As the glinting silver of the claw descended, you made one last desperate jump off of the plastic egg you were on. As you rolled amidst the toy mere inches away, you were rewarded with the sight of the claw ascending, clutching the plastic egg you were formerly on. You let out a sigh of relief only to flinch as Gwen cursed then smacked the claw game hard enough that you thought you saw the crack in the glass spread a little more. She was glaring at you in a rage.
"Court, give me more coins," Gwen demanded, holding out her palm expectantly.
"B-but I'm supposed to go next!" Courtney protested nervously.
"The stupid game's rigged. The claw didn't go down when I said. Gimme a do over."
Courtney bit her lip nervously, she looked at you, then back to Gwen. She was clearly torn between her desire to possess you and fear of standing up to her friend. Lucky for her, she was spared that messy conversation thanks to Avril.
"Don't be a sore loser, Gwen. You had your chance and blew it. Let Courtney have her turn so she can lose and I can have mine."
Gwen starred daggers at Avril but the shorter black-haired girl only stared back, not even remotely intimidated. Realizing her tactic was futile, Gwen threw up her hands in annoyance.
"Fine!" she snapped. "But once you lose him, Avril, I go again!"
"Whatever," Avril said, turning her unnerving cerulean eyes back to you and making you flinch.
Courtney didn't seem to notice or care that her friends were dissing her claw game skills as she approached the machine with a spring in her step, eyes fixed playfully on you.
"Hey there, cutie!" Courtney giggled. "My name's Courtney, but you can call me Court if you want. This is Gwen, and this is Avril," she said, motioning to each of her friends, both of whom were staring at her in confusion. "You're Anthony Little, right?"
It wasn't a rhetorical question, she was clearly waiting for your answer.
"Yes," you said with a sigh, seeing no point in lying.
"I knew it!" Courtney giggled. "I'm such a huge fan of your sister's videos! You're so funny in them! The two of you must have a blast!"
Oh, yeah, those videos and posts were a riot! Who wouldn't laugh at such comedy gold as "being used as an insole for a week by your oblivious protective sister", "being given as a bra for your "Aunt" Barbara with a note saying you'd "volunteered" as a Valentine's Day present", or, funniest of all, "being worn as a thong by your mother for a month straight because Katherine hid all of her other underwear and kept distracting her from ordering hew ones". That last one had ended with a week where Katherine decided to make Taco Tuesday, Taco Everyday instead. Yes. Hilarious.
Courtney clearly didn't notice your unamused expression as she kept going on as excitably as ever.
"How about you stand still for me and let me grab you? Then you can introduce me to Katherine, maybe?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gwen objected.
"What?" Courtney asked defensively.
"That's cheating! You can't just talk him into surrendering! It's against the rules!"
"No it isn't!"
"Yes it is!"
"Technically it isn't," Avril said. "The only rule we had is we each get an attempt to get him out of the machine. We never said how."
"Since when are you always on her side?" Gwen demanded, annoyed her authority was being challenged so much today.
"I'm not on her side," Avril said simply. "I'm just saying we didn't establish any rules preventing Courtney from convincing him to give up. Though I'd advise against it, bug," Avril said, turning to you. "Courtney doesn't have the best judgement around. She ate the last tiny she got on a dare."
Courtney, who'd been smiling at Avril's initial defense of her, now looked panicked at the topic of her casual cannibalism coming up.
"T-that was only because Gwen told me to!"
"Yeah? And would you jump off a bridge if I told you to, Court?" Gwen smirked. "I wouldn't trust her if I were you. After all, she's going to need a new G-string after I get hers and her idol's brother may just be exactly the kind of souvenir she'd treasure forever."
"Huh," Courtney blinked. "I hadn't thought of that," she said as if in deep thought. Then she recognized the horrified look on your face and quickly backpedaled. "I mean! I wouldn't do that! Don't listen to them, Ant! Just stand still and we'll have a blast, I promise!"
Courtney shot you puppy dog eyes as she inserted her coins. As the claw whirred, a million thoughts raced through your mind. It was true that of the three of these bullies, Courtney seemed the "nicest" but that didn't guarantee a positive experience for you. Especially if she was a Katherine stan. On the other hand, the other two girls were far worse. If you were caught by Gwen or Avril, it could be game over for your life! Sure, you could take your chances and keep trying to avoid the claw until they ran out of money and left, but that could take a long time. And one wrong move could spell your doom.
Maybe it'd just be better to surrender to Courtney to see if she could be convinced to spare you once separated from her toxic friends? Or you could tell her you could introduce her to Katherine and use it as a way to get in touch with your family? It could be your best bet for rescue! Provided you didn't actually reach Katherine, of course.
The claw was directly over you now. It began to descend.
Moment of truth time.
What do you do?
1) You let Courtney claim you.
2) You dodge the claw and now it's Avril's turn.
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