The Challenge

Today was the worst day Sam could remember ever having. Her alarm had failed to wake her, thanks to her roommate unplugging it, she had received a text-breakup from her boyfriend telling her, "It just isn't working out", and she was late to class, receiving scorned looks from the entire class, only to be handed a failed exam paper. The fun didn't end there; The university had decided to cancel her financial aid, and Sam's bank account was looking slim. Things were not looking up.

Sam thought all of this over as she sat in a secluded corner of the student union, staring out into the bleak, unending rain. She had no idea what to do. She could easily ask her parents for financial help, but she had promised herself a year ago when she'd left home that she would do everything she could to make it on her own. Crawling back to her smug parents for help would be a move of pure desperation.

Sam struggled to think of other options, but nothing came to mind. She sighed to herself, feeling hopeless and lost. Her mind was a blank, attempting to avoid thinking of the inevitable decisions she would have to make, when her phone vibrated, alerting her to an e-mail. Sam glanced down at her phone and opened the message.

Several weeks back, Sam's friend Jess had talked her into signing up for some kind of contest. Supposedly it was supposed to be some kind of reality show. The studio that was producing the show had set up a booth on campus, and a confident-looking man wearing a suit and sunglasses was carrying around a clipboard asking students to enter the contest. Jess loved the idea of being famous, so she signed up with no hesitation. Sam had been in the middle of a phone call, and had signed the lengthy contract Jess had shoved in her face without reading a single word, and continued on with her conversation. She hadn't even given the entry a second thought since then, but the e-mail she received informed her she had been chosen! Sam had never won anything before, so she was excited at first, but then she realized that she wasn't even really sure what she'd won. The e-mail only stated that she had been chosen, and that she would be contacted further via the methods stipulated in the contract she had already signed.

Sam thought this was strange. Shouldn't she be receiving information on going to the studio for filming or something? She wasn't really sure, she'd never even heard of anyone ever winning this kind of chance. Since Jess was the one who got her involved in this in the first place, Sam figured maybe she should call and tell her the news. Sam dialed the phone, let it ring, and Jess picked up.

"Hey Sam, what's up?" Jess sounded out of breath.

"Jess, you'll never guess what happened! Remember that reality show contest we entered to be on a few weeks back? Well, I just got an e-mail that says I got accepted!"

"No way! You lucky bitch!" Jess was jealous, but not as much as she was excited for her friend. "So what's the deal? When do you start? Give me the details!"

"Well, that's the thing... there aren't really any details in the e-mail they sent me... I was wondering if you knew any details from when we signed up for this? I wasn't really paying attention when you shoved that paper in my hands to sign." Sam felt like something was weird with Jess over the phone, she still heard heavy breathing and thought she heard a distorted male voice. "Sorry, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, Sam, you know you can always talk to me. I don't really remember any of the details of what we signed up for, either... anyway why don't you come over to my apartment and we can try to find some info about it online together?"

'Sounds good," Sam replied, "See ya in fifteen or twenty minutes". Sam had just started gathering her things when Jess interrupted her thoughts.

"Sam," Jess said with a pause, "Uhhh... take the long way to my apartment... y'know, down Second. The... main way's under construction and may not be safe." Sam didn't remember anything about any recent construction, but Jess probably knew her neighborhood better, why argue?