Clementine:
That night, when we returned to our room, Ian had already fallen asleep, so there was no reason for us to talk about anything. Besides, we were exhausted from the journey and everything we’d done, so we all went to bed.
We were woken up as early as seven in the morning for breakfast. Our meals were packed into lunch boxes, and we were sent off to the woods. It felt like every time they got caught with some information, they came up with crazy tasks to divert attention, but this time, we were stubborn.
Once we reached the woods, we noticed today’s task written on a piece of paper hanging from one of the tree branches. Haiden grabbed the paper and started reading it.
"Okay, we have to find fruits," he muttered, looking confused. He checked to see if it was a prank, then sighed. "Seriously, they just want to keep us away from the academy," he grumbled under his breath, eyeing the lurker standing in the distance.
"Anyway, grab baskets. Everyone has a little slip inside that tells you which fruit you’re supposed to pick," he explained.
Honestly, it felt useless. We hadn’t even eaten yet. We were just carrying our lunch boxes with us. When I picked up my basket, I saw that my fruit was strawberries. I hadn’t come across a strawberry tree in ages, so I had no clue where to go.
The others had apples, bananas, and mixed ones. The apple ones were lucky, they’d find theirs quickly. But we didn’t know how many to collect because there were big buckets lined up for us to fill.
"Hey, I have apples too," Troy told Haiden, giving him a high five.
We started to spread out when Yorick turned to me and motioned for me to go after Ian.
"His is strawberries too. You two have a reason to stick together, and let him know about the conversation you heard," he said.
He probably suggested that because they knew Ian wouldn’t talk nicely with them. They had no idea how to approach him, and they wanted me to explain what I’d found out in my own words.
I had a few more things to tell them too, especially about why the heck did the ringleaders talk about saving Ian and Yorick?
I started walking behind Ian awkwardly and reluctantly. After a few minutes of silence, I noticed he began to slow down. He eventually stopped and turned around to face me, staring straight into my eyes.
"Mine’s strawberries too."
I tried to divert the topic and break his intense gaze by showing him the small slip of paper that said I had to pick strawberries as well. But he didn’t budge or start walking again, even when I passed him. Eventually, I slowed down, stopped, and turned back to face him.
"What? If you don’t want me to come with you, I’ll just leave," I mumbled, walking back in the opposite direction from where I’d started.
But this time, he reached out and stopped me with the bucket in his hand.
"So you’ve decided to give them all a chance?" That was the first thing he said, and I gulped.


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