Are You Ready?

The question lights up the screen, waiting for my answer. I like to think that I'm ready for whatever might come. I hope so, at least.

"Yes," I say tentatively, not knowing if i'm supposed to say my answer aloud or if there is some other way to respond to the question.

Level: Easy. Find the matching number codes.

My eyes widen to the size of saucers when the codes pop up. I'm completely surrounded by numbers, floor to ceiling. If this is 'easy', then I'm screwed. One pattern in particular stands out. 269739 is in bold. I slowly search through the numbers to see if I can find it's match. To my delight, the match does exist, and it's right by my foot. Time for the next code.

As I go through, finding the codes starts taking less and less time. I'm getting faster, it's no longer that difficult. Before I know it, an hour has already passed and it's time to leave. My head is filled with codes for the rest of the day.

For the next two days, we continue with that same task, only harder. Then, we switch to finding objects quickly in a cluttered space. I've never felt so perceptive in my life. I analyze everything, always looking for things that might not even be there. So far I haven't decided if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It keeps me up at night, always thinking back to things I'd seen previously and picking the images in my brain apart. That isn't the only thing keeping me up though. I've had so many nightmares. Due to my lack of sleep, I've barely seen my friends this week, even though we're already on the sixth day.

This morning I woke up and went through my usual routine. Now it's back to the chambers for more practice. Thank god my head hasn't exploded.

When I enter my chamber this time, I'm greeted by new instructions. Today I am to find a person weaving through a crowd. It's a lot more fun than looking for inanimate objects or sequences, but definitely harder. Every time they pop into view, I tap on her person and wait for them to surface again.  I start to pick up on their habits, the ways they move. It doesn't seem like I'm working at it for much longer than I do for the codes and objects, but once it shuts down and the chamber doors unlock, I see that it's been two more hours than usual.

I make it to the cafeteria just in time for lunch. There must be people who haven't finished in the chambers yet, because the large room is quite empty. I sit down beside my friends to eat and open up the tiny sudoku book that I found in my book shelf. After a few minutes, I hear them quietly giggling.

"What?" I look up.

"You didn't even say hi when you sat down." Jason points out with a lopsided grin.

"I didn't?" I frown. I didn't realize I was so distracted. I feel bad.

"No, you didn't." Carrie laughs at the look on my face. "What're you so interested in?"

"Huh?" I look down. "Oh! My puzzles. It's sudoku. I figure it'll help with 'improving my brain' or whatever." I push the book towards them so they can see. "I didn't mean to ignore you."

"So you're ignoring us for a one up in the competition?" Nate smirks. "I see how it is."

I raise my eyebrows. "You should have thought of doing something like this."

"I'm confident in my abilities." He winks.

"Whatever." I roll my eyes.

* * * * *

Tomorrow we will find out who's staying and who's going. The stress right now is insane. Just by looking at people you can tell they're all nervous. I noticed this today after lunch. I had decided to stay with my friends since I'd been so absent.  Even Clair, when I ran into her, seemed nervous. Her mockery was minimal, and her insults were subpar at best. One good thing about this is that there hasn't been many fights this week. I thought with all the stress there would be more, but no, everyone has been trying their best to get along. So, there are three hundred and ninety one of us left. So far.

It's currently 2am; I just woke up from another nightmare. Surely the purple bags under my eyes are taking over my whole face by now because I've had this problem all week. Dreams of being sent away. Not back home though, but to a horrible dark place filled with screams, faceless people, and the knowledge that my own failure brought it all upon myself.

Rather than trying to go back to sleep though, I'm walking into the cafeteria to see if there is any food left that I could take. The room is dark, very dark. The singular light source is from the moonlight shining in through the glass ceiling, casting eerie shadows across the room. Thankfully for me, the cooks have some of the baked goods left out. I take a cranberry-orange muffin and turn to go back to my room. I stop when I hear a noise behind me.

"Who's there?" I demand. My heart pumps faster.

Familiar laughter fills the room. "It's just me, Aria. Calm down."

"Nate." I sigh and turn around to face him.

"I scared you." I hear him step forward. "Again."

"No you didn't. I'm not scared of anything." I take a bite of my muffin and search the darkness to figure out where exactly he is.

"Sure you're not." He teases.

"It's true," I mumble after swallowing my food.

"Whatever you say, scaredy cat." He steps closer again, this time landing in the path of the silvery moonlight. He flashes a grin.

"What're you doing up so late anyways?" I glare at him as he takes a bite of my muffin. "Hey, mine."

"Sharing is caring. And I could ask you the same thing. We're supposed to be in our rooms from 12am to 6am, missy." He fake scolds me. "But, like you, I'm hungry and can't sleep."

"Why can't you sleep?" I ask, curious.

He snorts. "If I knew, I'd be trying to solve the problem. Why can't you sleep?"

"Nightmares." I shrug.

"Yeah?" He furrows his brow. "About what?"

The strange and sudden impulse comes over me to lie, so I smile and say jokingly, "monsters."

He raises his eyebrows. "Really? Well, I'll protect you from your 'monsters' tonight."

"I don't know." I tilt my head to the side. "They're pretty scary."

"It's okay, I'm scarier. Come on." He holds out a hand. "Let's go."

"Where?" I take his hand.

He smiles and leads me to the little multipurpose room that Jen and I sort of took over once we found it. Hardly anyone else ever comes here --people have already found their own hang out places.

"I can't sleep and you have the completely irrational fear of monsters, so let's stay up and watch a movie." He sits down on the sofa.

"The night before the test?" I look at him like he's crazy. "We'll be exhausted tomorrow!"

"It will be fine, Aria." He tugs gently at my arm. "Sit down."

"I--"

"Aria."

"Fine." I sigh.

Fifteen minutes into the movie he's chosen --one I've seen a million times before-- I put my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. I'll just rest a minute before going back to my room... Just one minute...