I don't need anyone on my side.
Blood Red
Too bad, you've got us now.
Did you see our girl tonight? That dress. I think we might continue our walks on the promenade.
Two girls, scandalous.
Right, Quinn?
Forest Green
Is Quinn here?
Blood Red
No. Sigh. Cayden, these are just messages.
She’s not inside your TB.
Moss Green
Hahahahahahaha.
Baby Blue
Alert: Group is now 4.
Moss Green
Keep adding em. This is great.
Baby Blue
Alert: Group is now 5.
Matt cleared his throat, and despite not wanting to, I forced myself to skim. Cayden left the chat four more times as Everly continued to misunderstand his comments. I guess she was taking a page out of my book to get under Cayden’s skin. It made me giggle, though I literally yearned to join in.
I flipped the cube to the side where individual messages came through and found a single dark purple one that read: Gym, now.
Ezra’s magic was plum purple. He had reached out to me, just not officially, which told me nothing. The whole point of my gender reveal was to get a reaction from the people running this mess, but nothing changed. What did that mean?
I sighed and handed Matt my social life. If I did get my TB back, I’d still need to make a scrawl to send a message, and I didn’t know how to do that.
“I found someone I can sell my clothing to,” I said. “But things didn’t go well, and I couldn’t complete the transaction.”
Matt shook his head. “You didn’t…” He swallowed. “The rumors say someone beat you up… you didn’t go to The Green alone because of us—”
“How are there rumors about that?” I groaned. “I woke up unconscious in my room.” I glared at Matt. “No one hit me. I fell. I know it’s the oldest lie in the book, but it’s what happened.” I shook my fist at him. “And I did go to The Green because of you! You’re holding my TB hostage.” Matt cowered again, though not before I noticed his smirk. He enjoyed this. How messed up. “I need to go. Same time tomorrow morning?”
Matt nodded. “Back door.”
I stepped over the broken glass, ignoring him, and headed for the restroom. Coming out in my clean trainee uniform, I headed toward the front door. I spied Brit sitting with Joe and blew her a double-handed kiss before exiting. I didn’t make it far before two figures stepped into my path.
I recognized Brody immediately, but it took me longer to place Seth Silver, Mister Harrogate, who would make a ‘good friend’ and something about sheep, according to Everly. He tossed his cyan-blue ponytail behind him and rolled up his sleeves, exposing the twisted lines he used to cast magic.
My blood chilled, and fear prickled down my spine.
