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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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A pounding headache woke Clementine on Saturday morning. He grimaced as he opened his eyes to the gloom of his room. A few rays of sunlight crept despite the hair clips still clamping the curtains shut. As he glanced over at them, he remembered that he never did ask Sebastien why he'd put them there.
He sighed and rolled onto his side, but before he could even try to fall back asleep, a panicked knock came at his door. With an agitated groan, he moved onto his back and glared up at the ceiling.
"What?" he called.
As his door opened, Elliot stepped in with a very worried look on his face.
Clementine sat up. "What?" he asked more calmly. But when he saw his roommate clutching a letter in his hands, he almost deadpanned.
"Carmichael's friends said he still hasn't turned up! It's been nearly two weeks, Clementine!"
He frowned—it had been nearly two weeks since Carmichael, Bernard, and Stanley were expelled. He didn't particularly care about either of the trio, but he knew Elliot did, so he'd try his best to make him feel better. "Maybe he just didn't wanna go stay with this guy, Elliot. He got kicked out of this place and lost his one chance to get into the New World. Maybe he decided to go do something else."
Elliot shook his head. "No, he told me he was gonna stay with this guy! He told me—he said to write to this address because this is where he was gonna be!"
"Okay, okay," he said, trying to calm him down. "What if Carmichael is pretending to not be there?"
His roommate frowned strangely.
"I mean, he got kicked out and you're still here. Maybe he's jealous and doesn't wanna talk to you anymore."
"Would he...really think like that?" he mumbled sadly. "We were friends."
"You never know, Elliot."
"If that were true, then...I wish he'd just tell me instead of making me think something's happened to him."
"Maybe he'll come around. Just give him some more time. Do you know where Bernard and Stanley were staying? You could try to reach out to them."
"I thought they were going to be with Carmichael. I didn't get addresses for them." He stuffed the letter into his trouser pocket and scratched the side of his spotty face. "There's the winter break coming up. I was thinking of visiting him in Ripperton. Only I think if you're right, maybe that's not such a good idea."
Clementine frowned. "We're allowed to leave the academy for winter break?"
"Yeah," he said with a nod. "It's only for about a week, and it would take about three days to get to Ripperton and three days back, but...I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I was thinking of going to see my aunt, too."
