“Hey,” Jordan said, speaking through a mouthful of food. “I forgot to ask you earlier. How was D.C. this morning?”
Alex shook her head. “I woke up to a slamming door, no roommate in sight.”
“That explains it, then,” Jordan said, seeming satisfied. He sipped his juice before taking another bite of food.
“Explains what?”
“Why you haven’t asked Jarvis for a new room yet,” Bear answered with a knowing grin.
Alex looked between the two of them. “Is she really that bad?”
Both boys just smirked at her and continued eating.
Alex picked up her purple juice, sipping thoughtfully. It didn’t take her long to finish the second glass, but she was still surprisingly thirsty, so she ordered another. All that running in PE must have dehydrated her.
A few minutes—and another emptied glass—later, Jordan stopped her from ordering more of the delicious juice. Only then did she realise just how odd she felt. Kind of light-headed and, well… buzzy. The whole room was jumping up and down. Was there an earthquake? Just as she was about to ask what was going on, Jordan pressed his hand down on her shoulder. All motion ceased and she realised that she must have been physically bouncing in her seat.
Bear pointed to her empty glass. “How many of those have you had?”
“I dunno,” she said giddily, her voice slurring the words. “But they taste really good!”
The boys looked at each other with unreadable expressions. She tried to remember how many glasses had arrived and disappeared over the course of the lunch break and she felt tremendously pleased with herself when she was able to recall the number.
“THREE!” she yelled triumphantly. “I’VE HAD THREE!”
Jordan and Bear jumped at her exclamation and heads turned in their direction from all corners of the court.
“Oops. Sorry,” Alex apologised, whispering this time. Then she giggled.
Wait, giggled?
She did it again.
Uh-oh.
She looked at Jordan, horrified. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Come on,” he ordered, rising from his seat. “We’d better get you over to the Medical Ward.”
Alex tried to stand but found her legs were made of jelly. She crashed noisily down to the floor, gathering even more attention than before.
“My legs are angry at me. Too many runnings.” She giggled again as her vision flickered in and out of focus. “That’s not right. Too much running. Better.”
She nodded to herself and looked up at Jordan and Bear who were standing over her. “You’re really tall,” she observed, squinting at them. She cupped her mouth with both hands and yelled, “Hellllllloooo up there!”
The boys shared another glance before reaching down to help her to her feet.
“All right, up you get,” Jordan said, steadying her as she swayed on her feet. “Easy there.”
“Wheeeeee!” she squealed, watching the room spin around her. “That was fun! Can we do it again?”
Jordan’s mouth twitched in amusement and Bear couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter as he reached out to grab her free arm. Together they hauled her out of the food court, carrying most of her weight between them.
Once they were outside, she glanced from one boy to the other before tucking her legs up underneath her. “Look at me! I’m flying!”
Jordan and Bear grunted as they were forced to shoulder the additional weight of her whole body.
“There must be an easier way to do this,” Bear mumbled as Alex bounced around in their arms, throwing her weight up and down and laughing hysterically. What a great game!
“There is,” Jordan replied, and in a single motion he swept Alex up into his arms, bridal-style.
“Much better,” Bear said, untangling her arm from around his neck.
“For you, maybe,” Jordan muttered.
Alex looked up at her new mode of transport in wonder. “You’re really strong!”
Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t get used to it.”
“I wish I could do that!” she squealed, pointing to his face.
“Do what?” he asked.
“The one-eyebrow thing! I can never do it right! It makes me look like a demented monkey.”
Bear laughed and turned to Jordan. “She’s going to be so mad at you when she comes down from this.”
“How is this my fault?” Jordan demanded.
“You should have told her about the juice,” Bear answered.
“I really like that juice,” Alex said with a longing sigh. “It’s yummy. Tastes like happiness in a cup.”
“I did tell her!” Jordan said to Bear. “I told her to take it easy, she just didn’t listen.”
“I did too listen. I’m a good listener. I’m the best listener who’ll ever listen,” Alex said, trying to catch a butterfly fluttering across their path. Such pretty colours!
“All I’m saying is, you probably should have told her why she shouldn’t drink so much,” Bear said. “But then again…”
They both looked down at Alex who, unsuccessful in her butterfly-catching attempt and bored of their conversation, was wiggling her eyebrows up and down over and over again, trying to raise one without the other. Why was it so difficult?
“… there’s nothing like first-hand experience,” Bear finished.
Six
Sometime later, Alex opened her eyes to a bright blue-coloured ceiling. She was lying on a bed under a crisp white sheet in the middle of a large, well-lit room.
“Hello?” she called out, sitting up.
“Ahh. You’re awake. Excellent.”
A man was walking towards her, clipboard in hand. He looked to be in his mid-forties, and he had a kind face with intelligent green eyes. There was a stethoscope draped around his neck, and his white lab coat had a pocket embroidered with the name Dr. Fletcher Montgomery.
“How are you feeling, Alex?” he asked, picking up her wrist to check her pulse.
“Okay,” she replied uncertainly. Her memories were hazy; she had no idea where she was, or how she’d arrived in the blue-ceilinged room. It looked like she was in some kind of hospital—which only served to heighten her anxiety, since she’d always had an irrational fear of doctors.
He nodded and pulled out a silver instrument. “Follow the light, please.”
She blinked when he aimed the beam at her eyes and did as he asked.
“Your vitals are looking much better. I think you’ll be fine to go now.” He scribbled something onto the clipboard and started to walk away.
“Uh—Doctor Montgomery?” she called out, hoping the name was right.
He paused and turned back to her, his expression amused. “So formal, Alex? I’m hurt.”
She looked at him strangely. What was he talking about?
“After all,” he continued, “it was only an hour ago that you told me I was the nicest doctor you’d ever met and if I didn’t agree to marry you, then you had no reason to continue living.”
Um… What?
He grinned at her. “I’m flattered. Truly. But it would be completely unprofessional of me to accept your proposal. I hope you don’t take it personally? I know how difficult it must be, especially considering your thoughtful—and creative—love song.”
Alex felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She’d sung to him? How humiliating.
The doctor chuckled and sat down at the end of the bed. “If you think what you said to me was bad, just wait until you catch up with your friends again.”
Alex groaned, not sure she even wanted to know.
“What happened to me?” she asked. The last thing she could remember was eating lunch in the food court.
“Nothing too serious,” he answered. “Just a slight overdose of dillyberry juice. According to your friends, you had a few too many glasses, not knowing about the side-effects.”
“Side-effects?”
“Similar to those of someone under the influence of a
lcohol or narcotics,” he explained. “You were essentially on a sugar-high. Dillyberries contain large doses of glucosamine, with a glass of juice holding roughly the equivalent of a glass of sugar.”
Alex felt like slapping herself. Why hadn’t she listened to Jordan’s warning? “How did I end up in here?”
“You don’t remember?”
“I can’t remember anything!”
“No need to shout,” he said with a calming gesture. “I’m not deaf.”
“Sorry, sir,” she mumbled.
“No matter,” he said, waving her apology aside. “And none of that ‘sir’ business. Call me Fletcher.”
She nodded and waited for him to continue.
“Memory loss is common after a dillyberry overdose,” Fletcher told her. “I’ve treated you with some medication to dissolve the excess sugar in your bloodstream, and your nap should’ve taken care of the rest. As to how you ended up here, you’ll have to ask your friends.”
Yeah, there was no way she was going to do that. She would be keeping what little self-respect she had left by repressing the entire episode.
“You should be fine to head off to class now,” Fletcher added. “We’re halfway through third period. Plenty of time for you to catch up.”
“Thanks so much for your help, Fletcher,” she said, jumping off the bed. “And sorry for the, um, marriage proposal. I don’t suppose we can forget that happened?”
“Consider it eliminated from my memory, Alex,” he said with a warm smile as he escorted her out of the Ward. “I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon.” At her confused expression, he sent her a wink and explained, “Your friends mentioned that you’re in Epsilon Combat.”
Alex groaned. Just how bad was that class going to be?
She decided not to respond to his statement and instead pulled out her timetable to find that she was meant to be in Medical Science, her only age-based class that day. “Fletcher, any chance you can tell me how to find Laboratory Three?”
Following his directions, Alex headed up two flights of stairs and down a long corridor before she reached the solid door labelled ‘Lab. 3’. She hesitated outside, wondering whether she should knock before entering. But the decision was taken out of her hands when the door sprang open.
“Are you going to stand there all day, Miss Jennings?”
Startled, Alex quickly entered the classroom. She was surprised to discover that—for some inexplicable reason—the door was completely transparent from the inside, like a one-way window.
“Are you done with interrupting my class?”
Alex turned away from the see-through door and searched for the owner of the sharp voice. It took her a moment to move her gaze past the curious glances from her classmates—and the amused looks from Jordan and Bear—but when she found the short woman close to the front of the room, Alex had to clamp down on a burst of laughter. It looked like a washing machine had thrown up a rainbow and plastered it all over the woman’s lab coat.
Alex blinked a few times in the hope that it would help fade the sight—which it didn’t—and then she hesitantly stepped forward. “I’m—”
“I’m well aware of who you are, Miss Jennings,” the woman interrupted, levelling her strict gaze on Alex. “I’m Professor Luranda, head of Medical Science, and tardiness is not acceptable in my class.”
“I didn’t—”
“Fortunately for you, your friends explained your absence,” the professor interrupted again. “Since it’s your first day, I’ll be lenient. In the future, arrive on time or face the consequences.”
That was hardly fair. It wasn’t as if Alex had deliberately planned to end up in the Medical Ward. But she would have to let her indignation go, since the professor appeared to be waiting for a response. “Uh, sure thing, ma’am.”
“Professor.”
Alex jerked. “Pardon me?”
“The correct response is, ‘Sure thing, Professor’. Lack of respect is something else I will not tolerate in my class, Miss Jennings.”
Alex nodded, not wanting to further aggravate the short, crazy-coated woman.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Professor Luranda said. “Go and find a seat so I can continue my lesson.”
Unfortunately, the only spare seat was next to the red-headed glaring girl from Alex’s Archery class.
Alex waited until the professor disappeared into the storeroom before she turned to quietly introduce herself. Sure, the entire class already knew who she was thanks to her late entrance, but she hoped striking up a polite conversation with her moody desk partner would ease some of the weird tension between them. “Hey, I’m—”
“I don’t care,” the girl interrupted, not even looking up from her textbook.
Alex’s eyes widened. Talk about rude. But even so, she tried again, “I’m—”
“I still don’t care.”
“But, I—”
“Is there something wrong with you?” The girl marked her page, turning to Alex with narrowed eyes. “Let me make myself clear: I. Don’t. Care. Who. You. Are.”
Alex stared at the other girl in shock and then turned her attention to the front of the class when Professor Luranda stepped back into view carrying a box of glass containers.
“Now, class,” the professor said, continuing on with the lecture that Alex had missed, “while the toxicity of Faenda venom can cause damage to internal organs over extended periods of time, in a life or death situation its paralytic effects can provide an adequate—if unorthodox—stabilisation treatment.”
Professor Luranda proceeded to walk around the room, placing a container on every table. Each jar held a black flying insect with glowing green wings and a painful-looking stinger.
“In your pairs, I want one of you to reach into the jar and provoke the creature to sting you,” the professor instructed. “The paralysis will only last for a few minutes and in that time the non-paralysed student will ensure their partner does not fall and hurt themselves while under the effects of the venom. You will then switch roles. Begin as soon as you are ready.”
Alex looked up to find her partner smirking at her.
“After you,” the other girl challenged.
Alex grit her teeth and reached out to grab the jar. Once her hand was inside, it didn’t take long for the little black and green Faenda to feel threatened and sink its stinger into her flesh. And, wow, it hurt a lot more than she’d expected. Or maybe her added pain was a result of her head thumping onto the lab bench as the paralysis took effect. So much for her partner keeping her from harm.
It took maybe three minutes for Alex’s limbs to start tingling, indicating that she was coming out of her immobility. In that time it was impossible for her not to wonder about the ethics of her new school. From the crazy PE teacher with his Taser-stick, to being purposefully stung by a venomous insect, Alex couldn’t figure out how any of it was acceptable. Once again she had to remind herself that she was in a completely new world and that she just had to go with it.
When she was finally able to lift herself up from the bench, Alex shook her tingling hands and looked over at her partner. “Your turn.”
The other girl buffed her fingernails on her shirt and said, “Can’t. I’m allergic.”
Yeah, right, Alex scoffed internally. She opened her mouth to object, but someone else cut in first.
“What’s going on over here?” the professor asked, seeing that neither Alex nor her partner were currently under the effects of the venom.
“Jennings was just about to have her turn,” the other girl said, shaking her hands out as if she was the one recovering from the paralysis.
“What?” Alex blurted. “But, I—”
“You’ve already disrupted my class once, Miss Jennings,” Professor Luranda said, turning away. “Hurry up and complete your task, or else you’ll find yourself with a detention.”
Alex gaped at the professor’s back before slicing her enraged eyes to her partner.
&
nbsp; “Maybe you should start with your head already on the bench this time,” the other girl suggested, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. “That must have hurt.”
“What’s your problem?” Alex demanded.
Seeing the professor’s eyes on her from the front of the classroom, Alex angrily shoved her hand into the jar once again. As she felt the sting and the accompanying paralysis overcome her for the second time, all she heard was her partner’s whispered, “You are, Roomie,” before she thumped onto the desk again.
Did she say ‘Roomie’? Alex wondered with a sickening feeling, while she waited for her newest bout of paralysis to wear off. That’s just my luck.
She didn’t get the chance to talk to the girl further because Luranda jumped straight back into her lecture, demanding the attention of the entire class.
When the gong finally rang, the other girl—who Alex now presumed was D.C.—took off without a word, and Jordan and Bear bounded over to Alex.
“How’re you feeling?” Bear asked.
Alex grimaced. “Do you mean after the dillyberry disaster, or because of the two paralysis-induced face-plants into my desk care of my oh-so-loving roommate?”
Bear bit his lip to keep from smiling but Jordan didn’t bother trying to hide his amusement. “Um, both?”
“Well, it’s so nice of you to ask,” Alex said, leading the way out of the room, “but I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fair enough,” Jordan agreed for them both, still grinning as he stepped up beside her. “You ready for Combat?”
“Nope,” Alex answered. “But I don’t think I have a choice, so lead the way.”
A few minutes later, Alex found herself staring in awe at the intimidating structure in front of her. The aptly named Arena was a mammoth colosseum-like construction that looked as if it was straight out of the gladiator era.
Seriously, what was with this school?
Jordan and Bear had to physically pull her forward as they rounded the hill leading to the magnificent site. Alex couldn’t deny that the view was spectacular, but she wasn’t able to appreciate it fully since she was too distracted by her fear of what went on inside those sandstone walls.