Clentine:
I had walked out of Miss Rue’s office and followed Ms. Lenora to her dorm room.
Even walking through that passage felt strange to .
mories of my squad filled my mind. We had all played a part in making that place our ho.
And now, here I was, leaving everything behind, walking away from the only place I could truly call ho.
The dorm room reminded of how I used to feel as a child, lonely and lost. Now I was once again without a family or a ho.
"Don’t worry, you’ll be much happier in my squad," Ms. Lenora said, snapping out of my thoughts.
I didn’t respond. I just kept walking, my hands tied in front of , resting against my abdon.
"I don’t think Miss Rue knows what she’s doing. But don’t worry, I know how to take care of my squad," Ms. Lenora continued, making nod slightly.
I felt defeated, but I knew I had to gather my strength eventually.
With the Lurker’s stunning Zian, I was hopeful Ian would be back soon.
They must have found out by now.
"But you’ll have to make sure you don’t speak to the other squadmates or interact with them," she added.
The mont she said that, I stopped right at the door and frowned at her.
"Did you say the sa thing to Oriana? Because it doesn’t seem like she followed your orders very well," I taunted, referring to how her squadmate had been involved in unnecessary drama.
She started to laugh.
"Well, I’m learning from that, let’s just say," she replied, shrugging her shoulders with a wide smile.
"Anyway," she paused and opened the door, letting walk inside. "Red mbers, et your new team leader, Clentine."
The way she introduced , with such a wide smile, already felt like a powerful statent.
"Leader?" I asked, turning to her.
"Yeah. I’ve assigned roles. Oriana used to be the leader, but now you’ll take over and I believe you’ll be a better fit," Ms. Lenora stated, gesturing for Sebastian to co pick up my bag.
I had no idea this was happening in the Red Squad.
As soon as Sebastian bent down to grab my bag, I waved him off with my hand.
I could pick up my own things. I took the bag myself and gave him a small smile.
"Well, Clentine, you need to learn from your mistakes. When you’re in power, use it," Ms. Lenora said before walking away.
Mira and Renee smiled at , gesturing toward the bed that had once belonged to Oriana.
I groaned, staring at it.
They must have noticed, because Mira quickly grabbed her pillows, placed them on Oriana’s bed, and left her own for .
"You don’t have to," I said.
She smiled, walked over to , and took my bag from my hands.
"We must. We really welco you to our squad. I don’t know what happened that made you switch squads, but I guess it was a gift from Goddess to us," Mira replied, making feel awful for how high their expectations already were.
"You don’t have to say that. I think we’re all doing a great job," I responded, sitting down on the bed and looking around.
There were only four beds in the room. The others had been taken out after the passing of squadmates.
It was a big space, but it felt empty and lonely.
"Hey, I know Oriana must have done sothing. I an, it’s not a secret. She goes into her dorm, and Clentine has to leave," Renee remarked, folding her arms across her chest with a scowl.
"Hey, we don’t know that. What if they’re still friends? You’ll upset Clentine by talking about her friend like that," Mira interjected quickly.
"No, it’s okay. She’s not my friend, and she’s right. I left my squad because of Oriana," I admitted, throwing her under the bus for all the right reasons.
"Well, I know you must miss your old squadmates, but we’ll make your stay better. Besides, we’re really happy you’re with us now. She used to be such a bully," Mira comnted, rolling her eyes at the ntion of Oriana.
"She used to bully you guys? She told you bullied her for leaving one of the twins behind," I said, recalling her claims, how she would co into our dorm crying and scared.
"What? Hell no. She was the one who bullied us. She’s such a dramatic liar," Renee scoffed.
Just as I suspected, Oriana had been lying all along. I wasn’t surprised anymore.
"Anyway, we’re all back, and they’ll be sending us north again," Mira said with a sigh at the ntion of the north.
I felt like a failure because these vacations were supposed to be our chance to uncover the truth about the academy.
I guess we had aid too high.
Soon after, we were called to the hall for dinner.
Walking with my squadmates this ti felt different. Mira, Sebastian, and Renee were genuinely kind and present.
They joked around most of the ti, asking if I was comfortable, nothing like the way Oriana had described them.
But the mont I saw my old squadmates walking through the passage toward the hall, I pulled my sleeves down to cover my fists.
I had to hide the way they tightened.
Then I saw Ian at the back of the group. A smile had already ford on my lips before I realized it wasn’t Ian. It was Zian.
It was strange how I could recognize him just by the way he walked or breathed. But what didn’t make sense was why he was back.
Why had the Lurkers stunned him if they hadn’t realized he wasn’t the squadmate he had brought from the pack?
The mont we entered the hall, I saw all the faces that had been gone for the vacations, including Joshua, Jack, and Nate from the White Squad.
I could tell they were curious about the recent switch between squadmates.
Joshua had a new haircut. He looked stronger and more focused, as if he had moved on from Suki.
I couldn’t be sure, but one thing was certain, I now had to be more alert, because there were more enemies around now.
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