Alpha Academy: Misfit's Rise

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Reunion

I could barely eat the next morning, though that might have been because I'd gotten up two hours earlier than normal. I wanted to make sure I was in the administration room at the right time. They would all congregate there before class, probably to give each other moral support before they had to deal with all the emotionally-unbalanced teenagers. In retrospect, it would have been better to crash their morning meeting on an empty stomach, so I didn't risk regurgitating it all during the demonstration, but it was too late now.

I had to clutch my stomach as I slipped out of the dining hall and into the hallway. It was like actual butterflies were gnawing away at my insides. Thank goodness, the administration room was on the first floor, or I probably wouldn't have made it. My hands were sweaty as I reached for the door, but just as my fingers touched the handle, a hand snaked around my wrist.

Blame my past experience of being pulled into abandoned alleyways or being drug by my ankle through a stack of chairs, but my first instinct was to swing at the owner of the hand. If it had been anyone else I might have made contact, but Lucian was still too quick for me.

Though if I had realized it was him, I would have swung harder.

"You can't go in there."

"Try and stop me." I ripped my arm out of his grip and reached for the door, but his other hand shot out and knocked my hand away.

"Trust me. You go in there now, it doesn't matter what you do. They won't give you the time of the day."

Or, he was just worried about his failed project making a scene and making him look bad. I glared at him, but bit my tongue. Yelling at Lucian wasn't going to make the best impression either. "I'll make them."

"Or you could wait until lunchtime, which is when they are expecting you."

It took me a minute to register what he'd said, and then to realize it didn't make any sense.

"What?" I asked.

"I told them about the progress you've made, and they've agreed it would be a shame to let this kind of potential go to waste."

It took me another couple of moments to process that one, and then to realize what was wrong with that sentence. "They said I had potential?"

Lucian couldn't meet my gaze as he said, "Not in those exact words."

I didn't say anything. I just raised my eyebrow. He did something I didn't think was possible. He blushed.

"Fine, I got them to do it as a favor for me."

I couldn't help it, I punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Teacher's pet."

He cracked a smile, and then seemed to realize what he was doing. We both did. Somehow, I'd managed to move right next to him. I hastily stepped back and we both looked down. And then we just sat there in that incredibly uncomfortable silence.

"I'm sorry," Lucian said quietly, finally breaking it. "You were right."

I bit back my harsh retort. I was tired of fighting. Still, this did seem kind of sudden. Only yesterday he hadn't been able to look at me.

"Why are you helping me now?" I asked.

He looked at me, but didn't answer right away. Finally, he said, "Because I think if the roles were reversed, you'd do the same for me."

I had no idea what to say to that, so I stayed silent, but he must have taken my silence as confirmation because his lips quirked up into a quick smile. A moment later, he was examining the wall to our left again.

"I have to go," he said. "I promised Mr. Carter I'd help set up a demonstration for the sophomores."

I raised my eyebrows, but resisted calling him teacher's pet again. He got the message though.