Click!

The door opened.

They escaped.

"We made it!" William cheered, jumping out of the room.

"About time", David said, stepping out.

Lucas sighed in relief that the code worked.

"I think we have to go down there", Ray pointed down the corridor.

The boys were descending some stairs to reach the lobby. After they exited the room, a sign led them down the corridor and to some stairs that led them down.

"What place do you think we got?" William asked, going down the stairs with a skip in his step.

"Probably 15th or something like that. We wasted a lot of time", David replied, not feeling confident.

"I feel like we did good", Ray said, feeling great. "Considering we had one less person".

"You're right", Lucas replied, glad they were out. "But if I see Malakai there, imma be pissed".

They reached the bottom floor and were again directed by some signs to the end of the hall. They reached a black double door with a lobby sign above it.

"Who wants to open it?" Ray asked, looking at his friends and feeling a little nervous now that they were in front of the door.

"I don't want to see how many people are inside. If I see a lot, I will die inside", Lucas replied with a beating heart.

"This is basically like seeing the results you got for a test", David added.

"I'll open it", William said carefree going forward.

"Wait!".

Their attempts at stopping him were futile as he had already pulled both handles, opening both doors.

"Woah, is this the room we were in this morning?" Ray asked, with his eyes moving everywhere as he examined the room.

"Nah, this one is different, it has seats and tables. It even has a stage", David replied, leaning forward to look inside.

The boys walked into the room and counted in their heads the number of people they could see. Everyone in the room looked at them as they entered.

"Guys, I think we killed it", William said, trying to count the teams.

"I'm counting seven teams", Ray said. "We got 8th".

"Are you sure?" Lucas questioned, not getting his hopes up yet and still counting.

"Yeah, we've got 8th. Look over there", David said, guiding his friends to an electronic board. They all walked closer to see their names.

"Yesss!!" Lucas celebrated after getting confirmation.

All of the boys embraced each other in celebration. The electronic board showed their positions, team members, and class. The electronic board was big and showed all the positions from first to thirty. Of course, the other positions were blank as they hadn't escaped yet, so a dash was next to those positions.

"How many points do we get?" William happily asked, forgetting what Mr Miller had said in the morning.

"A thousand", Ray answered, still looking at the board.

"I'm happy with that", David said, stretching his arms.

"I agree, getting fifth or higher would've been a miracle", Lucas added, looking ecstatic.

"Check out the other names. The whole of 1-A escaped", Ray pointed out.

"Impossible", William reacted, turning back to the board.

"Yes, look. There are thirty people in each class, so there are six groups of five," Ray explained to him.

William counted the names, "Holy crap", he muttered. "Hold up, look who came fifth. A team from class 1-D".

"1-D?" David took a closer look. "I don't see Dillon on that team".

"I don't recognise any of those names", Lucas said. "Sabrina, Nathan, Theo. Who are these people?" he asked.

"Me too. I don't recognise them. If they had done well in the last challenge, we would've noticed them", David replied.

"Maybe they got lucky this time", William said, turning his back to the board.

"If they did this good, I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of luck", Ray replied, giving them their props.

"We did good", Lucas proudly said, relaxing his body. "I was stressing too much inside there".

"I did tell you many times to relax", William replied in a I told you so tone.

Click!

The doors opened.

The boy's head swivelled in the direction of the door to see who came ninth.

"Mally?"

A group of five people came through the door.

"Who are they?" William asked, not knowing them.

"They're from 1-B", Lucas replied. "That's Delilah's roommate, and that girl has an identical twin brother", he showed William by slyly pointing at them.

"Of course, you recognise the girls", Ray slyly commented.

"Malakai's not making it. Benjamin's more likely to come through those doors next", David said, walking away. "Let's go take a seat".

The boys went over to a table and sat down. The table was big; it could fit around ten people, five on each side.

"Wait, does this mean we'll make it into the top ten?" William asked, trying to count the points in his head.

"No", Lucas replied, quickly killing his dream. "If we came in the top five, then yeah".

"It's not all bad news. We got a thousand points, so we won't be too far behind", David told them.

"I wish there were a challenge where we could face off against other classes", William said, resting his head in his palm.

"That legit happened in the last challenge", Lucas replied.

"No, but that was with people from other classes", William said. "I meant our class versus another class".

"You do remember in the minigames, we got destroyed", David reminded him.

"Individually, 1-A would beat us, but as a class, I think we're the strongest", William replied.

"What about 1-B?" Ray asked.

"Naaah, we're stronger", William confidently replied.

After some thinking, "You know what, I agree", Lucas said. "I think the six of us could take anyone on".

William smirked. "We got the power of friendship", he joked.

"Bleghh", David fake vomited.

"That was cringe", Ray added, smiling.

"Someone had to say it", William replied.

"He's not wrong", Lucas laughed.

They continued to talk for about 20 minutes until,

Click!

The doors opened again.

Everyone in the room looked towards the doors to see which team would get the 10th spot.

A lone boy walked out with his hands in his pockets. He wore grey tracksuit bottoms and a football (soccer) shirt. The shirt was a Chelsea shirt but was yellow, meaning it was the away kit. He had his grey hoodie tied around his neck, so it looked like he had a cape. The boy had wavy black hair with brown tips, hazelnut-coloured eyes and a scar across his nose.

"Mally!" Ray shouted out.

"I don't know how he does it", William said, a little stunned.

"How?" Lucas questioned with wide eyes.

"If anyone was going to do it, it had to be him", David replied, proudly smiling.

"Did he do the escape room alone?".

"Where's his team?".

"Did he cheat?".

"Why was he alone?".

"Did he not choose a team?".

Questions were being asked between the 1-A students. None of the 1-A students knew of Malakai's punishment, not even Luna.

"He's always smiling", William said, seeing Malakai's face.

The boys stayed in their seats and waited for Malakai to come to them, but before he reached them, he had to pass another table.

"Yo".

"Hey Malakai", Akari greeted him. "Delilah wasn't lying, you were on a team by yourself".

Malakai went to the table where Akari and her team were sitting. "Yeah, it was lonely, man", Malakai replied.

"It looks like you had fun", Akari said, seeing him smile.

"It was fun, but it would've been better if I was with people".

"Why is your hair damp?" Christina asked, looking at his hair.

"I had a shower", Malakai casually replied, shaking his head so his hair moved.

"You had a proper shower?" Akari said.

"Obviously, you had to run on the treadmill as well, no?" Malakai was confused by their reactions.

"Yeah, Eris did", Akari replied, looking at Eris.

Malakai looked at Eris. Eris had long brown, reddish hair and hazelnut-coloured eyes like him. Her eyes were sharp, and her eyelashes were long.

"I washed my body after I ran on the treadmill, but I didn't wash my hair. That would've taken too long", Eris said, slightly embarrassed but not showing it.

"That makes sense. You're a girl innit, you've got long hair. I took a shower because I wanted to," Malakai replied, shrugging his shoulders. "The shampoo smelt nice, so I wanted to try it."

The table laughed and smiled at what he said. Akari and Christina knew Malakai was chill, but the other girls, Sasha, Eris and Samantha, were finding out now.

"What place did you get?"

"We got ninth. We came in like 30 minutes before you did", Christina answered.

"Damn. I'm happy I got tenth, I can't lie", Malakai said.

"But you've lost your top spot", Akaria replied, letting him know.

"It is what it is. They had to nerf me. I was too good", Malakai replied, smiling. "I'll chat to you lot later. I need to see what my friends are saying", he said.

He gave each of them a fist bump and left them. He was walking to his friends with a smile plastered on his face; he couldn't contain it. To avoid making it awkward, he looked elsewhere, and while he was looking elsewhere, he saw another familiar face. He knew he had to see them later until something changed his mind. Someone was staring at him. The stare came with a smile, which clearly had a meaning. Malakai stopped moving. He looked at his friends and raised a finger to tell tell them to give him a minute. He changed direction and walked towards a different table. With his hands in his pockets, he walked to that table, passing other tables with 1-A students on them. The 1-A students stared at him like he was an alien. He really soloed the escaped room.

"Yo Luna, you good"? Malakai smiled, reaching the table and holding out his fist for a fist bump.

"Hi Malakai. I'm good", Luna replied, fist-bumping him. "Was that your punishment? Doing this challenge alone?"

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"Yeah, I gave them the idea, kinda", Malakai said. "You escaped first?".

"Yeah, I had a good team", Luna replied, looking at her team.

Malakai glanced at the rest of the team. "Yes, Alex. What you saying?" Malakai said, smiling at him.

Alexander glared at him and then looked away, not responding at all.

"Aryt, I see you. Yes, Frank, you good?" Malakai switched and greeted Frank.

"Yes? I'm good", Frank awkwardly replied, just about understanding his accent.

"Ben told me you two got on, so I'm sure us two could get on", Malakai said.

"Sure?" Frank was still awkward because he didn't know how to reply to him.

"I might call you bodyguard to make it easier for me".

Frank didn't know what was going on.

"Isn't calling his name easier?" Luna asked.

"Naah, calling him bodyguard is funnier. You can't lie he does act like a bodyguard", Malakai replied, pointing at Frank.

Luna put a hand over her mouth to cover her smile. It was clear what she thought.

Malakai then looked at the last two people on their team: a girl with clear white skin and long silver hair and a tanned girl with two different-coloured eyes and blonde hair with purple tips.

"Hello, Malakai. We finally meet", Destiny said, standing from her seat.

"Yo, who are you?" Malakai asked, gauging her.

"You should know who I am if you look at the leaderboard", Destiny replied, walking closer to Malakai.

Malakai got his answer from her reply and tone of voice. "I don't look at the leaderboard. I just know I'm first", he replied, grinning with his teeth out.

Destiny was now standing in front of Malakai. Destiny is 5'8, so she is slightly taller than Malakai, but that didn't intimidate him.

"I don't think you're first anymore. It's such a shame. It looks like my name will be higher than yours. Along with everyone else in 1-A", Destiny replied, tilting her head.

Malakai giggled a little. "You're in 1-A, but your maths is shit".

Isabella's mouth gaped while Luna kept a straight face.

"If my calculations are correct, I'll still be in the top ten. You'll still see my name there", Malakai said, trying to aggravate her.

"Guess we'll have to find out", Destiny replied. Malakai got her good with that response. "My name is Destiny, if you didn't know already".

"I didn't".

"Now you know!".

Tension could be felt by everyone who was close by. Conversations stopped between the 1-A students as they were too busy watching these two speak. Luna had to watch this interaction, which was not the first time she had been in the middle of a Malakai altercation.

"Should we stop them?" Isabella whispered to Luna.

"It depends. Do you want to see Destiny put in her place?" Luna asked. "If one person is going to do that, it's Malakai".

Isabella didn't get it because she hadn't met Malakai; she'd only seen him from afar, like most people. She didn't know how he was going to do that, as it looked like Destiny had the upper hand by finishing first in the challenge and throwing Malakai out of the number one spot. However, she was curious. She wanted to see Destiny put in her place. She wasn't the only one, some of the girls in 1-A also wanted to see that.

"Why were you staring at me?" Malakai asked, getting straight to the point.

"To get your attention. I wanted to talk to you", Destiny answered, telling no lies.

"Why me?" Malakai asked, acting like he was a nobody.

"I wanted to see what type of person you are. Also, I know nothing about you", Destiny replied with a tone.

"I know nothing about you. You don't know anything about them or them", he said, pointing to his friends and random people. "What's your point?".

"But I do know things about them", Destiny replied, smiling.

Malakai didn't like her smile. He started giggling. "Who is this kid?" he asked, looking at Luna. "Is your class filled with weirdos?".

"You're calling me a weirdo when you're wearing your hoodie like a cape", Destiny replied. "Are you imagining yourself as a hero?" she asked, treating him like a kid.

"I don't need to imagine. I'm already a neighbourhood hero back home", Malakai replied, clapping back.

Alexander watched on. To him, this was a win-win. He didn't like either of them. He disliked Destiny more and didn't care about Malakai, so he enjoyed seeing Destiny agitated. It was clear Malakai was getting under her skin.

Destiny wanted to skip the small talk. "How did you escape by yourself?" she asked.

"I don't know, the doors opened for me", Malakai said in an unserious tone, shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

"You don't stop playing games, do you?" Destiny replied, a bit ticked off, thinking he was joking.

"Why are you pissed off? Are you jealous cuz I escaped by myself, and you needed a team?" Malakai was going for the kill now; he wanted a reaction. "I came tenth by myself, I doubt you could've done that. Is that why you're pissed?"

"I'm not pissed off, I'm curious about how you did it", Destiny replied, trying to keep her composure.

Malakai giggled. "Let me tell you how I did it. I escaped by myself cuz I'm him, and you needed a team, cuz your shit", Malakai said, smiling with his teeth out. He was having fun now.

"You know, you shouldn't speak to a lady like that", Destiny tried to switch it on him and make him look childish.

Malakai pulled a face and then smirked. "You're not a lady. You're a woman", he replied. "A lady speaks with eloquence and class, you speak like a bitch".

Eh?

No one around could believe he said that. The 1-A student's eyes were glued to the two of them. It was like everyone was shocked to the spot. All the girls thought that, but hearing it being said still shocked them.

Destiny had to process what just happened, when she did, "Why you!" Destiny clenched her fist and moved towards Malakai.

"Okay, that's enough", Luna said, stopping them. She tiredly got up from her seat and stood next to Destiny. "Malakai, you crossed the line. You know not to call a woman a bitch. That's too much".

"Sorry big sis", Malakai saluted like a soldier.

"You shouldn't be apologising to me", Luna said. "Apologise to Destiny".

"I don't think I can do that", Malakai replied, showing that he didn't want to apologise to Destiny.

"I don't need his apology. Seeing him kicked out of first is enough for me", Destiny said. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Hehehehehe. Aryt, guess that's the end of the conversation", Malakai said. "It's a shame our conversation couldn't be longer. I wanted to take the piss more. I didn't think the word bitch would trigger you so much. I didn't even call you a bitch, I said you talk like one".

"Malakai", Luna sternly said.

"Aryt, aryt. I'm done", Malakai replied with his hands up. "Just some advice, if you wanna chat shit to be people, you can't get pissed off that easily when they chat shit back", he told Destiny. Malakai started walking away, "Bye Luna".

"Bye".

Awkward silence.

Destiny could feel everyone's eyes on her, but her eyes were fixated on Malakai. Malakai kept walking straight without looking back, so all Destiny saw was a 5'6 boy walking away with his hands in his pockets and a makeshift grey cape.

"Who is he?".

"Mally, what happened?" Ray asked. All his friends saw the interaction from a distance, so they couldn't hear what was being said.

Malakai took a seat at the table. "Nothing, someone just wanted to talk to me", he replied. "Forget about me. What happened to you lot?".

Ryan and his team walked into the lobby. Ryan looked at the electronic board, which showed the team's positions. His energy dropped. He saw something he didn't like.

10th - MALAKAI JUNIOR (1-C).

His team came 12th. Some time passed by since Malakai had escaped.

"Why's his name alone?" Ryan mumbled. He looked around the lobby to find Malakai, but he couldn't find him. However, he did spot his friends. By himself, he walked towards David, Lucas, Ray, and William.

"Where's he going?" Eric asked.

"Leave him, he's going to talk to someone", Lorenzo replied.

Ryan got closer to the table, and as he got closer, he counted five people sitting at the table. One had his head down, resting on his arms with their hoodie up to cover their head. That had to be Malakai. He reached the table.

"Malakai. Malakai", Ryan ignored everyone else at the table and called Malakai's name.

"Can't you see he's sleeping?" Lucas said, with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Wake him up then. I want to talk to him", Ryan replied, straight-faced.

"No", David firmly said.

Ryan kissed his teeth and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I can talk to you. Why is his name alone on the leaderboard?"

"He completed the challenge alone. That was his punishment for brake checking in the last challenge", David answered, keeping it short and brief.

"Bullshit. You expect me to believe he came 10th all by himself", Ryan didn't believe it.

"You have to believe it, it's facts", Lucas said, screwfacing Ryan.

Ryan grit his teeth. "Wake him up. I need to talk to him", Ryan had to hear it from Malakai.

"Get lost dude", William said, shooing him with his hand.

"Tch", Ryan stepped forward.

Shift!

Ray and Lucas simultaneously stood up from their seats to block Ryan from getting closer.

"Fuck off", Lucas sternly told him.

With no chance of getting to Malakai, Ryan took a deep breath. He lifted his hands and smiled.

"Alright, fine. I might have lost my cool there. I'm sorry", Ryan turned around and left the table. He walked away with a calm and happy facial expression so as not to raise concern from other people watching, but inside, he was furious. He was close to snapping. Maybe it was a good thing Malakai was sleeping; Malakai may have tipped him over the edge with his trash talk. Ryan had to hold that L and walk away.

While Ryan walked away with a fake smile, Malakai smiled to himself.