CHAPTER 23: 23-MY MATE’S BABY MOMMA

Clementine:

The hat being snatched off my head felt, for a moment, like a slap right in front of everyone.

I’m not sure if I was wrong for not stitching it on perfectly or if I should be glad I didn’t. Otherwise, she might’ve knocked me out with the force she used.

Now, I was sitting in the train with the squad mates, the ones who had been acting awkwardly.

I hated the way they stared at me for a while.

"Okay guys, I made a little map of the area we might be heading to," Yorick started yapping nonsense. I noticed his outfit finally and must say, Rue did a great job. He wore a long black leather coat with gold buttons, the sleeves cuffed and detailed with bronze.

Underneath, he had on a high-collared black shirt with a subtle pattern, fitted black pants, brown lace-up boots, and a gold pendant resting against his chest.

And i knew he had no clue where we were going. He was just making stuff up for attention — or maybe not.

He suddenly got up from his own seat to sit next to me, as if trying to make a point to the others while facing them.

I felt awkward and uncomfortable, so I squeezed myself closer to the window.

"Tell us, please, what area would it be?" Just like I suspected, Troy probably caught him in a lie too, because he started pressuring him for clear answers. He wore a long black leather trench coat over a fitted black button-up shirt, the collar left slightly open.

His sleeves were detailed with sharp metallic accents near the elbows, his black leather pants were belted with a tactical clip, and he wore black gloves with a silver pendant hanging from his neck.

"I mean–it must be the woods, right Ian?" Yorick said, calling out to the only one who had been staring silently out the window and not at me.

"Hm," Ian responded, not showing much interest. He wore a long black leather coat with silver zippers and sharp paneling along the shoulders and arms.

Beneath it, a tight black V-neck shirt hugged his torso, tucked into fitted black tactical pants secured with a utility belt, his hands covered in fingerless black gloves and layered necklaces resting on his chest. The outfit was amazing, sadly, wasted on a pick like him.

"So I say we stick together. Group of two," Yorick continued. Even I was all ears now, not because I wanted to stick with them, but because I wanted to know who was really in charge of making me suffer.

"Umm, how about Troy, Haiden, and Ian go together, while I sacrifice myself to stay with her," Yorick grinned, gesturing toward me with his head.

"Count me out. I have other plans," Haiden quickly responded, watching someone a little too intently through the window.

I looked out the window too, but I couldn’t see the end of the train. It just kept going, and going, until the last coaches disappeared into the mist.

I don’t know how many coaches there are. Maybe a hundred. Maybe a thousand. Or maybe it never ends. You can’t really count them, not from the outside. You have to walk through them, one by one. Open the door, step in, and then the next one appears. Like the train only shows you the part you’re meant to see.

The walls were white and the seats were gray. Between each coach, there was glass door.

I noticed a girl from the Red Squad enter the coach in front of ours, the same one who had clearly caught Haiden’s attention. The way he swiftly moved away from the window seat to the door confirmed she was the one he had been watching. He wearing a tight, sleeveless black faux leather shirt, black fingerless gloves, slim black jeans, and a black leather belt with a large metal buckle. The outfit was fitted and showed off his muscular build.

As for the girl, I couldn’t see much of her, but I noticed her belly. There’s no way they let a pregnant girl go on a mission.

"You don’t have to sacrifice yourself, Yorick," said Troy, snapping my attention back to him.

"He’s right. I don’t need any of you on my side. I don’t trust any of you anyway," I grunted, rolling my eyes.

"Fine, fuck you. I was just trying to be nice," Yorick said, getting up and walking back to his seat. But of course, he wasn’t done yet.

"Oh, and by the way, I’m so glad I broke things off with you. What kind of girlfriend doesn’t show her boyfriend her true self? You used to look like a sack of old socks when you were dating me. Ugh!"

So that’s what was bothering Yorick, that he didn’t know I had a banging body?

"What are you complaining about?" Troy jumped in. "I’ve been her best friend her entire life, and she never let her guard down in front of me. You know why? Because she knew she wasn’t loyal or honest with herself, so she couldn’t trust others either."

I couldn’t help but point out his hypocrisy.

"I did tell you how important my family pictures were to me. So yeah, you’re right! I can’t trust anyone. I shouldn’t trust anyone," I hissed back.

Troy seemed to shake a little. His confidence cracked when Yorick nodded in agreement, even though he had been equally involved in bullying me.

"Are you guys going to keep yapping the whole way?" Ian commented, his voice cold. "It’s just that the more you all talk, the more she talks back, and the more annoyed I get hearing her voice."

Once again, a subtle reminder of how much he despised my existence.

However, what should have been hours-long, a journey to the north, not just a trip to the neighborhood supermarket, was weirdly short. Probably no more than ten minutes before the train began to slow down and stop on the tracks.

"We’re already here?" Even Troy sounded confused. The train was magical, indeed.

"Okay! everyone, we’ll be back here by the—- end of the week?" Yorick nearly gasped as he read the final note.

"We’re going to stay here for a whole week?" Troy sighed, getting up and heading toward the door.

Everyone had started to come out of their coaches. The other squads sped off, probably looking for weapons, while ours just stood around, dragging our feet. We each stepped out more dramatically than necessary, and even paused to watch the train disappear.

Even though I hated Haiden and wanted him out of my sight, the moment I saw him rush toward where the Red Squad had gone, I felt itchy. Like something was crawling under my skin.

Was he following that girl? Who was she?

Instead of minding my own business, I made a fool of myself and turned to Yorick.

"Who is that girl Haiden’s been looking at?"

It was as if I’d just handed them proof of jealousy. All three alphas stared at me with mocking smiles spread across their faces.

"She is his baby momma," the minute Ian said that, my heart flipped inside my chest.