Treasure Hunt

by Nikki Shannon Smith

  It was like I hadn’t said anything at all. Jaz kept pushing me backward, and I struggled to keep the pace. “You’re gonna make us drop it!” I yelled.

  Jaz’s face was sweaty and all twisted up. She walked even faster and I tripped. “You’re a jerk. This is why you don’t have any friends,” I said. “You don’t know how to get along with other people.” I didn’t care if the camera was rolling—it was true, and I was sick of her bossing me around.

  “I have friends!” Jaz protested.

  “No, you don’t. Everyone knows it.”

  Jaz completely lost it. She screamed at me. “This tire is too heavy and you’re too slow and you get on my last nerve!”

  “I’m the one who got us to the train station. I’m the one who got the plane tickets from that lady. If we lose, it’ll be your fault, not mine!”

  The tire slipped a little. I stopped walking and leaned into the tire so she’d have to stop. There was no way we were getting to the other end like this. And I was not going to let Jaz tell me what to do anymore.

  “Do you want to win or not?” I asked.

  Jaz didn’t answer, but I could tell she was concentrating on calming down. Of course she wanted to win. It wasn’t just because she wanted the money for college either. Jazmine always had to win. She always had to be right.

  “What if we both walk forward,” she said after a few seconds. “Even though we’d be one handed, it would be easier to walk, and we might even be able to jog.”

  I shook my head. “It’s too heavy to do it with one hand.”

  Jaz held the tire with one hand. She tucked her fingers into the rim so she’d have a good grip. “See? It’s easier.”

  I still wasn’t convinced, but decided it was worth a try if it shut her up. After six or seven steps, her muscles started to shake. I felt the tire going down, and I tried to catch it, but I couldn’t. Her end hit the ground.

  Chapter

  17

  Jazmine

  “Seriously, Jason?” I yelled.

  He glared at me. “How is this my fault? You’re the one who dropped it. Always trying to hurry. If you would have slowed your roll, the tire wouldn’t have fallen.”

  “You should have been ready to catch it,” I said, fuming. “You know you’re stronger than me.”

  Jason didn’t say anything. He just stood the tire up and rolled it back to the start line. By the time we got there, Team Touchdown was picking up their tire. If they were as strong as they looked, they would definitely make the next flight. Less than half the time was left on the clock, so Jason and I would have to run to get to the other side of the runway to make the flight.

  Team Touchdown took off down the runway the same way Jason and I did the first time—sidestepping their way there. But they were going fast, and they made it look like their tire weighed twenty pounds.

  Jason’s slow voice came through the headphones. “Okay, let’s try putting it on our shoulders. If we do that, we can both walk forward. Then if you get tired, we can turn our bodies around and switch shoulders.”

  It actually wasn’t a bad idea, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. “Fine,” I grumbled.

  I struggled getting the tire on my shoulder, but I managed to get it. We fast-walked down the runway, with Jason bending down some to take extra weight off of me. Team Touchdown was already at the halfway mark, but there were only twelve minutes until takeoff. There was no way they were going to finish the race, find the gate, and get on the plane in time. That meant we weren’t going to make it either.

  The tire dug into my shoulder. “I need to switch sides,” I said.

  We had to stop walking to adjust the tire, and while I was turning around, I saw Team Heartbeat had also made it onto the runway. They were gaining on us by copying our strategy. Whatever. None of us are going to make the stupid flight, I thought.

  I watched Team Touchdown cross the finish line, drop the tire, and do a dance that ended with them bumping chests. There were five minutes on the clock. One of the Treasure Hunt people handed them something, and they ran up the stairs back into the airport. I tried not to let it distract me. They’re celebrating and running for nothing, they’ll never make it. Everyone else’s failure was all I had to hold onto.

  The clock had been flashing 00:00 for at least ten minutes by the time we finished. What made it worse was that Team Heartbeat crossed right before us.

  The girl smiled at me. “That was crazy, huh?”

  “That’s one word for it,” I said.

  Chapter

  18

  Jason

  By the time we crossed the finish line with our tire, Jaz looked like she was about to cry. She didn’t say a word as the Treasure Hunt crew member handed us an envelope with our team name on it and led us back into the airport. I took the envelope and noticed she was cradling her left hand.

  “Let me see your hand,” I said.

  She held it out and I saw that she had cut it on the tire, all the way across three of her fingers. Steve did a close up of her hand. It didn’t need stitches or anything, but I walked her to the bathroom and waited while she washed it off. When she finished, I took out the first aid kit that was in our backpack. I wrapped each finger in a bandage.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  I put my arm around her. She was a pain in the butt, but she was still my sister.

  “Umm . . . You stink.” Jaz took my arm off of her shoulder and laughed.

  I shrugged, smirking. “Maybe because I did all the work.”

  She rolled her eyes and shoved me, but Steve interrupted us. “Jazmine, Jason, tell us what you thought of the tire challenge.”

  The show always had these little interviews with the teams after certain parts of the hunt. I knew this was going to be on TV. I said, “It was pretty hard. The tire was heavy, and it kept slipping. At least we made it.”

  “Jazmine, do you have anything to add?” Steve aimed the camera at her.

  All she said was, “It was interesting.” She turned away from Steve and pulled something out of the envelope. Suddenly her face broke into a grin, and she handed it to me.

  I read the ticket. “Seriously? We’re going to New York City?”

  Jaz nodded in excitement, and it was like the Tire Challenge never happened. We had always wanted to go to New York City.

  Jaz elbowed me. “Look! Team Touchdown missed the plane too!”

  Team Touchdown was sitting in the corner looking like the world’s biggest, poutiest babies. I chuckled.

  When they announced it was time to board, four teams were at the gate: us, Team Touchdown, Team Heartbeat, and Team Double Trouble. Team Red Ponytail was nowhere in sight. The best part was, now that no one was ahead of us, Jaz relaxed—sort of. We spent the whole flight naming famous people and landmarks in New York.

  Chapter

  19

  Jazmine

  The flight to New York went a lot better than the one to Texas. And even though we lost our lead, we weren’t behind anyone. I was also relieved that we finally had some time to rest. Treasure Hunt was a lot of work. No wonder people had bad attitudes by the end of the show. Half the time they wound up hating the other person on their team. They always talked crap about each other in the solo interviews at the very end.

  Jason, of course, had us sitting with the other teams on the plane. They were all talking and laughing about the challenges so far like they weren’t competing against one another. But I wasn’t here to make friends. I was here to win.

  My parents said I couldn’t go to an out-of-state college because of the higher tuition and the extra fees, but I wanted a major change of scenery. If I won this money, they would have to let me go. I had certainly put in the work to get into those schools.

  In the middle of me eavesdropping on all the chattering, we heard a buzzing noise. The girl from Team Heartbeat figured out it was coming from her backpack. Then one by one, we all realized our backpacks were buzzing.

  There was a tiny
side pocket we hadn’t noticed. Inside was a black box. It looked like a cross between a tiny walkie-talkie with no antenna and an old fashioned cell phone.

  “What is this?” asked the cute boy from Team Touchdown, looking confused.

  Steve cracked up. “A pager.”

  He frowned. “What’s that?”

  “It’s the grandfather of the smart phone. People used them to get in touch with someone. They typed in their phone number, the pager received it, and the person called them,” said Steve.

  “So you can’t talk on them?” asked one of the twins.

  Steve shook his head. I looked at the pager. Instead of a phone number, there was a message: “Team Red Ponytail Disqualified: Altercation.”

  “Altercation?” asked Jason.

  I laughed. “It means they got into some kind of fight. Maybe they kicked somebody.”

  Now we had a twenty-five percent chance of winning. But since we had been ahead most of the time, I figured it was more like a fifty-fifty chance. I decided it was a good idea to get to know what made everyone tick before we got off the plane, so I chatted with them too—just in case.

  Chapter

  20

  Jason

  I couldn’t believe Jaz was actually talking to people. She asked everyone’s name too. She asked a bunch of questions about what they liked to do, what kind of grades they got, and what their favorite subject was in school. I guess she did okay for someone with no social skills. I kind of thought it was because she liked the guy named Santiago on Team Touchdown.

  The plane ride was fun, but I probably should have slept. My exhaustion hit me when we got off the plane. My legs felt shaky, and I was starving. When we got outside, the sun had come up and there were four limos parked in a row. They all had a sign on the front window, each with a different team name on it.

  Before we got to our limo, the driver hopped out and opened the door for us. Steve filmed us grinning like two fools as we got in, then he climbed in with us. The limo had bottled water, soda, and a bunch of snacks, but I wanted real food. I grabbed a bottle of water while Jaz stuffed all of the snacks in the backpack.

  “Why are you stealing the snacks?” I asked.

  “I’m not stealing. They’re ours. I don’t want to have to spend money on food, just in case we need money for the next challenge.”

  I didn’t say anything, but I was absolutely planning to buy food.

  Chapter

  21

  Jazmine

  Our limo drove us through the streets of New York City and dropped us off in front of a big, fancy hotel. When we checked in, the clerk gave us one key, a gift card for the hotel restaurant, and a Treasure Hunt envelope. I was too tired for another clue, but I opened it anyway. It was the best note yet because it wasn’t a clue after all: “Beginning at 10:00 a.m., you are on a mandatory three hour rest period. You may not leave your room during this time.”

  Our hotel room was crazy. It was on the twentieth floor, and it had a huge TV. I opened the closet and found two robes inside.

  “Jaz! Come here!” Jason was in the bathroom with the door open.

  “Umm, no thanks.”

  “No,” he said. “I mean, you have to see this.”

  There was a TV in the bathroom mirror. I touched it, but it was like it wasn’t there. It was literally inside the mirror. You could do your hair and makeup and watch TV at the same time. The TV was on the hotel channel, so it only showed information about room service, the business center, and other things the hotel could help you with. Jason tried to change the channel, but the remote didn’t work. He went to the TV in the bedroom. It would only show the hotel channel too.

  Jason frowned. “Mandatory rest period means no TV?”

  “No. I think TV means possible access to helpful information, so no TV.”

  “Oh.”

  Jason sat on the bed with the hotel menu. “Why are two eggs fourteen dollars?”

  Everything on the menu was a rip off. We spent the whole gift card on breakfast. I was glad he decided to take a shower while he waited for his food. He really did stink—I wasn’t just teasing him. Plus I needed some time alone. No Jason, no Steve, no camera.

  We both fell asleep after we ate, but a knock at the door woke us up. I looked at the clock. The rest period was over. Jason peeked through the hole in the door. “It’s Steve.”

  As soon as Jason let Steve in and shut the door, there was another knock. It was room service again. An older man wheeled in a tray with a silver covered dish on it. He took our breakfast cart with him when he left.

  “We don’t have time for you to eat again,” I said. “Rest time is over.”

  Jason frowned. “But I didn’t order anything else. Honestly.”

  Steve started filming as I pulled the lid off the dish. It was Treasure Hunt: Clue Three. This one was in a thick envelope. Before I could look inside, the pager buzzed. I grabbed it out of the backpack, and Jason looked over my shoulder. “Team Double Trouble Disqualified: Violation of rest period.”

  Big surprise, they cheated, I thought. I knew there was something off about them. “Figures. They were snobby anyway, with their Harvard-sweatshirt-wearing parents.”

  “Are you kidding?” asked Jason. “You’re criticizing their Harvard sweatshirts? You’re applying to Harvard. Anyway, they were nice. How can you assume they were trying to cheat?”

  “I don’t know, maybe they just thought the rules didn’t apply to them.” I rolled my eyes. “And were they nice when they laughed at you outside the hotel?”

  Jason looked down. “They were nice on the plane.”

  “You know, that’s your problem, Jason. You’re too friendly. They were probably just being nice to make you lower your guard. They were stuck up.”

  He glared at me. “You’re the one with the problem, Jaz! All you care about is yourself. You don’t understand people because you have exactly one friend. And she’s only nice to you because her mom makes her be nice.” Jason clenched his teeth.

  I couldn’t believe he was embarrassing me like this on camera. “You can say what you want about me, but I’d rather have good grades than a bunch of friends. At least I’m not in a special reading class.”

  Apparently I went too far, because Jason did something I had never seen him do. He exploded. “SHUT UP. I can read. And I can certainly read people. I knew you had your own selfish reason for coming on this show. I wanted to buy a new home theater so we could all spend more time together as a family, but you want all the money for yourself. You’re so foul, your own mama didn’t want to send you on this show. She was worried you’d start some mess. I had to promise her I’d try to keep the peace. And I did try. But I’m done.”

  “What?” I couldn’t believe it. My own mother didn’t trust me to act right on TV?

  “Yeah, Jaz. You think you know everything. You think you’re so perfect. But my friendly personality has cracked every single clue so far. And you’re so arrogant, I bet you thought it was all you.”

  “I didn’t even know you knew the word arrogant.” I knew that was going too far, but I didn’t care.

  Jason snatched the envelope out of my hand and sat on the bed. “From now on, we’re doing this my way.” He started reading a pamphlet.

  We had already lost almost half an hour. “We have to go, Jason.”

  He glared at me until I looked away.

  Chapter

  22

  Jason

  I don’t hate anyone, but if I did it would be Jazmine. It took Treasure Hunt for me to realize I didn’t have to feel bad about myself. She’d never get anywhere with her personality.

  I could feel her staring at me while I read the pamphlets in the envelope. I didn’t care. I really was done. I was going to win this contest for Brian. Not only that, I was buying the home theater. There was no way my parents would let her keep all the money. I read the hotel brochure first. I took my sweet time too.

  Jaz tried to grab the envelope from me. I stoo
d up and used my size as a dare. She backed off and said, “It’s been an hour. Everyone is probably running all over New York City right now.”

  I ignored her, pulling out a magazine about New York City. The cover was split into four sections. Each one showed a different place to visit: a ballpark, a train station, a city park, and a skyscraper. I read every single article.

  Jaz sat on her bed, crossed her arms, and stared at me while I read one article after another. I liked being in control for once. The envelope included a thick guide about New York, but there was no way I could read that whole thing. We really would lose if I tried to do that. I looked at the table of contents so I would at least know what was in it. I found a clue inside. It was another riddle, but there was no way I was giving it to Jaz. I read it five times while she glared at me. Good, I thought. She can see what it feels like to be ignored.

  People come from near and far,

  By bus, by plane, by train, and car.

  They do not mind the bustling crowd.

  This one spot makes New York proud.

  There are things to see, and eat, and drink;

  Everything but the kitchen sink.

  You can be up high or way down low,

  You can take a tour whenever you go.

  This is a place in movies and books;

  A place with many crannies and nooks.

  The last time I read it, I knew where we had to go. Jaz was right about one thing: the other teams were probably running all over New York City. But they didn’t need to. This place was right underneath our hotel.

  I put the papers in the envelope, threw it to Jaz, and said, “Let’s go.”

  Chapter

  23

  Jazmine

  I couldn’t believe Jason. We sat in the hotel room for so long while he read that Steve turned his camera off. I was tempted to scream at Jason and snatch the clues away from him again, but I knew he would put up a fight like last time. While I waited for him to finish, I had way too much free time to think about what Jason said.