding a little bit amused.

Lucija shrugged. “Not really, everyone is just saying that this is the corner where all the people who are grieving a loss go to like, mourn together.” She sighed. “Do you mind if I sit with you guys for a little while? I’m really still struggling with my friend Nika’s death, and I could use some group therapy.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d consider this therapy, but you are free to sit with us of course,” Joanna said, giving her a welcoming smile.

“Thanks,” Lucija said, settling down on the floor beside them. She felt so sad over Nika’s loss and the others in the competition already seemed so over it. She was surprised at how little human life meant to these people. Even her friend Selene, while sad, seemed too preoccupied with other things to give Nika’s death much thought anymore. Nika was their best friend. She should be mourned over; she should be remembered. At least that was how Lucija felt.

Somewhere in the distance, Pietro Romano was glaring in Joanna’s direction, wondering why she was talking with Lucija. Joanna knew his secret. That he had cheated on Lucija recently with Mia Ricci. Mia was not the only girl he had cheated with since they got together, but she was the only one Joanna knew about. Lucija had no idea of his infidelities, and he wasn’t about to let Joanna tell her.

“ATTENTION PLAYERS,” the mysterious voice of WIC boomed suddenly through the room. “SHOWER TIME WILL BEGIN SHORTLY. ON YOUR BEDS YOU WILL FIND AN OUTFIT TO CHANGE INTO FOR TONIGHT’S ACTIVITY. GATHER YOUR NEW CLOTHES AND BEGIN LINING UP FOR YOUR SHOWERS.”