𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 | 𝚊 𝙺𝚘𝚝𝙻𝙲 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 | 𝚋𝚢 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚊

Chapter Two

"You want to join the Black Swan," Sophie repeats, brown eyes widening.

"Yes. Yes I do," I say quickly. "Are you still, um... taking members?" I feel pathetic. I can barely speak. Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I wait for her reaction.

"Um, why? I mean, we're flattered, but-" Sophie stammers, blushing furiously. Looks like she's nervous, too.

Keefe grabs her hand before she can continue. He looks her in the eye for a moment and gives her a small smile. He turns to me. "What Foster means to ask, Aliza, is: why do you want to join? It would be helpful, 'cause we could definitely use more members, fighting Mommy Dearest and all."

Mommy Dearest? Does he mean Lady Gisela? All I know is that she's the leader of the evil Neverseen, another rebel group in the Lost Cities. And Keefe's mother. I try not to think about that too hard.

Ugh, I feel everyone's eyes on me. My lunch tray feels heavy, and my soup is getting cold.

"Guys! Let the girl sit down!" an accented voice exclaims. Biana Vacker pulls up the chair between her and Linh Song. Linh twists the silver tips of her hair absentmindedly and smiles at me I plop in the seat and set my tray down on the table. "Okay, now talk."

I hesitate. You can trust them, I tell myself. "If I told you guys this, would you promise not to tell anyone about it?" I ask.

Different variants of "of course" ring around the table.

"You're Aliza Windward, right?" Sophie asks. I nod. "You can tell us," she reassures me kindly.

I sigh and fiddle with my hijab. "My parents are a bad match," I blurt out. "My mom is Talentless. I don't usually tell anyone this, and the fact that I need to hide my parents' match status to save my family's reputation just shows how crappy the system is. The Black Swan are some of the only people who acknowledge that."

"Your parents are a bad match?!" Fitz asks loudly. He sounds shocked, but his words aren't unkind. 

"Fitz, shut the hell up! Everyone's going to hear you!" Biana exclaims. 

I blush tomato-red and put my head in my hands. "Ugh.... this is going worse than I thought it would."

Linh puts her hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Aliza. I don't think anyone heard."

Sophie glances at Fitz and then turns to me. "Is there another reason?" she inquires awkwardly.

"Yes," I say, lifting my head up. I straighten. "I've been bullied for years because I'm Muslim. Me and one of my friends, Esmeray, actually. I'm hoping that if I join, I can have religious justice too."

"Do you mean Shayda?" Keefe asks, ice blue eyes shining in annoyance. "She's so mean to you. I don't know how you put up with her half of the-"

"Hold on, isn't Shayda the girl who tried tripping Ro a few months ago and ended up with a broken foot?" the Dizznee kid - Dex, I finally remember -  interrupts, a huge dimpled grin erupting on his face.

Keefe grins too and I nod. "That's her," Keefe says. 

Everyone turns to me. I slouch a bit in my seat. Did I overshare? Am I too pathetic to join the Black Swan?

Sophie gives me an anxious smile. "Well, I'll need to contact Mr. Forkle," she says (who's Mr. Forkle?),  "but if it were up to me..." she tugs on an eyelash and tucks a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Damn, she looks more nervous than I am. "I'd say you're in," she finally finishes.

I blow a sigh of relief. I might have a chance. I take a bite out of a butterblast and a few mouthfuls of soup before I ask, "Ummm, anything I should know before I join?"