Veil of Rivalry

Chapter 7

I felt my lip gloss drift from my lips when someone interrupted me from fixing my look.

"Anne, wakey wakey," Sandra's voice called out while knocking on the door. I immediately wiped the scattered gloss away before looking at the mirror. It was still visible after wiping, but I'll think about that later.

With a thud, I went closer to the door and opened it. "Oh, you're awake," she said, striding into my room as if it were hers. I shot her an annoyed look, but it seemed to bounce off her obliviousness. Look and you'll see my wrath.

"That's a nice suit," she remarked, retouching her makeup at my vanity mirror. I rolled my eyes at her statement. I don't like compliments. And by the way, how come she can act like nothing happened before?

Actually, she was very energetic. In our setup, I was like I was the one who didn't have a good sleep. Well, I didn't, so what?

I leaned against the wall, watching her every move. Well, I don't trust her, so this is valid. "Oh yeah, the team-building activity will be done outside the premises," she mentioned casually, making me shift my position.

Outside the premises? With those large and huge trees around. And she said we'd be roaming among wild animals? "And guess what? We'll be paired with different families. Too bad we can't be pairs though," she added, turning to face me.

If that's how it works, then it means there would be five members in a group from different families, I concluded in my mind. But the problem for me is being paired with other families. I didn't think I was ready for that. I didn't think I could pair up with anyone.

---

"Good day, students! Today is the annual start of Regatta," the speaker announced. I didn't listen to most of the speeches—it's not like they were worth hearing anyway. I skimmed through the speaker's statements, only catching the important parts.

At the moment, we were at the gymnasium once again. It felt hot in this place, maybe because of the enclosed area. The speaker continued talking for quite a while before starting the event with the lighting of the torch.

And then she continued talking. "Notification will be alerted on your digital phones in 3...2...1..."

"Oh, that sucks. We're not on the same team," Sandra muttered beside me like she didn't say that we wouldn't be on the same team a while ago.

She's really weird. I looked at my digital phone as it beeped, alerting me about the names of my teammates from different families. List of Teammates:

1. Cassian Nightfall - Viperclaw

2. Roxanne Everly - Shadowveil

3. Orion Frost - Ironfist

4. Asher Grey - Alchemist

5. Solstice Sage - Sharpshot

If being lucky is a thing, I ain't it. Being paired with someone I don't even know was the worst. This system must be playing against each one of us. But it doesn't matter because I'll beat it in no time.

---

As Sandra mentioned, the event took place outside the premises. Tall trees surrounded our path, and I noticed there were a lot of hidden people around us.

Must be the school's facilitators keeping an eye on our movement and safety. If not, then I have no idea who.

When we reached the sea outside the institute, the place was already set up for the event. There were many booths indicating where we should be. Stalls to buy souvenirs, food, and other things.