CHAPTER TWO: OCTOPUS DARE CRAZE
Two days after Harvey had departed, and their Summer plans had been discussed, SPLAT made their way towards the school's computer club. Truthfully, Ingrid thought it was a lame activity, but it was what the rest of the group wanted to do, and she counted on at least one good game to be available at the club for her to play.
When they got to the computer club, Ingrid resisted the urge to curl her lips into a sneer. As expected, the room looked lame, and she'd rather be anywhere else but there at that point in time.
"Ingrid, there's a spare computer at the end. You can use that one, and we'll use the ones along here."
"Oh, thanks. Isolating me, cheers for that."
"Ingrid, stop it."
"What? Come on, Lloyd, it's a joke. Get over yourself."
Lloyd huffed and sat down in the nearest chair, as Ingrid rolled her eyes at his dramatics and ventured over to her chosen computer. Sitting down, she booted up the machine, sneering at the pitiful amount of games available.
'This sucks! If my Harv-Harv were here, it wouldn't be so lame!'
She chose the first game the mouse hovered over and clicked, the screen title floating up in front of her.
"Octopus Dare?" She rolled her eyes. "Lame!"
The person next to her turned their head and snarled: "Don't dismiss the Octopus."
Ingrid recoiled in fake shock, hand to her chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry for dissing your precious Octopus," She mocked. "Didn't realise it was so good!" She snorted and glared at the person who had confronted her.
"Why don't you shut up and let me play, yeah? I don't even know you and you're getting all up in my face. Back off now, or I'll make you."
Luckily for the attacker, they made a wise decision and backed away, leaving Ingrid to smile sarcastically after them.
"See you later, prick." She whispered under her breath as she turned her attention back to the computer screen. Clicking on the start option, Ingrid watched the Octopus dance across the screen towards the treasure chest. Her eye lids drooped and she supported her chin with a fisted hand.
"Oh boy, how riveting… Hurry up! Get me that treasure!"
As soon as she gained control of the Octopus, she let her arm drop, both hands on the keyboard, where she mashed at the buttons madly as the Octopus darted across the screen to the different treasure boxes.
"Bloody thing, no, no, no! Get it! Stupid Octopus, MOVE! Oh, bloody hell…"
Feeling eyes on her, Ingrid whipped her head round and snapped: "What the hell you looking at?!"
A large group looked back at her coolly, an older girl speaking in response.
"You shouldn't speak about the Octopus like that."
The youngest member of SPLAT slapped her hand on the table in hysteria. "Sweetheart, I can say what I want, when I want, to who I want. It's made up. The Octopus doesn't have feelings."
"Don't be mad just because you're not good at the game."
"Oi, I wasn't talking to you! And I don't care if I do suck at this game! IT SUCKS!"
Pushing her chair back so that it scraped along the floor noisily, Ingrid rocketed to her feet and hollered:
"Octopus Dare? More like Octopus CRAP!"
She was aware of all the attention now focussed onto her, but she didn't care. This idiot needed to be put into their place!
"The effects are shocking and the Octopus just dances around! THIS GAME SUCKS!"
"I would take that comment back if I were you."
"Are you threatening me?" Ingrid snorted. "We're not in a gangster film. I know you're not going to whip out a knife or anything."
Lloyd and the others came up to the side of the group. "Ingrid, settle down."
"I'm allowed to have an opinion, Lloyd! This girl is not allowing me to express my opinion!"
"You're making a scene, Ing."
"Mandy, I am trying very hard not to make one."
"So, step away from the computer and either play another game or go somewhere else." Lloyd said firmly. "We don't want to exclude you, Ingrid, but I think you need to cool off."
Usually, she would have screamed her head off at him for daring to order her about, but she decided to be mature about the situation. Nodding, Ingrid stepped away from the computer and headed towards the door, murmuring:
"I'm going for a walk. I'll see you guys later."
Her footsteps faded down the corridor, SPLAT turning their attention to Octopus Dare.
Hours after she had returned home from her walk, Ingrid lay on her bed, phone to her ear. Barely any of her texts to SPLAT had been provided with responses, and a small part of her was worried. That game seemed twisted and messed up… what if something was going on with the game itself?
To shake her nerves, she had decided to call Harvey, and was currently waiting for someone to pick up on the other line. Ingrid stared up at the ceiling, scrutinising her fingernails. A sudden crackle made her jerk and she let her hand flop onto the bed as she pleaded with the man to let her speak to Harvey.
After getting through to her boyfriend, having spouted out 'family emergency' to the person who had picked up the other end, Ingrid beamed broadly.
"Hey, you."
"Hey, Alex said something about a family emergency. What's going on?"
"Alex?"
"The guy who you just spoke too." Harvey replied. "Is everyone alright, Ing?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! There is no family emergency… and before you nag me, I only said it so I can talk to you. They're well strict at this camp you're at."
Harvey sighed down the phone. "It's annoying, I can't talk to any of SPLAT for ages!"
"You're talking to me though!" Ingrid's smile vanished. "Harv, I have to ask you… Do you know anything about the 'Octopus'?"
At her boyfriend's negative response, she clarified her meaning. "How about the Octopus game? 'Octopus Dare', some crap like that?"
"Yeah, I played it on my first night here."
Ingrid froze, her hand tensing around her phone.
"It was stupid. We went to the local arcade in the camp's minivan and we all played the game on the machine there." He paused briefly, and when he resumed speaking, his voice was quieter. "Ing, everyone loved the game, except me. On our way back to the camp, everyone was complaining about wanting to stay longer to play the Octopus. The staff here kept having to say that no computer games are allowed to be played here, but everyone moaned about it all night. They wanted to 'see the Octopus'."
"Well, damn."
"I don't like it, Ingrid. I t-thought the Octopus was lame, I don't get the appeal!"
"Me neither, but Harv-Harv, we are going to remain sane, even if we get hate for not worshiping the 'Octopus.'"
"Okay… Do the others worship it?"
Ingrid bit her lip worriedly, but the tone of her voice did not convey her anxiety. "Course not. SPLAT are smarter than that. They won't be sucked in by a gimmick dancing around on a screen."
