ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴏɴɢ ꜱɪᴅᴇ

t a m

The crowd of Waywards pushed Linh and I aside, all too eager to see the newcomers. Normally, I wouldn't care, but to my annoyance, I found myself just as intrigued. Usually, Waywards only came a few at once, if that—but this time, there was an impossibly large group. Wondering if my eyes were making everything look double, I stared at the five figures hanging from the Arch of Dividing.

"Welcome to your Dividing!" the red Coach announced in her unnervingly raspy voice.

The five of them looked in horror at the Coaches as they explained the rules and instructions of their Dividing, and I could barely hold in my snicker when I saw their first attempts to get down. Hate to break it to you, guys, but wiggling around isn't actually gonna get you anywhere.

"I hope they don't get hurt," Linh whispered to me.

Of course Linh would say that—I mean, she's Linh—but I didn't answer her. It's not like I wanted them to get hurt, but if they couldn't do it, that meant they weren't worthy of being here.

Then I realized how dumb that thought was. Exillium was literally a school for the unworthy.

A sudden yell jolted me back from my thoughts. "YOU THINK YOU CAN HOLD M—"

A loud ripping sound interrupted the boy's shout, and he came crashing down to the ground, cursing the whole time. This time, there was no way for me to keep in my snort, especially when I saw that he'd left his pants dangling from his rope. It was an impulsive—and stupid—move, one I honestly couldn't figure out how the hell he'd done. Of course, if he could deal with the price of humiliation, the whole thing was admittedly effective.

"Are you okay?" one of the people still up on the arch called down to him.

"I've been better," the guy moaned. "Guess I forgot to brace for the fall."

No kidding, bro.

"He also forgot his pants," the blue Coach added dryly, sparking a collective snicker from the Waywards. Only Linh stayed silent, looking on in concern.

"Are you seriously feeling bad for him?" I asked her.

"Not just him," she replied, watching the remaining figures dangling from the arch. "The rest of them, too."

"Those of you still trapped should not concern yourselves with those who are free," the blue Coach called, looking pointedly at the person who'd asked the boy if he was okay. "He's passed the test. Can you say the same?"

"I can in a second!"

The words came from a different boy, who was sawing at his rope with something that glinted brightly in the sunlight. Squinting, I tilted my head, trying to see what it was. I blinked in surprise when I realized it was a makeshift blade, made from his vest's buckles.

Clearly, this guy was a lot smarter than the first.

"That's a smart idea," Linh murmured, mirroring my thoughts.

The boy's rope finally cut apart, leaving him levitating—again, much smarter than the first boy.

"And then there were three," the red Coach said to the remaining people swinging from the arch.

"Try two!"

The fierce shout sounded like a girl's voice, though I couldn't be sure, since the stupid Exillium uniforms were covering pretty much everything. The person who I was assuming was a girl had been swinging against the metal arch, fraying her rope until it finally gave. Her levitating wasn't as good as the second boy's, and for a moment, I thought she was going to fall—but she somehow managed to land safely.

Only a moment after that, one of the remaining two yelled, "GOT IT!"

This voice was definitely a boy's, and my guess was right when he flipped himself up to the top of the arch to unravel his knot, his hood momentarily falling back. I narrowed my eyes; something about the way this guy carried himself made him seem annoyingly cocky.

I almost liked the first boy better. Almost.

Determined to help the last person, who I could finally see was a girl—the one who'd asked the first boy if he was okay—the guy began climbing over to her.

"NO ASSISTANCE ALLOWED!" all the Coaches yelled at the same time.

"I'm not going to leave her up here!" the boy argued, and I couldn't help but smirk. Undeniable crushing going on there.

The girl said something to the boy that must have somehow convinced him to leave her, because he finally levitated down, still looking up at her reluctantly.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

The girl took a nervous breath before pulling something out of her pocket. It was too small for me to see what it was, but when she aimed it toward the sunlight, it suddenly produced a blue, laser-like beam.

My eyes narrowed.

Concentrating, she tilted the pendant so that the laser was focused on the rope. I watched, expecting it to be a clean cut, but the cord suddenly burst into flames. My mouth fell open when I saw the white fire the laser had created, spreading down the girl's boot and setting the arch on fire.

The arch.

On fire.

The girl, flames running up her leg, in too much pain to levitate, was already falling to the ground. Linh gasped.

And then she was suddenly running, shoving through the crowd to get to the front.

"No," I breathed, frozen for a second. Then I frantically started to chase after her, my heart pounding. No, no, no, no, no. She couldn't do this again. I went through this with her already, and once was enough for a lifetime. I started to yell her name until I remembered that names were dangerous here; though at this moment, did I care?

But it was too late for me to decide. She'd already formed an enormous hand made out of water from the fog nearby, one that caught the girl and gently set her down to the ground, simultaneously putting out the fire on her leg.

The girl was already unconscious by the time Linh moved her arm, making the water hand slap out the overwhelming flames on the arch. Everyone around me was moving, shouting, staring. But all I could do was stand rooted to the spot in horror, my ears ringing, thinking that she did it again, she did it again.

My twin sister did it again.