Page 70 of Class Studies
“Wait,” Alrick spoke up. “So, the losing team has all their rations taken from them. But the person who made them loose gets rewarded?”
“Exactly.” Tederwinkle licked his lips. “So, who are you, son? Will you keep your cards close to your chest? Or will you share information looking for the enemy? Or pretend to be the enemy to create chaos?”
Tederwinkle strode between the lines of desks handing out cards. Two blue ones fell on my desk and two red ones on Ashe’s.
“Ah,” I said. “I need to be on the same team as Ashe.”
“Oh, my fricking God,” Mercedes moaned loudly across the room. “You’re a helpless git; your snatch must be made of gold.”
A few people laughed, but not enough to cover Alrick’s voice. “Or diamond dragon scales.”
Silence echoed after his words. Even Tederwinkle stopped walking. I waited for Alrick to take it back, but he didn’t. Me being the dragon had been a running joke since it happened. But anyone who paid attention could put the truth together. The MA assigned me a bodyguard. The administration gave me an entire tower to live in instead of a dorm assignment. Saffron publicly ditched his whole harem for me. I wasn’t the average student.
I tried to sink into my chair.
Alrick turned and grinned evilly at me. We hadn’t made eye contact since I forced my will on him, but now his purply-black beady eyes bore into me. I bit my lips shut. He either found a way around my magic, or it had a time limit.
Tederwinkle’s footsteps echoed in the too-quiet room. “A final note. One of the roles moves your items whether you want it or not, so not participating isn’t an option.”
I pulled on my braid and looked at Ashe.
He reached over and squeezed my knee. “It’s a stupid card game, and I’ll still be in the fucking room, no one’s that dumb. You’ll be fine.”
I bobbed my head a few times and took a calming breath. It was just a card game. What could go wrong?
* * *
Ashe was correct. It was just a card game. But I did not have the mental fortitude for this type of social deduction. I’d been dealt the role of bystander, which meant I had no special powers. My item was a fork, capable of doing something to someone who had a more critical role than me.
I glanced across the transparent sound barrier Tederwinkle erected between the two halves of the room. Mercedes, surprise, surprise, took charge of her red team, and it appeared she tried to organize them.
Ashe stood in a far corner. Although he tried to keep his eye on me, Tederwinkle had him and two other students pulled over to one side. I swallowed hard.
“Show me your cards?” a male voice said.
I turned to one of my classmates. A few inches taller than me, his round face looked friendly enough. But I wasn’t sure if I should do as he asked or keep them close to my chest. This situation reminded me of when I first arrived at the Institute and didn’t know up from down.
I only knew three things: I didn’t have the bomb, I had no idea if I wanted to keep the fork, and I hated everything about this.
I rubbed my cards together. “Ah.”
The student immediately narrowed his eyes. “Do you have the bomb?”
I shook my head.
He leaned forward. “Are you lying to me?”
I tugged on my braid. “No?”
“Then show me your cards.”
I handed them over. The student looked and handed me mine back with a new item, a rubber ball.
I wrinkled my nose. “I get to see your role?”
“You should’ve thought about that when we were trading cards.” He gave me a fake salute and moved on. I scowled at my rubber ball. The text on it read: suitable for bouncing and squeezing when stressed.
Great, now my role and my item were useless.