---The Games---
The Games are a yearly event where five randomly selected eighteen-year-olds are required to compete for survival. The theme varies from year to year, but the conclusion of the Games forever constant. One player remains alive, the others having failed to prove themselves worthy. The fate of this final contestant rests in the hands of the masses. If they acted with noble intent and provided worthy entertainment, they are crowned victor. If not, they are banished to the outerland, a fate far worse than death.
---Prologue---
My name is Kimberly Pink and today is my eighteenth birthday. In an ideal society it would be cause for celebration. But the world we live in is far from perfect. Becoming an adult means that my name will be entered in the drawing for the Games. If my name isn't selected, life will go on as normal. If it is, odds are I will be dead within a few days. It may a depressing view of the future, but it is the only one I have. It is also the cause for the life-changing decision I made yesterday.
I don't want to die a virgin. This simple concept was what drove me to take my boyfriend up on his long-standing offer. He was also in the drawing for the Games and neither of us wanted our lives to end before we could consummate our relationship. Yet there we sat, both struggling to step out of our comfort zone, yet both unable to do so. The looming uncertainty of our future was simply too much for us to bear.
"Do you want to watch the drawing?" I asked after the umpteenth failed escalation.
Karo nodded. He must have come to the same conclusion I had. Even if one of us was selected for the Games, we would have plenty of time to say our farewells before we were escorted to the Tower, the building where the Games are held.
My family wasn't rich, yet I still had a television in my room. It was tiny and had no color, but it sufficed as the only time I ever used it was to watch the public service announcements. Still, it flicked on as soon as I pressed the power button. It took a few seconds, but the image finally appeared.
The drawing had already begun. The game masterβthe man that ran the Gamesβwas halfway through picking the third name. Neither of them were familiar to me. One look at Karo told me he didn't know them either. That was good. I knew how painful it was to lose someone close to you. Last year I had lost my best friend. But I try not to think about it because I usually end up crying.
I held my breath as the third name was selected. I was a boy. I didn't recognize the name, but the image that soon appeared on screen looked familiar to me. We both went to the same school. We had never actually spoken, but I had seen him around school often enough. He seemed like the kind of person I could be friends with.
The fourth contestant was a woman. I didn't know her, but I instantly felt sorry for her when her image appeared on the screen. She was so thin I feared she would die of starvation before the start of the Games. In a way, that would have been better.
There was only one name left to pick. This meant my boyfriend and I couldn't both be selected. But that didn't mean we were safe. One of us could still be chosen. We held hands as we waited for the final drawing.
It seemed to take forever, but the game master finally pulled his arm out of the drawing jar. Clenched between his fingers was a thin strip of paper. He slowly unfolded it and read the name that adorned it. After a few seconds, which I have no doubt were inserted for dramatic effect, he spoke.
"Our fifth and final player isβ"
He never finished. Before he could, the lights went out, followed shortly by the television screen. It took a few seconds for me to understand what had happened. The power was out. Such occurrences weren't unusual in this neighborhood, but never before had one unfolded during the drawing. And right before the final name was announced, no less.
Karo and I sat there in silence. Neither of us spoke. What was there to say? For all we knew, one of us had been selected for the Games. It would have made sense for us to proceed with our plan, just in case these were our final moments together, but neither of us was in the mood. We simply sat there in silence, waiting. For what? I don't think either of us really knew.
Time lost all meaning. I felt a stiffness growing in my lower back. I was considering shifting positions to rectify my posture when I heard it. Barely perceptible at first, but then louder. Footsteps. Approaching footsteps. Someone was coming up the stairs. Moments after I figured this out, my bedroom door was kicked in and men in uniforms came pouring in. One look told me they were no ordinary sentries. Their black uniforms and crew cuts told me they were game sentries. Their presence could only mean one thing. One of us had been selected for the Games. But who? I glanced at Karo, and the sadness in his eyes told me all I needed to know. The fact that the sentries had come to my home and not his only confirmed it. They were here for me. I was the final player.
---Round 1: Losing My Virginity---