VERDANT OUTCASTS | cedric diggory

¹⁹ | the first task

CHAPTER NINETEEN,
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A loud clash resonates through the Great Hall as Katarina's hand slips from where it props up her head, sending her face slamming into her plate. She shoots upright, blinking herself awake, and fights the urge to rub her eyes. It'll ruin her mascara.

When she looked in the mirror this morning, she'd been appalled at her reflection— puffy, sleepless eyes with dark circles that appeared darker than her newly dyed hair. After a bit of secret rummaging through Isadora's makeup bag, she'd tried to cover them with some sort of beige cream, which, supposedly, was for that exact purpose.

Of course, Isadora had caught her and immediately offered to help, which explains why Katarina now has something called blush on her cheeks, giving her a bit more color to make her seem 'alive', or so Isadora had said.

"Blimey, are you alright, Rina?" Isadora asks, looking up from her plate of eggs.

Katarina rubs her forehead, groggily blinking herself awake. "Fine."

"Didn't sleep well?" Seraphine asks, turning away from her conversation with Blaise to glance her way. The latter also glances her way, his expression stoic. Katarina doesn't understand how a conversation with him is even possible.

She shakes her head, pushing the plate she had fallen into aside. She folds her arms onto the table, plopping her head right onto them. Her friends, used to her half-heartedness by now, return to their own conversations while she drifts back to the edge of sleep. The noise around her fades, and just as she slips under, a pair of hands land hard on her shoulders.

She jolts awake, yelping, "Merlin!"

She blinks as her eyes struggle to adjust to the bright light of the Great Hall as she spins around, face twisted in irritation. Theo is grinning down at her, his hands still on her shoulders. Mattheo stands beside him, a rare smile lighting up his face, while Enzo lingers on Theo's other side, hands in his pockets. Whatever spat had been brewing between them must have been solved, as they all seem to be back to normal now. Even Enzo appears to have pushed his sulking aside.

"You shouldn't do that!" Isadora scolds from across the table. "Do you know people can go into shock from being woken up like this?"

Theo smirks, not looking remotely sorry. "My bad."

Mattheo chuckles lightly, which pulls Katarina's attention toward him. It's been a while since she's seen him smile like that. It softens her annoyance a little, though she's still too tired to care much. She narrows her eyes, asking, "What was that for?"

"Someone seems to have slept well," Mattheo says, raising a brow at her.

Katarina growls in irritation, laying her head back down, but Theo is having none of it. He briskly pulls her back upright by her shoulders, forcing her to sit. She lets out a frustrated whine. "Wha'd'you want?"

"You to get up," Theo replies as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

She groans, clawing at his fingers in an attempt to push them off her shoulders. "Whatever for?"

Theo furrows his brows, baffled. "The first task? Have you forgotten?"

Katarina blinks, realizing with a start that she has forgotten. "Oh." Her face scrunches up with disinterest. "Well, whatever, I don't really care." She lowers herself back down. "I'd rather sleep."