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“You’re just jealous,” Jordan said with a grin. “Hide and seek is awesome.”

“Do you want to come with us?” Alex blurted out before she could stop herself. If D.C. was with them, they couldn’t get into any trouble, right? Even so, she didn’t know who was more shocked by her question—her roommate, her friends, or herself.

D.C. looked up from her book, unsure whether it was a real invitation or not. Alex tried to keep her expression open, but all she could think about was the fact that they hadn’t spoken to each other about anything other than class projects in weeks, possibly months. D.C. must have been thinking along the same lines because she quickly dropped her gaze.

“No, thank you,” she said quietly, turning back to her notes. “I have to study.”

Alex wasn’t sure why she felt so disappointed. Jordan and Bear didn’t seem to mind either way, and they waited for her to pack up her books.

“Actually, I think I’m just going to head to bed,” Alex said, not in the mood anymore. When she saw their deflated expressions, she added, “Why don’t you go and play somehopscotch?”

Their faces lit up with excitement.

“Just don’t—uh—fallor anything,” she said, trying to subtly warn them not to deliberately get into trouble. They wouldn’t necessarily make it out in one piece like she had.

“We’ll be fine,” Jordan assured her, his eyes shining with anticipation. “Mere child’s play.”

After they left, Alex collected her stuff and headed to her room. D.C. appeared a few minutes later and, as always, the silence between them was uncomfortable.

“Do you want the first shower?” D.C. asked tentatively.

Alex blinked, surprised that the other girl had spoken at all, let alone asked a polite question. “Um—no, thanks. You go ahead.”

D.C. nodded and collected her pyjamas. Soon after she entered the bathroom, Alex heard the water turn on.

She stared at the wall, thinking about their almost friendly interaction. In the end she came to the conclusion that, like everyone else, D.C. must have been feeling the stress of the exams—so much so that her usual hostility was toned down.

It was a nice change, Alex thought, even if it was unlikely to last.

“I feel like I’mdying,” Alex groaned, collapsing onto a chair in the food court.

It was Wednesday night, and she was just over halfway through her exams. They were so much harder than anything she’d ever experienced before in her life, and she was already feeling physically and mentally wrecked.

“Hear, hear,” Bear agreed, slumping down next to her.

Jordan only mumbled inarticulately as he rested his head on the table, not even able to formulate proper syllables.

The three of them had just come from their PE assessment, and Finn hadn’t held back. He’d tested their endurance, strength, speed and resourcefulness over a three-hour period of progressively nastier challenges in the field, forest and lake. Out of their class of sixteen, only eight had actually finished the entire examination without being carted off to the Med Ward. Alex wasn’t surprised that Jordan and Bear had made it through fine, but she was beyond shocked that she had, too. Finn had actually smiled at her—slightly—once it was all over.

“I don’t even think I have the energy to eat,” Jordan mumbled into the table. “Can someone else feed me?”

No one answered him, too tired themselves to verbalise their thoughts.

So far Alex had completed her examinations in Medical Science, SOSAC, Archery, Equestrian Skills, and now PE. The others had also had their Core Skills exam, but Marmaduke had ended up exempting Alex from the assessment. At first Alex had been pleased to learn she had one less exam to worry about, but then she’d been told that it meant she would have to repeat the class again in her next year or until she developed her gift and passed the test. How annoying.

Alex’s favourite exam by far was for her Equestrian Skills class, where she’d had to complete a cross-country course in the forest. She’d ridden a horse named Fiddle, and together they’d jumped logs, dodged low swinging branches, trudged through a muddy riverbed, swum through a creek, scaled and descended a steep hill and galloped across grassy fields. At the end of the exam Alex had been covered in mud and scratches, but she’d still had a smile on her face from the exhilarating experience.

It would have been great if all of her exams could have been so much fun—but they weren’t. Alex’s brain had strained so hard for the answers to her Medical Science and SOSAC exams that she’d actually wondered if Jordan had been right about it oozing out of her ears.

“Only four more to go,” Bear said, moaning in pain as he reached for his menu. “Six down, four to go. We’re over halfway. Just two more days left.”

Alex wasn’t sure if he was encouraging them or encouraging himself, but either way she was glad for it. It gave her the energy boost she needed to force down some food before following her friends to the Rec Room where they began to revise for their exams the next day—History and Species Distinction. While neither subject would be easy, at least they didn’t have practical components, which would hopefully allow her body the chance to recover. She desperately needed the reprieve, especially considering that Friday was going to be terrible, with both her Chemistry written exam and lab experiment,andher Combat assessment.

No, she definitely wasn’t looking forward to that, even if it meant the end of her exams.

Thirty-Eight

Alex stared out at thecolossal Arena on Friday afternoon and tried to convince her body to take the necessary steps forward.