Page 6 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

Theo turned, scanning the crowd until he spotted Decker standing on top of the bleachers with a mic in hand. The spotlight swung toward him, catching his sweat-slicked forehead and leaving everyone else in near-total darkness.

“Welcome back class! You all can call me—ah ha— Principal Decker for the remainder of the night. How we doin’?”

Whoops and hollers filled the open space, and Theo groaned under his breath.

“This is going to be the longest hour of my life,” he muttered.

Rachel leaned closer. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“I know everyone has been reliving their glory days—I’m looking at you, Stephanie,” Decker continued.

A girl laughed, way too loud, and Theo rolled his eyes.

“But I think it’s time to shake things up. Who’s game for a game? ”

Reaching over, Theo groped around until he found Alyssa’s stacked, spike bracelets, and pulled her closer.

“The hell did you get me into?” he whispered into her ear.

“I didn’t know either,” Alyssa shot back. The glow-in-the-dark makeup smeared over her lids and cheeks made her look like some raver ghost. “Stop complaining. It’ll be fun.”

“We’re bringing back a game some of you might remember— Stop and Seek, ” Decker’s voice boomed, his grin was wide as murmurs started to ripple through the crowd.

“But this time,” he went on, “no boundaries. We got the entire school to ourselves. This includes,” he paused for dramatic flair, waving a hand, “outside. Yes, you’re welcome. I know. I’m amazeballs .”

Theo pursed his lips. Fantastic.

He hadn’t thought about that game since middle school, where it always ended with some kid crying or 'accidentally' locked in a broom closet.

Him. He was the fucking kid.

“This was such a disaster last time,” Ethan said, chuckling .

“Yeah, and Mr. Congeniality up there almost got everyone suspended,” Rachel mumbled. “But I guess that’s half the fun.”

“I’ve got a little twist in mind,” Decker continued.

“Regular base rules: one half hides, and the rest of you seek. But—get ready, kids—you can yell ‘freeze’ when someone’s found you.

Don’t forget: freeze or you’re out . This means no talking, moving, nada .

Thirty seconds of silence and you’re good to go!

Just imagine you’re speaking in front of people. Wait—”

He laughed, and half the crowd followed like trained seals.

The spotlight cut out, plunging everything into sudden shadow. The overhead lights didn’t kick in either.

Dark didn’t begin to cover it.

Someone’s shin hit a metal bleacher with a hollow clang. Another person cursed loud enough to echo. Rank heat clung heavier in the sudden pitch-black, and a hundred small phone screens blinked to life.

That’s when the buzz started.

Theo’s phone went off like it was having a seizure in his pocket.

“Right! Right, sorry guys,” Decker said, disembodied in the dark. “I almost forgot. Eddie—love you, man—set up a group chat for the occasion. Now, you’re welcome to peace out but you’ll miss our grand prize.”

Theo’s heart fell and he squeezed his eyes shut.

God. Dammit.

The girl at check-in, smiling too wide, asking for his number when she gave him that stupid, sticky name tag. Everything asked for phone numbers nowadays—grocery stores, websites, even the postal service. He hadn’t registered it as weird.

But now it was in the group chat.

Someone yelled, “What’s the prize, Kyran?”

“Stay in the chat and I’ll tell you, Paul,” Decker said, his voice carrying even without the microphone.

Theo’s skull ached. Migraine central coming around the bend. What could possibly be worth this? A month’s supply of beer? A damn jelly subscription? A signed yearbook so they could all lament about who they used to be?

Still, he pulled out his phone. The messages started pouring in, unreadable flurries of emojis, question marks, and excitement.

Kyran Decker is typing… appeared, and the words slowed.

Kyran Decker

Our favorite Sterling girls’ mom and dad opened their pocketbooks for this.

We’ll have a few practice rounds before elimination.

The last hider and seeker standing each receive $25,000. Cash.

For a second, Theo just… stared.

The texts exploded. The feed became unreadable again. But all he could do was stare at those numbers.

Twenty-five thousand dollars.

His hand shook slightly as he clicked his screen off, thumb fumbling against the power button. He almost dropped it.

That was— world changing.

It was a ticket out. A real, actual exit sign flickering in the distance .

He could move.

Get a new job.

Start over.

I could leave Ohio.

“ Oh my god, ” Alyssa whispered.

“I can’t take the time off work,” Rachel said. “I had to switch with another nurse to make it tonight.”

Ethan’s eyes looked too wide, his face bathed in the ghostly white glow of his phone. “I have to talk to Carrie but… can you imagine? Twenty-five grand for a kids game.”

Yeah. He could imagine it.

And that was the problem.

Because once Theo let himself imagine something, he wanted it like oxygen. And if he didn’t get it?

He knew what would happen.