I’d come up with my own code of conduct.
Headline: I, Marigold, wouldn’t let the demigods have their way with me if it wasn’t what I wanted.
Sub-headlines:
Finish the term at the academy, as I’d negotiated with the demigods last night.
I didn’t exactly have a place to go if I left. My old hunting life wasn’t an option since my old teammates had moved on and settled down in the Other Academy.
Try not to sleep with the demigods, no matter how much I may want to.
Stay optimistic. And give Pigston and all the bullies Hell.
Bearing those mottos in mind, my confidence wheeled back as I scanned the sharks in the hall.
My boots clicked on the floor, which now seemed to be the only sound.
Look your fill.
I wasn’t embarrassed or afraid of being the center of attention, though I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t care for any of the students, except for my few friends, and I searched for them.
A short-haired girl with faint freckles dotting her creamy face shot toward me, and a good-looking guy who wore his dirty-blond hair in a manbun was right on her heels.
A slow grin broke across my face.
We crashed in a group hug.
When she’d gotten control of her sobs, Yelena raised her misty gray eyes to study me.
“Miss me, pip?” I asked, my spark returning. You gotta have some of that in order to survive here, or this place would chew you up and spit you out as a drone.
“Welcome back, Mari,” Nat said, returning a grin as we broke our embrace. “Now let’s go eat.”
Guys were more practical when it involved filling their stomachs.
I nodded in approval. “I have no intention of missing another breakfast.”
“You girls go pick a table,” Nat said. “I’ll bring food. What do you want, Marigold?”
In the day I’d been gone, they must’ve found other people to sit with. They’d probably made new friends.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I can get my own food and join you later.”
“No, Mari,” Nat said, heavy guilt flashing in his eyes. “This is the least I can do. Let me do it.”
I nodded. “Two pieces of toast, two pancakes with syrup and butter, scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheese, and lots of bacon,” I said, then mused for a second. “Well, just pile everything on my plate, and I’ll eat it all.”
“And coffee with cream and no sugar for Marigold,” Yelena added. “Black coffee for me.”
I widened my eyes. “How did you know that’s what I want?”
“You talked in your dreams the first night you spent in our dorm,” she said in amusement.
“Gotcha,” Nat said, rushing off.
“Isn’t he the best?” I said.
Except for maybe my new boyfriend Héctor, who fed me a great dinner last night.
I wasn’t exaggerating about being a girlfriend. Héctor preferred to call me his mate, though it was too early for that kind of commitment, in my opinion.
Romance didn’t last in the age of the Great Merge.
Personally, I didn’t want to fall for any guy blindly, not even for Héctor. My dream Héctor and reality Héctor could be miles apart from each other.
Yelena and I sauntered toward an empty corner table that was as far away from anyone as possible. She linked her arm with mine.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
“I can’t tell you everything,” I deadpanned.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, tears suddenly misting her eyelashes.
“Hey, stop that,” I said, squeezing her arm. “I was teasing you. But you have to understand that telling you everything might put you in danger. Haven’t I warned you not to sink with the ship?”
“We’d rather sink with your ship if we had a second chance,” she said. “We—Nat and I—are sorry that we haven’t been good friends to you. We didn’t watch your back as we’d promised. You almost died, Marigold. We should have stopped Jack. We should have rushed him together, and the three of us would have taken him down. We were too afraid of the demigods and were shocked at P”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“Pigston’s attempt to break you. We were cowards. We don’t deserve your friendship.”
“Stop, Yelena,” I said softly. “Everyone put distance between themselves and me as if I were a leper, but you and Nat stood by me. I’m just glad you guys still have a healthy sense of self-preservation, unlike me. If you’d defended me that day, Pigston would have taken you down.”
“If it’d been one of us getting bullied, you’d have stood up for us,” she said softly. “You wouldn’t have cowered.”
I smiled at her. “I