Page 37 of Dissent (The Dissenter Saga #1)

T hat night in the cafeteria, Edith and Chelsea were sitting across from each other, but after a few whispered words from Matias into Edith’s ear, a mischievous grin crossed her face, and she promptly shifted her bowl across the table before replanting herself right next to Chelsea.

This left a spot for two available on the other side.

My cheeks reddened, and it took everything within me to keep from grinning like a buffoon.

Edith didn’t even try to hide her devilish smile, whereas Chelsea looked like she was two seconds away from stabbing me with her fork.

It was enough to slap the giddy right out of me.

Taking his seat, Matias patted the spot right next to him, a playful smile gracing his face. I couldn’t help but smile too as I accepted the seat, placing my bowl of mystery grub on the table.

“So,” Chelsea glowered, “Edith tells me you got lost.”

“Uh, yeah…” I took a tentative taste of the mystery food. It was actually good for once. Sweet and creamy. “But thanks to Edith, Wes and Matias found me in no time. So, it was really no big deal.”

“Wes?” Edith arched a brow. “I didn’t message Wes.”

I blinked. “Wait, what? I thought you sent him?” She shook her head. “But he said…” My sentence dropped off. If Edith didn’t send him, did that mean he came looking for me? I dropped my spoon and looked across the caf at his usual spot.

It was empty.

Wes hadn’t come to dinner.

“Well, next time,” Chelsea sneered, “stay on the trail. Got it? We’ve got enough to worry about around here. We don’t need to add looking for rich girls to our problems.”

“Chels,” Matias said, a hint of a warning in his tone.

“It’s true . It’s bad enough we have to deal with her freakin’ dad and her damn brother—”

“Hey!” The word shot out of me. I could handle someone talking poorly about Raúl, but Jacob was a different story. “Leave my brother out of this.”

“Your brother is just as much of an ass as your dad.”

“Stop it!”

Chelsea straightened herself, a cold snicker taking over. “See, Edith? I told you she wasn’t one of us. She’s a Telvian bitch through and through.”

Matias raised his voice. “Knock it off, Chelsea.” That caught her attention. A pained expression crossed her face before it went blank. She stood, grabbed her bowl, and marched off.

Edith’s eyes looked as big as our soup bowls, whereas Matias had his chin tucked and a dark expression I couldn’t read. She looked at him, but when he didn’t notice her, I heard a smacking sound come from under the table.

“Ow!” Matias yelped, leaning forward as his hand darted underneath. Their eyes locked. “What the hell was that for?”

She waggled her brows and motioned with her head, speaking silently to him. He groaned, sighing heavily as he stood up and grabbed his bowl.

“I’ll catch you tomorrow, Mara.” To Edith, he said, “Walk her back for me?” She nodded, and before I could say anything else, he was gone.

I whirled on Edith. “What the hell was that?”

She grimaced. “Look, as much as I want you and Matias to live happily ever after, he’s got to be careful with how he lets down Chelsea. That girl is wound so tight, god only knows what she’s going to do when she realizes things are really over between them.”

I glared at her. “Okay, what am I not getting here? One day you’re telling me to put the moves on Matias, and now you’re sending him weird, telepathic eye messages to chase after his ex-girlfriend. I mean, seriously! What the hell?” She was just as bad as Wes!

“Chill, newbie. It’s complicated. Matias is all Chelsea has left. They grew up together, and everyone around here expects them to end up together.”

“What!”

“Ya heard right. Chelsea and Matias’s parents died fighting for the Dissenters, so they were both pretty much raised by the resistance.

” She lowered her voice, leaning over the table toward me as though she were about to reveal a secret.

“Their parents even promised them to one another when they were alive.” She leaned back.

“Of course, that all kind of fell through when they all died. But Chelsea still fully expects that she and Matias will be married once this all blows over.”

Oh my god.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I grumbled, shoulders slumping.

“Nope.”

I was such an idiot.

Edith cleared her throat. “So, as much as I’m all Team Mara , I also think Matias needs to be careful with how he navigates this. Because mark my words, it’ll crush her.”

My stomach twisted. I looked down at my soup, dropping the spoon in the bowl. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore.

***

The situation since last night’s dinner was less than ideal.

Chelsea had been an enormous pain in my ass all morning.

I was relieved when she told me I had been summoned to headquarters to meet Sasha.

I left our tent so fast, I didn’t have time to find out what she wanted to see me about.

But now that I was out and taking the brisk morning walk to headquarters, I was getting nervous.

What the hell could Sasha want to see me for?

I reached the tent and was greeted by a soldier who promptly motioned me in. The room was empty, but movement toward the back caught my eye. I noticed a desk, and there was Sasha reviewing papers and jotting down some notes

“You wanted to see me?”

She didn’t immediately respond, but after a moment, she looked up and greeted me with an elegant smile.

It felt genuine enough, but I felt awkward and out of place.

I’d never been called to Sasha’s tent before, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was being summoned to the principal’s office back at the academy.

“Come in, Mara. Thank you for joining me on such short notice.” She waved me in, motioning toward a chair on the opposite side of her desk. I noticed a tea kettle sitting on a folded towel as steam rose from the spout. Two teacups rested next to it.

Blowing out a breath, I made my way toward the desk.

The last time I had met with her, Sasha had asked me to stay with the Dissenters, and I had agreed to it, but a part of me still felt unsure.

After all, I’d grown up believing the Dissenters were the ones who couldn’t be trusted.

Not the other way around. “How has your morning been?”

I shrugged, “Fine.”

“Mm-hmm,” she acknowledged. “And what of your companions? Have you made friends?” The corners of my lips tugged, wanting to smile, but I wanted to play this cool.

Apparently, I didn’t play it cool enough because she moved on to ask another question.

“Any particular individuals? Chelsea? Maybe Edith?”

I snorted, “I don’t know about Chelsea. I’m pretty sure she already hated me back at home, but I think things have just gotten worse with her. Edith’s been good though. It’s been nice getting to know her.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. But she’s a little… weird .”

“ Weird ?”

“Yeah, weird. ”

“Why weird?”

I hesitated a moment. Was smoking weed allowed? Because I was pretty sure Edith spent her time high. And if she wasn’t high, then she was incredibly insane. I wasn’t sure which one was worse. But, despite that, I still liked her.

“Well…never mind.”

Sasha smiled. “You know, she’s quite skilled with a sword.”

My jaw dropped. “A sword? You guys still battle with swords?”

This time, I got a genuine chuckle out of her. “It’s definitely not a primary weapon around here, but being skilled with a blade can be useful in close combat. Especially if you’re looking for a silent kill.”

A chill ran down my spine. I knew the Dissenters tried to avoid the use of lethal weapons as much as they could, but something about the way Sasha made the comment left me uneasy. I gulped, deciding to move the conversation along. “Yeah, well, she’d probably describe herself as weird too.”

“I have no doubt.” Silence encompassed us as the awkward feeling returned.

“So, what did you want to see me about?”

“Tea?” She didn’t give me time to respond before she was pouring the caramel liquid.

She dropped a lump of sugar into the cup and handed it over to me.

Of course I wanted tea. That had been one of the best parts of being here!

The food was mostly crap, but I discovered I really enjoyed tea.

Muttering a quick thank you , I took a sip of the hot brew, feeling it warm my body from the inside out as Sasha asked me another question.

“How about Matias?”

I started choking on the damn tea. Coughing, I patted my chest. It went down the wrong pipe, and I knew my cheeks must have turned a deep shade of sunset red.

Sasha didn’t skip a beat. “Going that well I see…” She grinned as laughter danced across her eyes. I tried to take deep breaths to calm my system while she waited patiently.

“He’s nice.”

“Is that all? Come now,” she teased. “Indulge this old woman. Tell me about the two of you.”

If I thought my cheeks were red before, I knew they had colored themselves to a whole new level, because I could feel the heat radiating off them like desert sand.

I mean, this was the leader of the rebellion, president of the free people, asking me to gossip with her about boys.

I hardly even knew her! Was it really that obvious that I liked him?

Did the whole freaking camp know I was falling for him? Just the thought made me feel feverish.

I cleared my throat. “There really isn’t much to tell,” I lied, trying to shake her off.

But one look at Sasha told me she wasn’t buying it.

Please, no. I didn’t want to have this conversation.

She sat back in her chair, crossing her fingers in her lap.

It was very clear that she had no intention of dropping the subject.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies that had become raptors in my stomach, accepting my fate. “I don’t know what to say, I guess. He’s sweet and we seem to get along well.”

“Do you find yourself attracted to him?”