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She choked back a startled laugh. It was such a Jordan-like comment that she wondered if the two of them had been separated at birth. Either way, his words provided a distraction from the uncomfortable atmosphere.

“Let’s grab a table,” said Kaiden, gently pressing his hand to the curve of her spine and leading her forward.

As they walked across the room, Alex glanced over and made eye contact with D.C., Jordan and Bear, who immediately moved to join her and the uncharacteristically protective Combat boys. The moment their small group sat down at a table, the whispers started. But Alex found they didn’t botherher as much this time around. Maybe it was because fewer people were watching her, no one was outright laughing, and the tone of their quiet comments sounded more curious than malicious.

“I guess you guys were right,” Alex told her Combat classmates when they all had food in front of them.

“We’re always right, Alex,” Brendan said with an arrogant grin. “You should know that by now.”

She stuck a chip in her mouth and rolled her eyes at him.

“What I want to know is, who started the rumours, and why?” Jordan said.

He’d been in a bad mood all day, sticking to Alex’s side like glue and glaring at anyone who so much as looked at her when he was around. While she’d had the worst first day back imaginable, she was willing to let it go and hope for a better day tomorrow. But Jordan was clearly out for blood.

“I don’t know who started them, but I think I know why,” Sebastian said.

All eyes turned to him, but it was Nick who explained, “It’s because you’re a threat now, Alex. They see you as competition. Last year you… well, you kind of sucked at Combat. And we weren’t quiet with our opinions.”

“Istillsuck,” she said. “Just less than before.”

“No, there’s a huge difference,” Declan said. “And last year you were terrible, but as far as we knew, you weren’t trying to get better. We had no idea about the obstacle courses Karter had you working on.”

Alex shuddered at the memories.

“Most of the students here can only ever dream of making it into Epsilon Combat,” Brendan jumped in. “They’ll never have what it takes, and because of that, they’ll always be jealous of us. They thought you were one of them since you, uh…”

“Sucked?” Alex repeated helpfully.

“Yeah,” he said with a grin. “But now that you’re actually showing your potential, they’re lashing out at you. You used to be part of the hive, now you’re the queen bee. And not all the worker bees are content to stay in middle management for the rest of their honey-making lives. Since there’s nothing they can do about changing their potential, they’re acting irrationally. Consider yourself stung.”

After a thoughtful moment, Alex said, “That has to be the strangest analogy I’ve ever heard.” She shook her head. “I’m honestly not sure if you’re trying to make me feel better or worse.”

“Don’t worry too much,” Kaiden said, stealing a chip from her plate. “It’s just the first day back, and people are bored. But they’re also easily distracted. It won’t take long to blow over; they’ll have forgotten all about it soon enough.”

Alex nodded and finished her meal in silence, unconsciously sliding her uneaten chips onto Kaiden’s plate. She listened to the conversations around her, feeling surreal as she watched her closest friends interact with her Combat classmates. They’d all gone to the academy together for a few years so it made sense that they knew each other. But it was still…weird.

“I’m beat,” Alex said, standing up. For the first time all day she noticed that people weren’t staring at her. Apparently the academy gossip queens had called it quits and Alex knew she had the Combat boys to thank for that.

“Me too,” D.C. said, rising beside her. “It’s been a long day.”

You have no idea, Alex thought.

Jordan and Bear jumped up from their seats as well, offering to walk the girls back to the dorm.

“Thanks again for tonight,” Alex said somewhat awkwardly to her Combat classmates.

“Any time, Queenie,” Sebastian said, speaking for all of them.

As soon as they were outside, Jordan said, “‘Queenie’?”

“Don’t ask,” Alex muttered. “Was that as strange for anyone else as it was for me?”

“Definitely,” D.C. said. “I’m still trying to get used to sitting with you guys for meals, let alone other students. Not to mention, people who know who I really am.”

She said the last part in a whisper, and they all understood she was referring to Kaiden and Declan. The two boys may have grown up in the same social spheres as her at the palace, but Alex knew D.C. still wasn’t used to hanging around people who were aware of her true identity.

“It was good of them to do what they did,” Bear said. “I think it helped your case, Alex.”