Chapter 4
The smug smile on Briar's face froze.
I didn't wait for her answer.
I turned and walked away from the bonfire gathering.
The moment I left, messages from Kellan started flooding my bone-message tile.
"Talia, what did you mean by that before you left?"
"What are you planning to do?"
"I already told you it was just a prank. Did you really have to make such a big deal out of it?"
I didn't reply.
I blocked both Kellan and Briar.
But I'd underestimated how persistent they could be.
Two days later, my parents had just headed out when someone knocked on the door.
When I opened it, Kellan and Briar were standing outside.
"Talia, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Kellan stepped forward, his brows drawn together as he glared at me.
"Why did you block us? And what did you mean by what you said at the bonfire?"
I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms. "I meant exactly what I said."
Briar's face went pale.
"Talia, we never wanted things to go this far. If you don't want to go to Ironfang, you can spend the next six months preparing and retake the academy entrance trials."
She bit her lip, putting on an almost sympathetic look.
"My family has access to some of the best training resources in Graythorn. I could ask them to let you use our training grounds and arrange a private instructor for you."
I couldn't help laughing.
"Save your act. It's pathetic. Keep your family's resources. You might need them to train yourself to think before you speak."
"Talia, that's enough!"
Kellan immediately stepped in front of Briar, glaring at me.
"Fine! I changed your registration. But none of this would've happened if you hadn't been so careless. If you'd checked your application before the deadline, you could've changed it back yourself."
The more he spoke, the more convinced he became that he was right.
By the end, he was acting as if he were the one being wronged.
"Think about it. Isn't this your own fault for not paying attention? So why are you blaming us?"
I looked at his face.
It was the same face I'd known for sixteen years, but suddenly, I couldn't find anything familiar about him.
Just looking at him made my stomach turn.
"Get out."
I had no interest in wasting another second on them.
I slammed the door in their faces.
Kellan pounded on it furiously, but I ignored him and went back to my room.
Two weeks later, the admission results were released.
The class group chat on our bone-message tiles was flooded with messages.
Everyone was excitedly sharing which training institutes had accepted them.
Not long after, Kellan posted a screenshot of his admission notice from Concord Academy.
Briar immediately followed with a screenshot of her own acceptance notice.
The group chat exploded with congratulations.
Everyone was celebrating the two top students who'd managed to get into the same academy.
Kellan sent a smug, grinning emoji.
Briar wasn't satisfied with that. She sent a long voice message.
"Thanks, everyone! Some people are just too lazy to check something as important as their beast-mark registration. Then, when things go wrong, they blame everyone else."
She paused before adding,
"Getting into a good academy wouldn't help someone with that kind of attitude anyway."
A few classmates awkwardly sent replies.
Everyone knew exactly who she was talking about.
I didn't even bother listening to the voice message. I tossed my bone-message tile aside.
At eight that evening, the main class group chat suddenly lit up.
Our instructor, Ellis, began posting the official admission announcements.
[Congratulations to Kellan and Briar on their acceptance to Concord Academy!]
[Congratulations to Mason on his acceptance to Ironfang Camp!]
As Instructor Ellis continued posting the results, the group chat filled with congratulations.
The smaller chat grew even livelier.
Briar still couldn't resist taking another jab.
[Seeing everyone find their place really makes me feel sorry for a certain someone.]
Just then, another message appeared in the main class group.
It was from Instructor Ellis.
[Congratulations to Talia on her acceptance to Dawnspire Academy!]
