Vivian kicked her boots off and walked inside, slamming the door shut behind her.
Rosa was sitting at her desk, surrounded by piles of paper, scribbling on an assignment sheet.
At the sound of the door slamming, she looked up. But the second she saw Vivian’s pale face and tense posture, her smile dropped.
"Hey," Rosa said, as she tapped her pen against her chin. "First day can be brutal, huh? You look stressed out. How did the assessment go anyway?"
Vivian collapsed onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow before rolling over to stare at the ceiling.
"The assessment is tomorrow," Vivian muttered.
"Ohh," Rosa murmured, turning her chair around to face her. "Well, you didn’t miss much here. Second-year classes are basically just data overloads. I swear, my head is spinning from all the theory. But hey, at least you got through day one, right? The freshman block isn’t as intense, so you’ll...."
Rosa kept talking, but Vivian wasn’t interested at all. Her roommate’s voice just drifted past her ears. She couldn’t stop thinking about what Wyatt and Jeffery.
I am letting them get to me, she thought. Entangling myself with these people I hate is starting to drag real emotions out of me. I can’t afford that. Five months is not a long time anymore.
Suddenly, a loud vibration echoed from Rosa’s phone.
Rosa grabbed her phone, stared at the screen, and a gasp escaped her lips.
Vivian slowly turned her head on the pillow. "What?"
"Oh my god," Rosa stammered. "The whole school is losing their minds right now. It’s all over the academy website."
"What website?" Vivian asked, even though she wasn’t that interested.
"HotSentinelsAndGuidesNews.com," Rosa said, as she opened the forum page. "Look at the main thread. The headline says: ’Commander Wyatt loses control in the main cafeteria. Cafeteria completely destroyed.’ The comments are flooding in so fast. Everyone is terrified that he’s losing control."
Rosa scrolled. "Listen to what people are typing in the live chat! ’He doesn’t have a Guide. If he goes berserk, what happens to us? Will the academy lose its strongest shield?’"
Vivian let out a mocking scoff.
"Wait, hold on," Rosa’s voice suddenly dropped, as she stared at a newly uploaded post. She slowly turned the phone screen toward Vivian. "Vivian... tell me this isn’t you."
Vivian leaned up slightly, squinting at the screen.
Right there, on the front page, someone had captured the exact moment inside the cafeteria. The picture showed Vivian, as she held a tray directly over Wyatt’s head.
"How did you get involved in this?!" Rosa shrieked, dropping the phone onto her bed. "The comments are already targeting you! Look: ’Who the fuck is the red-haired girl that embarrassed him today? I heard she’s a freshman. Someone needs to teach her a lesson before she gets us all killed.’"
Vivian let out a sigh, collapsing back onto her mattress. "He basically called me a whore in front of everyone. So I dumped my food on his head and threatened him."
The room went silent for two seconds.
Then, Rosa burst out laughing. She laughed so hard her shoulders shook, throwing her head back as she looked at Vivian like she had completely lost her mind.
"You... you did what? Oh my god, Vivian, do you have a death sentence? You don’t even dare threaten a C-Class sentinel, let alone an S-Class commander the whole school respects! And the way you said ’threatened’ sounds so casual! Who do you think you are? A mob boss?"
Vivian didn’t laugh. "What exactly did you expect me to do, Rosa? Smile and thank him?"
Rosa’s laughter died down when she realized Vivian’s expression wasn’t changing. She wiped a tear from her eye. "Wait. What exactly did he say to you? Word for word."
"He told someone I only choose my partners based on the size of what’s in their pants," Vivian said, flatly.
Rosa slammed her hand on the desk. "Wow. Okay, that is disgusting. That is a slut-shame. What a prick."
Rosa paused, running a hand through her hair. "But still, Viv! That doesn’t excuse the fact that it was stupid of you to go after him like that. Even I am not safe now because I’m your roommate! The security force might raid this room tonight!"
"Let them come," Vivian muttered. "Why is everyone so afraid of him anyway?"
"Because Wyatt cannot lose control!" Rosa explained. "He doesn’t have a Guide to anchor him. His compatibility levels with even the top Guides in the country are low. There’s a rumor around the barracks that he actually experiences intense pain whenever a regular Guide tries to soothe his energy. That’s why he’s always alone."
"He’s a very reserved person, Viv. This is the first time a rumor is spreading about him losing control. It’s always about his looks and achievements. You literally cracked his perfect image."
Vivian closed her eyes, unbothered by the explanation. "He could go berserk and lose control for all I care," she muttered into the quiet room. "I don’t give a fuck."
Rosa walked over to the edge of Vivian’s bed, leaning down so her eyes were locked directly onto Vivian’s face.
"You should give a fuck, Vivian," Rosa said. "This academy only has three S-Class sentinels on campus right now. And five in the whole city. If just one of them fully loses control and enters a berserk episode... they won’t just destroy a cafeteria. They can level the entire academy and wipe this whole town off the map before the military can even deploy a containment team."
Vivian’s eyes suddenly widened.
Wipe the whole town?
Her mind immediately spun backward into the memories of the apocalypse. She remembered the fire. She remembered the destruction.
If Wyatt goes beserk right now because I pissed him off, I might inadvertently cause another apocalypse to start. I could destroy my own timeline before I even have the chance to save Aurora.
Rosa was still talking, her mouth moving as she explained the protocols, when Vivian’s phone suddenly vibrated against her hip.
The phone didn’t stop vibrating. Text notifications lit up her screen. Vivian pulled it out of her pocket and looked down.
It was Jeffrey.
[Jeffrey: Vivian, answer me.]
[Jeffrey: Where the hell did you go?]
[Jeffrey: We need to talk. Right now.]
[Jeffrey: Viv, I’m serious. Don’t ignore me. I know you’re in the D- block.]
[Jeffrey: Come outside. I’m not leaving until you talk to me.]
Vivian stared at the screen as the messages kept popping up one after another. She let out a sigh, rubbing her forehead where a headache was starting to form.
She had targeted Julian to bruise his ego, and she had dumped food on Wyatt to defend her pride. But Jeffrey? Jeffrey was a ghost from her past that she couldn’t just throw rice at.
He wouldn’t leave her alone until he got answers.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, grabbing her hoodie from the bed.
"I’m going out for a minute," Vivian said flatly.
Rosa blinked, looking at her nervously. "Are you going to apologize to Wyatt?"
Vivian stopped by the door, turning her head slightly. She looked back at Rosa with a deadass, blank expression.
"Ew. No," she said flatly.
She turned the doorknob, as she walked out into the corridor. "I need to handle another prick."