Blackstone Academy: The Rogue

37. Jax Flores

Jax P.O.V

Date: November 17, 2238

Cleo settled underneath her bed covers, a small contented sigh slipping free. It must feel good to be back in her room after her ordeal. I know I would if I were in her shoes.

After our practice ended yesterday, Stacy and I returned to the infirmary to find Cleo awake, although suffering from a slight headache. Lucky if you asked me, considering it could've been much worse.

Dr. Walter must have thought the same thing since she'd kept her overnight for observation. Or maybe that was just customary procedure in situations like this. I don't know. Either way, Stacy and I had volunteered to bring her back to her dorm. And while the offer was genuinely out of the kindness of our hearts, it was also an opportunity to learn more about Mary.

"Are you the one that found me?" Cleo asked.

"No, that would be our friends Nova and Sky," Stacy said, propping up a pillow behind her back. "They'd be here now. But they're probably still sleeping."

"Dr. Walter told me they stayed with me."

"Yeah, they'd been pretty worried. An-" Stacy leaned against her desk. "I'm sorry, but how exactly did you fall?"

"Uh..." Her eyes fell to her lap, where she twirled a loose strand around her fingers. "I was working out when I suddenly felt dizzy. Then, next thing I know, I wake up in the infirmary."

"Wow."

"Yeah," she let out a slow breath. "I feel like I should apologize since my accident almost contributed to them canceling the games, and now we all have to take a mandatory counseling session."

"Don't. They probably would have decided it anyway."

"Mhm. True."

Stacy looked over at the other bed. "Will your roommate be here soon?" She asked with an air of casualty in her voice.

"No, sh-" Cleo briefly shut her eyes and breathed deeply. "My roommate was Mary."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said with genuine sincerity despite knowing that already. "Were you two close?"

I moved closer to hear her reply, accidentally knocking a notebook off her desk. Both girls turned to me, looking on in silence as I stood there frozen. But at the look of annoyance that fleetingly crossed Stacy's face, I muttered, "Sorry." before quickly picking up the notebook.

"Sorry about that. He can be kinda clumsy sometimes." Stacy apologized again on my behalf while I smoothed the crumpled pages. Neatly scrawled on each one is data detailing an experiment of sorts.

"It's al-"

"Did you work down in the lab?" I cut in, holding up the notebook.

She shook her head. "No, that belonged to Mary. It got mixed in with my stuff, and I haven't found the time to return it."

Someone knocked on the door before I could ask another question.

"That's probably my neighbor Ciara," Cleo said, going over to answer it.

She pulled open the door to reveal a pretty girl with a smooth chocolate complexion and curly black hair that fell past her shoulders.

"Sorry, I'm late," Ciara said, entering the room. "Practice ran a little over today."

"It's okay." Stacy waved away her apology. "We were happy to help."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. And if you need anything else, let us know."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. And thank you both again." Cleo said before closing the door.

Well, that was a bust.

We'd learned nothing and only left with more questions.