Chuck's game
Chapter 2: Hot for teacher
- "I hate this"- Sarah confessed in a whisper, looking at Zondra's eyes
- "I know you do, honey, put it came with the territory. We have to make sacrifices for the greater good. At least, be grateful that you know all this people. Doing this in front of strangers could be a lot more awkward. Trust me. They are going to be gentle on you. You are going to be great. Just do as we practiced"- The brunette reassure her.
- "I hate teaching"- Sarah finally sighed, turning to face the classroom.
It's been three weeks since the last kid got there and, so far, it had been a bizarre experience. Other than the guards and a PT instructor from hell, there were no "adult" presence in the camp. Even The Director, as most kids called him, had been absent, with only a weekly sheet of paper, with the name of the subjects to be taught, the timetables and the designated "instructors" as all the instructions that they had received. So far, nobody has disobeyed the schedule. No one dare.
Judging from her past experiences, Sarah had thought that a group of people in their late teens without a clear authority setting boundaries would soon devolve into a dog-eat-dog society. Kind of like The Lord of the Flies, but with more hormones and pimples.
However, the truth was that, so far, everybody was civil to each other. Even nice. Specially with Zondra, with her friendly smile and wacky sense of humor. Sarah was more that content to hide in her friend's shadow, unnoticed by the group.
But this was different. This time, she was at the spotlight, where she was supposed to teach everything her father had taught her. To lie. To deceive. To con.
She cleared her throat and spoke to the class.
-"Hi. I'm Sarah and I'm going to be your instructor today in deception and manipulation"- That was a running joke in the group, that way of introducing themselves and whatever they were supposed to be teaching.
Once again, Sarah felt like she was part of a weird social experiment. This week, she and Zondra were supposed to teach "deception and manipulation", whatever that meant. They never received further instructions or clarifications. Sometimes, the names of the classes morphed from week to week. So, Carlos had taught "How to pick a lock" in the first two weeks, and now he had to teach them "infiltration and stealth"
Sarah wasn't quite sure of why she had to teach this with Zondra, although she has her suspicions that in the next weeks she may learn how both their skill sets work in tandem. She preferred not to think about it.
- "Anyway, deception is, like, when you have to deceive someone"- She cringed at her choice of word. At her back, Zondra tried to suppress a giggle. God, I'm awful at this, she thought.
-"So"- she tried to continue, despite the embarrassment - "when you try to deceive someone, you try to make him assume things. To feel comfortable in the situation, to feel in charge. If possible, you should try to make them think that they are the deceivers"
-"Like a magician?"- someone asked from the audience.
Zondra quickly gazed towards the tall, lanky boy sitting in the front row with his hand raised. Perfect, she thougt. Sarah's admirer.
For the last couple of weeks, ever since the boy had arrived to the camp, he and Sarah had exchanged longing looks over the mess hall during each and every meal. But, as far as Zondra knew, they had never exchanged a single word. Come to think about it, other that the british boy, Cole, Charlie doesn't seem to talk with anyone.
- "Exactly"- Sarah beamed at him. Zondra rolled her eyes at Sarah's smitten tone- "Like a magician. You have to use misdirection to make one thing look like another. To play with the mark's expectations, to make them thing that they are getting what they want, even when they are not"- Pointing at the tall guy, Sarah asked- "Carmichael, would you help us with a little demonstration"
Zondra shifted her feet, uncomfortable. What was Sarah thinking? She knew that the plan called for Zondra to act friendly towards the mark. And even if it sounded fun when they were planning it, she didn't want to flirt with her friend's crush right in front of her. Why had she picked Charlie of all people?
Charlie stood up and walked to the front of the class, where Sarah positioned him between Zondra and her.
"Thanks, Carmichael"- Sarah beamed to him.- "Let's just play a little game. Zondra and I will make a team, and our objective is to steal your ID card.
-"I will give you my ID when you take it from my thin, starving hands"- Charlie grumble in response, causing a few laughs in the classroom. Stealing each other cards was a standing game in the group. The rules were simple: if you stole someone's ID, you win the right to eat their ration on whatever next meal was. And Charlie was, by far, the one that had lost more meals thanks to this game.
"So, what do I do now"- Charlie asked with a smile to Sarah
"Nothing, Charlie. You just stay there"- answered a silky voice at his back.
He turned, only to froze in surprise at the vision that presented to him
While she was still dressed in the same gray sweat pants and t-shirt as all of them, something was different in Zondra's demeanor that make Charlie all of the sudden very aware of her presence and femininity. With only a soft smile and a slight inclination of her head, she had managed to enrapture his attention.
She walked a few steps, until they were just a few inches apart. Without breaking eye contact, Zondra softly placed her hands in Charlie's chest, her eyes mysterious.
Charlie let out a rather high pitched scream as he felt Sarah's hand sliding in his right pocket. He tried to grab her wrist and spin at the same time, tripping with his own feet and falling to the floor. Trying to prevent his fall, he grab Zondra with his left arm without letting go Sarah's hand, causing the three of them to fall in a pile to the ground.
The class began to laugh, loudly while the three of them disentangle from each other and stand up.
-"Well, that was embarrassing"- Zondra said with a blush covering her face.- "I guess that the lesson here was that sometime you fail"- she said to the class with a laugh.
-"Actually"- Sarah said with a shy smile, holding Zondra's card in her left card- "The lesson here is that the easiest mark is the one that thinks that you are the mark"- She said, exchanging a knowing smile with Charlie as she gave him the card.
-"That"- he added with his own satisfied grin- "and that you should never underestimate an hungry nerd"