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“I got into Hunter’s class. Into SAS,” Alex repeated. “He came and told me just before you all arrived.”

“But—But how?” D.C. stammered. “You didn’t even try out.”

“I know!” Alex cried. “It doesn’t make any sense! Hunter said that because I was in the forest yesterday on my way back to the academy, to him that meant I was participating in the exercise.”

She ran her hands through her hair in agitation and then moved them down to touch the Myrox necklace. “It might’ve been okay if I hadn’t found this. Apparently it was what you were all meant to be searching for. I just happened to have the advantage of height since I was already up in the trees—and not falling out of them, like the others.”

Alex stopped talking. She had no idea what her friends were thinking. Did they hate her? Would they turn against her in jealousy? What if they never wanted to see her again?

She sat there fidgeting and waiting for someone to break the silence.

Then Jordan started chuckling.

Alex looked at him in surprise, and turned her disbelieving gaze to Bear and D.C. when they joined in. Soon all three of them were laughing uncontrollably.

“What part of this is funny?” Alex demanded.

“Only you, Alex,” Jordan said with clear affection. “This could only happen to you.”

“You’re not angry?” she asked tentatively.

“Me? I’m stoked,” Jordan said. “We’re going to have a great time together!”

“I wasn’t really asking you, Jordan,” Alex said quietly, turning to her other two friends. It was them who had missed out. But despite her fear, they were both smiling at her.

“Definitely not angry,” D.C. promised. “Concerned for you, absolutely. I know how much you didn’t want this. But Hunter must have his reasons.”

“Apparently he has a few,” Alex muttered, but she didn’t go into detail. She turned to Bear, more anxious about his reply, since she knew how much he in particular had wanted to be in the class.

“Ghost is a mysterious man,” Bear said, still smiling warmly at Alex. “I agree with Dix. He must have his reasons for accepting you, especially since he knew you didn’t want any part in his class. You were kind of obvious about it. But I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot from him, and I’m just as excited for you as I am for Jordan.”

Alex wilted with relief. “I thought you guys were going to flip out on me.”

“We wanted it, sure, but we also knew that the chances of getting in were slim to none,” Bear said. “Hunter told us that at the meeting. There’s no point being disappointed by something we have no control over.”

“I guess you’re right,” Alex acknowledged. Their reactions were much better than she had feared.

They stayed together and chatted comfortably for the next few hours, throwing out ideas for what Hunter might teach in his class. Every new suggestion caused Alex’s stomach to flutter with nerves, making her dread the coming Tuesday night initiation even more.

Eventually their conversation began to wind down as the strain of the weekend caught up with them all.

“We should get going,” Jordan said, after checking the time on his ComTCD. Curfew meant they had to be back in their dormitory buildings by ten o’clock, but there was no lights-out policy at Akarnae. As long as students were in the building, they were free to do what they wanted. Their exhausting classes provided more than enough motivation for them to be responsible with their own sleeping hours.

Neither Alex nor D.C. bothered to rise after Jordan’s announcement as they were already settled for the night, but when the boys reached the door, Alex remembered something.

“Oh, and by the way,” she said. “Hunter asked me to tell you two to stop jumping on your beds.”

She only had a microsecond to see their startled expressions before the door closed behind them, but it was enough to send her to sleep with a smile on her face.

The next two days passed much too quickly in Alex’s opinion. Before she knew it, she was eating dinner on Tuesday evening, nervously awaiting what was surely going to be a horrible experience.

“Are you excited yet?” Jordan asked for what felt like the twentieth time in as many minutes.

“Not yet,” Alex said. “And the more you ask, the slower the excitement seems to be in coming.”

Earlier that day they had both received notes telling them to meet at the forest boundary after dinner for their first two-hour class. They were also given specific clothing requirements that, to Alex’s bemusement, included wearing the black cape from her wardrobe that she’d always wondered about. Sitting in the food court dressed head to toe in the dark attire made her feel as out of place as Darth Vader at the beach.

“Aw, come on, Alex,” Jordan whined. “It’s going to be amazing!”