The bedroom door slammed with such force that the framed diploma on the wall tilted sideways. Ethan didn't bother to fix it. She collapsed onto her bed, staring at the ceiling she'd gazed at for the past seventeen years of her life. The same ceiling, the same room, but everything else had changed.

 
XXXII. The First Week
 
Claymaker Reversal attempt #3

The sound of a door slamming echoed through the Altura household, but Melissa barely registered it. She sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at the wall opposite her. The black and gray tapestry she'd hung there featured an intricate mandala design that she used to find captivating. Now it was just another pattern, devoid of meaning.

Ethan stared at the female school uniform spread across her bed, each piece mocking her with its inherent femininity. The Melville Cottage uniform consisted of a black pleated skirt, black feminine dress jacket, white blouse, and a dark purple necktie with three gold stripes. Black mary jane shoes completed the ensemble, arranged neatly beside the bed by someone with far more enthusiasm for this nightmare than Ethan possessed.

“Avoid playing games of chance for money, young lady.” His eyes twinkled. “Yes. You have a question. So, ask it.”

A group of people wake up in video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

Trapped in a trap within a trap.

Dedicated to Sephrena Lynn Miller, in the hope that this story fits her expectations. Thank you for all you have done for the group.

Frances and Jill were friends from a long way back. They had met in their nursery school and unlike many small girls, or boys for that matter, had not been selfish, but had played happily together with imaginative games like ‘Doctors and Nurses’ or ‘Mummies and Daddies’ for as long as they were awake.

A group of people wake up in video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

Here we go…

The Interview (2)
by
Angharad.
I spoke to the principal about our upcoming event and to be prepared. He was busy so told me to organise it and provided I stuck to college policies, which included diversity and variety, to just get on with it. He'd see the student involved in a couple of weeks. I told him what I'd done and that we were on fieldwork all next week and Fiona was one of the field workers. He told me to do what I could and any dissenters could be warned that they agreed to the policy about Difference and Diversity before we accepted them.

Chapter 17: The Harassment continues

Yuqi walked into school the following day, bracing herself for what would come. The weight of yesterday’s events still lingered heavily in her chest, but she tried to push through it, her shoulders squared and her head held high. She didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing how much the incident had hurt her.

The morning started quietly enough, with students milling about the hallways as usual, but as soon as the PA system crackled to life, the memory of the previous day came rushing back.

Acidalia XIX
By Amanda D.

Saturday Sept 15th 10:15am pdt:

The Sisters Compound:

The clearing had been unnaturally quiet since Father's extended absence. Even Remi's growing sensitivity to earth-vibrations could not trace his movements beyond their usual territory. The mother dragon's restlessness manifested in constant, agitated movements—her massive tail carving fresh furrows into the ground as she maintained her vigilant watch over the clutch.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.

The festival.

Chapter 36.

After a bit, the plates are empty, and the table is covered in nothing but scraps and empty glasses. The food was undeniably good, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I feel full in a way that doesn’t come with the weight of stress or exhaustion.

From the San Gabriels to the Mexican Border, Southern California is people. Anglos and Chicanos, Asians, Blacks, Slavs, Armenians – heaps of Armenians! – you name it. They come from everywhere, and they bring their languages, their foods, their feuds and their passions with them. It’s wild and dynamic and scary, and I love it.

It’s home.

A group of people wake up in a video game world and are forced to work together to survive and find out how to escape.
Chapter 35.

After what feels like a year of waiting at the inn—Kaida fussing with her hair every five minutes and me trying not to pace a hole in the floor—she finally looks up from the mirror and announces, “Alright, it’s time to meet them!”

I freeze, my stomach doing an unhelpful little flip. “Already?”