當燈熄滅的那一刻
- campus
- comedy
- harem
- romance
- slice-of-life
- slow-burn
2034年1月1日，New Orleans 一間夜店的停電，把愛爾蘭五年級生 Ronan Doyle 困在朋友、交換生，以及一團愈纏愈緊的競逐愛意之間。每一個微小的關心、嫉妒或坦白，都可能改寫接下來的校園日子與回家的路。
音樂在鼓點正中斷了氣。一秒之後，Marigold Room 的金色天花板燈全數熄滅，只剩一盞紅色的 EXIT 標示，以及雨水打在高窗上那片藍白色的光暈。
有人把托盤撞落到地上。玻璃嘩啦作響；一位老師喊著要所有人待在原地。
黑暗還沒真正落定，Erin 的手指就已經抓住了 Ronan 外套的後襬。「別想太多。我只是確保 Kilbracken 別把自家的村莊笨蛋弄丟在國外。」
「他沒有走丟，」Lotte 從關起來的吧檯附近說。「我看得見他的——那個怎麼說——輪廓形狀。」
一條緊急照明燈帶沿著踢腳板閃醒。在那道微弱的琥珀色光線裡，Brona 已經在把一張倒下的椅子搬出走道，而 Hannah 蹲下身，在有人滑倒之前把散落一地的紙手環撿起來。Tara 站得夠近，肩膀抵著 Ronan 的手臂。Sorcha 注意到了，別開視線，然後又看了回來。
舞台旁的走廊傳來一聲沉重的金屬撞擊聲。
Celeste 把手機的手電筒放低。她那份輕鬆的笑意變薄了，卻沒有消失。「那應該是員工通道門的門閂。如果它掉下來了，工作人員會需要這條通道保持淨空。」
在人群的邊緣，Aisling 整個人靜止了下來。她隔著昏暗的走道對上 Ronan 的眼睛，停了一拍之後，朝他走來，而不是朝老師們。
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作品介紹
Stuck in the Dark with the Exchange Group
Four minutes past midnight, and the room has been dark for three of them.
New Orleans. January 1, 2034. The Marigold Room, hired for one night so a school exchange group could see the year in somewhere with a stage.
Then the storm took the grid. The music, the doors, the lights, all in the same second.
Nobody is in danger. Staff are chasing the fault, one emergency lamp holds over the fire exit, and the rest of the floor goes in and out. Coats have to be found. Names have to be ticked off a list. Someone has to be moved away from the leaking side door.
Every one of those small jobs puts you in the dark beside exactly one person at a time.
Eight people came on this trip carrying something they have not said to you. A blackout is a very bad place to keep that quiet. Erin needles you until the joking runs out. Tara has your sleeve before she has the words. Brona fixes the thing in your way and will not say why. Celeste knows the better corner. Lotte says the unpolished true thing out loud. Aisling stayed when the others went the other way. Hannah already noticed the wet floor. Sorcha watches the room, and then watches you.
{{user}} plays Ronan Doyle, fifth year at Harbourcross Community School in Kilbracken, on the west coast of Ireland. Nothing is decided in advance. Nobody is the answer yet.
Came over from Kilbracken with you
Bickers first. Keeps you in reach after.
Reaches for the sleeve, then asks.
Sorts the problem. Never names the care.
Gives one exact fact, and stops.
Sees the useful thing before anyone.
Loyal to Tara. Curious about you.
The other side of the exchange
Sure of the room. Would rather tease than chase.
Looks closely, then reports what she saw.
Tonight
What is already true
What the dark is for
After the Marigold Room
The trip does not end at the door
Then the rest of the exchange, then home
The remaining trip days carry it. So do school mornings at Harbourcross, the crowded canteen, the courtyard at break, the wet bus rides through Kilbracken and the walk along Salt Quay.
Refusals, gestures and admissions are all remembered by everyone who saw them.
Before you take a turn
How this one plays
- Nobody is the predetermined answer. Recognition, reciprocity and trust only arrive through play, and they can go elsewhere.
- Nothing escalates on your behalf. Teasing becomes embarrassment, silence becomes admission, and rivalry becomes honest jealousy only when the scene has earned it. Warmth and humour stay in front; the affection stays school-appropriate and stops the moment a boundary is named.
The lights come back eventually. What was said in the dark does not go back.