Page 233 of The Bonding Games: Part 1

Dex Silvers.

Only two more. The odds of one of them being me is practically non-existent, right? Righ—

BZZZZZT!

Alby White.

I freeze.

Stop breathing.

Blink.

Blink again.

My eyes scan the two words . . . then another time. And another.

I’m trying to figure out if my brain has somehow mixed up the letters, if maybe everything is so hazy from the fear in me that my vision is currently impaired—

It hits me.

Oh, holy shit. Holy shit, holy fucking shit—

A high-pitched yelp crawls up my throat and escapes before I can stop it as I feel something prod into my arm, forcefully yanking me back down to earth. I slap my hand over my mouth, but the damage is already done, snickers filling my ears from the students around me.

Face flaming, I look at the boy sat beside me who poked me when he says, “Go on down there, then. That was your name, in case you can’t read either.” His finger points at the large screen, which has already started its search for the tenth and last name.

I swallow down bile and hide my reaction to the insult casually thrown my way as I force myself to my feet, the jelly that is currently my legs leaving me battling with every step I take to the end of the row. Even though my hair is hardly long enough, I subtly shake my head that hangs as low as usual to try and get some in my face, hoping to gain at least a little coverage from all the probing eyes pointed my way. Dodging feet and knees, I shuffle along.

I’m mostly left alone when I’m not being picked on by Troy or Aider. But their influence has always spread wide, and some like to join in on the fun every now and then with a comment or two.

Luckily, I wasn’t sat too deep in the row, and I suck in a greedy breath when I escape it. Moving to the stage down below, I find my place beside Dex, who gives me a pitying look that does absolutely nothing to soothe my nerves. On my other side, the last Evot generated stops, giving me a tight-lipped smile before wiping a fair hand across her thigh, the limb quivering as much as every one of my own is.

And from the other side of the line we’ve formed, two faces with matching promises of pain and suffering written across them stare straight at me, Aider and Troy’s eyes dancing with sadistic delight.

I’m so dead.

3

ALBY

The Bonding Games has officially begun.

While the first live recording is happening later today, it’s the 1st of August 4057, which starts the two-month event. Soon we’ll be arriving at the Headquarters, where we’ll be living for the next eight weeks.

Well, that’s if I can make it that far.

I don’t have high hopes.

Sitting in a limo with four other Evots, the fancy interior’s walls have an emerald sheen to them, the glinting black taalk bouncing our Avri suits’ luminant embellishments back at us. To my right is a mousy-haired girl named Charlotte, who, like me, hasn’t said a word the entire journey. On my left is Mavry, who’s somehow managed to fall asleep, though I can’t possibly fathom how when the dread of my new reality kept me awake the entirety of last night.

On second thought, maybe he suffered the same issue and the exhaustion has finally knocked him out midday.

Positioned on the padded leather bench across from me, Jodine and Dex talk quietly, their heads bent close together. Jodine’s long sable hair contrasts shockingly against the white-blond strands of Dex’s, and I wonder if they’re together with the intimate setup and how they’ll navigate the Games with that relationship. Not that I know for sure how close they are when I’ve only really seen the pair in passing throughout my time at EvTS 246, but either way, my chest clenches at the sight of them, and not for the first time, I plead with the universe to give me something like that. A friend . . . maybe even more.

I’m on good terms with my parents, but aside from on a screen, I’ve never really been able to see them much. Holidays for Evots in both second and third schools are short and rare, and they don’t permit students to visit family on weekends unless they have enough credits—which I rarely got considering credits are earned when instructors are impressed by students or they get high marks on a test. However, I made a point to use them to visit home every time I did get enough, which was usually after a theory test since I’m actually pretty intelligent when I’m not put on the spot.

And when I don’t have to test that theory in real life.