I Quit Their Game

The SATs were finally over when my four childhood friends invited me to play a game of Take the Dare. When it was my turn, the real heiress who just got home asked if we would tell everyone our dream university.

The four boys said it was Westborder U. Ronald Peyton slid his application over to me and smiled as he tapped on my score. More than 1400. "I dare you to give up Queencity U and come to Westborder with us. Whoever backs off is a loser."

That night, I signed the contract right in front of them. Everyone started egging Ronald on after I confessed, and he said yes.

When the acceptance letter came, I went to see them only to notice the projector in the living room still turned on. The screen showed a group chat called "Protectors of Melissa (Imperia)".

"Did she sign it?"

"Yep. Four fake applications to bait her into Westborder. Good trade."

"Melissa's smart. Got rid of that annoying girl with one little game."

"Ronald's suffering though. Has to pretend to date her until term begins."

I stood before the screen, and behind me, the door opened. The boys and Melissa walked in carrying champagne. They were celebrating their acceptance into Queencity U.

The moment they saw me standing in front of the projector, every one of them froze.
Chapter 1 Betrayal
Ronald composed himself first. "Now that you've seen it, there's no point hiding it. Melissa has no family, and she's never been able to adjust to the northwestern region. You've always been independent. You'll be fine on your own."
Melissa tugged on him, her eyes red. I did not cry, but I pointed at the chat history. "Who made the fake applications?"
"I printed them," Ronald admitted without hesitation.
"Who came up with the game of Take the Dare?"
Her eyes darted away. Yves Quinton quickly shielded her. "We came up with it together. Don't just go after Melissa."
I nodded and looked at Ronald. "Saying yes to my confession is part of the plan?"
Ronald's throat bobbed. "You would never agree to a long-distance relationship. If I didn't say that, you'd never have signed the contract." He made it sound so matter-of-fact, and he didn't even sound guilty.
Melissa's eyes went red, then she snatched Xavier Riverson's phone. "This is my fault. I'll apply to another university. I'll go to the northwestern region with Helena. You guys can stay in Imperia."
The four huddled around her, and Christian Herman took her phone. "You're not changing anything. The acceptance letter is already here!"
"What about Helena?" Melissa was crying so hard, her shoulders were shaking. "She'll be sad going somewhere so far alone."
Ronald took a tissue out and wiped her tears away. "She's always been an independent girl. She can survive anywhere. You're frail and have never left Imperia. Don't ruin your future."
I was just nearby, watching them cheer her up. This was the answer. It was never really about the northwestern region being unsuitable for Melissa. They simply could not bear the thought of her suffering.
As for me? They had no problem throwing me away.
Xavier adjusted his glasses and said calmly, "I know this is underhanded, but the results tell me that everyone gets their best ending. You're going to the research institute that works for you the best, and we'll stay here with Melissa. Everyone's futures are guaranteed."
I smiled. "You expect a thank you, then?"
Yves noticed the mockery, and his face fell. "You wanted to go there in the first place. You never said no to the professor no matter how many times they called. We only helped you make up your mind."
I did want to go. The project they were handling had been my dream, but I refused them twice because I did not want to leave the boys. At one point, I wanted to give up the project I loved just to stay back here with them. It was not necessary to tell them that now.
I picked up the acceptance letter.
Ronald stopped me. "Where are you going?"
"Home."
"What about us?"
I looked at him. "What do you mean, us?"
He froze. "Don't sulk, Helena. Part of the reason I said yes was so you'd sign the contract, but it wasn't all fake. I'll stay with you until the start of term, and I'll visit you when I have time. I've already given you what you wanted."
He thought dating me for two months was some sort of divine blessing.
Melissa said quietly, "He really cares about you. He even tucked you in after you fell asleep last night."
I almost laughed. These people duped me into signing a contract that had no way out, then one of them tucked me in, and this girl thought that evened things out.
"Stay sweet forever, then." I picked up the lucky charm and placed it before Melissa. "You want a childhood like ours? You can have this."
Melissa did not have the courage to take it. Ronald's frown deepened. "What's going on with you? Weren't you the one who said the five of us would never be separated?"
"That was in the past." I turned to leave, and my phone buzzed.
The research institute's professor texted me, "The ride will arrive in Imperia 48 hours later. I'll need you to confirm your participation, Helena."
I replied with a yes. The NDA was very strict here. After we joined the base, my number and electronics would be sealed away, and no one could contact me for a while.
I turned my phone off, turning on Do Not Disturb for the chat group that had been there all my life before that.
They thought I would get angry. They thought I would cry. They thought that, like every other time, I would eventually go back to them.
But this time, I was the one leaving them behind.
Chapter 2 Unconcerned
I wanted to give them back all their stuff before I left. When we were twelve, Yves gave me his first basketball competition victory's medal. He wanted me to keep it safe for him.
I went to the sports center holding the medal. He was on the ground, helping Melissa build her clothes stand. Mattresses, lamps, and boxes sat beside him.
"Put that lower." She gesticulated and drew a height level. "I can't reach it."
He took it apart and put it together again. He saw me and asked, "What are you doing here?"
I handed him the medal. "You can have it back."
He was stunned. "It can stay with you. What are you doing giving it back to me?"
"I might not have the chance to give it back if I miss this one."
He did not seem to notice what I meant. Instead, he casually tossed the medal into an already overflowing box. "Just in time. Melissa's room still needs a hook. You're strong. Come help out."
I did not move. Melissa quickly said, "It's alright. She's going to the northwestern region. I bet she's busy packing up."
Yves glanced at me. "She always finishes packing in ten minutes. That doesn't count as busy."
I left. He did not even come out to ask me when I was leaving.
…
Xavier was in the library. I found him there and handed back the competition notes he had left with me.
He took them and looked at the camera hanging around my neck. I saved a year's worth of allowance when I was fifteen to buy this. All our high school memories were inside.
"Leave the camera too," he said. "Melissa's making a video about her life, and she'll play it during orientation night."
"This is mine."
"We're just borrowing it. Not like we won't give it back." He waved at Melissa.
Melissa came and stared at my camera. "I just want to pick out our childhood photos."
"You weren't in our childhoods."
She went white. Xavier gave me a disapproving look. "You don't have to take it that far. She just feels that it's a pity she didn't get to know us sooner."
"So you're taking my past to patch up her void?"
He lost his patience and took the camera bag that was hanging on the back of the chair. "It'll just be for a few days. Don't overreact."
I tried to take it back, but he moved out of the way. "Ronald will give it back to you once the video's done."
I stared at him and let go. "Fine." There was nothing in the camera that I could not lose. Everything that still deserved a place in my life had already been backed up.
Christian stopped me at the entrance. "Just in time." He tossed me an external hard drive. "All the videos we took are in there. You can edit well. Make the video for Melissa."
"She doesn't have eighteen years worth of memories to edit."
"That's why she's using ours." He made it sound so matter-of-fact. "Edit out the places you can't show up in and put hers in. That'll work."
I looked at the hard drive.
It contained the video of us riding a car the first time, our first camp, and every birthday they spent with me. Now they wanted me to cut it all out so Melissa could replace me and pretend she had a perfect childhood.
"Fine." I took the hard drive. That stunned him.
"That was fast."
"You said I'd calm down after sulking for a couple of days."
He rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Glad to hear you got over it."
None of them asked when I was leaving.
…
That night, Ronald asked me out on a date. He took us to our usual spot but spent all his time texting.
Melissa said the bed boards were too hard, so he called the supplier to change it. She said she was worried she could not get along with her roommates, so he sent some long voice messages to reassure her.
The meat was getting too hard to eat, but he didn't notice. "Ronald."
"Yes?"
"Do you remember what I'm doing tomorrow?"
He finally looked up. "Um… Packing up?"
"Something along those lines."
He heaved a sigh of relief and slid a plate of dessert over to me. "Don't give me that long face. And don't cause a scene after you get there. I promised you I'd visit, so I won't go back on it."
When we left, he kissed my forehead. "Just wait until the start of term like a good girl. We'll visit after some time."
I did not expose his lie.
After I went home, I plugged the hard drive into my computer and deleted everything that had us in it. I would not let them take my life apart and hand the pieces to Melissa just so she could pretend they belonged to her.
Then, I unplugged the hard drive and put it in a delivery box. This was my final gift for them, a clean past that had no traces of me in it.
Chapter 3 Bullied
It was seven the next morning when I went back to school to collect my final file. Right after I went into the main building, someone behind me laughed.
"Look, that's one of the top scorers."
"I heard she was going to stay in Imperia with Ronald. Then, all her friends applied for Queencity, while she was the only one heading to Westborder."
"Sent? She wanted to cling to them but failed, so she scurried away."
Some girls were blocking the stairs. The one in the lead was Melissa's new friend. Her gaze swept over me before landing on the camera around my neck.
"That's the stuff you won't lend Melissa?"
I held her hand. "Let go."
"What's with the attitude?" She raised her voice. "Melissa's right. You think you're a princess because you grew up with four childhood friends!"
Her friend continued, "A shame they chose Melissa, but some people confessed despite that and got ditched after a day. What a joke."
A crowd was forming.
I looked at the other end of the corridor. Ronald and the others were there. Yves was holding Melissa's file, Xavier was verifying things, while Christian was holding her breakfast.
Ronald saw me too, but he only frowned and did not approach me. A long time ago, someone in school said I relied on those four to back me up, and Ronald stopped him from leaving the broadcasting room until he apologized before the whole school.
Now these people surrounded me, holding my camera, but he pretended not to see me. Melissa rushed over. "Don't do that. She's just in a bad mood."
The girl holding my camera snickered. "You're just too kind. She's jealous you have someone with you and won't even give you her childhood videos, but you're still defending her?"
Melissa's eyes went red quickly. Ronald finally came over, but he pulled Melissa behind him. "Come at us if you're angry. Don't give Melissa attitude."
Before I could say anything, the girl behind me tore the camera strap away, and the camera smashed against the ground.
Another 'accidentally' toppled the water bucket, and dirty water splashed all over me. Laughter boomed. "Oops, my hand slipped."
I wiped the water off my face and bent over to pick my camera up.
Ronald looked at me and said impatiently, "Go change your clothes. Don't make a scene at school."
They humiliated me, and everyone else could chalk it up as their hand slipping, but when I demanded justice, they called it starting a scene.
I did not look at them. I held my file and left school.
…
Half an hour later, I had just changed into clean clothes when the front door was shoved open. The boys led Melissa into my house.
"Where's the charm?" Yves cut to the chase. "Melissa was still wearing it, but it was gone when she realized it."
I leaned on the door. "So?"
Christian looked cold. "You're the only one who had skin contact with her at school. You took it." He went into my bedroom and pulled the drawers open.
Everyone else rummaged through my wardrobe and desk. They never knocked when they came into my room, and it had been that way our whole lives.
I used to think that was us being close. It was at that moment that I realized these people only did it because they were sure they had power over everything I had.
Yves opened the wardrobe and noticed the scant number of clothes inside. "What are you doing, packing up?"
My chest squeezed.
Xavier looked at my suitcase and answered for me, "She's trying to scare us."
Christian snickered. "Running away from home at your age?"
They were laughing it off as a joke, and none even thought I was really leaving.
Ronald found the early admission agreement, but he only scanned the cover quickly and stuffed it under a leg of the table. "Term starts in September for college. You think you can disappear today?"
Melissa pulled out a charm from the crack between the desk and the wall. "Found it!"
She was the one who dropped it.
She looked at me, blushing. "Sorry, Helena. I didn't mean to."
Ronald patted her head. "Glad you found it. Don't cry."
No one thought she should apologize to me. Melissa noticed the videos on my computer. That was a time capsule we buried when we were ten, the video where we went to the beach at fifteen, and every video for my past birthday. "So, that's where the full version is."
Her eyes lit up. "Can I use these to make my video?"
"No." I turned the computer off, and her eyes dimmed.
Yves stood before me. "She just wants to take a look. You promised you'd edit."
"And I'm taking that promise back."
Melissa's tears fell. "Do you think I can never be your friend?"
Ronald's face fell, and he took the mouse. "She wants the videos. You don't want to appear in them, so delete yourself."
"Don't touch it, Ronald."
He ignored me and selected all the files with my name on them. I tried to stop him, but Christian grabbed my arm. "They're just some videos. It won't kill you."
Ronald pressed delete, and the progress bar filled up immediately.
The videos of me learning how to ride a bicycle for the first time, the time when I won my first competition, and the time when I was sixteen, where Ronald told the camera he would marry me. One by one, they disappeared into the Recycle Bin.
"That works out perfectly." He let go of the mouse and said coldly, "You'll never appear in any commemorative videos."
He wanted to get to me, but he should really be careful what he wished for.
…
The research institute's professor texted me, "The car will arrive in two hours."
I closed my laptop and pulled my suitcase. Eighteen years of my life and somehow, everything I was taking with me fit inside a single twenty-eight-inch suitcase.
Chapter 4 Leaving
It was dawn, and the black car was waiting outside my house. My parents were still overseas, working on a project. They were sending me off through a video call. My mother's eyes were red. "Sure you don't need us to come home?"
"The base isn't allowing any family to come."
My father was right beside her, holding his tears back. "Take care of yourself. Tell the professors if anyone pushes you around. Don't hold everything in."
My eyes stung. At least there was someone out there who still hated to say goodbye to me.
…
Ronald and the others spent the whole night setting up the celebration for The Imperia Five at Melissa's house.
The chat group blew up the whole night.
Yves sent a photo of a wall filled with balloons. "You have the best aesthetics here, Helena. Help us out!"
Xavier replied, "She's still sulking. Don't give her any quarter."
Christian posted a cake for five people. "She'll calm down after she stays in the northwest for a couple of days. We'll livestream for her."
I did not reply.
"Once you get in the car, the nondisclosure process begins. Your personal phone and social media accounts will be sealed. Do you have anyone you wish to call?"
"No."
I went into the car, and my phone buzzed. It was a notification that said Melissa changed the group chat's name. It was now The Imperia Five.
She sent a snapshot. My nickname in the group was Princess, but now it was changed to Northwestern Girl. Melissa sent a laughing emoji. "I changed these randomly. She won't be mad, right?"
Yves replied immediately, "If she gets mad, she can crawl all the way back from the northwest to change it."
Christian laughed. Xavier said nothing, but he left a like on that message. Ronald replied, "It works well."
I watched them text and did not feel sad.
They had no idea that in ten minutes, I would not even be Northwestern Girl. I left the group chat and deleted their numbers, but I paused for a moment when it came to Ronald.
His last message came in. "Stop messing around and come over to celebrate tonight. And bring the hard drive."
He was imperious, so sure that I would do his bidding.
I deleted his number without saying anything.
A staff member handed me a sealed security pouch. "Turn your phone off and put it in here. Once the project begins, you won't be allowed to contact anyone outside privately, and no one outside will be able to find out where you've gone."
I turned the phone off, and the moment that screen went dark, all my connections to my old life were cut off. The black car slowly moved out of the courtyard. The tree that had grown up with us flickered outside the window and disappeared.
…
When we hit the toll station on the highway, I realized something was in my pocket. The lucky charm. I said I would give it to Melissa the day before. She hated that my name was carved on it, so she took a photo and stuffed it back into my bag.
Eighteen years together, and we did not even have a proper goodbye. The bar slowly rose. The professor reminded me, "Once we leave Imperia, there's no turning back."
I rolled the window down, and a dawn breeze filled the car, while my hair billowed. I opened my palm and looked at the charm one last time, then I let it go.
The charm fell onto the concrete pavement beside the toll station.
A sharp crack sounded behind us.
The car did not stop. It crossed the border and continued towards the northwest, nearly a thousand miles away. I did not look back. Not once.