Page 12 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

God, shut up already .

The pounding was loud as shit. Relentless. Rattling his brain around and drilling straight through his skull.

Theo yanked the covers over his head. He pressed his face deeper into the pillow, but the light still burned through his eyelids.

His head was splitting , and if that goddamn noise didn’t stop— he was going to snap.

Whatever the hell it was—construction at the crack of dawn, his asshole neighbor banging on the walls, or some couple fucking like porn stars—kept going.

Each sound sent a fresh spike of pain twisting through him.

And to make shit worse, his phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.

“Shut up!” he shouted, his voice cracking from the strain.

Magically, everything stopped.

No more pounding.

Or buzzing.

Blissful, beautiful silence .

Exhaling, he relaxed into the mattress. He’d nearly drifted off again when the sharp click of a key turning in his front door lock sent panic through his veins.

He bolted upright and the room tilted— window on the ceiling, carpet spinning violently.

Stop.

Holy shit, stop for a second.

Colors smudged together, solid shapes morphing into blobs of nothing.

Glasses.

Glasses were a necessity.

But, when he patted the side table? His hands only touched the box of tissues that lived there and then knocked into a glass of water.

Where the fuck are they?

Throwing the cover to the ground, he fumbled with the pillows. His bed was soaked.

Still, no glasses.

“Theo?” Rachel’s voice floated in from the front room, higher than usual.

“Yeah, hold—hold on,” he yelled back.

Why were his pants unbuttoned?

His hoodie?

Did he give up halfway through getting undressed?

God, why was his shirt crunchy?

With a sigh, he dropped onto the edge of the bed. “I’m in here. ”

Smears of… something—or some one— popped into his doorway and he blinked hard, willing anything to come into focus.

No dice.

The pounding in his skull had spiraled into his temples, thumping against his brain.

“You look like crap, Teddy. Are you okay?” Rachel asked.

“It’s his own fault. He didn’t listen,” Alyssa said.

The bed tilted and he could barely make out Alyssa’s profile. She hovered closer, her hand on his forehead, and everything snapped into focus.

“Have you seen my glasses?” he asked.

“Have you heard of like, toothpaste?”

“I just woke up. Fuck you.”

“It’s noon ,” Alyssa shot back, her voice hitting a shrill note that did not help the headache.

A tap on his shoulder.

Then, the familiar weight of his glasses pressed into his palm.

Thank god.

He slipped them on, and the world sharpened into clear lines and solid objects.

Alyssa, propped on his bed, and Rachel standing with her hands on her hips.

Alyssa jiggled the bags and an oversized to-go cup. “Food?”

Theo’s stomach rolled over, growling in response. His mouth watered, and he didn’t realize how fucking hungry he was until he saw it.

Alyssa tore open one of the bags and dumped containers of fries on top of it .

“You had me worried,” Rachel said, ripping open ketchup packets with her teeth and squeezing them onto the fries.

“Why?”

“Because you like, magic tricked out of existence,” Alyssa added, handing over the cup and a straw. “Ray was calling. I was calling. And, like, radio silence.”

My fucking phone.

“Noah took me home.” Theo opened the other bag and dug out a burger that smelled like heaven—greasy, cheesy, crap food. “And I crashed.”

Alyssa huffed. “You could’ve at least said bye. Or like, texted someone or—I dunno, Theo—acted like a human .”

Theo took a massive bite, struggling to chew and talk.

“Bitch,” he managed, nearly choking. “You asked him to take me home!”

“Um, no? Babe, you’re so cute to think I thought about you for like, longer than five seconds.”

“Yikes,” Rachel mumbled under her breath, her lips curled into a smirk.

“Seriously,” Theo laughed. “That was harsh.”

It took a moment for the words to sink past the dulling throb. Thoughts crawling back into place too slow.

“Back up. You didn’t ask Noah to take me home?” he paused. “Goth Dolly?”

Alyssa shrugged, plucking out another fry. “No. And I kinda like that nickname. Keep it. But, Max’s fingers were inside me and I saw heaven. You being super high didn’t even cross my mind.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. Shuddered. “That is the most vivid ass picture. Wow. Pass.”

“You can’t slut shame a slut. Ain’t that right?” Alyssa waved a fry in Theo’s direction.

Theo held up his middle finger, downing the soda. The carbonation and sugar were helping, but it had to be the fucking comedown from hell making all this sound… off.

Wrong .

He moved his leg, but the jeans tugged—stiff in all the wrong places, like he’d slept in someone else’s clothes.

Did he catch his zipper on his dick or something?

“How long were you and Max gone?” he asked, the burger forgotten on his lap. “Before I left. You got up. How long?”

“I don’t know, maybe fifteen minutes?” Alyssa wiped her hands on the napkin. “We took some selfies with Kyran for his promo thing for Death whatever, and you’re like, poof.”

“What were we talking about right before? The stupid game, right?”

“How messed up were you?” Rachel asked, slapping his shoulder. “I’m gonna stage an intervention.”

Theo shot her a glare before turning his attention back to Alyssa. “I’m serious.”

Alyssa sighed and leaned back on her elbows. “Yeah, and like I freaking said , I turn around and you’re gone.”

Theo pulled the wrapper around the burger, the taste of ketchup and onion twisting his stomach.

Alyssa didn’t ask Noah to take him home.

So why did he ?

Noah acted so pleasant the whole damn time like he was doing it out of the kindness of his fucking heart . Some bullshit saint.

He could have let me call a rideshare like I was planning.

Why the fuck did he go through all that?

“Theo,” Rachel said, her voice gentle as she put a hand over his own. “You’re going to crush the cup. It’s heinous as hell, but it’s not guilty.”

“He’s such a prick,” Theo muttered.

Alyssa sat up. “Who? Golden Boy?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Theo took another deep breath. Looked back at Rachel. “I’m sorry I didn’t text back. I was tired.”

“It’s okay. I was just nervous you wrapped your car around a pole, man.” She took the cup from him, and he stretched his cramped fingers.

“You sure you’re alright?”

Theo nodded.

Stopped.

Shrugged.

He threw his hands up in the air.

“Fuck if I know. I’m—I need a shower.”

Theo had pulled the shower curtain closed when Rachel poked her head in the bathroom door.

“I got work in like an hour, Teddy. I need to head out,” she said, tapping on the frame .

Theo cranked the tap onto the coldest setting, hand over the shower head to slow the icy stream. “Is Alyssa leaving with you?”

“I dunno, she’s still on your bed.”

“Can you get her to leave?” he asked, a little too sharp. “Please?”

“Uh,” she stopped talking for a minute. “Well, maybe? What’s your deal with her?”

Besides the fact she’s the fucking reason I ran into Noah last night?

If she never insisted he stay, he wouldn’t have had to deal with any of Noah’s bullshit, fucking antics.

The game.

The bar .

The drive home.

None of it .

“Never mind,” he called back, shivering when he moved his hand and the water hit him. “I got it. Thanks for lunch.”

“Yep. You’re lucky I love you.”

The door slammed shut again.

Theo leaned his head against the tile. He was freezing , but it always helped the headaches, and he had a few minutes of silence.

Twenty-five thousand dollars.

No more shitty apartment.

No more boring life in a dead-end town.

Noah could go die in a ditch. He didn’t matter.

The entire point of Stop and Seek was not getting caught.

If Theo played the game right, he’d never have to see that stupid fucking face again .

He still hadn’t removed the blue bracelet. He didn’t plan to until he was the only hider left at the end.

They’d have to take it off his cold, rotting corpse.

Alyssa swore—up and down—the weed would relax him.

She was fucking wrong .

All that did was making him antsy.

And hungry.

Again.

He couldn’t keep pacing his apartment.

They arrived at the school earlier than Theo would’ve wanted, but at least they weren’t the only ones.

The gym looked even more crowded than it did yesterday.

Some of these people weren’t the right age to have gone to school with him.

Were they there to—what? Support someone else?

Watch? How boring would that be? Sitting there.

Twiddling your thumbs. Waiting for someone else to get done playing a game. There wasn’t anything to watch—

Unless someone was recording it.

Theo shivered, rubbing his hands up and down his arms.

No.

No fucking thank you.

If he ended up on social media, that’d be it. Game over, call it a day, tap out— whatever .

The thought of his face plastered across some random For You page again made his anxiety flare so hot he thought he might vomit.

Don’t think about it.

Forget it happened.

Alyssa was saying something. Theo saw her mouth moving a mile a second, but he was only half-listening.

His mind drifted. Eyes wandering over the nasty green brick.

Don’t think about it.

Do not.

But he couldn’t shake the warmth in his skin or the prickle at the back of his neck.

No one was watching him here.

No one.

Maybe it was the weed or the after-effects of whatever Alyssa had given him last night.

That had to be it.

That was the logical answer.

God, there were too many people.

Smoking had been the worst idea.

He should’ve stayed at home.

Twenty-five thousand dollars.

Alyssa laced her arm through his.

Theo jumped.

She jumped.

“Can you like, not give me a heart attack?” Alyssa breathed out, free hand over her chest. “Girl. Please.”

“Sorry. I was—”

“Yeah. I know. Lost in the loop of… whatever. Come on. ”

Alyssa led him over, and when he realized they were heading to the bleachers—and who was sitting there—he dug his heels into the ground.

“Oh my god ,” she screeched, spinning to face him. “Do you suddenly have it out for Kyran or Max? Kyran is cool. Max is hot. You should take some notes.”

They weren’t the problem.

“Only people that lied to me.” Theo pointed over her shoulder at Noah. “I don’t want to deal with him.”

“So ignore him? Hello? I don’t think he’ll bat an eyelash in your direction. You’re not that special.”

Theo flinched. He scrubbed his hands down his face, groaning into his palms.

“ Wow. Thanks for the confidence boost.”

“It’s why I’m here.”

She grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward. “We are socializing. You can stop being a shut-in for three days. I swear to god Theo— you will survive .”

What choice did he fucking have?

Theo dropped onto the bleachers when Alyssa finally let go of him, only a row down from everyone else.

She traipsed up, her whispers and giggles almost drowned out by the noise.

Theo pulled out his phone.

He could do this.

Navigating to the map of the school, he kept going through the steps in his head.

Inhale.

Exhale .

Ignore Decker’s loud ass.

“I’m drained. I’m dying. Save me.”

“You have the singular most relaxed life,” a guy said, somewhere above and behind Theo’s head. “Some of us have real jobs.”

“It’s a real job!” Decker whined. “I get paid real money. Wall Street sucks.”

“Who works at Wall Street ?”

“It’s a big building. Same diff. Same vibe.”

“It’s not…” The guy sighed. “Forget I started this conversation.”

Someone moved away—thankfully—and Theo could concentrate on circling the parts of the map that looked best.

The pool was an option. Isolated. No one in their right mind would go down there in the dark—but it was also a death trap. Four flights of stairs and on the other side of the building? Hell, he wasn’t that fast.

Chewing on his lip, he moved the image around.

He could let himself get caught. Once.

The new “freeze” rule benefited the hiders more than the seekers, and it was one of the reasons he didn’t change roles. He had to remain still for thirty seconds, and then he got another thirty seconds to run like hell.

It was a fucking scary bet on his speed, but it wasted an entire minute. When the longest round lasted fifteen? It ate up a huge chunk of the seeker’s time.

Someone flicked the back of his head, and he already knew who it was.

Won’t bat an eyelash, huh ?

“Feel any better? I was nervous leaving you alone last night,” Noah said, that damn cheerful voice grating.

Theo’s eyelid twitched.

If he turned around, he was going to punch Noah. There was no doubt about it.

No.

He was going to fucking wail on Noah until Alyssa or Decker had to pull him off.

Theo had to ignore him. It was the adult thing to do. Beating the shit out of people would get him jail time—didn’t matter if they deserved it or not.

Twenty-five thousand dollars.

He kept repeating it in his head until he could relax his grip on the phone and he didn’t feel like he’d break his jaw.

When the old, metal bleachers groaned with the weight of someone coming down, Theo clicked the screen off.

If it’s Noah, god can’t even help him.

Instead, it was some dude in a T-shirt and the thinnest pair of glasses Theo had ever seen.

“They’re exhausting,” the guy muttered, unlit cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth as he plopped down.

It was the same person talking to Decker. Or at least, it sounded like him.

“They’re loud,” Theo said. “Not my cup of tea.”

“Cup of tea.” The guy chuckled. “Shot of whiskey.”

“Shot of vodka.”

See, Alyssa? I can socialize.

The guy tucked the cigarette behind his ear with a grin, nodding at Theo’s hand .

“You’re blue, too? Welcome to the club. Everyone here seems to think the ones chasing have the upper hand.”

“Right? Bunch of shit. Our job’s way easier.”

“Have you considered your plan of action yet?”

“Already got it in the works,” Theo mumbled.

“If you haven’t already, let me bring to your consideration—”

The guy pulled a phone from his khakis.

“This.”

He flipped it open, turning it on the side and there was… a map? A blueprint?

Theo tilted his head before it clicked.

Oh shit.

It was East Bridge, but it was fucking ancient .

“There’s no sense in everyone beginning from an uneven playing field, so I thought—”

“It’s wrong,” Theo interrupted.

“How so?”

“This,” Theo pointed to the middle, and the guy leaned closer, “isn’t even here. And this, you’ll be fucked to find it; they split that room. That’s the chem lab and bio two now.”

The guy patted Theo’s shoulder and shut the phone with an irritated sigh.

Sorry to burst your bubble, buddy.

“Do you smoke?” Mr. Pretentious asked.

“Not that.”

“Then I’ll see you around.”

He left in a waft of stale cigarette smoke and cloying cologne, and Theo had to laugh.

This whole thing was a nightmare. Start to finish.

If he didn’t win the damn money?

Never mind.

Better not to think about that, either.