CHAPTER 166: 166-SHE WANTS TO BE A PART OF OUR SQUAD

Clementine:

We were sent back to our room after the rules were made that the two squads were now going to be a red squad, and Ms. Lenora, since she had more control over her squad, was going to stay while Ms. Anna was asked to leave. We took it as her being kicked out. Once we were back in our room, we started thinking about everything that had happened, including the fact that Mr. Rick very cunningly put all the blame on us for what happened to the green squad.

"At least Oriana did the right thing by calling out Sukie," Troy said, shrugging.

"Yeah, did you see Joshua? He looked so pumped. Dude had way too much confidence." Yorick laughed. "I guess his cockiness is finally squashed."

Ian still couldn’t make eye contact with me. None of us really could. We were all just trying to avoid each other’s eyes, and I hated that feeling. Then a little knock on the door made us all stare at each other before turning to the door. Haiden, since he was already walking around the room, reached it and opened it.

Oriana rushed in, upset and teary.

"What is going on?" Haiden asked, watching her hyperventilate.

She looked around, and even when her eyes landed on me, she turned back to Haiden and instantly wrapped her arms around him. He froze like he had been stung by a starfish.

I got up from my bed at the same time, a little too aggressively.

"I don’t want to be a part of that squad anymore." She started crying.

Haiden wrinkled his nose, then placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling himself away like someone would if an insect was crawling on them.

"What happened?" he asked, giving us all a look, almost begging for someone to rescue him.

I finally took the lead, reaching over to her and gently holding her arm. This time she turned and wrapped her arms around my shoulders so tight I thought she would break my bones.

"I don’t want to be a part of that squad. Did you not hear me?" she repeated, almost like complaining that we were making her say it again.

"Yeah, we heard that the first time. But why?" Yorick asked.

The minute she broke the hug with me and turned toward him, I saw Yorick’s face shift with realization. His eyes widened, and he slowly turned to the side, almost like he was trying to escape the hug she was about to give him next.

"Because they are bullying me. And now it’s freaking five of them," she complained, grunting as she pointed toward the door.

"They’re bullying you?" Troy asked, but he quickly stepped behind Yorick.

I hated how they were acting. She was visibly distraught, and they treated her like she was some maniac who only came in to hug everyone.

"As soon as they all came into the room, Jessie filled them in on the dynamics of the dorm. She also told them that I was the reason her sister was left behind and that Valerie died because of her." She started to cry. I could not believe that Oriana was so confident in public, while she was getting bullied behind the scenes. But in public, she knew nobody would harm her. So there was that.

"But where is she? She’s not dead," Ian commented, finally lifting his head from the notebook he was holding.

"What?" Oriana asked, turning toward Ian, who was now standing by the window looking outside. "From all I know, you guys left her behind. She wasn’t dead. So how are you so sure she’s dead? And why isn’t her sister trying to find her when she’s in the North? Why is she just accepting that her sister is dead?"

As Ian nodded, we all turned to look at Oriana. Even she seemed slightly confused.

"Right. Oh my goddess. Why didn’t I think about it? Next time, when she bullies me, I’ll remind her that her sister isn’t even dead." She had stopped crying suddenly.

"Anyway, do you want us to drop you at your dorm? Because if Ms. Lenora found you here, you’d be in trouble." I reminded her that things weren’t looking good for our squad, and anyone spending time with us would be under the radar of Mr. Rick and Ms. Lenora, especially after what happened to the Green Squad. The ringleaders thought they were inspired by us, and that’s why they got in trouble, they were looking for mysteries to solve when there were none.

"Oh, I’m not afraid of that. Ms. Lenora knows me. I’m her favorite." Oriana placed a hand on her shoulder, making me smile and shake my head.

"Anyway, when can I join your club?" she pouted, hands on her waist.

"What club?" Troy asked, stepping out from behind Yorick.

"I mean, you guys are such cool friends. The way you all stood up for Clementine was so satisfying. I bet I’ll never find friends like that." She pouted again, trying to look cute, and honestly, she did look cute.

"There’s no such group, we’re all squad mates. And if you’d be kind enough to leave for now, we need to rest, we’re really tired," Ian stated while grinding his teeth.

However, one of us didn’t really care about anyone’s feelings. It was shocking that Ian had been defending me, and also about the other things he’d confessed, like being attracted to me. Other than that, his behavior was still the same.

Oriana started lowering her hands from her waist, looking awkward.

"Dude!" Haiden groaned. The others gave her a look as well, not a look of attraction, but a friendly one, because she was my friend and they didn’t want to offend her.

"It’s alright. I think today was rough. I’ll head back to my room. I’ll be fine," Oriana said, steadily reaching for the door. I rushed behind her.

"No, it’s alright, Clementine. I’ll take care of myself." Suddenly, she was in such low spirits that I couldn’t help groaning and turning to look at Ian, who shrugged, not caring that he had upset someone.

"Good night," Oriana said before turning to us. But just as she was leaving, she turned back one last time.

"You guys do know there’s a new task, right? Some areas next to the north in the mainland are getting affected, so they might send us early in the morning. I just wanted to fill you in because Lenora found out and spilled the beans, telling us not to tell anyone else." That was kind of her, filling us in.

We were surprised and shocked they were sending us back into the north so soon after her whole squad died. But it was also important to remember what Oriana said, some of the mainland was getting affected. I wondered what kind of task it would be.