A brilliant red and orange sunset peeked out from behind the mountains in the distance, mirroring this morning's peaceful sunrise. Another day on campus was drawing to a close, and Dr. Wayman was getting ready to speak to the “students” in this evening’s all school assembly as their fearless Headmaster. The famed scientist could have had anyone impersonate the leader of the school, but he took on the responsibility, desiring the opportunity to get to know the test subjects first hand. Dr. Wayman needed to learn about them, understand them better, all while visualising their personality traits up close. No scientific paper or observation from afar could replace a first hand account.

Shrugging off his white lab coat, Dr. Wayman replaced the fabric that draped over his shoulders with a professional blazer, smoothing down the sleeves instinctively as he checked his watch for the time. If he didn’t leave now, he was going to be tardy. With a hurried gate, he grabbed his bullet points and rushed out of his office, ensuring that he closed and locked the door behind him. His suite was located in the farthest depths of the teacher’s wing in the academic building, completely unheard of and unseen by the “students”. There was too much valuable information in there to risk having a test subject stumble across something they shouldn’t lay their eyes on. The older man scurried towards the auditorium, not wanting to be late to his own assembly. After a few minutes of navigating through campus, Dr. Wayman arrived at his destination, already met with students relaxing in the plush stadium seating awaiting his presence.

Clearing his throat, Dr. Wayman- rather, Headmaster Wayman- meagerly approached the microphone, tapping it twice to make sure it was on. Once students had noticed him take the podium, and heard his impromptu mic check, they quieted down and waited expectantly for him to speak. The scientist was not normally a strong public speaker (he spent 95% of his time in the lab), but if he was going to be believable, he needed to put on a show. With his shoulders back and chest lifted, Wayman began to talk.

“Students, thank you for joining me this evening. We are nearly two months into the school year and I hope you have acclimated yourselves to our campus environment. I encourage you all to continue fostering positive relationships with your peers and the faculty. We want nothing more for you to feel at home here at San Agustin.” Dr. Wayman let his eyes drift down to the podium, shifting his papers to get a better look at his announcements. His colleagues had given him this list based on their observations over the past few weeks. Most of them were quite mundane, but nonetheless, he informed the students appropriately.

“Now, just a few orders of housekeeping from the campus staff. Firstly, please keep in mind that mealtimes are concrete. The kitchen personnel work incredibly hard to prepare 50 different catered meals three times a day so please respect them by showing up to the correct meals at the correct times. As a refresher, breakfast is served from 7AM to 10AM, lunch is served from 12PM to 2PM, and dinner is served from 5PM to 7PM. If you show up outside of those times, there is an array of snacks, fresh fruits, veggies, and smoothies to tide you over until the next meal.” In an experiment, you needed to keep everything controlled, and Wayman argued that the students shouldn't be left to their own devices. Meal times needed to stay the same- a routine was necessary.

“Additionally, Halloween is next week. Please feel free to dress up for class if you so desire as the administration is planning a series of events throughout the day in order to celebrate. There are some spooky surprises in store, so it’s sure to be a frightening day. After our on campus festivities, if you choose to observe Halloween in the way that young people seem to do… please do so responsibly.” Dr. Wayman wanted to let out a stifled laugh, already well aware that these students were planning on throwing a “get together” over the weekend, but he held it back. His staff had heard murmurings of it in the cafeteria this morning and quickly let him know that this would be occurring, as they hoped at one point during the experiment they would be able to see the effects of alcohol on the test subjects. They were looking forward to leaving the keys of one of the school vans out in the open for someone to find. After all, they weren’t just going to hand them the booze... they needed to figure it out for themselves or else they may catch on. Dr. Wayman set down his papers and looked directly at the students, knowing exactly what the last announcement was without looking.

“Lastly, and most importantly, on Wednesday the administration will be hosting a school wide scavenger hunt to promote community on our small campus. All students will be split into small teams and will complete both physical and mental challenges together. The goal is to complete each task and do so with the fastest time. The winners will receive a prize, which is still to be determined, but I assure you it will be worth your efforts.” Whisperings of chatter erupted in the auditorium. He could tell this came as a slight shock to some of the students, but nonetheless, he continued.

“Classes will be cancelled in order to accommodate the event. We hope you take this as an opportunity to work collaboratively with your peers in a new and fun way. Your teams are posted outside on the bulletin board and I implore you to connect with them before Wednesday.” Dr. Wayman let a grin slip out from his emotionless façade. He was looking forward to seeing how these kids worked together, for better or for worse. It sure was going to be fun, and not just for the students.

“That will be all. Have a nice evening.”

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A scavenger hunt? Really? Who's grand idea was this?

After the assembly, news of the scavenger hunt is what everyone is talking about across campus (including those who admittedly skipped the campus mandated meeting), but even if you're not excited about the event, you're still going to try and enjoy your Monday night.

If you had made the decision to walk into Leo Brooks’ dorm around the time of the assembly, you would have been quite confused. For starters, there were three students clearly not in attendance of the mandatory meeting, as they were all present in the room. Second, there were random articles of clothing strewn across an otherwise spotless floor- a few shirts and a pair of pants had been tossed aside carelessly. And third, the discarded shirts and pants didn’t all belong to Leo.

Sol, Leo, and Sam sat in the center of the floor, a deck of cards having been dealt between them and a lighthearted game of Texas hold'em underway. However, as evidenced by their various stages of undress, this was a round of strip poker. Leo sat with his bare back up against his wooden dresser, chiseled abs on full display as he peeked at his two cards that were pressed against the carpet. He had won the previous round, but had lost the one before that, resulting in his lack of shirt. With a chuckle, he turned to his friends. “So what do you think those losers are talking about right now at the assembly?”

Propped up against the bed, Sam currently was looking at the cards he held in his hands, and comparing them to the three currently making up what people would call the flop. He had a decent chance of winning this round if he got the right cards, but his luck was a little off tonight. He was already missing his jeans, as well as his right sock. With a sigh, he grabbed his bottle of water and took a sip, laying his cards face down.

”No idea. Probably something boring like grades, or a dance or something,” he said, somewhat dismissively. In the split second it took him to realize what he had said, his face lit up in a disgusted sense of shock. ”You don’t think they’d make us have a freaking dance, do you?”

“I wouldn’t be mad if they do…” Sol quietly admitted, her sharp eyes shifting between Leo and Sam for any tell-tale signs that they might be jeopardizing her chances to win. She had already been stripped of the rights to wear her oversized black T-shirt: as evidenced by her bare midriff and black sports bra. The last thing she wanted was to lose the privilege of wearing her dark red gym shorts as well. She needed to win. “You can have a fucking blast at school dances.”

Leo scoffed, “Yeah, that’s cause you and a certain someone would be getting cozy in the corner.” As the dealer, the dark haired boy looked to his friends to see their reactions as he flipped the fourth card over to join the flop as the turn. Since this was strip poker, there wasn’t so much betting as there was just flat out losing, so he skipped the pleasantries and went right for the cards. Leo hadn’t let Sol forget about this morning’s interesting breakfast discussion, especially her mindless remarks that painted a revolting picture of her skinny dipping with Theo. “Forget about a stupid dance, all anyone cares about is the after party... but what about an all school dodgeball competition! I don’t know about you guys, but I’d certainly enjoy pelting foam balls at certain people for fun.”

“Those aren’t the only balls you like to toss around so happily…” came the girl’s quick reply, accompanied by the slyest of smiles. Ever since she let the skinny dipping story slip at breakfast, Leo hadn’t stopped giving her hell about it. And of course, Sol being Sol, she was giving him hell right back. After all the times she’d had to put up with his explicit, cringey stories about that pharmacy blonde she couldn’t stand, it brought her a sense of satisfaction to know that she had her own weapon to repulse him with now.

Sam shrugged his shoulders, putting the cap back on his water. ”I dunno, Sol. Something about being made to dance around with a shit ton of other awkward people doesn't sit right with me. If someone spiked the punch, then I’d go.” As Leo laid down the fourth card, Sam double checked his two, doing his best not to let the enthusiasm show on his face. Did he have a chance at winning this round? ”Dodgeball sounds alright. I always loved making the other team beg for mercy.”

“Now that’s my kind of party.” Leo smirked while Sol rolled her eyes, slipping his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulling out a toothpick to stick in between his gritted teeth. “You and I will have to organize a game, Sam. Show people on campus what’s up.” Without another word, he flipped the last card over, the river. “Fuck.” He murmured as his eyes hit the ace of spades, the card staring evilly back at him. “Alright, what’s everyone got.” Leo looked around, waiting to see everyone’s cards.

Sam was the first to lay down his cards, showing that he had a three of a kind in jacks. ”I refuse to take off my other sock,” he said triumphantly. ”Er… unless one of you guys have a better hand, of course.”

Finally, it was time for Soleil’s blank face to be transformed by an ear to ear grin. “Read it and weep, boys!” she announced, gleefully throwing her cards in front of her to show off the three aces and the two kings that had previously been on her hand. “Your pants come off, your sock comes off and my panties get to stay a mystery.”

“You fucking bitch.” Leo grimaced as his best friend winked mischievously at him, throwing down the two cards he was holding. He had a measly two pair consisting of eights and fours and couldn’t surpass her full house, but he already knew this round was going down the drain when Sam laid down his cards. With an exasperated sigh, Leo pressed his palms into the floor in order to stand up, proceeding to take off his belt and unbutton his blue jeans. He let them fall and bunch around his ankles, revealing crisp white boxer briefs underneath.

Although she tried her hardest, there was no stopping Sol’s eyes from carefully running down Leo’s newly exposed clothing garment. “Hmmmm… I never would have pegged you for a plain white boxer guy, dude. But now I can kinda see why there’s a line of girls trying to get in here,” she joked, before looking back at his face with another mischievous grin. “Teddy’s is bigger, though-- no offense. I’m just glad it’s something nobody else knows,” the young woman added, unable to stop herself from taking another shot at her best friend.

Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Sam looked from one friend to the other. "You guys are gross," he said, removing his shirt. Sam was a man of his word, and he wasn't taking off his other sock. "What if our boy Leo is more of a grower?"

Soleil snickered and shrugged. "Then I guess you'll have to check it out and tell me later, 'cause there is no way I'm volunteering for that kind of research with him."

Sam scrunched up his face in a goofy manner, looking Sol up and down. ”Giirrrllll… you nasty.” The girl winked at him and chuckled.

Leo clenched his jaw and could feel the muscles in his back tense up. He hated being compared to Theo. Sure, Sol was just joking around, but something about being put in the same sentence as the guy just made his blood boil. He could care less about the literal comparison- what was frustrating was the metaphorical juxtaposition of one being “better” than the other. Leo was better than Theo, he knew that he was better, and didn’t need anyone telling him that he wasn’t. Especially Sol. He rolled his eyes, slipping his ankles and feets out of his jeans and throwing them at her.

“You’re right, there is a line of girls waiting to get in here-” Almost as if on cue, his phone buzzed from his nightstand. “In fact, that must be one of them right now.” Leo smirked devilishly and reached to grab it, his expression not faltering when he saw who it was. “Well would you look at that. It is.”

hey dipshit. didn't see you at the assembly. we got assigned bullshit teams, and i might need you to come visit me in prison when I kill erica.

Leo’s brow furrowed as he scanned the list that Billie sent him. A scavenger hunt? Not exactly what he had pictured the all school event to be, but not terrible. He was a competitive guy and always down to win something, so this was alright by him. “We have our answer- school wide scavenger hunt on Wednesday. Billie texted me the teams, it’s groups of three.” He tossed his phone to Sam so he could take a look as well.

”Scavenger hunt? Are they gonna make us hunt for school supplies or something?” A confused Sam caught Leo’s phone, scrolling down to see who he was paired with.”I got Zakya and Hana.” Sam didn’t know too much about the former, but the later had the tendency to make him want to scream. "Hopefully Hana can make some decisions and not be so shy about shit and we might have a chance at winning whatever this is.” He passed the phone to Sol before taking another drink of his water.

As soon as she had the phone in her possession and read the names accompanying her own, Sol impulsively tossed the device back to its owner. If it had been her own, chances are it wouldn't have survived her furious toss against the floor. "This is fucking bullshit…" she growled, once again feeling that familiar anger of earlier bubbling its way back to the surface. "Nick is fine, but Quinn?! It's like they want me to lose my shit. Who the fuck came up with these bullshit groups, anyway?"

Leo shrugged, catching his phone and tossing back in the air just for fun. “Guess I’m the only one here who’s happy with my team? I mean, I don’t really know Dwayne, but I’m with Frankie so who cares.” He smirked, thinking about the blonde who he knew very well- almost too well. As a team they’d probably kick ass, and Leo hoped Dwayne could get on the same page as them. Fit in or fuck off, right? The dark haired boy let his phone fall back into his hands and replied to Billie.

thanks b- don’t worry i’ll post bail if necessary. I got caught up in a game of poker and ended up in my boxers… you should stop by ;)

He threw his phone back on the nightstand and looked back at his friends. “Hopefully this won’t be stupid or a waste of my time- at least classes are cancelled because of it.”

Soleil scoffed and rolled her eyes. "This is a complete waste of time."

Sam shrugged his shoulders. ”I’m with Sol on this one, man. I mean… what kind of crap could this even be? I’ve heard of camps doing scavenger hunts and shit, but… a school?”

Shaking his head, Leo sighed. “Who knows- all I do know is that we still have a few more rounds to play before I’ll be out of clothes to take off.” He wiggled his toes which were still donning white calf socks. “Hopefully I’ll be naked by the time Billie gets here...”

The young woman immediately wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You're fucking disgusting-" she told her friend, grabbing his shirt from the pile nearby and tossing it in his direction before grabbing her own and pulling it back on. "Now put your shirt back on before everyone comes back to the dorm and start asking stupid questions about why our clothes are missing. The last thing I want is for anyone to think I'm one of your whores."

If you wanted to be friends with Sol, you had to put up with her moods from time to time. Right now was one of those times. Retrieving his jeans first, Sam stood up as he put them back on. ”Yes. Heaven forbid anyone think we’re having a threesome.” Buttoning and zipping them back up, he smirked as another thought ran through his head. ”Who do you think would be the dom in the situation?”

"Oh, definitely me. If anyone asks, I took turns pegging the both of you…" Shady replied, smirking at both Leo and Sam as she stood up.

Leo refused and tossed his shirt to the side- it was his room after all and he could do what he wanted! He sat on his bed as the other two slipped back on their missing clothes. “You guys are crazy.” He remarked, running a hand through his hair to make sure it was still intact. “Now get the fuck out of my room before anyone even entertains that rumor.”

"Whatever you say boss!" the dark-haired girl teased before she gave her best friend an impish grin. "See ya," she called out to the boys before walking out the door and disappearing from sight.

Sam shrugged his shoulders and laughed. ”I dunno man. Sounds like an okay time to me.” Pulling his shirt back on over his head, the young man exited Leo’s room as he walked towards his own. “Later guys!”

Sitting next to her friends, Hana attended the assembly. Sitting quietly and listening diligently to all that was said.

'Halloween is next week? I almost forgot... Planning spooky surprises though? The faculty is going to make it frightening?! This is why I don't like Halloween. Its scary and creepy and not my style at all.' Hana's thoughts slipped away from what she heard the Headmaster say to terrible things they could do to scare the students, most of them barely that frightening to the normal person but alas, Hana was not normal and could be skittish at times. Even a simple loud noise could send her anxiety through the roof.

It took Hana a moment to calm herself and she only barely did so in time to hear the next announcement in regards to the scavenger hunt. As soon as she heard they would be split into small teams, she began to worry she would be in a group with people she didn't know and that she wouldn't be of any help to anyone due to her flaws, mainly her indecisiveness being a big one. But upon the teams being announced, Hana saw she was with Sam and Zakaya and felt relief wash over her. Sam was the one helping her better herself in terms of her indecisiveness. It couldn't have been any better besides getting a team with Erica. As for Zakaya, she wasn't quite familiar with the girl but she seemed nice enough so Hana figured she'd be a decent teammate. Hana wasn't sure how the day would go, but she just hoped for the best at this point.

Upon the assembly finishing Hana waved goodbye to her friends and headed back to the dorms. She went straight to her dorm and prepared for bed before sitting at her desk and finishing up any schoolwork left unfinished from before the assembly. Then she climbed into her bed with all her fluffy pillows and fluffy blanket and curled up, letting sleep overcome her as per usual, she had an early day tomorrow.

Tyler Jane had arrived at the assembly early, always notorious for being on time and prompt. She sat towards the back of the auditorium, letting her long legs extend onto the seat in front of her and was inadvertently stretching her somewhat sore limbs. As a dancer, she was always finding ways to soothe her overused calves and quads, which is why she found herself more often than not conditioning muscles during class, lectures, and honestly whenever she got the chance.

While she half-listened to Headmaster Wayman ramble on about meal times, she scrolled through the school’s social channels and couldn’t help but chuckle to herself at some of the things her peers were saying. Some mocked their “fearless leader”, poking fun at his choice of outfit or his weird stance at the microphone, and others just complained about how stupid this whole thing was. High schoolers were ruthless, and it made Tyler Jane feel slightly bad for the man. He was trying his best and obviously wasn’t the best public speaker by nature, so feeling guilty, she put down her phone and decided to pay attention for his sake. As she tuned back in, Wayman started talking about the holiday next week, one she had completely forgotten about until he brought it up: Halloween.

As he began to describe how the campus would be celebrating, a distant memory seemed to pull itself to the surface of the redhead’s consciousness and demand her attention. It felt like it was being dragged by weights, held back with resistance for a reason she couldn’t explain. But, nonetheless, it was there. A scene began to unfold inside her mind and it was as if she was just a passive observer.

Tyler Jane found herself in an empty house. A few dim lights revealed an inviting living room, but no one was home except for a young girl who couldn’t have been more than 11 years old. The girl had propped herself in front of a large window facing a suburban street, her long auburn hair having been haphazardly braided, assumedly done on her own. Tyler Jane couldn’t make out her face- it was blurred and abstract- but she knew that it was supposed to be some faraway version of herself. She was a bystander in her own narrative.

Out the window, autumn leaves were piled on the ground, the trees growing bare as the seasons changed. Children paraded down the sidewalks with their parents in tow, dressed up and carrying baskets of goodies and treats. They were laughing and swinging their arms excitedly, clearly elated and enjoying the moment. And yet, the young girl found herself alone, and somehow, Tyler had a feeling that this was the case every year.

Violently snapping out of her daydream, Tyler Jane’s legs slid off the chair and smacked down onto the floor, her shoes echoing on the hardwood. Her eyes quickly darted to her neighbors who gave her strange looks for causing an unnecessary distraction. Returning her gaze to the front of the room, the redhead let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and failed to understand where that image had come from. Was it real? Or was it just a trope the imaginative girl created in her mind in response to the mention of the holiday. Regardless of how vivid it was, or how tangible it felt, she decided to pass it off as only a story and desperately tried to focus on the assembly instead.

Within minutes, Headmaster Wayman had explained the scavenger hunt and dismissed the students to find out their teams on the bulletin boards outside the auditorium. The redhead quickly gathered her belongings and made a beeline for the exit, wanting nothing more than to get out of there and go back to her room.

After arriving at the lists, she scanned for her name and found it alongside the likes of Theodore Wallstrom and Bradley Barron. She didn’t know Theo well, but she had conversed with him once or twice in passing and had yet to really form an opinion about him. On the flipside, she was incredibly fond of Bradley and was excited that she and him got randomly paired together. The two often spent nights in the courtyard chatting and they just clicked well. He was a good friend and surely in a team challenge they’d excel together… or so she hoped.

Now that the unknown of her team had been solved, she continued on her direct path back to the dorm. She’d find the two of them later to chat, but for now, she needed to be on her own. Why was she so startled by that daydream? She couldn’t put her finger on where it had come from and why it was so haunting. Shaking off the anxious feelings that were currently making themselves apparent, the redhead disappeared towards the residence hall.

Dr. Hagerty’s watch read 12:00PM exactly, indicating that the scavenger hunt would commence momentarily. He stood in front of the crowd of students that had formed beside the cafeteria wearing a casual shirt and pair of khakis, his brown hair combed over with a few strands falling into his eyes. The scientist was a little more laidback than his counterpart, and was also a bit younger, which made him more approachable to the teens. For that reason among others, they had named him the Dean of Students, a position slightly below Headmaster Wayman, to ensure he had close proximity and direct line of contact with the test subjects. He oversaw their curriculum, special events, campus “activities” as well as student advising, where the test subjects had one on one meetings with himself as well as other staff members to discuss their “academic progress”. Not only was this a way to ask the subjects questions in a comfortable and unassuming environment, but it was also a workaround to keep tabs on them both mentally and emotionally and contain any issues before things got out of hand.

In terms of incidents, they were doing quite well with mitigating threats to the experiment and nipping things in the bud before other test subjects had the chance to catch on. A few weeks back, a student had an outburst which threatened their credibility, but they were able to sedate him before anyone could notice and understand what had truly happened. It was unfortunate that their technology didn’t allow for total memory loss, as no amount of science could truly understand and predict the outcomes of the complex human mind, so they did their best to supplement where assistance was needed.

Unfortunately, yesterday there had been another occurrence when one of the test subjects, Subject #4, had questioned the staff’s motives and legitimacy. In order to ensure that no other students would follow suit, they moved her back to the lab for reconditioning, disguised as an allergic reaction. Luckily, Subject #50 (known to his peers as Griffin) had just been released from his quarantine and was simply put in her place for the scavenger hunt. Everyone seemed to buy it, and life went on. No harm, no foul.

Dr. Hagerty tapped the microphone that was linked to an outdoor speaker system and began to talk to the crowd of students, his cheery voice and infectious energy ricocheting off the buildings. “Happy Wednesday everyone! It’s scavenger hunt day and I hope you are all as excited as we are. Now, the staff on campus have worked very hard to put this together for you all, so I ask that you give them the respect they deserve and put your best foot forward.” He stated, motioning around to their teachers who were merely observing. Dr. Hagerty hoped they would put in maximum effort; if they were more invested in the team exercise, the better outcome there’d be for research.

“To start, you will be given a clue with a location. When you get to that place, you will be asked to perform a challenge, where upon successful completion a staff member will give you your next location clue. The cycle will continue until you visit all 10 locations and accomplish all 10 tasks, and your last clue will lead you back here. The first team to finish will win a prize, which will be announced at the end of the hunt. Understood?” Dr. Hagerty waited until some students gave lackluster nods and positive responses before continuing. He motioned to his assistant, who began handing out slips of paper to the teams. After he’d seen that all of the groups had a slip of paper, he spoke once more.

“Alright everyone, here we go.” Dr. Hagerty let a smirk play on his lips, pausing for dramatic effect. This was going to be good.

“On your marks… get set… go!”

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It's scavenger hunt day! You'll work with your team (as best as you can) to complete all of the challenges and hopefully win. The staff seem to be acting more excited than the students, but that's normal...right?