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Trunks, branches, and shadows.

But one of the shadows is shaped like a man.

And I realize someone isthere.

Standing completely still.

Staring at me.

CHAPTER 10

I freeze.

It’s Clayton.

“What are you doing?” I ask, really hoping he doesn’t try anything, or I’m going to have to scream. “He told us to stay far apart.”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” he says, slowly coming closer. “Figure out what’s really going on.”

He steps forward, but I put my hand out. “Stay right there.”

Thankfully, he listens.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?” he asks, scratching at a spot below his ear.

“Yes.” Shit, my heart is racing. I hate confrontation like this.

“Why?”

“Because you’re an asshole,” I tell him bluntly. “At least you are to me.”

He lets out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “We’re more alike than you think.”

“What does that mean? No, we’re not. You don’t know me.”

“I know more about you than you think.”

I glare at him, calling his bluff.

He gives me a sinister smile. “Neither of us should be here.”

I swallow at that. My stomach twists uneasily.

He doesn’t know about my lost scholarship, does he?

“You know it,” he goes on. “I think it’s cruel that you’re here at all. That any of us are.”

“Cruel?”

“Don’t you wonder why they have us doing surveys and foraging? It’s all bullshit. It’s all busywork. They’ll never let us actually see what they’re working on. It’s all a ruse, all a way to make the foundation look accessible and honest when it’s not. We were chosen for a reason. Do you really think you’re some sort of genius because they accepted you here? I shouldn’t have gotten in at all. My grades were never good enough.”

I blink slowly, trying to understand what he’s saying. “Well, my grades were good enough,” I assure him, raising my chin slightly.

“Right. They must have been. Since you’re so special.”

“Stop saying that. I put in the work. I deserve to be here.”

“They think you’re special,” he says. “That’s not a good thing, Sydney.”