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"The boy from the hallway!"

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MY GAZE FROZE on him, eyes watching his every move as he looked up at Andrew for a moment with a wide grin, as the boy settled beside him. Lucas Bowne was honestly one of the most attractive people I had ever seen in my life, and nice too- to some extent that is, my mind flashing back to that awkward moment when he told me what he had seen.

I brushed down my skirt instinctively, before looking back up, my eyebrows furrowing when I spotted Daya too, making her way down the exact row Lucas and Andrew were seated, and taking the space on his right, an immediate smile overtaking her features as Lucas leaned down to whisper something in her ear.

My gaze shifted away from the two after this, feeling a wave of disappointment flooding in, my heart sinking for a reason I was starting to hate. I looked over at Claire and she gave me an apologetic look that I couldn't quite decipher why.

Anyway, none of it mattered. Lucas Bowne was a sight to look at but I could not forget that he had gotten a glimpse of my underwear.

Hang me now.

The thought of it made me want to bury myself alive which is why I began to feel grateful I would probably never meet him again.

"Ugh," Lira scoffed from beside me, her eyes still focused on Lucas and Daya, "He could do a lot better," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Claire echoed seemingly as confused as I was.

Lira shrugged leaning back, rolling her neck to the side cracking it with a sigh, "Lucas Bowne's here, that only means a shifter green must be fighting in the dome," she huffed.

When neither Claire nor I said anything, she rolled her eyes, "haven't you guys learned anything about shifters?" she asked.

'Mr. Ogustus taught us about Gigans and werewolves today,' I jotted down in my notebook handing it over to her with a proud smile. She cruised through, carelessly handing over the book to me.

"Good, then you know that Gigans are practically shifter royalty. Lucas happens to be a Gigan, therefore as you see, he is quite respected," she explained nodding in the direction of Lucas.

I looked his way for a moment, noticing how he indeed seemed to be the center of attention, but I mean who could blame him? The boy was undeniably attractive, he could have been the center of attention even if he was a mere human- like me.

"He usually only shows up for matches when a shifter's fighting," she explained.

I nodded at this, not quite sure if I had gotten it, but knowing I got the gist of it. My gaze timidly rose to the pair, this time Daya was giggling whilst he pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Something so trivial and yet caused something to shift deep within me. I was no stranger to my feelings. I knew what I was feeling was a very raw first-grade jealousy as it seemed I had developed a crush on the Gigan boy.

How could I not?

He could sign for goodness' sake, and was super nice! It was practically written in the stars. But I was sure nothing would become of my so-called feelings because, I just wasn't the type to act on any kind of feelings and knew that if ever I did see him again, face to face, my face would overheat in embarrassment.

Furthermore, what was I going to do with a boyfriend? I could barely speak to a guy without feeling my insides lighting on fire.

OH, it was better this way.

Sighing, my gaze focused back to the dome, eyebrows arching when I noticed the two flags that were currently being hoisted up, one on either side of the football pitch-sized dome. The first that reached the top was bright green, standing straight and pointed as if there was some unknown wind keeping it up.

Just as both Mr. Ogustus and Lira had foretold, green was fighting in the dom. It was left to know whether it would be a mere freaky green or a shifter green. Something told me Lira was right.

The second flag reached the top of the flag post waving in a non-existent breeze, a bright Silver. If I remembered well, Silvers were Lifts.

I had never seen a Silver but if I could imagine one according to the powers Mr. Ogustus had described, I would guess they should have wings as his warning was not to mess with a Silver if you didn't want to be thrown from the sky. I had seen hundreds of students on Kingsland but I hadn't seen any kid with a pair of wings on their backs.

My memory flashed back to the sound of large dark wings beating around the plane, the guy in a mask looking directly at us. I could feel a small panic attack beginning, but I took a deep breath in my hands clutching the arms of my chair.

I had already gone skydiving without a parachute last week, there was no way in hell I was up for that, and I didn't have Gravis to protect me this time. I opened my eyes slowly, allowing my gaze to settle at the base of the dome.

Speaking of Gravis, my eyes widened when I saw him seated courtside by the dome. I hadn't seen him since he showed me the Jewel, and it felt almost dreamlike to see him in the Arena. A warm feeling suddenly developed inside me. It was good to see a familiar face that reminded me so much of home.

He was seated right next to Mr. Ogustus and the black woman from the last match.

My eyes studied Gravis, taking in his familiar form as he leaned in to talk to Mr. Ogustus, my eye narrowing down in curiosity as it seemed they were having a deep conversation, and for a second, I could have sworn he looked right up at me.

"Talanda!" Claire suddenly yelled, immediately catching my attention, noticing that her eyes had gotten noticeably larger with the most shocked expression on her face, "the boy from the hallway!" she screeched pointing to one of the entrances to the Arena situated on the other side of the Arena.

"What?" Lira chuckled at what I could only presume was quite unexpected to her as well as piqued her curiosity, her eyebrows furrowing as her gaze followed Claire's finger in sync with mine.

My heart began to feel like it had stopped beating at the mere sight of Hallway boy, standing at the entrance of the Arena, his dark ocean eyes searching, lips pursed in a firm line, a cold distant look on his features.

"Oh," Lira huffed, kissing her teeth, "I see you've finally met Harvest," Lira casually chuckled darkly, "Mr. mysterious," she added, folding her arms.

Harvest.

That was his name.

Harvest.

"You know w-who he is?" Claire asked, stuttering for a moment as she reluctantly turned to face her roommate.

Lira scoffed, looking at her like she had gone psycho, "who doesn't?" she huffed, "he's part of the original five."

Claire and I both looked back at her puzzled.

I didn't know what that meant but by the sound of her irritated sigh I was sure Lira was about to spill the bean.

"It's not facts," she began as if hating that fact, "but," she dragged, "they say that Harvest Adams, Lucas Bowne, Rangi, and Lwangi Wezi, were part of the original five students on Kingsland, the first ones, even before it was built. Lucas Bowne was the last Gigan and so he was brought to Kingsland for his safety, naturally, and that was when he was barely ten. Rangi and Lwangi arrived later. Exactly when? I have no idea, and I don't think anyone else but the prime knows,"

"And Harvest?"

Lira shrugged, letting out an exasperated breath, "some say he was dumped by his convert mother and found by the prime during the convert human wars, others say he was born here."

My face contorted into readable confusion, getting my pen and jotting my question down.

'And the fifth original?' If I recall well, she had only mentioned, Rangi and Lwangi, Harvest, and Lucas. those were only four.

Lira shook her head, "I don't have a clue, they say they were five but no one talks about him-" she mumbled, her eyebrows drawing together as if also baffled by it.

I looked back up at Harvest, with more bravery this time, knowing that with this much noise and people it would be hard for him to even spot me. I got surprised for the second time this night when no other than The Curser herself, Raskei Oberoi came to a stand beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder and pointing out to what I assumed were empty seats further down.

Raskei was friends with Hallway- I mean Harvest? I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED.

My eyes settled down on the figures as they took their seats, something inside me telling me, the entertainment had only just begun.

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