After we finished, we walked together toward the academic buildings. Kael seemed to be naturally escorting me back to class.
We walked together in silence until halfway through, Kai suddenly stopped walking and turned to face me.
"Is there something else you’d like to tell me?"
I arched my brow in confusion, turning to face him. "Something like what?"
"About Headmistress Vale. I know I said I wouldn’t push, but I must know what happened in her office today, Eamon. Please."
His question made me wary. I did want to tell him more about the footage from the summer camp, about how terrified I was that my cover would be compromised, about the whip and the threats.
But looking at his face, I couldn’t bring myself to burden him with more of my problems. Bottom line is, Headmistress Vale cannot link anything to him because I didn’t give her any helpful information.
"There’s nothing else to say, Kael," I said, forcing a smile. "I already handled it. Believe me."
He studied my face for a moment, though his eyes didn’t soften. Then his expression shifted slightly.
"Where did you keep your phone?"
"Huh?" I stared at him wide-eyed, realising that I hadn’t taken my phone out of my backpack all day. I’d totally forgotten I had a phone.
"I—" I began, but from the way he was staring at me, he already knew. "I’m sorry," I said immediately, fumbling in my bag for it. "I was so absorbed in school activities and forgot."
"I know you’re busy, but you always have to check your phone," he said quietly. "I was worried about you."
Realising that Kael was upset because I didn’t take any of his calls—that this was why he’d been so quiet and withdrawn—I flashed him a smile, hoping he would let it go.
"It won’t happen again, I promise."
"Don’t make promises you won’t keep," he murmured and then asked. "Do you have money to buy the requirements for first-years?"
That made me go still.
Heat flooded my cheeks as I stared at my toe in embarrassment. "No," I admitted quietly. "I was planning to just...figure it out or ask Slater for a loan."
The tuition and boarding fees were free at Ravenshore, but other expenses, such as personal living costs, were entirely the students’ responsibility. It was one of the reasons I’d chosen here as my escape plan. I only had to worry about having some change and not the school or boarding expenses themselves.
Without responding, Kael pulled out his wallet and held it out to me.
I blinked at him. "Wait, what are you doing? Why are you giving me your wallet?"
"Why else?" he retorted, as if the answer wasn’t obvious. He reached for my hand and pressed the wallet into my palm. "Buy everything you need with my card. The pin is inside."
Before I could protest or even thank him properly, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing there with his wallet in my hands.
I couldn’t fight the butterflies in my stomach as I watched his retreating figure. No one—not even Slater—had ever shown me such casual, effortless generosity. The matter-of-fact way he’d assumed responsibility for my needs—it was overwhelming in the best way possible.
Since it was almost noon, I decided to head to the administrative block to find my form mistress. I pulled my phone from my bag as I walked, chuckling when I saw fifteen missed calls from Kael, five from Slater and one from Rhett.
The evidence of Kael’s concern was both touching and guilt-inducing. I made a mental note to call Rhett later to check on how he was doing.
A few minutes later, I was standing in front of Janet, my form mistress, who was already prepared with a stack of materials and a businesslike expression.
"As Class Alpha, you’ll have several responsibilities just like the Alpha of a pack," she began without preamble. "First, you’ll need to take attendance every morning and submit it to the main office by 10 a.m. This attendance book will be your responsibility; guard it carefully, as any discrepancies will reflect poorly on both you and the class.
She handed me a thick, leather-bound book with ’First Year Attendance’ embossed on the cover.
"You’ll mark present students with a check, absent students with an X, and late coming with an L followed by the time they entered. Any students who arrive more than fifteen minutes after classes begin are considered absent, not late."
"This is your access card to the classroom and all practical labs designated for first-year use," she continued, handing me a platinum card. "Students of all levels share the labs at different times, so each year has specific access privileges. Don’t lose this—the replacement fee is no joke."
I nodded, tightening my hold around the card.
"You’ll also be responsible for communicating any important announcements to your classmates, collecting forms and assignments when required, and representing your class at monthly student council meetings."
"Also," she continued, walking to a cabinet and pulling out a slim folder. "Here’s your Class Alpha authorisation documents. You’ll use these to access student files when needed. Most times, the admission officer might ask you for help to access a certain student record, which is why you need this authorisation. Guard it with your life, because if you lose this, you would be practically giving away authorisation to confidential records. Most of the records are digital, but for the lower levels, some things are still paper."
She passed the documents over.
"If you have any questions..." she paused, looking up at me for the first time and stretching out her hand. "Give me your phone."
I obliged and handed her my phone.
She pressed her number into it and dialled. When my number rang in hers, she handed mine back to me.
"That’s my number, text me if you have important questions. I also hope you can learn to manage small conflicts without involving me. Please, make my life easy. You can go."
She waved at me dismissively and turned to her desk.
I turned to hurry out of the staff room when she called me back.
"One more thing," she murmured when I turned back. "The student president came to submit this mentorship form on your behalf earlier. Do you know anything about this?"
I looked at the form, and I was surprised. I hadn’t filled out the form I received this morning. Yet, my name was clearly written at the top of the form the form mistress held.
"You didn’t know?" Janet asked.
I shook my head. "No...I had no idea."
She narrowed her eyes at me before nodding and, in one swift motion, tore the form in half. "Choose whoever you want as your mentor. Don’t let anyone make that decision for you. Besides, this isn’t a matchmaking agency."
I exhaled in relief, even if my stomach turned a little at the thought that Marcus had gone behind my back.
Janet reached into another pile on her desk and pulled out some bound notes. "These are for Rhett Thatcher. Have it delivered to him by the end of classes today."
I accepted them, adding them to the pile at the crook of my elbow, feeling like I’d just acquired half a job.
"That’s all. You can go."