Safine Dragon Academy and The Raven Queen (Book Two)

Chapter Twelve

Jack

"Esteemed Dragon Riders! Today is the day!" Headmistress Ebony yelled, her voice magnified from her pedestal.

The crowd cheered around us. The lights of the stadium made it hard to see my surroundings. Everyone looked anxious. Instead of standing, we were all seated in chairs. The normal dirt of the stadium had a large stone slab over top of it, so it wouldn't dirty our shoes.

The chairs were set into three groups in orderly rows. I was seated near the back with other 5th years. I looked around and over the heads of the other students, looking in the direction of the Safine students.

I spotted a head of white hair right in the middle of the crowd. She was looking down though, probably at a book. I sighed, turning my attention back to the headmasters.

"I'd like to announce the participants of the Final Round. If your name is called, we would like you to come up on stage with your teammates." The headmistress continued, looking over the crowd of students.

The crowd had dwindled since the beginning of the tournament. Now there were only 25 from every school that had a chance to participate. So that means, 20 students will go back to their dorms disappointed tonight.

They don't only judge your ranking in this portion of the competition. They also observed your pure skill and spirit. So even those you would never expect could make it.

"Starting with Zelainia..." She stated, looking down at her list. I could almost feel everyone from Zelainia holding their breath.

"Isabella Barker." A prim looking blonde, who looked around fourth year.

"Henry November." I recognized that name. I had met him in passing. He was in fourth year. He approached the stage, a sly smile on his face.

"Jillian Cassidy." I snapped to attention at that name. Alice's sister? I knew she was participating, but I didn't know she had made it this far. I knew she was in the same year I was at fifth.

"Cameron Atwood." He was tall and had ginger hair. He looked young, probably third year.

The headmistress hesitated at the last name, she looked almost surprised it was there.

"Melody June." Another Noble Blood. Her hair was such a light shade of blonde, it seemed almost white, kind of silver. But even from here, I could see her dark eyes, not dark brown, or blue, but black. She was pale, but not deathly so. Everyone else seemed surprised to see her too.

I couldn't help but wonder who she was. She was a noble blood, but I didn't remember ever meeting her. Come to think of it, I didn't know the June family had a daughter her age.

As soon as the murmurs died down, Ebony cleared her throat, getting back to the reason they were there. Next was Safine.

"Hey," I turned my head to the person sitting next to me. I had nearly forgotten it was Nathan sitting next to me. "Do you know who you're taking to the ball? I'm sure there are girls lining up to take you." He teased.

I sighed. Well of course I had Alice in mind, but who knew... Maybe someone already asked her? We never made anything official between us since our kiss. She had all the rights to go with someone else. I couldn't really lie to Nate, he always knew when I was lying.

"No, not yet, but I was thinking about asking-"

"Alice Cassidy." The headmistress interrupted me, as if reading my thoughts. I honestly wasn't surprised as I watched her walk onto the stage. She didn't meet anyone's admiring gaze. I was worried for her, she had been so disconnected from everyone since Cora left.

"Jade Anderson." It was a girl with hair dyed an turquoise colour. She sauntered up there, looking pretty proud of herself, but not in a good way. As she went to stand on the stage she shot Alice a glare before settling in next to her.

"Alexander Avalon." I flinched at the name. Alice's ex. I didn't know much about him, but I knew how upset Alice was after they broke up. I let out a breath. Maybe I should ask her one day. One thing at a time though. Ball first.

"Marina July." The Princess being chosen came as no surprise to me. I even considered her a threat. The girl terrified everyone.

"Samuel Reggs." Never heard of him, but the way his eyes instantly shot to Alice as he approached, told me enough. I sighed. I had more than one competition that I'm part of.

Alice

The Rejina competitors were expected. There was Jack. Cora's twin cousins Elizabeth and Samantha. The other two were a fifth and fourth year, Nathan and Cormac. They seemed known enough by Rejina students.

I had avoided the public eye for the last few days. The ball was not something I wanted to think about right now. Or maybe it was. I don't know!

It might be I'm just afraid who might ask me. I was most afraid of Jack. I had been deliberately avoiding him, and I wasn't proud of it. The guilt was starting to eat at me.

I walked through the crowded hallway, loud with voices. There were no classes until the tournament was over now. So everyone had extra time to gossip.

There's eyes watched me as I passed and I flushed under their stare. Especially the boys. Their murmurs kept me on edge. With the ball on Sunday, I'm sure all of them had dates anyway.

Ugh, I hated summer. Too hot for my liking. I had the rest of the day off and no one to spend it with. Maybe I would hang out with Twi and Cyndy.

Without a second thought, I headed towards the dome. I reached the hallway that lead to the double set of doors that everyone knew. Before I could push my way through, someone grabbed my wrist gently, stopping me.

I whipped my head around meeting the sharp gaze of Samuel Reggs. "What is it?" I snapped, harsher than I meant to. We had been talking a lot recently in our waiting room. He was my only "friend" besides Marina in there.

"I- uh..." He fumbled over his words and I offered him a smile.

"Sorry, I'm just not in the best mood. What's wrong?" I asked, noting the look of concentration on his face.

"I was um... Wondering if you wanted to go to the ball... With me?" He finally pushed out, his face flushed an embarrassed pink. "As friends I mean." He added quickly.

I considered him. Going with a friend? It'd be much more awkward than Jack. And much less dreadful than Alex. I suppose it could work.

"It'd love to." I took a step towards him, the brightest smile I could manage on my face. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and stepped back. "See you there then."

I've never seen such happy eyes before. It made the guilt in my stomach only grow.