Page 19

“Day?” D.C. repeated. “Don’t you mean,week? Have you seen our timetables?”

“Year, more like,” Alex muttered around her toast, thinking about her cruel schedule.

At least they had all been smart enough to get a good night’s sleep in preparation for the unpleasant day ahead. When Alex had returned to her dormitory last night, the four friends had only spent enough time together for Alex to relay her conversation with the headmaster before the boys took off to their own room, leaving the girls to turn in early. Both Jordan and Bear had been bouncing with excitement over the possibility of visiting Meya, but D.C. was a little more guarded, for which Alex was thankful. It made her feel better about her own hesitation.

“Medora to Alex?” Bear said, waving his hand in front of her face.

She blinked, having spaced out for a moment. Then Alex comprehended what he’d said and she chuckled at his phrase. So bizarre.

Her dark-haired friend looked at her strangely. “Are you ready to go? Finn will probably work us near to death today, so we should get down there and stretch before class.”

“Yeah, sure,” she replied, finishing the dregs of her orange juice.

“I have Combat first up,” D.C. said with a grimace as they all stood and walked towards the exit. “But I’ll see you in Archery, Alex.”

“And we’ll see you at lunch, Dix,” Jordan said when they parted ways outside.

D.C. waved her agreement and headed off in the direction of the Arena. Alex wasn’t sure who had it worse—D.C. for having Karter first thing in the morning, or the rest of them for being stuck with Finn. And then she realised that neither of those alternatives came close to her having Finn up firstandKarter up last. Her timetable seriously sucked.

“What did you mean about Finn working us hard today?” Alex asked Bear as they walked down to the massive field where their PE class was being held that day. “Doesn’t he always?”

He made a face. “It’s the first day back after the summer holidays. He usually likes to test us to see if we’ve just been lazing around for weeks. If we have, he makes sure we regret it pretty fast.”

“Oh,” Alex said, understanding. She was oddly thankful for the extra Combat lessons she’d been forced to attend over the break, because otherwiseshewould have been one of the couch potatoes Bear was talking about. And she’d had enough experience with Finn’s psychotic teaching style to know that he wouldn’t go easy on any slackers in his class, not when he was such a staunch advocate for corporal punishment.

But as it turned out, by the time her last class of the day rolled around, Alex would have repeated their nightmarish PE class over and over again if it meant she could avoid having to face her Combat instructor. And that was because, over the course of the day, the academy’s rumour mill had found some juicy gossip.

Gossip that involved Alex.

And Karter.

Together.

Somehow word had leaked out about Alex’s training over the holidays, but the rumours spreading around weren’t anywhere close to the truth. In fact, they implied a much,muchraunchier version of what Karter’s ‘one-on-one’ lessons had entailed.

Alex had no idea how the gossip had started, but as the day progressed, it had only worsened. Lunchtime had been awful, filled with gawking eyes, unrestrained laughter, leering sneers and snide remarks. As her first Combat class drew nearer, Alex became more and more certain that she wouldn’t live to see another day, not if Karter had heard so much as a whisper of the insinuations spreading around campus like wildfire.

“I hate today,” Alex grumbled to D.C. as they left the Stable Complex at the end of their Equestrian Skills class.

“You’re going to hate it even more if you don’t stop procrastinating,” D.C. said. “The only thing worse than going to Karter’s class is when you’relategoing to Karter’s class. Which you will be, if you don’t get moving.”

“But I don’t want to go,” Alex whined.

“And I don’t want to eat a barbecue sauce and peanut butter sandwich for dinner, but I have to since I lost a stupid bet to Jordan,” D.C. said. “Sometimes we just have to suck it up and do what we have to do.”

“Great words of wisdom, Dix,” Alex said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m here to help,” D.C. chirped. “Now, get moving.”

D.C. actually had to push her to help encourage forward momentum, but once Alex was on her way, she felt a little more confident. After all, it wasn’t her fault people were saying such horrible things. She had absolutely no control over what was happening. Karter had to know that.

… Right?

The closer Alex walked to the Arena, the better she felt. Admittedly, she was still anxious, but not so much because of Karter anymore. She was about to actively participate in her first proper Combat class and that was a nerve-wracking concept, especially when she remembered their gruelling exam at the end of her previous year. Nine weeks of training with Karter over the holidays couldn’t possibly have brought her up to the same skill level as her classmates, but at least she was better prepared this year.

She entered the Arena with her head held high, determined not to reveal her apprehension. Her classmates were already there, and just like last year, there were only five of them— Brendan, Nick, Sebastian, and—to Alex’s relief—Kaiden and Declan. She scanned the area quickly but could see no sign of Karter, and she felt her body relax slightly.

“Hey, Queenie!” Sebastian called, using the nickname she’d been given after tackling the nightmarish obstacle course in their final exam before the summer. “I guess you didn’t get enough of us last year, huh?”