The Aldean Chronicles: Spotlight (Part 2)
Chapter 15

On Wednesday, I run into Rachel in the dining hall.

"Hey, Rachel." She's dressed in baggy jeans and a giant shirt with the words "Goblins=people." "Cute shirt."

She doesn't take her eyes off my face. "Thanks."

"I shouldn't keep you. Your friends must be waiting."

"Yeah," she snorts. "Sure."

She takes her food out of the dining hall.

I join my friends at our table.

"Who was that?" Axel points at the double doors of the dining hall.

"My second cousin, Rachel."

"A Harrington?" Michelle asks.

"Yeah. She's Caroline's little sister."

Everyone's eyes widen. "That's Caroline Harrington's sister?" Axel asks. "Wow."

"You guys know Caroline?" I'm shocked.

Paisley nods her head vigorously. "Yeah, I am obsessed with her. She's so pretty and she travels all over the world supporting causes she cares about. Just last week, she visited the guys who got attacked at the Commemoration Ceremony."

Michelle nods. "She's a major socialite. She's always in magazines and gives the best speeches."

I snort softly. "Okay, then."

"Wait, didn't you hang out with her this summer?" Ryan asks.

"At the equestrian thing." Paisley snaps her fingers. "You were there with Tristan and some other guy."

"I remember that." I take a long sip of juice.

Ryan smiles. "She was with Dillon Oisin. Did you guys see him at Milton's match?"

They all nod. "He was so good." Paisley moans.

"The technique he used made me want to be a Fire elemental," Axel says.

I groan. "Can we talk about something else? I do not want to relive my summer."

"We all watched the tournament on TV,' Sara says. "It wasn't exactly YOUR summer."

"I know that. It's just weird when you guys talk about stuff I was at these past three months."

The table goes silent.

"So we shouldn't talk about anything that happened over summer?" Sara asks.

"I didn't say that." I point out. "You know what. Just forget it." I get up. "I have to go to the bathroom."

I pick up my bag and abandon my tray with no intention of coming back.

I frown. Right now, Sara's probably talking about how I left my tray for them to clean up. I slam the dining hall door and head to my Potions class.

Twenty minutes to the end of lunch, I get a text from an unknown number. It reads:

For the next stage of your Initiation Process, bring me a Blue Rose. The Second scroll contains information on where they are hidden. Be warned, only seven are hidden on campus.

"Great," I say under my breath.

I don't have the second scroll with me so I wait till the end of school to have a look.

As soon as fifth period begins, Sara walks into class. She doesn't say anything to me, she just takes her seat.

We don't talk the entire hour.

The second the teacher dismisses us, I take my bag and stalk off to Biology.

In this class, we have to look through a microscope and spot the different genetic make-ups for combatants and different elementals.

After all that, I get to my room and fish my scroll out of my top drawer.

I stare at the scroll for a minute and still don't know how it's meant to help me replace a Blue Rose. The scroll only has three lines. And they're riddles.

To understand ourselves, we must first understand our history.

To move forward, we must understand the need for change.

To attain progress, we must take a leap of faith.

I doubt Collette will hide more clues at the library, so I avoid there altogether.

I lay in my bed, bring out my laptop, and focus on the first line. Understand our history. I assume she means the history of the club.

I do multiple Google searches and write a small essay on the founding of the club.

It happened four hundred years ago, just three years after the school was established. The names of the founders are Irene Sadley, Xavier Gamont, and Philip Peterson.

All the websites tell me they started the club as a study group between friends. Over time, they got a good reputation and everyone wanted to be a member. That's why they started the initiation process. To weed out the worst.

I fall back on my pillow and groan. I will definitely be "weeded out" on Saturday.

The door opens and Sara walks in.

"Hey," she looks like she's in a rush.

"Hey." I sit up and rest my head on the headboard.

"I'm leaving now. I just need to grab my notebook." She reaches under her pillow and brings out a blue notebook.

"Okay. Good luck, on the thing."

She nods. "You too." And leaves.

I spend another half hour thinking about the passages but come up with nothing.

I give up and instead, focus on homework for Illyrian Languages.

That evening, I skip dinner and head for Kat's room.

"Why is this so big?" I say when I walk in. "I'm sharing and our room isn't even this big."

She laughs. "I love being a fourth year." I sit at the foot of her bed and rest my back on the wall. "I see you got your next challenge."

"It makes no sense."

She stretches out her hand. "Give it to me."

"I can't. We're not supposed to get help."

She rolls her eyes. "Do you want my help or not?"

I sigh. "I don't have it here. But it's memorized." I repeat the three lines to her.

She's deep in thought for a long time. "Did you research the history of the club's founding?"

"First thing I did. I didn't replace anything."

Kat hums. "My treasure hunt was easy. I don't know if the head was being smart or was just lazy." She laughs. "He didn't even hide the blue roses. He just left them in the foyer of the building. It took me two days to realize that's what he was talking about."

I shake my head. "Collette already hid the Aces in that room. And I don't think she'd be that obvious."

"True." Kat muses. "I don't know, Cass. This is kind of tricky. She didn't even use places or things, just concepts. How do you replace concepts?"

"Well, you've been very helpful."

She gets off her bed and crosses the room to her desk. Beside it, I didn't even notice, is a mini fridge.

"I really cannot wait to be a fourth year."

She brings two black plastic packs and takes two forks from her desk.

"Here," she sits next to me.

I take the pack and fork. Inside is the salad she's always eating for lunch. "You don't strike me as an "eat in bed" kind of girl," I say.

She reaches under her bed and pulls out a bottle of champagne. "I'll change the sheets before I go to sleep."

I eye the champagne. "Alcohol isn't allowed on campus."

She scoffs. "You did not just say that. Also, this isn't alcoholic. With all the new security measures, I couldn't sneak in a takeout order, talk less of alcohol."

She takes a swig then passes the bottle to me.

I put it on the ground. "Kat, are you alright?"

She stabs her salad then stuffs a big load in her mouth. "I'm great," her voice is muffled with cabbage, sweet corn, and beef.

I play with my salad. "You've been hanging out a lot with Jamie."

"Yeah." She sighs. "I guess that's why they say don't date your friends."

"I'm really sorry, Kat."

She swipes her hair behind her ear. "It's fine, Cassie. It's been months, he's moved on. I'm kind of moving on myself."

I almost jump up. "Who is it?" I yell. "Tell me, tell me now. Do I know this person?"

She wipes the smile off her face. "This person is none of your business."

"Come on, you have to tell me. Please." I beg.

"No." She takes another swig of her non-alcoholic champagne.

"Come on."

"No way. I'm not saying anything yet. It's just light flirting right now."

I groan dramatically. "You and Grey are the same. He said the exact same thing a couple of days ago."

Kat frowns. "Grey's in a relationship. Wow, it's like he didn't learn his lesson after trashy Mira."

"Kat!"

"She cheated on her current boyfriend. And who knows, probably cheated on Grey too."

"Well... I think this new girl is better."

"Don't get your hopes up for him. Trust me, he'll replace a way to disappoint you."

I feel cold all over. "Grey actually apologized and we're now as good as ever."

She snorts. "For now."

"You know you don't have to be constantly mean." I scowl.

She has a bitter smile on her face. "Better to be mean than a people pleaser like you."

"Excuse me?"

"You have an obsession with making people like you. Which is so stupid because you hate almost everyone you meet."

"Wow."

"You know what, just leave."

"And now you're kicking me out." I get up. "Good night, Kat." I stalk to the door and slam it on my way out.

How dare Kat accuse me of being a people pleaser?

There's nothing wrong with being nice.

As soon as I get back to my room, I get a text from Grey.

I call him. "Can you believe what Kat said?" I say as soon as my phone stops ringing.

"I can't." He says quickly. "Can you do me a quick favour?"

I take a breath. "What?"

"Can I borrow your credit card?"

"What?"

"Your credit card." He repeats. "I need it."

"What's wrong with yours?" I gasp. "Did Seb and Lilian cut you off?"

He scoffs. "Please."

"So why do you need mine?"

"Because they have their accountant send them my bank statement every week. They want to know what I'm spending my money on. It's ridiculous."

I don't speak for a second. "What do you want to buy?"

"I'm throwing a little back-to-school party in the shed Friday night. It's gonna suck without alcohol."

"Alcohol isn't allowed in school."

"You didn't think of that when you got drunk at Tristan's 18th last semester." He accuses.

I sigh. "Wouldn't they check mine?"

"You don't even have bank statements. You went the whole summer without buying anything."

"That's not true."

"That doesn't matter. I just need your card to pay the person bringing my stuff."

I shake my head and sigh. "I don't know."

"Fuck, Cass. It's not hard. Can you do this for me?" He snaps. Both sides of the phone are quiet for a long time. "Sorry." He waits for me to say something. "Just forget it. It's alright. I'll get Stick or Lance to pay."

"No. You shouldn't ask them." My voice is low. "I'll give you my card."

He exhales. "Thanks. And um, you should come. You can bring one of your friends even."

"Thanks." Is all I can say.

He doesn't stop exhaling. "I'll come pick it up later tonight."

"Okay."

"See you later." And he quickly ends the call.