The Game

“ Can you keep a secret? “, this is the current trending app that has stocked up all the youngsters over the world. The game, launched by David Rilwood, is the one that has also been installed the most in 24 hours – 125 million people downloaded it in just one single day. ''

This is what the Sunday report here in California is currently. So let me explain to you how this works real quick  – you install an app with a green and blue icon and with the words “ Can you keep a secret? “ written on it. You enroll by filing a document with questions and you’re ready to go. The meaning of the game is to actually discover if teenagers nowadays are as loyal as they claim they are. So after you’ve registered, you get a personal mentor who tells you other peoples’ mysteries. I know, it sounds crazy. However, the trick is that you have to maintain this secret to yourself and not tell anybody else for a certain amount of time, and if you share it, something harmful happens to either you, your family or your closest friends. Depending on how personal and deep the secret is, the more unpleasant things will occur. 

Hi, my name is Tyler Drum, I’m sixteen years old and I can surely say that I got the heaviest secret of all to protect. Let me start from the very beginning. 

It was the first day of the school year. Me and my friends met outside and started talking and catching up on the stuff that has happened throughout the summer. When the bell rang, we all went to class. Everything was fine until the lunch break. This was when it all began. I was eating my sandwich next to my best friend Alex Dwarf when I saw him downloading '' Can you keep a secret? ". It didn't seem like a big deal, so I ignored it. As soon as I entered our school the next day, I found out everyone had installed the app already. Again, I ignored that. Nevertheless, every single person there was talking about how good that game was and it's not like talking for five minutes but for weeks and even months. All of my friends were advising me to download it or I will regret it someday. And finally, I agreed and installed the well-known app. 

Once I enlisted, I got my guide. Later, I went to school, waiting for my tutor to notify me of the secret I had to hide. Everyone was bragging about how theirs was clearly the hardest to protect. 

Regardless, I didn’t get mine until last night. When I opened the app, I was in terror. I couldn’t believe a mystery like this would ever be given to someone to defend… As I said earlier, I was in an entire shock. Yet do you know what the worst of all was? My time. I shouldn’t have to share it with anyone until it happened. Soon I realized it was too late, so I went to sleep.

Today I got on the bus and went to school. I wanted to talk to Alex so he can advise me what to do and help me even though not knowing what my ” job ” was. Strangely, he wasn’t there. I waited for him outside of school, at our spot where we usually meet, but he didn‘t show up. I thought he had caught the seasonal flu, so I wasn’t incredibly worried.

I went to my first class and I saw her - sad, looking a little depressed, sitting at the back of the room all alone. That was the girl, whose secret I had to keep…

Oh wait, I forgot. I didn’t tell you what the mystery was, right? Well, keep reading to find out. 

8:43 am on the 23rd of September. Seven minutes until the end of the class. Seven minutes until the first break. Seven minutes until I get to talk to her. You know those quiet kids at the back of the class that never even make eye contact with you, the ones that barely ever talk to anyone and if they do, it’s just with a few short words. Yes, that’s her. Clair. Even if you try to strike up a conversation with her, it won‘t work because she’s very firmly closed into herself. At this point, my task is starting to be way harder. And since Alex was still not here, I had no idea what to do. The only thing I could think of doing was to wait, wait and wait until those seven, now five, minutes run out. I couldn’t believe how slow the time was running, maybe it felt like this because of my nervousness and anxiety.

Finally, after the longest five minutes of my life, I was going to make a move. I stood up the chair and looked at Clair. She hardly looked me back. I was staring at her, trying to be some sort of a supportive friend, even though we weren‘t that close. And then she started running. Like crazy. I was quite confused but then it came to my mind. There were two options. The first one was that I frightened her so much she started running away from me. The second one, which I think is the right reason she ran away, was that she knew everything. She knew I had her secret, she knew I was chosen to protect it and wanted to prevent it, but she wanted it to happen. Clair is an intelligent girl. We all knew that.

I had no choice but to start following her through the school halls. The little light in my head eventually turned on. I had an idea.

I started trying to catch up to the victim of the game while begging her to stay and not freak out. I just wanted to talk. That was it. And surprisingly, after we have already ran through the whole school, she agreed. We sat down in the computer room and started chatting. My whole point was trying to talk her out of this horrible decision she had made. Firstly, I described her beautiful personality - how calm and warm-hearted she is, how she stands out, but in a good way, how she thinks about the others’ well-being before her own. She’s precisely like an angel. Even though she’s quiet, you know she will help you if you needed help, you know she will be the one who risks everything for you, you know that for sure. She was not only beautiful on the inside but the outside too. Her blue eyes are like the ocean and her hair is so long and shiny you can see it from a mile away. She was like those sea nymphs and mermaids. 

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing right now. She couldn’t believe someone thought of her like this. The tears in her eyes were coming from the heart and everyone could tell so. She was sadly staring at me. Nonetheless, I had to tell her one more thing. I had to let her know she was loved by many and still is. She mustn’t take her own life because she thinks she’s not worth it or because someone told her so. Life is still ahead of her. She will accomplish so much and will be so successful in the future. She will become a famous scientist and will be the first one to ever land on another planet, just like she was saying she wanted.

I told her all of that. She hugged me tightly and started crying. Everyone was watching us. But I didn’t care what they thought. I asked her to promise me she won’t make a decision like this ever again. What other people think of her should never make her question her own life. Never. She promised. 

As soon as I got home, I instantly uninstalled the app. I was happy. Really happy. I did my job. Even though I could have violated the rules of the game, I saved someone. And that’s what’s worth it. 

Later that day, it was announced on the local news that the game eavesdrops you and shares your secrets with users from the app so they forbid its’ downloading.

I guess you found out what the mystery I had to protect was, right? Clair May was going to commit suicide on the 23^rd of September. I didn’t know why and I didn’t want to. But I stopped her. And I’m glad I did. 

Me and Clair became best friends and started doing everything together. She even moved next to me. Every day she is thankful I stopped her from doing something awful. Her parents too. And I’m the happiest I could ever be because I did something meaningful and good for someone I didn’t even know back then.

In conclusion, I just want to say that if you see a friend of yours is not doing well, just talk to them, even if you are not so close, go talk to them, it will definitely make them feel better and rethink their life decisions. Thank you.