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“Still having the nightmares?”

Jordan and Bear had eventually been told about D.C.’s recurring nightmares that had exhausted both girls the week before the SAS weekend. After Alex returned from the trip, D.C. had settled back into her normal sleep routine. Mostly.Once or twice a fortnight she still woke up screaming, but that was about it.

“No,” D.C. answered. “Not as often, anyway.”

She said something else then, something too quiet to hear, and a moment later Alex heard the door to the dorm room open and close again. Alex waited a few seconds to make sure they didn’t come back before she stepped out of her hiding place.

“I thought you might’ve been here. We don’t usually leave the bathroom door closed.”

Alex jumped and held her hand up to her fluttering heart.

“Dix! You scared me,” she spluttered, seeing her roommate standing next to the window. “I thought—uh—”

“I told Jordan I’d meet up with them in a minute.” D.C. looked Alex squarely in the eyes. “Did you hear everything?”

“I’m sorry,” Alex apologised, shuffling her feet on the carpet. “I wasn’t sure if I should interrupt or not. I didn’t mean to listen, but it was kind of hard not to.”

D.C. blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, Alex. It’s not like you heard anything I wouldn’t have told you about, anyway.”

“Can I—um, can I ask what that was all about?”

D.C.’s eyes darkened and she turned to look out the window into the night. “Jordan’s parents want him to visit Chateau Shondelle for the weekend. He’s leaving first thing in the morning.”

Alex felt her throat constrict at the thought of their friend having to spend the next two days with Marcus and Natasha Sparker. “Since when do they want anything to do with him? Whenever they do see him, they don’t actuallywantto see him. What gives them the right to demand his attention?”

“They’re his parents, Alex,” D.C. said quietly. “You know how much he wants to please them. If they say ‘jump’ he won’t ask ‘how high?’—he’ll just do it, if only to try to make them proud. He’d do almost anything to earn their love.”

“So he’s going back to his childhood home for some quality family time? Is that what you’re telling me?” Alex asked, more heatedly than she’d intended.

“I don’t like this any more than you do,” D.C. snapped.

Alex looked into her friend’s anguished eyes and could see the truth of her words. “I’m sorry, Dix. I’m just worried.”

“I know,” D.C. mumbled. “Me too.”

“I’d planned on having an early night, but I think I’ll come down to the Rec Room with you, if that’s okay?” Alex asked, grabbing a hoody to pull on over her pyjamas.

“Yeah, sure,” D.C. said, leading the way out the door. “I think that’s a good idea. Just the four of us hanging out together. Exactly like it should be.”

Alex looked at her friend closely, wondering about the unusual tone of her voice, and then she shook her head and let it go, figuring D.C. was distracted by Jordan’s family predicament.

When they reached the Rec Room, Alex walked directly over to Jordan.

“Ah,” he said, seeing the look on her face. “I guess I don’t need to tell you where I’m going this weekend?”

When she didn’t say anything, he placed his hands on her shoulders and sent her a reassuring look.

“I’ll be fine, Alex,” he said, squeezing his hands gently to emphasise his statement. “I’ve already promised Dix I’ll be back by Sunday night. And I would have to be stupid to break a promise to her. That could mean public execution in the town square, for all I know.”

Alex ignored his attempt to joke and looked straight into his eyes, trying to read more than his words. After a moment, she saw how much he believed what he was saying—not the execution part, the coming back part. She would just have to trust that he knew what he was doing.

“Just be careful, yeah?” Alex said, relenting at last.

“You know me,” he said with a crooked grin. “‘Careful’ is practically my middle name.”

“Hmm.” Alex tilted her head. “I thought your middle name was ‘Obnoxious’? Or was it ‘Arrogant’? Oh, wait, I know. It’s ‘Stuck-Up’, right? ‘Jordan Stuck-Up Sparker’. It has a ring to it, don’t you think?”

Bear snorted and D.C. cracked a smile. Jordan’s response was to let go of Alex’s shoulders and move a few feet away, picking up a cushion from the nearest couch and throwing it at her. She ducked just in time, but it sailed directly into D.C.’s face, prompting what turned into an all out pillow war with Jordan and Bear versus D.C. and Alex. The light-hearted moment was exactly what they needed to turn the tense atmosphere into something much more relaxed, and the rest of the night continued in the same carefree manner, with the four friends enjoying one another’s company and laughing into the early hours of the morning.