Playing Games(14)

"Just hang in there," Abby had told me. "You've got to move up two places in the next round or else you'll get eliminated."

Two places might as well have been impossible, since I was with Liam the Loser. But I kept that to myself and told her I'd do my best.

My brother Brodie had swung by at some point to try and explain himself, too. "It's nothing to do with you, Katy," he told me in a patient voice, after I'd thrown snow in his face. "You know I want a TV career out of this. I have to make big moves in this game to get on the producers’ radar, and I'll do whatever it takes."

I'd said nothing. Abby's earlier advice of make good TV rang in my ears. Hell, I hadn't even shared that with Brodie and he'd already known what to do. I felt a little less angry at him after hearing him say that. He had been totally honest with me about what he wanted out of this. He wanted a career. Me, I wanted a check for twenty grand to kick-start my business and a vacation in Acapulco at the Loser Lodge.

But even as I told myself that, it felt untrue. I might have wanted to come into this race for the consolation prize, but now that I was here? The competitive spirit was catching up to me and I was in it to win it.

So I laid in the sleeping bag provided by The World Races people, huddled in the icy darkness, and hated everyone. Well, except Abby. I hated my brother most of all for selling me out so he could make good TV.

And I hated that I was stuck at the back of the pack. The only thing good about me probably getting kicked off next was that Liam wouldn't be getting the prize money either. Then again, I'd be stuck at the Loser Lodge with him for the next three weeks, so that didn't sound like fun either. I was screwed either way.

A shadow moved across the entrance of the igloo, and I stifled a groan of irritation as I heard the rustle of Liam's thick parka as he came into the igloo. This team switch was awful - not only had my brother sold me out, but I had to bunk with Liam the Girl Shover.

I said nothing as I heard him rustling around in his bunk. It got quiet, and I assumed he was laying down to sleep. Long moments passed, and neither of us said anything. I stared up at the darkness, practically vibrating with resentment.

"I tripped," he said, in a voice that was so low I almost didn't catch it.

"Huh?" I turned to look in his direction.

"I tripped and fell on top of you. I wasn't trying to. I just tripped." His voice was low and even, the words so slow to emerge that they were almost hesitant. "I didn't push you."

Oh. Some of my rage deflated. I thought about the scene with the footballs. It had been pretty chaotic. Horrifically chaotic, even. I could see someone tripping in that mess. And I remembered him offering me a hand after the fact. "You still stole my football," I told him.

"You dropped it."

"You could have given it back."

"I could have, but it's a game."

That wasn't the answer I wanted to hear. I rolled over and tried to go to sleep, but I was too angry and cold to do more than stare into the darkness.











The next morning, I woke up and began to shove my gear back into my backpack. We had twelve hour rest periods between race legs, and the time was dependent on when we finished the last leg. Since black team was in the back, I had at least an extra hour before I had to get going.

Which was fine, because I was pretty wrecked physically, due to sleeping in an igloo. I was also wrecked mentally, due to my brother, the selfish jerk. The only good thing about being so wrecked was that I was pretty sure my new partner was, too. He looked like he had a mukluk hangover, and his shaggy black hair hung in his face.

Tesla, meanwhile, looked fresh as a spring rose as she giggled and cooed and hung on my brother as they paraded to the starting mat. That ratfink. I narrowed my eyes as the cameras moved in close to Brodie and Tesla to film their take-off. One of the Inuit appeared and handed them their next disk.

I watched as Tesla grabbed the disk before Brodie could and flipped it over to read. This time? Brodie was forced to peer over her shoulder. Glad to see someone was turning the tables on my brother, at least. They glanced at each other and immediately shrugged on their packs and headed back toward Kulusuk, the small town on the shoreline that held the airport. Made sense, considering that was the only real town I’d seen so far. My eyes narrowed as Tesla twined her fingers with my brother’s and they held hands as they raced off. I glanced over at my teammate, but he was looking anywhere except at me. That was fine. I was pretty cranky as it was.

After what seemed like eternity, Liam and I were the only team left. I huddled in my black jacket - better than yellow, at least - and headed toward the starting mat as the cameras zoomed in close. When the Inuit guide offered the disk to us, Liam gestured that I should take it.