The world spun around me as I was dragged away from it. Halfheartedly, I tried to fight back, clinging to my reality. I’d been there for such a short period of time before being ripped away from it again, and that felt dangerous. I knew I should have wanted to stay there, to sit in the car with Mom for a little longer, trying to resist the urge to peek at the forest where that giant dog or whatever it was kept pace with the car. It would have been smarter, better for me, and I knew that, but I didn’t truly want to stay.

  I recognised that voice. The one that had called my name and pulled me into a different world. It had been too long since I’d heard it last. It felt like several lifetimes had passed, and I couldn’t stop myself from being drawn to it. I wanted to see him again.

  Vertigo gripped my mind, throwing me off-balance, and I would have fallen if not for the body that slammed into me. Arms wrapped around me, holding me tightly, and I felt a smile appear on my lips as I hugged him back. My eyes fluttered shut for a moment as the ache in my heart lessened, being replaced with a gleeful giddiness.

  After a little too long, I began to pull back. A hint of uncertainty nibbled at me, making me worry that I’d clung to him for too long. It felt wrong. He hadn’t started to pull away earlier, so it was probably fine, but anxiety told me it was weird, that I’d done something wrong.

  The moment I looked up into Seth’s beaming face, that worry was washed away. He seemed so happy to see me, I realised as butterflies erupted in my stomach. My heart felt like it skipped a beat, and blood rushed into my cheeks.

  “Hi,” I said awkwardly.

  We’d just been smiling at each other goofily for too long, and he must have been waiting for me to say something, but I had been too taken aback. I was too surprised to see him again, even though I knew he’d reappear at some point. Or at least, I hoped he would.

  A niggling worry had been pulling at the back of my mind for a while, whispering that I may never see him or the rest of my friends again. If they failed the induction period, they’d be gone, and I’d have no way to find them again. I didn’t know their full names. It was intentional, to ensure we couldn’t find them and they couldn’t find us, but I hated it. I already cared about my friends too much, even though I hadn’t seen them in weeks. I didn’t want to lose them.

  “Hey,” Seth replied, still grinning at me. “I missed you.”

  I couldn’t hold his gaze. Emotions rushed through me, and I had to look down as I bit my lip, my cheeks burning even hotter. Hearing him say that made me feel strange. It caused a bizarre sense of longing to spread through me, and I wasn’t sure why.

  Obviously, I’d wanted him to miss me. It felt horrible to admit it, but I did. I’d missed him and the others, but I almost didn’t believe he would have felt the same way. I didn’t think any of them would have. Part of me assumed that the moment I left the induction wing, they’d forgotten about me. I might have crossed their minds once or twice, but it wasn’t a frequent thing. They didn’t think about me often like I did with them. After all, they still had each other to distract themselves from that, whereas I was alone.

  But they did miss me. They might have, at least. Seth did. He’d just said it, and that made me happier than it should have. He must have cared about me, liked me a lot, to have missed me.

  We were still standing too close, I realised as I stared at his top, unable to meet his eye again. I’d stepped back after hugging him, but not far enough. Our bodies were still almost touching, and my hands rested on his forearms. Although I wanted to cling to him for a little longer, needing to reassure myself that he was real.

  People were looking at us, though. Other trainees were streaming through the corridor, eyeing us as they passed. Some met my gaze and grinned, but others just looked away. I recognised some of them, though. That surprised me, but it shouldn’t have. I’d been in the main building of the Academy for a couple of weeks. It made sense that I’d started getting to know people, even if they still scared me.

  “I missed you too,” I said as I reluctantly stepped back and let go of Seth. “Did you pass the induction period?”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, I grimaced. It was such a stupid question. How would he be out of the induction wing if he hadn’t passed? They kept the building locked. It was impossible to get in or out unless accompanied by a tutor, and they wouldn’t have let him out if not.

  I opened my mouth, meaning to apologise or correct myself, but Seth spoke before I had the chance to.

  “Yes, finally!” he said, his smile growing slightly wider. “I mean, it only took me two and a half weeks, but I made it. Second trainee out.”

  Surprise and confusion crashed into me as I processed what he’d said. Two and a half weeks. It had been two and a half weeks since I’d left the induction wing. That didn’t seem right. It didn’t feel possible. I knew time passed differently in that world, but it still felt too quick, and I couldn’t quite believe that I’d barely been to the world in that time.

  He was right, though. Memories bombarded me, rushing into my mind with such speed that they left me breathless. So much had happened. It had been fascinating but heartbreaking. I’d been to countless classes, learnt so much, and spent every evening alone in my dorm room.

  I could have gone to the common room. I knew that. There was a lounge area where trainees relaxed after dinner. It was filled with televisions, games consoles, and even a couple of arcade cabinets, but I couldn’t bring myself to go in there. I’d tried it once. I could remember that.

  One evening, my loneliness had gotten too intense. I’d felt the need to do something about it, but the moment I stepped into the room, my courage abandoned me. I’d rushed over to one of the fridges and grabbed a bottle of water, despite having a few in my room, before fleeing back into the safety of my room again. There were too many people there. They were too loud, too scary, and I didn’t know them. The thought of walking up to any of them terrified me, but it didn’t matter anymore. I was no longer alone.

  “Well done,” I told him.

  “Thanks! So, how’s it been out here?”

  I hesitated, unsure of how to answer him. I didn’t want to tell him I’d been lonely and sad. Even just the idea of that made my skin itch. If he knew the truth, he would have judged me or thought I was weird. I was almost certain of that. Normal people would have been fine in my situation. They would have enjoyed being in the Academy, regardless of whether their friends were still in the induction wing, and he’d think it was weird that I’d struggled so much.

  Plus, I wanted him to like me. I wanted him to think I was fun and happy, or he wouldn’t want to spend time with me. That meant I needed to lie. I had to pretend that I hadn’t spent the last two weeks moping around and being miserable, and I didn’t really like lying. Not about small things like that. It felt dishonest and fake, but it was the only way. If I wanted him to like me, I had to do it.

  “Good!” I said, my tone a little too enthusiastic. “Classes have been so interesting.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah! How were things in the induction wing?”

  Seth seemed to want to hear more about my classes, and I did want to tell him about them. They had been really fascinating, and I had been enjoying them, but I knew it was safer to ask him about the induction wing instead.

  People generally liked to talk about themselves, I’d found. It was normally a good way to distract them from asking questions, and that was good. It meant I wouldn’t have to try and think of an acceptable way to answer him without him realising how miserable I’d been.

  Plus, I did want to know about the induction wing. Although it worried me, I needed to know about the others. I had to know whether Scott, Abbie, and Katie were okay and if they were even still in there. They had to be. Before I left, it had seemed like they were all doing well. None of them were struggling in their classes, from what I could remember, so it seemed unlikely that anyone could have failed or been kicked out, but I wasn’t sure.

  I’d been warned about it, I realised as panic tightened around my throat. A few different tutors had mentioned that people failed the induction wing often, that the number of trainees to come out of it was always much smaller than the number who went in, and it scared me every time.

  I was so worried that they were trying to warn me. It felt as though they were trying to tell me that some of my friends were gone, but when I’d finally gathered the courage to ask, I’d just been told that they couldn’t actually tell me. Apparently, they weren’t allowed to share any details about the cohort in there until they came out, and that didn’t make me feel any better.

  “They were good!” Seth told me. “Well, mostly…”

  Seth trailed off, laughing sheepishly, and I felt my heart clench.

  “Mostly?” I repeated, trying not to sound too terrified as I stared at Seth.

  He rubbed the back, glancing over his shoulder.

  “Am I… how much can I say?” he asked Rodgers.

  I hadn’t even noticed him standing a few steps away until that moment, and I was glad to see him again too, but that was quickly overshadowed by my embarrassment. He must have seen Seth and me hugging, and the thought of that made me want to burst into flames. It wasn’t that bad. It was just a hug, but something about it felt worse. It felt more… private, and I wasn’t sure why.

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  “Eh,” Rodgers replied, glancing up from his phone.

  “Wait,” I said, looking between them. “I thought no one was allowed to talk about what was happening in there?”

  “I mean, the tutors aren’t meant to disclose any details to the trainees until everyone’s out, but you two aren’t tutors,” he said. “I’m not going to censor what you two talk about.”

  “Really?”

  “You’re free to talk about whatever you want,” he confirmed with a shrug.

  I looked at Seth as hope filled my heart, making it feel light for the first time in weeks.

  “Abbie shot someone,” Seth told me.

  My mouth fell open, and I stared at him blankly, trying to work out how to reply to that.

  “On purpose?” was the only thing I could think to say.

  “Actually,” Rodgers interjected before Seth could reply. “What class do you have now, Grace?”

  I tore my eyes away from Seth to look at Rodgers, panic swirling within me. I had no clue. I didn’t even know which class I’d just had, and my timetable was a complete mystery to me. It had changed a few times since I’d first left the induction wing, which was apparently normal, but that made it more difficult for me.

  “Tech training,” I said, the words flowing from my mouth without conscious thought. “With Sara.”

  “Oh, I had no idea,” he remarked in a voice that made it clear he was fully aware. “Well, I was going to take Seth on a tour of the Academy, but I’m happy to excuse you from class for the rest of the afternoon if you’d be happy to do it. In fact, I can go see Sara now and tell her.”

  A smirk pulled at my lips. His girlfriend. She worked in the research and development labs, but they’d both been in the same cohort. Georgie had told me, but I was pretty sure I would have worked it out sooner or later. Sara did have a framed picture of the two of them on her desk, so it was fairly obvious.

  The timing must have been intentional, I decided. I had absolutely no doubt that Rodgers had chosen to bring Seth out of the induction wing towards the end of the day, intending to run into me so he could spend more time with Sara. He knew Seth and I were friends, and he must have assumed I wouldn’t refuse his offer, but still, I found myself hesitating.

  I knew my way around the Academy. Or at least, I should have. I’d been there for long enough that it should have been easy. My classes were scattered all throughout the building and grounds, so I should have known where everything was, but doubt pulled at me, and that worried me.

  It had been so long since Rodgers had given me the tour. Too much time had passed, and I’d not been in the world enough. I was bound to get lost or make a mistake, and then Seth might realise something was up. It might make people start asking questions, and I didn’t want that.

  But I needed to know what had happened with Abbie. Who had she shot, and why? Seth hadn’t answered my question. He hadn’t told me whether it was intentional, and I wasn’t sure whether I should be worried or not.

  Surely, if she’d gotten in trouble for it, he would have started with that. He would have said that, wouldn’t he? That was what I would have done, anyway. Maybe he was building to it, though. He could have planned to start by saying Abbie had shot someone and then added that she’d been kicked out of the induction wing because of it.

  “Umm… sure. I mean, I’m happy to give you the tour if you want,” I said, glancing at Seth.

  I wouldn’t have trusted me to do the tour. Even if I didn’t know how little I knew about the Academy, I would have still preferred for Rodgers to do it. Or any other tutor. They would have all been better at it than I was, and I wanted to give Seth that option in case he felt the same way.

  “Yeah, that would be great!”

  My cheeks started to flush again as my eyes darted towards Seth. I wasn’t sure if I was reading too much into it, but I was pretty sure he replied too quickly, and I didn’t know what to think of that. He did say he missed me, and part of me still doubted that, but that part was getting smaller.

  “Great!” Rodgers said with a grin, slipping his phone into his pocket. “Can you just show him around the grounds and this building? I’ve already taken him down to the GSOD, so you don’t need to go down there. In fact, we’re pretty much finished with the subterranean levels, I think?”

  “Okay, I can do that,” I lied.

  “Fantastic. And your introductory classes don’t start until the morning, Seth, so no need to worry about timings or anything for now. Unless you somehow miss dinner, but I doubt that will happen.”

  “I hope not. I’m starving already,” Seth said, touching his stomach lightly.

  “Swing by the canteen on your way then. There should be some snacks out,” Rodgers said. “Oh, also, your room. The boys’ dorms are on the same floor as yours, Grace, but they’re just on the other side of the building. You should be able to find them, but if not, just ask someone.”

  “Sure. I reckon we’ll be fine, though,” I told him with far more confidence than I felt.

  I was pretty sure I knew where they were, at least. I’d seen a bunch of guys going towards one of the corridors, so I assumed that must have been where the dorms were. It was one of the only parts of the building that I hadn’t explored yet too, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else where they could have been.

  “Great. I’m not actually sure which room is yours, but it’ll have a nameplate on the door, so just look for that. Do you need anything before I go see Sara?” Rodgers asked.

  “I don’t think so,” I said, glancing at Seth.

  “No, I think Grace should be able to answer any questions I have,” he replied, smiling at me.

  “Well, if not, come find me or another tutor, and we’ll be able to help. Have fun, and congratulations again, Seth.”

  “Thanks,” Seth said with a grin.

  Rodgers returned it before turning and beginning to head towards the elevators. Nerves bubbled in my stomach as I watched him go. I was alone with Seth. Well, not properly alone. There were still a few other trainees wandering through the corridor, but that was it. There were no tutors or adults.

  “So… which way to the canteen?” Seth asked.

  I snorted softly, his question taking me off-guard. I should have expected it. He’d said he was hungry, and they’d already seen everything on that level, after all.

  “That way,” I said, pointing in the direction Rodgers had disappeared. “It’s pretty close to the front doors, so we can start with the grounds first and then the rest of this building, if you want?”

  “Sure, that sounds great,” Seth responded, hefting his duffle bag slightly higher on his shoulder.

  “Oh, actually. Do you want to go to your room first so you can drop that off?”

  He glanced down at the bag.

  “Nah, it’s not too heavy,” he said. “And honestly? I can’t wait to be outside. I didn’t think I missed it that much, but we went past an open window earlier, and I almost cried when I felt the breeze.”

  He laughed, the noise slightly embarrassed, and I joined in.

  “Oh, that’s so fair. I almost did the same when I first got out. I mean, I know we could go out into the courtyard, but it’s just not the same. Stairs or lift?”

  Seth glanced at them, seeming to be considering it for a second before looking back at me.

  “I don’t mind. Any preference?”

  “Ummm, not really. Stairs?” I suggested.

  I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a little guilty for choosing them rather than the lift. It felt like I’d selected the wrong thing, as if I should have gone for the elevator, but we were only one floor down. It felt like a waste of electricity.

  “Sure!” Seth said, starting towards the stairs.

  “So…” I said as we climbed. “Abbie shot someone?”

  A laugh slipped from Seth’s mouth before he caught himself. He pressed his lips together, trying to hold back his amusement, but I could tell it was a challenge.

  “She did,” he said, his voice quaking with suppressed laughter. “Not with a gun, luckily.”

  “What did she use?” I asked.

  “A crossbow.”

  I couldn’t help the wince that darted across my face. I hadn’t been in the world when I’d had training on crossbows, but I could still remember the feel of the bolt in my hand. It had been so sharp, so solid. It would have done a lot of damage to whoever it was she hit, and I wanted to know who it was, but there was another question that felt more important.

  “On purpose?”

  Seth hesitated for a moment, waving his hand.

  “Not really. She said it wasn’t, anyway, and it was entirely his fault.”

  “Who’s?”

  “Arden,” Seth said. “He literally walked across her lane when she was aiming. Hannah hadn’t said it was safe for him to go either, so he had no excuse.”

  I nodded, my mind reeling.

  “Is he okay?”

  “He’s… getting there. It went through his arm and into his chest, but it didn’t hit anything important, so he’ll be fine. Which way?” Seth asked as we reached the top of the stairs.

  “Left. It’s just over there,” I said, gesturing towards the doors on the far side. “That’s good. Is Abbie okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s not in trouble or anything. Hannah said it should act as a lesson to all of us to be more observant and conscious of our surroundings,” he explained. “I think she feels pretty bad, but Katie was pretty happy about it. And Scott.”

  I glanced at him in confusion. I couldn’t think of a single reason why they’d be happy about it, but his tone made it clear I was missing something.

  “Why?” I asked uncertainly.

  “Oh, shit. Of course, you’ve not been there,” Seth said, more to himself than to me. “Arden kept hitting on Katie. I tried to tell him to give up, and he wouldn’t, but after Abbie shot him, I don’t think he’s even spoken to her.”

  “Oh, that’s good then.”

  Jealousy pulled at me. It wasn’t caused by Katie being hit on or Abbie shooting someone. I didn’t want either of those to happen to me. It was the fact that Seth knew about it. He’d been in the induction wing, and he was part of the story. He’d actually experienced it, and I wished that I had too.

  “Yeah. I mean, it shouldn’t have taken that much for him to leave her alone, but at least he has now,” Seth said before adding, “Oh, and Scott’s in love with Katie. That’s why he was so glad, but… don’t tell her?”

  I laughed.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t,” I promised. “I’m pretty sure she feels the same way, though.”

  A genuine smile lit Seth’s face.

  “Aw, I’m glad,” he said before his mouth dropped open. “Oh, damn.”

  Confusion washed over me as I looked around, trying to work out what he was staring at. I couldn’t figure it out, though. It seemed as though he was just staring at the fountain through one of the doors of the Academy that had been popped open.

  It had to be something more than that, though. He seemed shocked, bordering on concerned, and there was nothing about the fountain that would cause a reaction like that.

  “What?” I asked uncertainly.

  “The locks are… intense,” Seth said.

  My eyes found the thick metal bars that stood out against the wood, and I laughed.

  “Oh, right,” I said. “I know. I didn’t expect them to be so…”

  “Heavy duty?” Seth suggested. “It looks like a castle or a bank or something.”