Chapter 3 Game on...

Kai's POV

I thought I was in the clear. I ignored the creepy storage room task yesterday and decided to spend the rest of the evening trying to forget about it. But of course, life never goes as planned.

The next morning, I strolled into school, yawning as I made my way down the hall. I was still half-asleep, replaying the weirdness from yesterday in my head. As I rounded the corner, I spotted my friends—Tae, Mark, Marianne, and Rubin—huddled together, their heads bent down, staring at their phones.

"Yo! What’s got you all so serious this early in the morning?" I called out, slipping my hands into my pockets as I approached them.

Tae looked up at me, his expression a mix of confusion and irritation. "Kai, did you send us a link to that creepy game of yours?"

I blinked, taken aback. "What? No, why would I do that?"

Marianne, who was usually the most level-headed of us, held up her phone, showing me the all-too-familiar smiley face icon glowing on her screen. "Well, explain how we all have this weird app on our phones then," she said, her voice tinged with annoyance.

I grabbed her phone, scrolling through the app store. "You guys installed it?"

"No!" Rubin exclaimed, crossing his arms. "It just appeared. One minute I’m watching cat videos, and the next, this creepy app is staring at me. And it’s not like I can delete it. Believe me, I tried."

Mark nodded, holding up his phone as well. "Same here, man. I swear I didn’t install this. It’s like it just… showed up."

"That’s what happened to me too," I muttered, feeling a shiver run down my spine. "I thought it was some sort of prank or virus."

Tae, ever the skeptic, narrowed his eyes. "And you didn’t think to tell us about this?"

I raised my hands in defense. "Hey, I thought it was just messing with me! I had no idea it would spread to you guys."

Before any of us could say anything else, all our phones buzzed at once. We exchanged uneasy glances, then hesitantly looked at our screens.

> "Good morning, players! Ready to level up? Today's challenge: Skip school and complete as many dares as you can. Get creative!"

I groaned. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Marianne’s eyes widened. "Skip school? We’re all going to get detention!"

"Or worse, suspended," Rubin added, looking genuinely worried.

Mark, on the other hand, grinned. "You know, skipping school doesn’t sound half bad. I mean, we never do anything fun around here anyway."

Tae rolled his eyes. "Of course, you’d think that, Mark."

I looked at my friends, a weird mix of excitement and dread bubbling up inside me. The tasks yesterday were harmless enough pranks and jokes. But this felt different. More dangerous. And yet, a part of me was curious. What could happen if we actually played along?

"Okay," I said, making a decision. "We play along, but we stick together. No wandering off alone. Agreed?"

They all nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"So, what’s the first dare?" Marianne asked, unlocking her phone. "Because if we’re doing this, we might as well do it right."

We sneaked out of the school through the back gate, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. We made our way to the park a few blocks away, laughing nervously. I couldn't believe we were actually doing this—skipping school because of some weird app. It was stupid and reckless. But there was a thrill to it, too.

As we regrouped under a tree, our phones buzzed with a new notification:

> "Task 1: Play dead in the middle of the park for 2 minutes. No moving! The first to break loses."

Tae burst out laughing. "Oh, this is going to be good."

Mark grinned, already lying down on the grass, arms crossed over his chest. "I’m not losing this one," he said confidently.

Marianne gave me a look. "You’re the one who got us into this, Kai. You first."

I rolled my eyes but laid down on the ground, staring up at the sky. One by one, the others joined in, and soon we were all sprawled out on the grass, looking like a bunch of idiots playing dead.

People passing by gave us strange looks, and a dog came over, sniffing at Rubin's face. He tried not to laugh as the dog licked his cheek. "Dude, I’m going to lose it," Rubin whispered, stifling his laughter.

"Don’t you dare," Marianne warned through gritted teeth. "We’re almost done."

Finally, the timer on our phones dinged, signaling the end of the task. We all sat up, grinning and brushing grass off our clothes.

"Okay, that was hilarious," Mark admitted, wiping tears from his eyes. "What’s next?"

Before we could check our phones, a new notification popped up:

> "Task 2: Prank call the principal. Make it good!"

We all exchanged a look. "Oh no," Rubin said, shaking his head. "There’s no way I’m doing that."

Mark smirked. "I’ll do it. I’ve always wanted to mess with the principal."

He grabbed Marianne’s phone, dialing the school’s number. We huddled around him, barely able to contain our laughter as he put the call on speaker.

"Hello?" The principal’s gruff voice answered.

Mark cleared his throat, putting on his best serious voice. "Hello, sir. This is Officer Daniels from the local police department. We’ve received reports of an escaped llama on school premises."

There was a pause. "A llama?" the principal repeated, sounding utterly baffled.

"Yes, sir. A very aggressive llama. It’s been known to spit at students and teachers alike. We advise you to evacuate the premises immediately."

Marianne covered her mouth, trying not to laugh out loud. The principal was silent for a moment, then spoke again. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Mark hung up before he could answer, and we all burst into laughter.

"That was amazing," Tae said, still laughing. "I can’t believe you actually did that!"

"Neither can I," I said, shaking my head. "But I have to admit, it felt pretty good."

Just then, another notification buzzed on our phones:

> "Task 3: Steal the janitor’s mop and start a dance-off in the school hallway."

We all froze, staring at the message. "They can’t be serious," Rubin said, looking pale.

"Well," Marianne said with a grin, "we wanted a challenge, didn’t we?"

Tae rubbed his hands together. "Let’s do it."

As we made our way back to the school, a part of me couldn’t help but feel that this was only the beginning. The tasks were still funny, still pranks. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something darker was lurking beneath the surface, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

For now, though, we were all in it together, laughing like we hadn’t in ages. And as we prepared for our ridiculous mop dance-off, I couldn’t help but smile, wondering just how far this crazy game was going to take us.

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