A Castle Day Trip

Some days after the fact, Luca got a message. «Are you free on Saturday?»

He was sitting behind the counter, under a millennium-bug-lime green strand of lights. On weekdays the arcade was vacant. In the upsetting cheerfulness of the hall without windows, he stood still for a long time. He was terrified.

Usually he handled fear well. He felt it from a distance, like a rock thrown at a buffalo’s thick skin. But shame was a different weapon. Shame confirmed everything he already thought of himself— shame was a fear he couldn't escape.

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Luca, a high school student, is terrified when his bully calls him to settle the score. But things aren't as they seem. Who is in charge, and who obeys?

Psychological mystery with mlm undertones. 2k