The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 46

“What the hell are you going to do with that?” Luca asks, genuinely interested.

“Fill it with rocks,” I murmur.

“What?” Graham asks, baffled. But I don’t answer, asking Luca to hold the pocket steady and using another pair of sticks to lift the round rocks that have been heating in the embers, dropping them one by one into the pocket full of water.

The boys start to realize what’s happening almost instantly. “There’s no way that’s actually going to work,” Perry murmurs, leaning forward with interest.

“It will,” I reply, glancing up at the sky, which is starting to grow dark. All of this took a lot longer than I thought.

I keep rotating the stones, removing cooled ones and replacing them with burning hot rocks, until the water in the pocket first steams, then simmers, and finally comes to a rolling boil.

“Amazing,” Luca murmurs, lifting his eyes to mine with a very genuine smile on his face. “That was amazing, Shrimp.”

“Is it even drinkable?” Alan asks, leaning forward to peer at it. “It’s all…dirty.”

“It’s just carbon,” I say, giving a little shrug as I study the slightly-cloudy water. “Like what they use in water filters. It’s not the prettiest water, but it won’t kill you.”

“And I suggest you pack it up,” the Lieutenant says, pushing off the side of the tree and tossing an empty canteen to us. “It’s all you’ve got for the hike home. Are you sticking with your plan to hike through the night? Or…”

The five of us look around at each other and Alan nods, scowling at me.

“Yup!” Luca says, answering cheerfully for all of us and smiling at the Lieutenant. “As much as we’d love to sit around swapping fireside stories…I think it’s best for us to head home.”

“Great,” he says, dry, pulling a map and a compass out of his pack and tossing it our way. “Bank your fire before you go. Try not to die.”

And then he turns without another word and heads for the van, getting in and driving off before the rest of us can say a word.

“Wow,” Perry says, his eyebrows high. “Abrupt.”

“Whatever,” Alan growls, standing up. “Let’s go.”

“Why are you so mad,” Luca says, passing the canteen to me and getting to his feet. I slowly fill the canteen, watching them. “We passed – now all we have to do is get home.”

“Because your flashy little shrimp did all the hard stuff and took all the credit,” Alan growls, leaning into Luca’s face. “The rest of us barely had a chance –“

“Oh whatever,” Luca snaps, leaning down and grabbing the map and the compass. “You want your fair share? Lead us home.” He smacks both objects against Alan’s chest, shoving him a little as I screw the cap on the canteen.

“No one even gets individual credit for that,” Alan retorts.

“Trust me,” Luca says as I stand. “We’ll all make damn sure the Captain knows who got us home. All right?”

Alan mutters something, turning away as I head to the stream to fill the little birch pocket with water to douse the fire. “Does he even know how to use a compass?” I ask, bending down to dip my little container into the stream.

“Better than me,” Luca says, shrugging as I stand and turn to him. I laugh a little as we head back to the fire and I pour the water over it, kicking dirt on top as well.

“Seriously, Luca,” I sigh, looking up at him when it’s all finished. “You should learn some of this stuff – it’s survival basics –“

“Well,” he says, grinning down at me, standing closer than he really needs to. “Maybe you can teach me.”

My lips turn up at him a little as I smile, forgetting to reply as I stare up into his gorgeous face. God, seriously, it’s so unfair that a boy has lips as lush as that – with a perfect cupid’s bow cresting the top –

“Are you guys coming!?” Alan barks back at us, making us jump.

“Yup!” Luca says, his voice oddly tight, and he doesn’t look at me again as we start down the road, letting the other three take the lead.