Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy (Book 1 In Trinity Academy Trilogy)

Battle Royale

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To the side is a picture of Alexis's Parents >>>

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When I woke up, it was like last night never happened. The nurses were able to patch me up pretty well, but the internal scars were still there. Then more days passed, each as insignificant as the last. Veronica wasn't talking to me. Seth wasn't talking to me. Ben wouldn't even look at me. Stella and Mac tried to help, but they didn't understand what I was going through. Luckily, my rank hadn't taken a hit from my night out but my hopes of making the X team were gone. I had hoped that when Veronica found out the truth it would allow Seth and I to finally be together. But since the truth came out, we've never been farther apart. 

It was now Sunday, a week before the Winter Break, and the entire school was preparing for one of the most important events of the year: Wolfsheim's Battle Royale.  

 "I think I'm going to throw up." I leaned over the toilet seat while Stella held back my hair. The entire school would be watching. My parents had even flown in to watch the big event. My parents. The parents who I only saw three times a year: once at Christmas, once at Easter, and our few days together during Summer break. They could only leave a voicemail on my birthday, but they were here to watch Wolfhsheim's exam, because thats how important this was to us. Our family had a reputation to uphold, a reputation, that either Veronica or I were expected to continue.

Whatever was left of my dignity was at stake, but I couldn't pull myself off of the toilet. 

"Deep breaths. In and out, in and out." Stella coached me, rubbing my back soothingly with her hands. 

"Alexis, you're being pathetic." Mac rolled her eyes at me. She was leaning against the bathroom door with her arms crossed over her chest. After our girls night out, three of us were lucky to get off with a warning, all thanks to Stella's government ties. "You have been preparing for this test since freshmen year. Everyone knows your going to make it to at least the top five."

"That's just it! Everyone is expecting things out of me. They want to see the Mankoff twins go head to head after the Seth affair went viral. But how am I supposed to do any of that when half the people out on the court want to kill me?" I cradled my head into my hands. "

"Wolfsheim's exam is not about winning." Mac sat down besides me and tossed her arm over my shoulder. "It's about being smart and learning to adapt to your surroundings."

"We both know that the winner of Battle Royale has an almost guaranteed spot on the X Team. This could be my last chance to prove myself to everyone out there." I said, pulling myself to my feet. I rubbed the dust off my black leggings and readjusted the black tank top I was wearing. "I've worked my butt off to get the rank that I have, and I ruined all of that for a boy. Everyone thinks I'm just some stupid slut, it's like none of my accomplishments even matter. No matter what I do, my one mistake will always define me."

"You're right." Mac sighed. "They don't know you like I do. And maybe to them your just some 'stupid slut', but to me you are an amazing best friend." She grabbed me roughly by the shoulders as if she was trying to shake some sense into me. "You can do this." She breathed.

"And don't forget, I'll be there cheering you on from the sidelines." Stella added for encouragement.

"All participants to the main gym, please." Figaro's voice boomed over the intercom.

"That's my cue." Stella sighed, swooping me and Mackenzie into a hug for good luck before exiting out of the locker room.

"What do you think it's going to be like out there?" Mac asked, pulling her thick blonde hair into a tight ponytail. I just shrugged at her, wiping the bags underneath my eyes with some cold water. The Battle Royale was known for its complex course that changed with each passing year. Last year it was held in the pool, and there was only enough scuba gear for half of the competitors. No amount of drills or late night capture the flag games could prepare us for what lies beyond the gym doors. "I heard your parents are here." She tried to make conversation, to ease the obvious tension in the air. The other girl competitors lined up besides us—each dressed in all black. "I heard that even Dean flew in." She smiled, as if that fact was supposed to comfort me. Veronica swept past us, purposefully bumping into me as we made our way towards the gym doors.