“I don’t think it was as cool as that.” Melany rubbed at her hair with the towel.
“Oh, yeah it was.” Grinning, Ren patted her on the shoulder. “You’re hardcore.”
Her cheeks flushed a little at the compliment, but I had to agree. Melany was hardcore. She’d saved me from getting bitten by that creepy water slug. And she was consistently kicking my ass in hand-to-hand combat training.
“He’s right, Blue.” I leaned down to her ear, as we all left the training facility. “You are a badass.”
She gave me a look, and I thought she was going to say something, but her friends came up on her sides, pushing me out. I stepped away and joined Diego, Jonah, and Trevin; they were congratulating Ren for winning the competition and basically for being part fish.
Back at the dorms, I’d finished having a shower and was changing into regular clothes since classes were done for the day. I was anxious to get down to the dining hall and chill out. I was hungry, but I also realized it was because I wanted to see Melany. I didn’t get a chance to thank her for saving me from getting bitten by the Charybdis, and I just wanted to hang out with her. I didn’t know anything about her and I wanted to.
“Can you believe that bitch today?” Diego ran product into his hair. “I mean, Revana should’ve really kicked her ass.”
“Don’t talk about her like that.” I pulled on my T-shirt.
Diego smirked. “Why are you sticking up for her? Revana’s supposed to be your friend.”
“She is, but sometimes she gets what she asks for.”
“What does that supposed to mean?”
“She’s not always a nice person.” I sat on my bed to put on my shoes.
“Nice is overrated,” Diego said. “It’s not going to get you anywhere in this place.” He frowned at me. “And since when were you nice to girls like Melany?”
I shrugged. “She’s different. I like her.”
“I’d like her, too, if she put out.” He made a rude gesture with his hips.
“Don’t be an asshole.”
I left the room without him. Diego and I had been friends before the academy, same with Revana. We all ran in the same affluent circles. We were all from devout families, who had started our training when we were young. Someone in each of our families had been called to the army in the past. For me, it was my brother, Owen. Diego’s uncle from Argentina had been called thirty years ago. Revana’s patronage was even older—her maternal grandfather had gotten the invitation mere months after her mother had been born. So, I basically grew up around them, but I was starting to realize that neither of them were good people. If we hadn’t known each other before, I wasn’t sure I’d go out of my way to know them now.
I hurried to the dining hall, grabbed some food, and sat at a table near the main doors. I wanted to see when Melany came in. Soon, Diego and the others joined me.
“Why are you sitting here?” Revana set her tray down beside mine.
“Change of pace.” Taking my eyes off the main door, I shoveled some food into my mouth.
Isobel stole a fry from Diego’s tray. “I think it was totally unfair Melany won along with Ren. It should’ve just been Ren.”
“She must’ve cheated,” Revana said. “She hasn’t shown an affinity to water at all over the past few weeks. Last time, she couldn’t even make a spout.”
I sniffed and shook my head. “She didn’t cheat.”
She gave me a haughty look. “How do you know?”
“Because I was down there with her, and she was just better than everyone else. Me included.”
Frowning, she turned to talk to Isobel, who was busy eating all the fries from Diego’s tray. I didn’t think he minded, though, because I was pretty sure he was crushing hard on her. He always looked at her like a clueless puppy.
“Hey, did you guys here about New Athens, Kios, and Pecunia?” Trevin asked. “Supposedly, there have been some earthquakes around there.”
“Where did you hear that?” Jonah frowned. I could hear the concern in his voice.
“Are you from there?” I asked.
“Around there. I’m from the town over, Histria.”
“Someone snuck a cell phone in,” Trevin said. “It’s all over the news.”
“Sounds like a bad rumor to me. No one would be able to sneak a phone in. No way,” Isobel said. “Besides, they’d tell us if something like that happened to where we’re from.” She looked around at everyone. “Wouldn’t they?”
“Of course they would.” Revana patted Isobel’s hand. The girl looked like she was about to cry.
When I spotted Georgina and Jasmine entering the dining hall, I got to my feet. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“Where are you going?” Revana called after me.
I didn’t stop until I reached Georgina and Jasmine. Surprise flashed across both their faces at seeing me at their table. I slid in beside Jasmine.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Where’s Blue?”
Georgina’s eyebrows shot up. “She’s back in the dorm, resting. The whole thing in the pool took its toll on her.”
“What do you want with her?” Jasmine gave me a pointed look, which I didn’t blame her for. I hadn’t been the friendliest person over the last month or so.
“Nothing. I just want to see if she’s okay.”
“She’s fine.” Jasmine went back to her food and talking to Mia, who sat on her other side.
I guessed that was the end of that conversation.
I got up from the table, but I didn’t want to go back and sit with Diego and the others, and I didn’t want to return to my dorm room. I wanted to see Melany. After I did a drive by the food line and grabbed a couple of chocolate cupcakes, I headed out of the dining hall and toward the girls’ dorm.
I didn’t know how I was going to get past the dorm monitor, but I was going to give it a go. What was the worst that could happen?
I ran up the stairs and turned left toward the girls’ dorm rooms. Before I entered the main corridor, I stopped and peered around the corner, planning my strategy. I could dissipate into the shadows like Erebus had taught us. I wasn’t great at it, not like Melany, but I had improved. I just needed more shadows to move through; there was too much light in the hall.
I looked around on the ground and spied a small pebble. I picked it up, rubbing it between my fingers, gauging my aim at the light in the sconce along the wall. Taking a deep breath, I reared back and threw the rock. Like a targeted missile, it hit the light and broke the bulb. Shadows instantly filled that side of the corridor.
Before anyone could come investigate the sound, I streaked down the hallway, keeping to the darkness hugging the far wall. I concentrated on refracting the light, so if anyone peered out from one of the rooms, they wouldn’t see me, not unless they really stared into the shadows hard, then they’d probably see some movement.
As I made my way through the dorm, I realized I had no idea which room was Melany’s. All I knew was that she bunked with Georgina. But I did remember one time when Georgina mentioned that they were always the last ones out of the dorm in the morning. So I assumed they were one of the last rooms.
At the end of the hall, there were two rooms; one had the door open, and it was dark inside, and the other’s door was shut, light spilling from underneath, and the sounds of some kind of thrash metal emanated from within. This had to be Melany’s room. She was the only girl I knew who would listen to thrash metal.
I knocked on the door and waited, feeling nervous all of a sudden.
The door swung open to a scowly face. “What?” Then her eyes widened.
I held out my hand, a chocolate cupcake balanced on the palm. “I come bearing gifts.”
She took a step out and glanced down the corridor. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard you weren’t feeling all that well, so I thought you might need some sustenance.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You know this is weird, right?”
I grimaced. “I guess. But we’re at a school for demigods, I think weird is relative at this point.”
“Good point.” She plucked the cupcake from my hand.