The Elite (Book 2 of Trinity Academy Trilogy)

Watch Your (Ass)et

"Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot!" Wolfsheim blew his whistle, and we ran towards our partners.

Stella ran at me with a pair of scissors. I slid onto the mat, gliding underneath her as she jumped over me. I tightly gripped onto the rock in my hands, swinging it at her with my fist. Stella chuckled, dodging me easily. She propelled her body into a tuck jump, swinging the blade of the scissors as her body flipped upside down. Stella beckoned at me with her index finger, taunting me as she did a cartwheel to move herself closer. She stabbed the scissors into my leg. I yelped in pain. "Who ever said that scissors beats rock is seriously disturbed." She laughed, holding out her hand for me to shake. 

"Why do I feel like this school is trying to kill me?" I groaned, yanking the scissors out of my leg and dropping the rock onto the gymnastic mats. Stella hoisted my arm over her shoulder and helped me as I limped over to the medical table. 

"Because it is." She replied calmly with a shrug. 

We both turned to each other and laughed. 

"You came back to the room late last night." She observed, sitting me down on the bench besides the medical table. She grabbed gauze around my flesh wound, wiping the excess blood with a cloth. 

"Yeah, so?" I crossed my arms over my chest, pulling my leg away from her. "It was just a part of the trial." 

Stella pursed her lips into a smile. "I saw you come back with Dyllannn." She stretched out his name with a twirled tongue. "Did something happen between the two of you?"

"Like I said," I stood up from the bench. "it was just a part of the trial." 

Wolfsheim's whistle blew again. Those who were still engaged in this twisted version of rock, paper, scissors, stopped what they were doing and turned towards him. From the corner of my eye, I spotted Kyle at the far end of the room. He had a black eye and his nose had been bandaged with tape. While everyone was focused on what Wolfsheim was about to say, his attention was directed only towards me. I could feel the hairs rising on the back of my neck. The last thing I needed was a new enemy. "Alexis Mankoff." His voice boomed loudly and fiercely throughout the gym. My stomach dropped.  What kind of trouble was I in now? "Figaro wishes to see you in her office."

 I frantically searched around the room until I spotted Dylan. He was standing on a mat besides Rooney and was frozen in place. He was staring at the ground, trying to avoid making any eye-contact with me and shaking his head slightly. It was as if he was pretending that our conversation last night never happened. 

I should've learned my lesson the first time: trust no one. 

 "Everyone else," Wolfsheim blew the whistle again, causing us all to cover our ears. "back to work." 

Stella nudged me slightly. "What did you do?" She whispered. 

I took a deep breath and replied, "I guess I'm about to find out." 

I walked past the rows of mats that were equally spaced apart on the gym floor. Veronica's gaze pierced into my back as I walked by her and Clyde. When I reached the large gym doors I took one last glance over my shoulder. The entire class was watching me, and for the briefest moment, I saw Dylan look up. 

The look in my eyes when we made eye-contact spelt a clear message for him: you are dead to me. 

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Figaro's office never felt so big. Like the rest of the school, it too, had been given an update. The walls were a cold, cement grey that made the office seem like a prison. I was sitting in a plush dark purple arm chair that was reminiscent of the shade of lipstick Figaro always had on. Her desk was made of glass and the only thing on it was a sleek white phone. I could only imagine what kind of calls had been made on that--what kind of decisions Figaro has made in order to protect the reputation of the school as well as her own.