“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!”
“You and I have very different definitions of ‘amazing’,” she told him.
While Jordan was practically bouncing with anticipation, Alex was wishing time would rewind so she could find a way out of the mess she was currently in.
“I’m sure it won’t be so bad,” D.C. said, trying to sound encouraging. “If nothing else, you’re bound to learn heaps from Hunter.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Alex mumbled. The man was too mysterious for his own good.
“It’s time,” Jordan said, rising to his feet. “Are you ready?”
“Definitely not,” Alex answered, but she stood as well. It wasn’t like she had a choice. So much for her gift of willpower— what good was it to her now?
Together they left the food court and disappeared into the night. Almost literally, really, given how they blended into the dark with their black clothing.
“If I get stuck in some kind of thorny bush, do you promise to come back and find me at the end of the night?” Alex asked, tripping on her cape for the third time. “This thing is going to kill me.”
“It’s not that bad.” Jordan failed to hide the amusement in his tone. “You just have to learn how to ignore the swishing of the material.”
“Ignore the ‘swishing’?” she repeated. “That’s your advice?”
He chuckled and didn’t answer, but Alex found that walking was easier when she didn’t focus on the cape as much.
“It’s still not very appropriate clothing for the forest,” she muttered to herself.
All too soon they reached their destination, where only two other people were already waiting.
“Hey, guys,” Pipsqueak said.
“Yo!” greeted Blink. “It’s a fine night to discover our inner stealth, am I right?”
“It sure is,” Jordan agreed, returning the offered fist-bump.
It was clear that both Pipsqueak and Blink were just as excited as Jordan to have made the cut for Hunter’s class. Alex seemed to be the only one with any reservations.
“Did anyone else get in?” she asked.
“Not that I’ve heard,” Pipsqueak answered. “But I didn’t know about you, either. I don’t remember seeing you at the tryouts.”
“It’s a long story,” Alex murmured, not wanting to explain.
Pipsqueak shrugged. “It’s cool you’re here. This is going to rock.”
Jordan, Blink and Pipsqueak struck up an excited conversation about what they hoped would happen, but as the minutes ticked by, Alex grew more and more anxious. They’d been told to show up by seven-thirty and it was now well after that, but no one had arrived yet, including Hunter. Given the name of the class, Alex wondered if they were about to receive a crash course in what was ahead for them.
“Guys, I think you should keep it down,” Alex said quietly, urging the others to settle.
None of them paid her any attention, but Jordan did turn to give her a reassuring smile. He must have just thought she was nervous—which she was. But it was more than that.
A twig snapped and Alex whirled around, peering deeper into the forest. It was too dark for her to see much of anything, but her spidey-senses were on high alert, and she couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched.
She squinted into the shadows until something caught her eye; a stirring of movement accompanied by the sound of a bush rustling.
“Guys, seriously,” Alex whispered. “Shut up.”
The tone of her voice must have clued them in that she wasn’t playing around, and they immediately dropped their conversation.
“What is it?” Jordan asked, stepping closer to her.
“There’s something in there,” Alex said, pointing into the shadows.
Images of the Hyroa lunging out of the forest caused a shiver to run down her spine.
“What sort of something?” Pipsqueak asked, her voice higher than normal.
Eyes gleaming with the thrill of adventure, Blink said, “Let’s check it out.”