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32
Harper
Sadie throws openmy door and I sit up so quickly the blood rushes from my head and I feel a little dizzy. “It’s time!” she says.
I was trying to take a nap to pass the time while we waited. Really, I had been obsessing over what I was going to do if I passed. Or if I failed.
I hop off of my bed and head out the door. The two of us don’t speak as we leave our room and walk through the halls. We’re not alone. The whole school seems to be making the trek to the wall to check ranks.
My pulse races and I’m so nervous I can’t think clearly. What if I didn’t beat Liam? What if he still wins and I’m stuck here? What if Ididbeat him. How can I go back to my old life after all of this?
I’m terrified of both options even though all I’ve wanted since I arrived was to go home.
Now that I was facing it, home seemed like an abstract concept that was unable to be defined. Where did I belong now that I knew this world existed?
We step into the main hall and I see the gathered sea of black and white uniformed students.
My hands are shaking as I find a place.
There’s a sheet over the ranking plaques and everyone is pushing to get a better view.
Dean Wilcox walks up to the wall. “Welcome, students of Brimstone Academy.”
Everyone is silent but I think I can hear my own heart beating.
“Every semester, one student earns the pass to complete their schooling early. That pass is an important part of our past and comes with the added benefit of acting as a pardon for our reform students should they win.”
He scans the crowd as he lifts his arm. “This year’s winner is…”
The sheet tumbles to the ground and my eyes move right to the number one plaque.
And my heart falls into my stomach.
It’s not me.
I didn’t win.
It’s not even Liam. It’s someone else. Someone who wasn’t even in the top five going into today.
“Congratulations, Quin Moore,” Dean Wilcox says.
Quin hollers and the crowd claps politely.
I scan the names. I’m number two. Liam is third. I feel like there isn’t enough air and I fight through the people to get away from the crowd.
Liam did his part, but it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough. I failed.
I manage to make it to my hallway but I can’t get myself to walk to my room. Everything I worked for was taken.
I thought I had it.
Footsteps sound and I look up to see Liam walking toward me. His hands are in his pockets and he has an unusually serious expression on his face.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “We’re even.”
He stops in front of me. “I know. But don’t ask me to do that for you ever again. Because next semester, it will be my name on the first place plaque.”
A tear slides down my cheek and I wipe it away. “Yeah. Maybe.”
