THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[30.1] INTER-COLORS MATCH: GREEN VS SILVER (part three)

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"The female student body has stupidly decided to divide themselves into two separate halves."

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THE ONLY COMFORT I had in this whole Arena was the mere fact that there were too many students packed in the Arena for Hallway Boy to spot me. He was seated far away on the opposite side of the Dome, elbow against the arm of his chair, his chin propped in his hand as his dark gaze swept down the scene before him.

I looked away staring at my shaky hands in my lap for a moment before tucking them in my jacket; repeating over and over that there were way too many of us for him to spot me. Besides, he cared less about anyone else.

So far, he was either looking at the dome or Raskei for just a few moments. His gaze never bothered to venture farther from that vicinity. It was almost like he didn't care about anything else.

And it was ridiculous for me to be this nervous because the chances of him seeing me were equal to none. I shut my eyes taking a deep breath out, trying to calm my nerves and block out the ever-loudening noises of students who were blabbering amongst themselves.

He probably didn't even remember me or cared anymore. I mean look at me, I was the absolute least intimidating person that had ever existed.

All this was troubling my mind when he probably didn't even think about it as much as I was doing right now if it ever even crossed his mind at all-

"Talanda?" Claire called her tone holding concern.

My eyelids fluttered open, turning to Claire who gave me a funny look, to which I replied with a feeble smile, ensuring her I was back to reality and that she needn't worry. She gave me one last funny look before her eyes drifted back down to the Dome, eyes glancing over it.

"Harvest," she repeated, the name sliding down her tongue causing my ears to prick up, watching her nod to no one in particular, " it suits him," she lightly shrugged.

"Ugh-don't tell me you're one of them," Lira grunted throwing Claire a disgusted look.

Claire turned to her roommate, "one of what?" she asked, her voice a low monotone.

Lira rolled her eyes sitting up, dropping her legs as her gaze narrowed to the people across the dome, " if you haven't noticed already," she began, "the two hottest guys on Kingsland is that," she began pointing at Lucas "and that," she moved her finger diagonally across to where Harvest was brooding beside an equally cold looking Raskei, " and please note that I used the term, 'hot' very loosely," she sighed, pushing her hair back, " I am much too evolved for this," she sighed before continuing her explanation.

"The female student body has stupidly decided to divide themselves into two separate halves. Those with one brain cell who are dangerously falling for Mr. Bad Boy over there, AKA Mr. Mysterious, AKA Harvest Adams, and Aka you," she said referring to Claire, "and those who prefer Alpha types, six-packs and pea brains, Aka Lucas Bowne, for people like Talanda over here," she casually explained.

I could feel my cheeks heat up at this sudden accusation, my eyes shifting any place else that wasn't on Lira. I hated how she classified us into those two groups.

"Anyone in their right mind would see that Harvest is more attractive," someone said.

We all looked down in the direction that familiar voice came from. A girl who was sitting a row below us, on the chair ahead of me, her honey-colored hair reminding me of-

Ellie.

I was surprised to see the Dead girl Claire had found in the toilets, looking back up at us with that superior expression she just so loved, scenes of our first encounters flooding in my head as she slightly turned to face us in her seats, and backed by two other girls I assumed were her friends.

Her eyes narrowed on us, with a smile that was not at all enticing, reminding me of the cliche cheerleader queen bee, who thought she run the school, "if it isn't screamer girl and the mute," she giggled, glancing at both Claire and me.

I didn't like those two names for the record.

"No one asked for your opinion Ellie," Lira hissed having the most uninterested face on, "don't you have Thandi to piss off?" she scowled.

" Ha-ha," Ellie mocked, before rolling her eyes, "don't you worry little Lira, Thandi is still recovering after getting her ass kicked by The curser," she smiled as if she had just won the trojan war, "and why am I not surprised it's you telling these poor newbies, lies Lira?" she huffed, pronouncing every syllable in Lira's name, before flipping a wave of her hair off her shoulder, "let me tell you something about Harvest, dorks," she began-

"You mean other than the fact that you think he belongs to you?" Lira darkly chuckled, "Wait till Daya hears of it."

My eyebrows furrowed at this statement but got lost in the conversation as it continued. Ellie narrowed her eyes at her.

"I don't give a damn about what Daya thinks," she scoffed, "what I was trying to say-" she continued giving Lira a look that could have made me melt in my seat although Lira just brushed it off, "is that Harvest is Harvest," she smiled with a light shrug.

Her friends nodded like they were born mute too.

"Wow, ladies and gentlemen, Miss Honey for brains here just solved the biggest mystery in the world," Lira clapped sarcastically, "good for you-"

Ellie ignored Lira, "I don't blame you for not getting that, but you'll understand the meaning of that sentence as your stay here prolongs," she explained, and I was still getting that queen bee cheerleader vibe from her.

Lira rolled her eyes, "you just wasted 3 minutes of our time ELLIE,"

"Then it's time well wasted," she retorted before whipping her hair in our faces, turning back to the game.

I raised an eyebrow at this and Lira sighed at the obvious dramatics of this whole situation.

"Anyway, what I was saying before honey bee WASTED OUR TIME," she called loudly to which Elie only scoffed before chattering away with her friends, "is most girls on Kingsland tend to fall for either. Mr. Alpha boy over there, or Mr. Bad boy. Either way, you two falls under the classification of MOST girls, evidently," she finished, lifting her feet back onto the chair laying back, retaliating back to her relaxed position.

Claire and I exchanged looks whilst Lira shouted over our heads, her voice getting lost in the murmur of students, "What the frickin hell is taking this fight so god dang long!" she sighed, 'her hand rubbing her feet, "I'm becoming sore from doing nothing," she muttered.

I didn't like the fact that I had been classified as part of the Lucas Bone Fandom, no matter how apparent that was.

True, I did consider myself ordinary, but the last thing I desired was to be Cliché. By all means, tell me I'm a plain Jane and I will comply, but Cliche was just a whole other level of low.

I sneaked a glance over at Lucas Bowne, my heart beating softly inside me as I watched his eyes travel the length of the dome. His silky hair dropped down in curly waves to his shoulders, my mind flashing back to the first and only time I had ever had the chance to speak to him. I found myself smiling, no matter how hidden I wanted it to be, the very fact was,

I was smiling.

Catching myself, my eyes stretched back to the Arena below, studying the grounds. It was strange how fast they had managed to grow all those trees or plant them in a matter of only a day and a half. Yes, that did strike me as strange or remarkable either way it was not normal. I mean how on earth did they manage to change the backgrounds of the dome that quickly from one environment to another?

I was brought safely back from this question at the sound of the iron doors on either side of the doors suddenly jutting open.

My eyes widened at the first contestant I saw.

Ari.

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I hope you enjoyed the update! Leave a comment on your thoughts on the chapter, vote to boost the book if you're enjoying it! Feel free to leave me a comment or a question on my discord channel, (link in bio)
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