BEEP!
"The challenge has started!"
"Why was the alarm so loud?" Ash asked, still stunned, with a finger in his ear to check if his eardrum had burst.
"They could've just announced the challenge started," Tanisha said, annoyed with her hands still over her ears. "We didn't need no alarms."
Suddenly, the doors at the far end of the entrance slid open with a mechanical hiss. The students closest to them leaned forward and peered inside before their feet pulled them in.
Beyond the door was a narrow hallway, dimly lit by neon blue and green lights, almost like a pathway into a fantasy world. One by one, they stepped through, quickly filling the hallway, until they reached another set of doors waiting at the end. These doors didn't open automatically. However, above the door was a sign that read.
Remove your shoes and place them on the shoe rack. Change into the designated socks.
On either side of the hallway were long rows of shoe racks, each cubby neatly paired with green grip socks.
"This is really a trampoline park," Ash said, his voice bursting with excitement as he grabbed Malakai's shoulders from behind and shook him violently.
Around them, smiles began to spread. Conversations started to pick up as everyone kicked off their shoes and eagerly put on their new socks. The uneasy feeling was gone.
It didn't take long for someone to push open the door. Leading the entire group to surge forward and flood out.
Malakai was near the back, so he was one of the last few to see what they were going into it.
He froze at the entrance. His mouth slowly fell open, eyes widening as he took it all in. Leaving him speechless.
The space was massive. Trampolines and Trampolines and even more Trampolines. A sea of trampolines, interconnected and stretched across the floor. There were trampolines on the floor, the wall, and at different angles. You could bounce off anything here. It wasn't just filled with trampolines. In the distance, he could see inflatables, slides, ziplines, foam pits, and stuff he couldn't even identify from a distance.
Bright colourful tiles filled the place. It was like a dream.
Ash pushed Malakai's chin up, closing his mouth, "You've never seen a trampoline park before?" he asked, grinning.
"Not like this," Malakai replied, shaking his head, the stun still showing on his face. "It's like I'm in space."
Laughter was already filling up the place. Ash couldn't hold it in anymore. With a reckless grin, he sprinted forward and launched himself onto the nearest trampoline, his body lifting instantly as he bounced, twisting mid-air before crashing back down and springing back up again.
Malakai smiled watching the whole thing, and before he knew it, he was sprinting too. His body was on autopilot, driving him to the fun.
The moment his feet hit the trampline, his body lifted, weightless like he was on the moon before gravity pulled him back down. Only to then send him flying back up.
A laugh escaped him before he could stop and control himself.
"This is sick!" Malakai said, his voice filled withed with pure joy, moving around like an excited electron.
Nearby, Sabrina and Naomi stood still, watching as most of their team lost themselves in the fun.
"It's like they've never seen trampolines before," Naomi said, her mouth twisting under her mask. "Ew." She glanced sideways. "Aren't you going to bounce around?"
"Maybe later," Sabrina giggled, covering her mouth. "I want to look around first. This place looks huge... Look over there," she pointed. "That slide is so high."
Naomi followed her gaze before sighing. "I see why we can do anything we want. They gave us a massive play area"
Sabrina smiled at Naomi, "You're not looking forward to this at all, are you?"
Naomi lightly picked at her curly hair to puff it up. "All of this is just too much at 11 AM."
"This is a little overstimulating," Sabrina said, looking around. "I'm going to make you join me later on, though."
Naomi turned her head to Sabrina and gave her a slow blink, "Please don't."
On a different side of the arena.
"No way…. We're going in."
"D-Destiny, wait!"
Delilah's protest was too late. Destiny was already pulling her into a foam pit.
They both crashed into the foam pit. The impact was soft but disoriented the two of them. Their bodies sinking into hundreds of lightweight squishy foam cubes.
Delilah's head burst through the surface. She had a look as if she had just come up from water, as she gasped for air. To the left of her, she couldn't see Destiny but could hear her muffled laughter through the colourful cubes. She shoved cubes aside, swimming her way upward until most of her body was out.
Delilah's eyes darted around, trying to make sense of where they were. "Is this really a part of the challenge?"
The green team were released into an area with a giant foam pit. The foam pit stretched out wide with trampolines around its edges, slightly raised so people could dive into the pit. Some sections featured inflatable objects, such as oversized pillars and wobbling platforms that swayed whenever someone tried to climb them.
Above parts of the pit were thin platforms with pool noodles scattered around. A fencing stage for whoever wanted to challenge anyone with the pool noodles. There were also a few diving boards for those who wanted some elevated dives into the foam pit.
Lucas saw many people throwing themselves into the foam pit. "What is this challenge?" he seriously asked.
Ray, on the other hand, looked like he'd already made up his mind. "We need to find the other guys," he said, excited by the idea of them having fun together.
Ray started to walk away in pursuit of linking up with his friends. Lucas smirked, plotting behind him.
He moved quietly and snuck up behind Ray. He wrapped his arms around him from behind, attempting to lift him off the ground. "Where you going?" he said, his voice clearly sounding like he was smiling.
It would've been funny if it had gone how he wanted. Lucas's attempt to pick him up didn't exactly go to plan.
Ray didn't budge. His feet were firmly planted on the floor. The advantage Lucas had quickly went. It turned into a wrestling match.
Ray twisted and got control instantly. Grabbing hold of Lucas and directing him to the pit.
"Wait wait wait wait!?" Lucas rapidly pleaded as he was being edged closer to the foam pit. "When did you get this strong?"
"Jump," Ray casually said with a smile, tightening his grip. "You don't have to be scared. It's not a swimming pool. You're not going to get wet."
"No. I want to throw you in," Lucas said, just about fighting on, clinging on stubbornly to Ray.
Ray chuckled, "Too bad."
Ray swiftly broke Lucas's clinches and shoved him in. Lucas fell in with his face dug into foam cubes.
"Tsk. I need to get back in the gym," he said, lifting his head and throwing the foam cubes out of his face. He turned back to look at Ray and, "Holddup! Ray! Don't jump! Wait! Lemme move out of the way."
Ray's devilish smile flashed him before he jumped and dived straight onto him.
A few feet away from them.
"Delilah, stop hitting me," Destiny said mid-laugh with a pool noodle in hand.
Delilah also had a pool noodle in her hand, ready to defend herself, "You started it," she replied with a smile.
Shortly, the two of them engaged in combat. Swinging their pool noodles and throwing foam cubes at each other, smiling and giggling the whole time.
On the side, Frank was watching, "So this is why she wanted try-hards on her team."
Luna let out a quiet laugh through her nose. "Not just her. Everyone is having fun," she said, seeing a lot of people in and around the foam pit. "Are you going to go in?"
Frank paused, then slightly tilted his head to her, giving her a smile. "I want to prove I'm not a try-hard," he said.
Without another word, he started to jog.
Luna blinked, watching Frank pick up speed. Charging forward before launching himself off a trampoline on the edge. Cannonballing straight into the pit. Right next to Destiny.
"AAHH!"
Ryan stood still, staring at the massive structure in front of him.
It was a jungle gym, but it was more like a massive maze. Layers of platforms, connected by rope bridges, netted tunnels and walkways that twisted in every direction. Bright padded panels and beams across the whole structure. Multiple layers, stacked almost to the ceiling.
A fun, bright, colourful maze-like jailhouse was before him, with young adults running around in it, bouncing off it, climbing the nets, crawling through the tunnels, swinging off ropes, falling into mini foam pits, and laughing everywhere.
"I prepared myself for no reason," he thought, slightly furrowing his brows.
"Someone's confused," a voice said, creeping behind.
Ryan's light expression dimmed after seeing who it was. "It's you."
"That's rude," Bri gasped fakely. "I thought our bond was special. We've been on a team together already."
"I don't like being reminded of that challenge," Ryan said, turning back to the jungle gym. "And just because we were on a team doesn't mean we're close," he harshly reminded her.
Bri's grin sharpened. "I meant more that I know how you truly are."
Ryan's eyes flicked towards her, giving her a side-eye. "Which is?"
Bri locked eyes with him and let the silence hit for a second.
"Not the nice, friendly knight in shining armour you pretend to be."
"I don't pretend," Ryan calmly replied.
"Act, pretend. Same difference."
"I don't act."
"Whatever", Bri scoffed. "It doesn't matter to me. I'm not gonna tell anyone anyway."
"You're acting like I've done something horrible," Ryan said. "I haven't done anything to you."
"The way you acted in that challenge irked me," Bri replied, her face showing how she felt.
"Before the challenge started, you were giving me dirty looks," Ryan said, slyly pointing at her. "You never liked me."
"Because guys like you are too good to be true. I didn't believe that gentleman act for a second," Bri said, crossing her arms.
"You've got issues," Ryan replied, flatly, shaking his head. "I can tell you've been cheated on."
That hit Bri like a flashbang.
"...What an odd thing to say," Bri said with a wry smile. "Unfortunately, you're not wrong."
Ryan didn't look surprised. "Besides, if you didn't 'believe me', every other girl wouldn't believe me either."
"I'm sure plenty of others think it," Bri confidently said. "Not like it matters that much anymore. The hype around you has died down. People care more about the actually popular people. The people with loads of followers on Instagram and TikTok."
"Doesn't matter to me," Ryan replied, shrugging lightly. "Popularity means nothing."
"Likability does," Bri smugly said. "I know you want to be liked by everyone. I know you miss when girls followed and hung around you."
"Do you always talk this much?" Ryan said, cutting her off. "I don't remember hearing your voice this much before."
"I get mood swings," Bri said with a cheeky grin, enjoying annoying him.
"Bri! Come over here!"
The call came from inside the jungle gym. Her friends were looking at her through a net. Putting their arms through to usher her to come.
Bri glanced at them and then returned her attention to Ryan.
Ryan's expression brightened. "I'm glad you're in a good mood today," he said in his polite tone "That'll help us win, no doubt."
Bri got the ick. She rolled her eyes as she started to walk away, "Too late for that act."
"Dang, look at her go," Eve said, watching Maria run around with Nicole in the inflatable park. Maria was gliding around, weaving through the obstacles, increasing her distance from Nicole. "I didn't know she could run that fast."
Anya gazed around at the entire area. Inflatables everywhere. The floor, the walls, the obstacles, the slides.
"I'd never thought I would see Havana Rodriguez's daughter running around and bouncing off inflatables," Anya said, watching Maria. She looked at Eve. "Neither of us is the carrier or the doctor. We have no real responsibilities. I think we should take a leaf out of their book and have fun."
Eve looked at the vast area in front of her, filled with people with toothy smiles and sounds of laughter.
It was irresistible to frolic around.
"You're right," Eve said, a grin breaking out before pacing away.
Meanwhile, a few feet from the yellow team's entrance, Alexander hadn't moved. He stood still, slightly apart from the rest. He tilted his head down to his wristband, which was still blank. His gaze lingered there for a bit before lifting his head again. Looking at what was going on in front of him.
His teammates acting like children.
"What am I witnessing?" he thought in a mix of disappointment and disbelief.
He quietly exhaled through his nose, shaking his head before turning away from the noise.
Alexander walked away. Keeping his distance from anyone and everyone.
His plan was to explore the place. He wanted more information, not fun. The more he walked, the less crowded it became. He could still hear vibrant noises from all directions, but it sounded like all the groups were congested in one spot. There was a lot more to this place, and Alexander found that out.
Alexander found a place with multiple rock climbing walls. Each wall varied in height, angle and difficulty. Some slanted inward, others outward. Some had a lot of grips close together, others had grips that were spaced out.
Alexander scanned the walls to see if he had missed anything, then noticed a sign.
You may find the cure at the top.
"There's a vaccine at the top of one of these walls," he thought, looking up the walls.
The tips of his lips curled slightly. A flicker of excitement ignited inside him.
Back to the red team.
"This is too fun," Ash said between breaths.
"Bro, this is only one part," Malakai replied. "There's other areas."
From the moment they entered, the two had been bouncing around nonstop. Doing everything from front flips, back flips, tackling each other, throwing stuff at each other, and throwing stuff at other people. If you watched the two of them, you wouldn't think they were over the age of 15. They were like overexcited kids, hungry for more. They knew there was more fun to be had. Different areas to unlock that fun.
And only a few steps from there, they found it.
"A ball pit!" Ash shouted, pointing ahead.
A massive sea of different-coloured plastic balls endlessly layered on top of each other.
Malakai glanced at Ash.
Ash glanced at Malakai.
No words, but they understood each other.
They took off like they were sprinting in the Olympics. Two bodies flashing through and then launching off the ground. Cannonballing into the colourful plastic sea.
Balls flying in all directions from the impact. The sea swallowing them both.
They vanished for a second until Malakai emerged like a mole.
"This is easily the best challenge we've done."