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⊹ Book 1 of the Aldergrove Duology ⊹
After being told he has only six months left to live, Clementine decides to track down his sister's murderers, leading him to Aldergrove Academy, a place...
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Elliot paced around the dorm, and as he did, Clementine watched him from the windowsill he'd sat on.
"This is bad," he muttered, shaking his head. "We're all by ourselves—what are we going to do?" he exclaimed, looking over at Clementine. "I'm pretty sure Stephanie saw our faces when Carmichael grabbed them that first time—why didn't they call us out at the trial?"
Clementine sighed, tapping his fingertips against his leg. But he wasn't freaking out about Carmichael and co like Elliot was. No, instead, he was thinking about everything else that had happened. Ian saw his face, Ian was coming for him, Sebastien had shown his face, and not only that, but he was on some sort of jury, too? He had no idea there were other students here that weren't studying the same classes as everyone else...but it made sense. That was why he never saw Sebastien in any of his classes.
He dragged his hand over his face, staring out of the window as Elliot continued to ramble. What was he going to do now? He'd lost the cover and safety of Elliot's friends, and it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Now, his idea to rope Elliot's friends into helping him take down the Ravenblood was off the table—but he wasn't completely torn up about it. He preferred to work alone, and despite the fact he was exactly that now, he still had a plan. He wasn't sure how he'd avoid Ian and whoever he might have told by now, but he was set on how he was going to take some of his foes down—once he had names and faces for them.
Where would he find some death caps? Probably out in that forest...but the thought of heading back out there after what had happened this morning sent a shiver down his spine.
"We should find new friends, right?" Elliot blurted.
Clementine tutted and looked over at him.
"What about that uh...Kristine—yeah, her. I've seen her all by herself a lot. Or...Trent, uh...Olana—those are just a few of the loners. What if we gathered them all up and made a group out of them all?" he suggested. "That could work, right?"
It actually might. Elliot might be a bumbling, cowardly idiot, but he had his moments...and right now was one Clementine couldn't help but praise. "That's a good idea," he said with a nod. "Do you know any of them personally?"
He shook his head. "No, but...surely after today, and everything else that's been happening, all the loners will want to group up, right?"
Nodding, Clementine slouched back a little, trying to relax his aching body. "It's just finding the time to do it. Lunch has already been, we're stuck in our dorms until next period, and we have detention tomorrow."
Elliot nodded, pondering. "Well, there's always afternoon break—it's only twenty minutes, but it should be long enough for us to find at least one or two of the loners."
