Kaderra Academy ?

The relentless beep of my alarm shattered the silence of the morning. Beep. Beep. Beep. It was the kind of sound that could drive anyone mad, and Luke was no exception. He groaned irritably and buried his head under his pillow like a sulky toddler.

Another weekend had slipped away, and with it, the grim reality of Monday had settled back into our lives.

I rolled over, running my fingers through my bedraggled hair as I reached out to switch off the alarm. The clamour of the clock stopped, leaving a peaceful—if temporary—silence.

"Do we have to?" Luke groaned, dragging out the final word with the drama of a small child.

Reluctantly, he shoved himself upright, his sleepy eyes squinting as he clambered out of bed. It was only the beginning of my second week at this new school, and in that short time, I'd managed to get into more than enough trouble. I really didn't want to add to Miss Reid's already well-established dislike for me. Besides, today marked the start of the Proelium sign-ups, something Luke was absolutely buzzing about.

"Unfortunately we do," I replied through a yawn, stretching out my stiff limbs like a cat emerging from a nap.

Luke pouted dramatically as he rummaged through his drawers for a shirt. Within minutes, we were both just about dressed and not-so ready to face the day.

Over the past week, I'd become more accustomed to changing in front of my roommate. I mean we were friends now too which helped but back home I'd never shared a room with anyone, it was strange. But a good kind of strange. Still, there were those awkward moments—like when he casually stripped off everything in front of me—that left me flustered and scrambling to look anywhere but his direction. I swear, the last incident was still giving me nightmares.

***

Everything up until lunch dragged. Even hand-to-hand with Mr Holt felt like a slog, since he'd decided to subject us to meaningless theory instead of practical work. Boring didn't even begin to cover it.

When the school's cafeteria finally opened its doors, I trudged in and slumped at a table, my gaze fixed on a tray of lacklustre food that looked as if it had given up hope. The glistening surface of the meatloaf was more of a murky grey than an appetising brown. I longed for The Hideout's warm, welcoming atmosphere and the promise of a decent sandwich instead of the greyish slop before me.

"Nate?"

The sound of Luke's voice pierced through my daydream of culinary redemption. I blinked and looked up to find him leaning across the table, his brow furrowed in mild annoyance. His attempts to catch my attention had clearly failed more than once.

"And you complain when I don't listen to you," he rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, I'm off to sign up for the Proelium so head to class without me. I'll catch up later."

His words jolted me upright. "Wait, you can't sign up alone! Let me join your team. I'm sure Mara and Nilla will want in too."

Luke stared at me as if I'd just suggested we all go skydiving. "Why would any of you want to do that?"

The urge to smack him on the head was almost overwhelming. Sometimes, he really did act like a clueless kid. "Because we're your friends, idiot. Besides, it'll be fun, right?"

His surprise melted into a genuine smile, the kind that made him look less like a troublemaker and more like a genuinely nice guy.

"Fine, but we should probably ask the girls first." He grabbed my hand and began dragging me through the bustling hallways, his excitement practically fizzing in the air.