I could hardly sleep the night before. I just kept thinking about what Ms. Adams said during class that day. I still couldn’t quite believe it:
“Alright, tomorrow after you guys finish taking your finals, we will all be playing a little game if you would like. The game is called ‘Prisoner Exchange.’†Nobody said anything; we all just sat there and waited to hear more about this mysterious game. “Here’s how it works: you will be placed into groups of two, one guy and one girl. As each girl gets finished with her test I will have her sit next to her partner and then she will be tied to the chair with duct tape. The boys’ objective will be to tie me up with the duct tape, retrieve the scissors on my desk, and free their partner before the bell rings.†We all just looked at each other, wondering if she was serious about this.
“Now there are some rules. Only one of you can try it at a time. Also, if I see your face before you are able to free your partner, or if I say ‘help’ three times, then you lose. If your group loses then you will both stay in here after school until I leave. If you win, then you both get automatic A’s on your tests and can leave after you have succeeded.†Everyone agreed to the game, still uncertain if this was really happening.
So the next day I took my normal seat in the back of the room and started the test when the bell rang. I had a lot of trouble concentrating; all I could think of was this game Ms. Adams mentioned the day before and if it had really happened. It wasn’t long before the first girl handed in her test and then Ms. Adams led her to a chair and proceeded to tape her to it. The same thing happened every minute or so, and finally I was seated next to my partner.
I looked up as Ms. Adams pulled out the chair next to me and instructed Abby to have a seat. She pulled Abby’s hands behind the chair and proceeded to wrap duct tape around her crossed wrists. She wrapped more tape around her waist, her arms, and the chair. Next came her ankles, legs just below the knees, and her thighs were taped to the bottom of the chair. Ms. Adams finished by stuffing a piece of cloth in Abby’s mouth and sealed it in with a strip of tape. She struggled and pulled at the tape for a few minutes, but the just sat there and waited for the game to begin.
“Having fun?†I asked Abby sarcastically. She just looked at me as if to say ‘haha very funny’ and mmmphed at me a couple times.
“Alright,†Ms. Adams announced. “All the tests are in, so you have until the end of class to try and get me. I just want to warn you, no one has ever won this game before.†Everyone that still could started talking, discussing how the final went and exchanging strategy for the game. After a couple minutes the first guy made an attempt at capturing our teacher…and failed miserably. Ms. Adams was sitting at her computer doing some work, which meant that we were looking at her side. So he walked up to the front of the room, grabbed the role of tape off of the table and, very loudly, started to rip off some strips of tape. Ms. Adams simply turned around, looked at him, and said “you lose.â€
The attempts after that were far better, but still unsuccessful. Many of them started to actually tape her wrists behind her back, but she would always be able to get a look at their faces. The one who was the closest had brought a ski mask to class in order to conceal his face. He actually was able to get her taped to the chair and gagged her with a piece of tape. He grabbed the scissors and started walking to his partner when we all heard “Mmhelph, helph, help.†He was stunned; Ms. Adams had worked the piece of tape over her mouth loose and said the release words. Defeated, he cut her loose and sat back down.
Now I was the only one left, and class was almost over. Abby turned to me with an anxious look on her face, probably thinking come on! What are you wating for?
“Don’t worry,†I whispered, standing up from my chair. “I know what I’m doin’.†It was time to put my plan into action. I walked to the front of the room, making sure she heard me come up behind her. She turned around with one of those ‘seriously, that’s the best you got?’ looks on her face. Just as she was about to tell me I lost, I held up the hall pass and said “Bathroom?†Dumbfounded, she let me go and turned back to her computer.
Instead of going to the bathroom, I went to my locker and picked up some supplies I brought from home: a roll of duct tape, a pillowcase, and a white ankle sock. On my way back to the room, I ripped of a strip of tape so I wouldn’t make any noise, and put everything else in my pockets. Outside the door I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I made sure everything was hidden before I casually opened the door and walked in the room.
I could feel everyone watching me as I walked to the front and put the pass back on Ms. Adams’ desk. She didn’t turn around, probably expecting me to just sit back down, so I knew this was my chance. I snuck up behind her and quickly brought the strip around her head and pulled it over her mouth. She let out a surprised ‘mmmph!’ as I brought out the pillowcase and pulled it over her head. I knew I only had a few seconds before she worked through the piece of tape with her mouth, so I quickly grabbed her arms, pulled them behind the chair and taped them together. I spun her chair around so she faced me just as she let out the first muffled ‘help’. I quickly pulled the pillowcase up just far enough so I could see her mouth and I peeled the piece of tape off just as she finished the second ‘help’ and I clamped my hand tightly over mouth. She struggled to get free of my hand gag as I took the sock out of my pocket.
I removed my hand from her mouth just long enough so I could stuff the sock in her mouth, then I replaced my hand on her mouth so she wouldn’t spit it out. Using my free hand and my teeth, I ripped off another strip of tape and placed it over her mouth, followed by another strip. I pulled the pillowcase back down and continued to bind Ms. Adams to her chair, wrapping tape around her waist and above and below her breasts. I then taped up her ankles and her lap to the chair seat, then taped her ankles to the chair seat. She struggled and mmmphed as I grabbed the scissors and set about freeing Abby.
“See,†I told her. “I told you I knew what I was doin.â€
“Well you sure took your sweet time doing it,†she replied after she spat the cloth out of her mouth.
“I wanted to see if anyone else could do it.†After Abby was free, we walked over to Ms. Adams and took the pillowcase off her head. She stared up at me as I smiled and said “looks like I win.†She slumped in her chair and nodded, defeated. Just then the bell rang, and I set the scissors down on the table in front of her and turned to leave. Seeing this, she started to yell at me behind her gag.
“Wait,†Abby called. “You’re just going to leave?â€
“Sure,†I said. “She never said anything about letting her go.â€
The end