“This can’t be right. I thought we already had six members. Did you sign him in, Lisa?” Micah asked.

“Of course, not. I don’t know anything about this either.”

“Uhm, sorry? Excuse me, ma’am,” he spoke up to catch the secretary’s attention, “could you tell us who signed Thomas into our group?”

She took a step closer, took a glance at the form, and shook her head. “Sorry, but I cannot hand information like that out. You would have to ask someone who is on the group yourself.”

“I’m one of the founders.”

She looked at her like she really didn’t want to have to deal with student drama, but gave in with a sigh anyway. “One of the founders, you say? Name, please?”

Lisa looked and sounded angry, but somehow managed to remain polite. “I’m Lisa Chandler, ma’am.”

That alone almost brought Ryan out of his confusion. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that he knew who had signed this fifth member into the group, and he didn’t like the implications.

Why couldn’t she just leave him alone?

“One minute.” The secretary left.

Ryan distracted himself. “Mathers?”

Lisa glanced at him. “Hm?”

“Who is that?”

“Oh, Thomas?” Micah asked. “From combat training? He gets to pick the teams for warm-ups half the time, hangs out with Vladi sometimes, and he’s, like, really good?”

Ryan frowned. It wasn’t ringing any bells.

“Myra and I tried to con him into joining the Dueling club back when that was still a thing,” Lisa offered.

He needed another moment. They had tried to con a lot of people so they could measure themselves against them.

“Oh.”

Now, Ryan remembered. The [Spellsword] who always looked like he was scowling. He had formal training, too. Ryan had never fought against him himself, but had seen a few others. He was good. Some kind of minor noble or wealthy kid.

Him?

The secretary returned with a form and read it without showing them. “It says here a Navid Madin signed him on Thursday afternoon.”

He felt a tension slip from his shoulders. Madin, not Heswaren?

Micah thanked her. Lisa pushed off the counter. Ryan turned to follow.

“Excuse me.”

They all three paused to look back.

“I hope it won’t come to any sort of argument or fight over this,” the secretary said. She waved the form. “If so, it would reflect poorly on your assessment. If you cannot conduct yourselves properly outside of the Tower, it tells us all we need to know about how you will conduct yourselves inside of it.”

Some of the other student groups paused and turned to look at them when she said that.

“There won’t be an argument,” Ryan reassured her.

Lisa spoke over him, “You do that.”

Then she left, and Micah followed. Ryan had no choice but to do the same. She led them through the thin gray slush across the courtyard and to the Guild building. On the second floor, she stopped and looked around.

“Do you even know where he is?” Ryan asked.

“No.”

“Then how are we going to find him?”

“By asking around?” Micah offered.

“He might not even be here. It’s the weekend.”

“Oh, no, he’s here,” Lisa said.

“How do you know?”

“He likes to wear an armband that is very loud.”

“Loud?” Micah asked.

She glanced at him. “Maybe someday, you’ll understand. I know he’s nearby. There aren't too many places he can be. Here, his dorm room, his common room or one of the others, the gym, the cafeteria, or—No.”

“No?”

She took a few more steps and brought them in line of a clock. “It’s a little past noon. He’ll be eating. He’s used to it from home.” That said, she took off toward a hallway on their right.

“My grandma also always insisted we eat at the same time each day,” Micah said.

“Your grandma sounds like she was very polite.”

“Ha! No.”

“If he’s eating, shouldn’t we be headed toward the cafeteria?” Ryan asked. They just passed the stairs down.

Lisa looked back while walking. “You think he’s going to eat in the school cafeteria on the weekends?”

Oh. Now, Ryan knew where they were headed. The cafés in the Guild building a little ways off from school. He had never been to one; only seen them in passing. They were at least twice as expensive, after all, and it wasn’t like the school food was that bad. He even knew some of the cooks thanks to Micah.

But now, he really hoped there wouldn’t be any kind of fight or argument that got them kicked out. Ryan might have wanted to go there someday, when things had calmed down, like on a—

Shut up.

He needed to focus.

Apparently, Lisa didn’t know which café he frequented so they had to check them all. They were built into larger hallways near the streets and plazas toward the city, with many doors to head in from the cold, and large windows to give light in the summer. Some even had counters toward the hallways to buy food on the go.

Navid turned out to be a little further in, in one of the cafés which used skylights for windows. It was small and chic, with chocolate-colored woods, a glass counter, and tiny square shrubs in pots on tables. A sandwich place. At a glance, it sold also coffee, pastries, and some soups.

Lisa spotted him, hesitated, and charged up to his table. The crumbs on his plate shook when she slammed her hands down. “What the hell, Madin?” She was angry, but he was surprised that she was that angry.

“Chandler?”

Ryan glanced into the booth. Nobody there. He was eating alone?

“You do not get to just invite people into our team without consulting us. We already have six people.”

He wiped his hands with a napkin. “Six?”

“Oh, don’t act dumb. Who do you think?”

Micah slipped into the booth and gave a tiny wave.

Navid glanced at him, then Ryan, and seemed to do a mental count in his head. “Oh, you wanted to join—”

“‘Oh, you wanted to join—’,” Lisa mimicked him. “Yes, he wanted to join—”

“I was there when we had the idea of forming a team,” Ryan interrupted her. He had no idea why she was acting this angry, but Ryan could fight his own battles. “Anne, Micah, Lisa, me, in the Tower Studies course after the Harvest Festival. You weren’t.”

“So why the hell did you think you could just invite Mathers in?” Lisa voiced his thoughts out loud.

“Chandler. Language,” Madin warned her with a different tone. He nudged his head at the counter and employee working there. His posture changed, too, as he leaned forward. Lisa leaned up.

Ryan was used to her pushing the guy around, but her anger seemed to slip from her face when he said that. She didn’t even look surprised or stumped. She looked like this was what she wanted.

Because he was taking this seriously, now?

“Annebeth and I had long before discussed making a team,” Madin said. “We discussed it for the original final exam, not for this. But this was an easy consideration to follow. I talked to her about inviting Thomas into that group as well, as we got along quickly. She never told me that plan had changed. And she never mentioned inviting you two in.” She looked at Ryan and Micah. “Only when you started training with us, Micah, did I learn that you were going to join our group. I thought you would be our sixth member as Anne, Lisa, and Sion seem to like you. I didn’t know about Ryan. Besides, we trained together often, and it wasn’t like you ever mentioned him.”

If guilt had a face, it would have fit Micah pretty well.

Ryan looked over at him from where he stood next to the table. Micah had hung out in the gym at least three times a week, even during exams, to get himself back in form after his injury. And often, he had hung out with Anne and Navid during that time, their future teammates.

Never?

“But Ryan has always been on our team,” Micah mumbled, sounding pained. He looked at Ryan as he said it before turning to Navid, “The three of us—”

“And how was I supposed to know that? We never really met for team meetings. Though, I admit, that was a mistake on both our parts. We all assumed.”

“So how soon can we kick him out?” Lisa asked.

“You must be mistaken—”

“I’m not mistaken.”

“—I don’t plan on kicking him out.”

“You piece of shit—”

“Chandler, really. I know you have a temperament. I don’t know who you think you’re acting like, but whoever it is, you’re overdoing it. I don’t see why I should kick Thomas out. I don’t think we even can kick him out. The paperwork is signed. Denner wouldn't give me the time of day to request a change. She’s still angry with me, you know? And I invited Thomas into this group over another. He declined an invitation to join us. I’ve met his parents. I can’t just kick him out.”

“But it was your mistake.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” he said. “Caused by poor communication. We will learn from it in the future.”

“So, what?” Ryan spoke up. “That’s it? I don’t get to join?”

Navid sighed and looked at him. He looked weary. “Honestly, Payne, I’m sorry, but right now I can afford to insult you more than I can afford to insult him. If it is my choice, then yes. He’s in, you’re out.”

Well at least he was an honest bastard.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“And it has nothing to do with your … status,” he added. “I just know Thomas better than I know you. We’ve barely ever spoken. Imagine if I asked you to kick Lisa out of our group over a misunderstanding.”

Ryan paused.

“What if I kick him out?” Lisa asked. “What if we get everyone together, minus the Mathers kid, and put it to a vote? There has to be a way to make changes to team compositions before the deadline. It’s high time we do a team meeting anyway.”

“If you leave Ryan out of it as well,” Navid said, “that actually would have been the mature thing to do. You know, what you should have done instead of accosting me during my meal.”

Lisa made a face. “I checked your plate. The final crumbs take just as long as the rest put together.”

“Wait, you would have waited if he’d been eating?” Micah asked.

“Of course.” She said it like it was obvious.

“But consider this,” Navid spoke up, bringing them back to the conversation, “do you think Principal Denner will give you the time of day either, Chandler? You’re not exactly on her good side right now, either.”

She froze.

“What?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, what?” Micah added.

“I was trying to help.”

“What did you do?”

“I … may have listened in on her office with a summoned monster—” They both said something at the same time and Lisa spoke over them. “It was when you guys were stuck in the Tower, okay? I wanted to know what was happening. I wanted to help. I did end up helping, so get down my back about this.”

She frowned.

“Off,” Navid provided.

Ryan took a deep breath. He needed to sit down. He pushed Micah further into the booth, who kept on looking at him with a guilty look on his face. Ryan ignored him.

What now?

“But like Lisa said,” Micah started, “there has to be a way we can fix this, right? Why would we have to go to Ms. Denner? It seems way below her pay grade, organizational stuff like this. She doesn’t have to know.”

“So what are you saying?” Navid asked.

“That … well, we do the vote thingy,” he said, sounding less sure now. “And if we decide to vote Thomas out and … and Ryan in, I bet the secretaries’ office can help us out, right?”

Navid raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry?” he offered.

“No, it’s fine by me, but …”

“Do you really think you can manage to vote Thomas out?” Lisa finished the sentence for him. “It’s me and you for, and Navid and Sion against, I assume. The tie-breaker would be …”

Anne.

She glanced at him.

Ryan frowned and looked across the table. “And you really didn’t consult another teammate before you signed this guy in?” he asked. “Say, like Shala or … Anne? It doesn’t seem like you.”

Navid met his look and frowned. His eyebrows rose a millimeter. Not like he had been found out, but like he had suddenly remembered something. A realization. The expression disappeared just as quickly. Ryan had only caught it because he had been looking.

“No. I’m sorry,” he lied. “I didn’t. As I said, it was a misunderstanding that came of poor communication.”

Ryan nodded. “I hear you.”

What was it? Did she just not like him? Because he wasn’t rich like her or because he was friends with Lisa? Was it maybe some weird girl way of expressing a crush on Micah? Could she just not stand the thought that he had scored better than her on the entrance exam? There were two other people above her, too. Micah and Frederick. She didn’t seem to hate them.

He thought of something Lang had told him years ago when he had switched sides to play against him during alleyball. They had won together too often. You can’t compete with someone on your own team.

“I mean, I like you Navid, I don’t want to be rude,” Micah said, “but couldn’t you like … both drop out of the team? You and Thomas?”

He laughed. “You want to split the party before it even exists?”

“No, it’s alright,” Ryan found himself saying.

Micah spun on him. “What?”

“I’ll quit.”

“No, c’mon, we can figure this out,” he said. He sounded reluctant, but not that reluctant.

“It’s fine,” he said again. Micah could get to be the sixth member on their team, hang out with his girlfriend like he had these last few weeks when he never even mentioned him, and Ryan would figure out something else. He’d thought giving them space was the right thing to do, but apparently they needed even more of it. “I bet I can find a new team in a week.”

“This seems like a conversation you should be having alone,” Navid said getting up. “Let’s just forget for a moment that you’re kicking me out of my own booth. If you figure something out, tell me.”

Lisa glared at him as he headed toward the counter to pay. The moment he was out of earshot, she said, “So that’s it? You’re giving up?”

“I’m not giving up. On what? This isn’t a competition,” Ryan said. He would make sure of that. He honestly didn’t care who was top of the class or who had which grades. And he wouldn’t let himself get roped into any kind of bratty contest either. He would continue to do his own thing to make his parents proud. Everyone else could go screw themselves. “You heard him. It was a misunderstanding.”

“Oh, yeah. I heard him,” Lisa said. She scratched her nose.

“You really think we can find a new team in a week?” Micah asked.

“Yeah, sure. There are lots of people out there who don’t have a team. I can ask around and I’m high-level, so …”

He frowned and trailed off. Wait, what? Slowly, he turned on Micah. “‘We’?”

“Yeah, we? If you can’t join the team, we’re not joining either, right Lisa?” He glanced at her, full of confidence.

Ryan needed to do an emotional one-eighty and sprint back a few steps. What was happening?

“I’m kind of already on the team—” she started.

“Wait, Micah, you’re not quitting.”

“What?”

“You need to be on that team,” Ryan said. Screw myself for a moment. He pushed those thoughts aside. “They have a great team composition, they check almost all the boxes, they’re all rich so they’re bound to have good equipment, good training, or be some kind of high level,” he counted. “Plus, family Paths are powerful. That will show on the assessment, so you’ll get to go to a higher floor and get awesome loot and a good grade—”

Micah looked at him like he had gone insane. “No. I don’t care. Even if we got a bad assessment—which I doubt we would, because let’s face it: We three are awesome—I can just get a job at the Chores Office afterward like you did. And I can still get a great grade on a low floor. The school assured us of that.”

“Great, not perfect,” Ryan said.

“So what?”

Ryan searched his face, but he was completely earnest. Aside from the ridiculous sums he spent on clothes, Micah had been living off of scraps these last few months. The only things he made in the workshop were paid for by his school allowance or the projects they rarely did in class.

Even if they got to a higher floor, they would only have a few days. Other people went into the Towers on a daily basis. The only advantage they would have was that they were in there consecutively, which meant they could go deeper. They still wouldn’t earn that much money.

He would have to get a job, either way. If he didn’t have enough for the tuition on the due date, that was it. He was out. The alternative was he had to loan money from someone and Ryan knew he would hate himself for it.

And besides, Ryan knew that Micah wanted that partial scholarship. For himself if nothing else.

He couldn’t just throw all of that away now because of nonsense like this. How could Ryan convince him of that?

“But what about showing off for Anne?” he guessed.

Micah sunk down a little. He was blushing. For someone like that? “I mean, of course I want to do that—not that you had to say it out loud. But we can still form a team next time, right?” He glanced up. “Besides, what would Anne think of me if I abandoned you to go hang out with her?”

Ryan glanced at Lisa. They shared a knowing look. Yeah, what would she think? He didn’t get what Micah saw in her.

“So you, what? Just don’t care about the money or a good grade for a scholarship?” Ryan asked.

“Of course, I do. I just don’t think that I will lose my chance because of this. Or rather, I think this is … more important?” He looked at them. “We’re a team, right? We still haven’t even gone on an expedition together yet.”

“Two small problems,” Lisa said as she slowly slid out of the booth. “One, the clerk over there has been glaring at us ever since Navid left—”

They scrambled out of the booth and awkwardly left the shop.

“—and two, I’m still on the team. I founded it because you guys were too busy last week.” There was a hint of accusation in her voice. “So what if I can’t leave? Can’t we just do the vote thing?”

“But I don’t want to put Anne on the spot like that,” Micah said. “She wanted to climb with Navid and Sion before I even asked her. If we forced her to vote Thomas out, we’d be making her fight with her friends.”

“You’re assuming she would vote me in,” Ryan mumbled.

He had a pained expression. “Yeah. She’s known Navid and Sion longer than any of us.”

Not my point but whatever.

“So instead, you’re putting me on the spot?” Lisa asked.

“Well, no,” he mumbled and scratched his arm. Itch started, he scratched it even harder. “I mean, how about we go ask if you can leave first? If you can, that solves the problem.”

“And if not?”

“Then …”

He hesitated and scratched his arm, as if that were some kind of distraction.

Lisa looked at him.

Even Ryan noticed. When deciding to leave the group for him, Micah hadn’t even said anything. He had just assumed they would think the same thing. But when it was about trying to keep the group together for Lisa’s sake, by putting it to a vote, he wasn’t saying anything for another reason.

Lisa was frowning when she looked up. For once, it seemed truly genuine. “Ryan?”

I really don’t want to be on the same team as Anne, he thought. Even if he imagined it would be satisfying to see her frustration over him being there, he would just rather not deal with her at all.

But Lisa was his friend, so he lied, “If you want to put it up to a vote, I say we vote. Or you vote, anyway. I don’t get one. But first we have to check if you or even Mathers can leave.”

He tried to sound confident.

Lisa looked at him for a long moment, scratched her nose, and led the way. “Sure.”

Somehow, that wasn’t the response he had been expecting.

The secretary’s office was even more packed than it had been half an hour ago. There was a brief window for students to get things done on the weekend, since they were only open for a few hours. Apparently, lots of them were trying to squeeze those things it at the last minute.

Lisa told them to wait outside while she went in. She had to stand in line for a minute, glancing back at them every now and then, before the crowd consumed her past the door and she was gone.

They idled against the wall next to the window opposite the place.

“What if she can’t leave?” Ryan asked, though he doubted it. A part of him couldn’t let go.

“Then we do the vote, like you said,” Micah said. He sounded vaguely like he was sulking.

Ryan didn’t know why that made him angry, but it did.

“And if Anne votes me off or if Thomas can’t leave? What then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will you join their team?”

He looked up at him. “Of course, not. I’m not abandoning you.”

Ryan smiled from conflicting emotions. Somehow, he rather he did that and stuck with Lisa instead. She deserved it.

He stared at the crowd, saw a few familiar faces passing by, but they were too busy to say hi. There was a ruckus, too. Ryan could hear what the people next to him were saying if concentrated, but he doubted anyone else could.

“I was jealous,” Micah said.

“Hm?”

“That’s why I didn’t mention you.”

Ryan had no idea what he was on about. “Jealous? Of …?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Or envious. I don’t know. I— When you were in study groups with us, Anne would always want to study with you and you’d always bicker all the time and get into discussions. You would challenge each other. And you share more courses together, and—”

Oh, Ryan thought. Oh, no.

“I thought she might like you more than me. Or, like … have a crush on you?”

Ryan hadn’t even considered that before. He did now.

“So that’s why I didn’t mention you. Or, when you came up, I would try to distract with other stuff.”

Ryan had had a crush once, when he was about their age. A little younger. He didn’t want to remember it. He deeply regretted the way he’d acted … and still did. And Micah basically had an unhealthy obsession with Anne after having interacted with her just as much as she’d interacted with Ryan, before deciding she hated him.

Could that be it?

Somehow, he doubted it. He really doubted it. But more than that, he just hoped it wasn’t true.

Most of all—

“Why?”

“What?” Micah asked.

“Why would you think that?” Ryan asked.

Why would anyone have a crush on someone like him?

“Because, like … whenever people talk about you, or I have to describe you to jog their memories, you’re the guy who spoke at the first day of school, or you’re the ‘hot one,’ you know? You basically have perfect grades, and you’re good at sports, and you’re high level, and I’m … not.”

Oh. So the lies, then, Ryan thought. That was all they cared about. If they got to know him, they wouldn’t like him at all. But at the same time, another part of him wondered if that was really true. He did have good grades and he was a pretty high level for his age. He didn’t know about the looks thing, but he was pretty fit …?

Maybe?

“Micah.”

“Uhm, yeah?”

“I can tell you with perfect confidence,” he said. “I think Anne likes you more than she likes me.”

“Really?”

He chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Oh. Thanks.” He smiled. “Even if it probably isn’t true.”

“Don’t say that.”

They stood around for a moment, awkward and looking at the crowd, before Micah glanced up and asked, “And you?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not abandoning me?” He went up with his voice at the end, hopeful.

Ryan thought about it for a moment and lied, “Of course, not.”

“Thanks.”

Lisa came out a minute later. There hadn’t been any shouting, she wasn’t pushing her way out, and she didn’t look pissed. That seemed like a good sign. But what she said was, “Can’t.”

“What?”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t leave the team,” she said in a curt voice. “Not me, nor Mathers. The secretary says it’s my punishment for causing trouble. They’re swamped.” She looked at them. “You’re on your own.”

They stood frozen for a second before the questions and protests began, but no matter how much they tried, Lisa assured them there was nothing she could do. She left. She had to call a team meeting.

And they had a week to find a new team of their own.