The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 90

“Oh, god, Rafe,” I sigh, shaking my head up at him and glancing down the hall. “Do we have to do this now? My schedule says we have ten minutes for lunch before our next mystery class –“

“Here,” Rafe says, dropping a wrapped power bar and a bottle of water on top of my books. “Academy isn’t big on hot lunch – just a snack before a big dinner. Eat while you walk, talk while you eat.” He puts a firm hand between my shoulder blades and urges me forward, making me keep pace with his quick stride.

“How do you even know where we’re going,” I murmur, struggling with the wrapper of my lunch with one hand. Rafe sighs, taking the food back and unwrapping it for me before slipping it into my hand.

“I looked at the map, obviously, and don’t try to change the subject,” he says. “What was going on with Luca this morning? He was staring at you, completely freaked out, and Jesse almost had a conniption he was laughing so hard.”

“How the hell should I know!?” I ask, blatantly lying and talking with my mouth full.

“Ari!” Rafe sighs, glaring at me. “I know you’re lying – I’ve known you since you were born –“

“You were just a baby,” I mutter, even though he’s right.

“Fine!” he snaps, moving on, “pressing subject number two! Why the hell did you invite Jackson to have breakfast with us yesterday?”

I stare up at him for a second, forgetting to chew in my surprise, even though he keeps me moving. “What?” I ask, swallowing hard. “Rafe, that was like, a million years ago –“

“That was twenty-four hours ago,” he says, giving me a withering stare.

“Well a lot has happened in the meantime!”

“A lot that you were hoping would make me forget!” he counters, pointing ahead to a door that I understand from his body language is our destination.

I grin up a him, because…yup. He’s got me there.

Rafe stops, grabbing my arm, making me stop with him. “Ari, we had a deal – that guy tried to kill you, and you promised never to speak to him again, and all of a sudden he’s at our breakfast table? What the hell!?”

“Rafe,” I sigh, glancing towards the door, knowing that we’ve only got a few minutes to get in there – and I really, really hate being late for school. “I promise I’ll tell you, all right? Jackson – he saved me in the obstacle course –“

“What?” Rafe asks, leaning closer, shock all over his face. “He what?”

“He is the only reason I made a better time – and considering that I was the 90(th) candidate let in? If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here. We owe Jackson – and I promise that I will tell you all about it, but can we just get to class? None of this is pressing right now, right? We have time.”

Rafe scowls, glancing between the classroom door and me.

“Fine,” he says, tugging me forward by the arm before I wrench it from his grasp, not wanting whatever professor is in this classroom to see my big brother dragging me around. “But you and I are taking a long moment tonight to have a chat about Jackson McClint…”

Rafe doesn’t finish his word, though, because as soon as we round the corner into the room…

We come face-to-face with the man in question.

Or, at least I do. Rafe has to look down at him. But seated at the desk in the front row, Jesse lounging in the seat behind him? Jackson’s just about eye-to-eye with me.

Rafe doesn’t even bother to hide his groan as he walks into the room, shoving me in front of him and heading for the desk next to Jesse. When I hesitate, Rafe barks my name, pointing to the desk next to him.

I blush, glancing around and realizing that not only Jackson is witnessing Rafe boss me around like a little kid, but so is another dark-haired cadet and the professor – who is, of course, the handsome professor who handed us all the weird orb yesterday, his dark hair tied back low at the base of his neck. He grins at me, amused, but I sigh and do as my brother says, taking the desk next to him.

“Well,” says the professor, nodding to all of us and moving to the door, pulling it shut. “Now that we’re all here, we can begin.”

I look curiously around the room now, confused.

Seriously, a class of five people?

What the hell is going on here?

“My name is Professor Alves. The five of you have been gathered here because out of the 96 cadets admitted to the program, only the five of you showed a particular aptitude for my teaching specialty. Unlike the rest of your peers, you will be enrolled in this class for the entirety of your time at the Academy. There will be no examinations and no cuts made. Instead, the time will be spent learning your own particular affinity and cultivating your…talent.”

He goes quiet now, smiling around at each of us in turn, I think enjoying the fact that each of us are completely confused. Silence reigns in the room and he just lets it hang there.

Jackson is the first to break it, frustration in his every word. “I’m sorry,” he says, though he certainly doesn’t sound it, “I don’t understand. What are these affinities you’re talking about?”