Page 51 of Lies That Bleed
“I’m not done!” I snapped at her back, and Kohen stepped out from where he’d been and barred her way.
Why did he keep doing that stuff?
The girl turned to me with a narrowed gaze. “An idiot can make a bed. I’ve learned enough. I’d rather have more time to work on it.”
I saw the instructors’ eyebrows raise but they said nothing, as if they were watching me to see how I would deal with this confrontation.
I nodded. “Then when everyone else passes and you fail, you will know that your pride and impatience are the reason we will likely have to run a mile.”
She rolled her eyes, spun and bumped Kohen out of the way.
A nearly all-consuming rage washed over me as she left. I wanted to tear after her and drag her back here to finish the tutorial, but I’d learned from my father that some people only learned from their mistakes. I was betting she was one of those.
I faced my fellow cadets: “The corners must be folded at a forty-five-degree angle.” I demonstrated. “And even if you crease and tuck everything tightly,where you will fail inspection is not folding the sheetoverthe blanket andthenfolding both down together.” I showed what I meant, pinning my knee onto the blanket and sheet to keep it taut. When I stood, there was a knee imprint on the bed so I reached out and creased that. “Try to pull the blanket up with two fingers,” I asked Tetra.
She stepped forward and pinched the blanket with two fingers and lifted up. It snapped from her fingers, unable to be pulled up because it was so tight.
“Good luck,” I told everyone with a smile.
I was their future empress, and the odds were that my fellow peers in this very room would one day guard me. I wanted loyalty that I’d earned, not ordered.
Everyone burst from the room and scattered down the hallways, running to fix their beds.
Instructor Ashendell stepped inside and pointed to Tetra. “You are needed in medical.”
Her eyes widened and she looked frightened for a second.
“For your cane,” I whispered, and she relaxed.
Instructor Ashendell shot me a glare as if she didn’t appreciate my chatter. Well, I didn’t appreciate her freaking my friend out.
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, just as they were inspecting the newly made beds, Tetra waltzed in with a new black rubber cane. It was ugly compared to her crystal one, but functional, and I was just grateful they’d given her one at all.
“Pass,” one instructor said, and then moved down the hall. Pass, pass, pass, pass.
With each passing bed inspection I felt pride swell in my chest. This meant I was a good leader, or at the very least that I gave a mean tutorial on how to be a good bed maker.
“FAIL!” I heard a scream. “Get out in the hall and lead your cadets in their one mile run punishment.”
I shook my head. I knew who it was going to be before I saw Summer step to the front of the hall and pass my room with her head down. Hopefully, she learned from this. We all stepped out into the hallway and I saw the panic in Tetra’s gaze.
She couldn’t run, not for long. It was more of a frantic hop, and only when being chased by a feral dog or something.
“I can’t run,” Tetra said in a low voice to Instructor Ashendell.
“WHAT IS THAT, CADET? I CAN’T HEAR YOU,” she shouted on purpose.
“I CAN’T RUN!” Tetra screamed in anger.
I wanted to come to her aid and defend her, but I knew that would only make things worse.
Instructor Ashendell glared at Tetra. “How can you expect to protect this great country if you can’t even run?”
Tetra matched her glare. “Oh I don’t know. Maybe with my badass wolf creature?”
Over a dozen snickers burst from the lips of thecadets present, and I wanted to smack Tetra in the back of the head.
Was her comment funny?Hellyes. But was it also stupid? Yes again.
