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[sub][@TootsiePop][@Rosalia][@metanoia][/sub]
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[color=darkgray][indent][indent]Their first challenge was [i]too[/i] easy. The fact that they only required everyone to make ‘one’ shot to get a clue was laughable and not a challenge at all. Since Griffin had this in the bag, he tried to prod the other two on going first, having more faith in Sol than Nicholas. [color=8A4C40]“Looks like we can’t hard carry you in this one. Don’t miss!”[/color] He proudly boasted. [color=8A4C40]“Or do, and have Sol tear you a new one for making us lose on the first challenge.”[/color]

Taking this as a clear declaration of war, Nicholas decided to turn the tables and egg Griffin on, intentionally getting under his skin where the hawk would feel [i]inclined[/i] to show off his prowess first and ‘make a good first impression’. This gave him the opportunity to watch [i]exactly[/i] how Griffin shot, to improve his own accuracy. Following right after, he used Griffin’s ball to make his shots, kept his eyes on the target (rim), made sure his feet were shoulder width apart, and mimicked Griffin verbatim - but better. Minus the times that his fellow colleague was showing off, Nicholas decided to copy the first shot Griffin made which had perfect form, in terms of fundamentals, power, and technique. 

The competitive spirit between the two boys were clear as the heat that surrounded them because of their annoyance for one another, and Soleil didn’t stop them. Part of her knew they’d perform better if there was a fire burning inside of them. If anything, this would guarantee a fast and efficient win for someone like her with average basketball skills, and she [i]wanted[/i] to win. The other part of her was just very amused to watch two of her friends try and outperform each other. It was nice to not be the main attraction of a fight every once in a while.

There was no doubt Nicholas made Griffin salty, especially after using his b-ball to shoot, as well as use his STYLE to make his shots. As scarily as this sounded, they made 28 shots instead of the required ten with, with Sol missing her first and fourth baskets but making the rest of her eight. It seemed that they were off to a good start, even if the focus the two birds channeled in their spirits was razor sharp and could cut any person watching.  

And after every challenge they completed, it was that much more obvious that Griffin was becoming increasingly annoyed with Nicholas. What started out as a simple, yet typical response to Nicholas matching him nearly shot for show, movement for movement, and style matching almost in a scary fashion, soon evolved into something of a competition within the competition. Nicholas became aware of Griff’s saltiness and there was no way the Grey boy would allow himself to give into defeat, so he played along, even upping the ante when he could.

Time was lost and when it came to the final challenge, this was when they reached peak petty. Nicholas was the first to step forward when they were given the location clue about the final challenge. Looking at it, Nicholas spent a few moments looking at it, seeing how to the naked eye, it wouldn’t look like much. Letters were mismatched and it read like a four-year-old wrote it. 

So he turned to Griff. [color=steelblue]“Care to venture a guess, big bird? Or would you finally like to admit defeat and declare me right since the start?”[/color] He asked, handing Griff the card. Nicholas knew it. He didn’t have to spend time trying to decipher it because he already had. Now it was just about wanting to rub it in Griffin’s face when Nicholas would be proven right in that Griff can’t do the mental challenges like he had said from the start.

There were three people that got on Griffin’s nerves. The arrogant idiot, Leo, though he thinks they’re buddy-buddy. The selfish socialite, Tyler Jane, she [i]knows[/i] he doesn’t like her. And this douchebag, who underestimated him [i]just like[/i] Leo, but worse because he got satisfaction proving he was better. Leo desired to dominante. Nicholas, though? He was a narcissist. 

For the most part, Griffin was able to keep his cool... [i]for the most part[/i]. However, after being caged for two weeks, his emotions seemed to be easily agitated, as if he needed to break his knuckles into Nicholas’ face. That was not the role he played on campus and he would not break face now. They were almost done and Griffin would not have to deal with him until he absolutely was forced to again. 

Only taking seconds to figure it out, Griffin rolled his eyes, crumpled the two cards, shoved it in his pockets, and shrugged,  [color=8A4C40]“Sure, I’ll take the credit. The first one is your shadow, the second one is the letter ‘e’.”[/color] And he looked at the teacher who held up a sign that said ‘SRAT BIGNULID’  [color=8A4C40]“The finish line is the Arts Building. Now, Nicholas, let me tell you the difference between you and me.”[/color] 

Sol was holding Griffin’s basketball as he approached the other boy, bird to bird, crossing his arms, [color=8A4C40]“You might be [i]smart[/i] but our skills are on a whole different level. I can tell you exactly what we did from start to finish of this scavenger hunt, and things you missed, and things you took your sweet time to stare at, like the two people you’re totally into, because I simply have a better visual memory than you and I catch little things that you would never see because you’re just so goddamn burdened by how good looking you are.”[/color] Griffin scoffed, clearly perturbed. If there was one thing Nicholas was good at, it was getting under his skin better than Leo and TJ put together, [color=8A4C40]“I might not show all my cards, but [b]don’t[/b] underestimate me, dude.”[/color] 
 
[color=darkred]"Fin, Nick, [b]stop it[/b],"[/color] Soleil growled from the corner, staring daggers at her teammates out of her tiger green eyes. They were supposed to be finished with this scavenger hunt ages ago, but the two boys had decided to turn things into a 'my dick is bigger than your dick' competition. Fortunately for Sol, her lack of said body part meant that she'd been excluded from taking part in this mess. But unfortunately for her, she'd had to watch with growing irritation as Nick and Griff wasted precious time on trying to one-up each other. And no matter how hard she'd tried to keep them on track without using violence (which had probably been her first mistake), there was no stopping the two competitive males from doing as they wanted.

Whoever said girls were petty and emotional had [i]clearly[/i] not met Nicholas Grey and Griffin Pierce.

Throughout Griff’s speech, the selectively observant Nicholas happened to ignore most of it but one crucial detail that he chuckled at.  Maybe it was a slip-up or he actually meant it but regardless, he homed in on it. [color=steelblue]“So, you think I’m good looking, huh?”[/color] He smirked at Griff. There was no use hiding how entertained he was right now. And for those who knew him, he was his best (or worst depending on the person you ask) when he was indulging completely in whatever had his attention.

Grimacing, Griffin decided to not respond to that. Why was it the two boys that were into themselves talked to [i]him[/i] a lot? Leo treating him as a baby brother and Nicholas… as a ‘friendly’ rival. Instead, he gestured for Sol to toss his ball to him, so they could head to their destination. Best way to deal with boys like Nicholas was to not deal with them at all. 

On the other side of the equation, Soleil rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, also opting to ignore Nicholas’ narcissistic jab at Griffin. Sometimes, she wondered what girls ever saw in such shallow guys like Leo and Nick. Sure: they were attractive, and probably knew their way around in the areas where it counted. But she could never picture herself dating someone who cared so much about their appearance. She needed her man to have effortless charm-- a man with substance, plenty of depth and a smile that could put the sun to shame… [i]Someone like Theodore Wallstrom[/i].

Grimacing, the young woman tossed the basketball back to its rightful owner, turned on her heel, and began her trek to the finish line. She hoped her teammates had been too busy with each other to notice.

[color=steelblue]“You know silence speaks volumes, right?”[/color] Nicholas would say as he followed in Sol’s stead, breezing past the second-grade birdboy.

[color=8A4C40]“Yeah, especially from you. It’s a downright blessing.”[/color] Griffin intentionally dribbled his basketball to ruin the silence that Nicholas felt so keen to point out. 

As the symphony of footsteps and the air in Griff’s head clearly started to boil over, Nicholas chuckled. [color=steelblue]“No need to deny it. I know you like the sound of my voice. I mean, how could you not? I sound [i]spectacular[/i]!”[/color] 

[color=8A4C40]“Do you ever…”[/color] Griffin narrowed his eyes, exasperatedly glaring at Nicholas, [color=8A4C40]“...hear yourself when you talk?”[/color] 

Out of nowhere, a very furious Soleil suddenly stopped in her tracks and whipped around to glare at her feuding teammates. [color=darkred]“Can you guys just [b][i]shut the fuck up[/i][/b]?!”[/color] she growled loudly, her green eyes flashing with the anger and frustration she’d been holding back for a long while now. [color=darkred]“Unless you both want to become punching bags on my next training session, [i][b]zip it[/b][/i]. You’re giving me a fucking headache!”[/color] And from the way her fists were balled up, there was no denying the girl meant every word.

He rolled his eyes at both of them. Part of him wanted to comment but knew it wouldn’t be worth it. Sol was borderline unpleasant whenever she got like this, so Nicholas knew when to pick his battles. [color=steelblue]“Whatever.”[/color] Yes, in a rare showing, Nicholas outright admitted a temporary defeat-- at least, until they won this challenge. Then all bets were off.

Still frowning, the Jameson girl once again turned on her heel and walked the short distance from their current position and to the arts building, her footsteps a little heavier than before. However, when she noticed that they were the only students around and there were just a few staff members left, her face lit up.

[color=darkred]“Well how about that? Looks like we fucking won this thing after all…”[/color] she said with a smug smirk, walking past the finish line and scanning the area for any classmates. [color=darkred]“And by a landslide, too. There’s nobody else out here yet!”[/color]

[color=ffdab9]“Um… actually…”[/color] The faculty member standing before them was the smallest one of them all with big glasses, strawberry blonde hair, and a knitted sweater on. She had lost a game of rock, paper, scissors and had to stand out here, waiting for the stragglers. [color=ffdab9]“Well, you see… the other teams are already heading back to their dorm,”[/color] Ms. Mulligan nervously played with the pen in her hand. 

[color=ffdab9]“You guys are… last.”[/color]

Immediately, Soleil’s smug grin was wiped away as her face comically fell into a disbelieving expression. [color=darkred]“I’m sorry, [i]what[/i]?”[/color] she asked the woman, taking a few heavy steps in her direction. 

Internally shaking, not one to enjoy observing the apex predators of their experiment, Ms. Mulligan profusely shook her head, [color=ffdab9]“Here’s some stickers! Thanks for participating.”[/color] Dropping the paper awards (for participation) that read ‘Congrats you did it!’ with stickers on top for each one of them (her own personal gift, they were cute animals), the faculty member was quick to scurry away, while sheepishly yelling, [color=ffdab9]“I’m sorry!”[/color]  

[color=steelblue]“Stickers, huh?”[/color] Nicholas repeated back in a low voice. It took him a few, slow-to-register moments but once it clicked, he couldn’t help but laugh. The team that was poised to easily claim victory had, in fact, been given the equivalent to participation trophies. He wasn’t sure if he was angry or if the entire situation amused him more than getting multiple reactions out of Griffin. 

The moment Griffin saw sweat coming down the teacher’s forehead, before she even spoke, he decided while his teammates were distracted that he’d take this opportunity to magically disappear. Sidestepping quietly, he watched as the other two focused in on the poor teacher. Poor thing could barely speak. 

And just like that, he was gone…

Or so he thought.

Unfortunately, Griffin and Nicholas hadn’t reacted fast enough. Before either of them could do more than run off in the same direction, the raging Soleil had turned around, and was stampeding towards them like an angry bull with bloody murder in her eyes.[/indent][/indent][/color]