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P3 - Chapter Twenty-nine

December 29th, 2020:

We all stared as Anemone emptied out her desk in an angered rush. Mastermind was teaching a lesson but the entire class couldn't take their eyes off of Anemone. Pike was also emptying his desk, too, needing to move with Anemone.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," I had said the day Anemone had very rudely stomped on my books in the hallway but then Turtle had helped me. "Am I going to have to get used to that?"

"Probably," Turtle had said with a shrug. "Don't worry, her little attitude won't be a problem once she gets sent to a boarding school. If her grades don't get better by the end of the second semester, the school will have no choice but to send her."

I can't believe he was actually being serious, I thought, a little dazed. Qibli, Deathbringer, and Glory all sat at their desks around me, also staring at Anemone hard and thinking.

"Psst. Hey, Moon! Psst!"

I looked over my shoulder at Luna, who was leaning forward and whispering. "Do you know what's going on? Why is she packing all of her stuff? Did she get expelled?"

"Can't say," I whispered back. "I promised her I wouldn't."

"Oh." Luna leaned back in her chair and turned to whisper to Blue and Cricket. When I looked back up at Anemone, I noticed her face was stained with tears as she avoided everyone's gazes.

"Ahem," Mastermind said loudly, catching our attention. "The board is up here. Stop worrying about Miss Anemone and focus on your work. Anemone, please be quicker."

Icicle raised her hand. "How come she's leaving? What's going on? Is she expelled?"

"That's none of your concern," Mastermind responded before clearing his throat importantly. "Anyhow, back to the lesson." He turned back to the board and began talking. Glory, Sunny, Tsunami, Starflight, and Clay were all huddled together, also whispering.

Anemone sniffled as she finally got her stuff packed. "Come on, Pike," she said softly, avoided our gazes and turning to slowly walk out of the room. Once she was officially gone, the class burst into a busy chatter of theories for why she had to leave.

"I don't understand," I said, turning to Qibli. "Turtle said she had until the end of the second trimester for her grades to improve. The second trimester just started!"

"Her grades must've been beyond reversible," Qibli said, thinking hard. "I'm not sure. I don't think she deserves to get sent to boarding school. She still has time, doesn't she?"

Poor Anemone, I thought, surprisingly sad that she had to leave. We're going to miss you.

"*"

The news about Glory and Deathbringer finally got around, and Sunny nearly melted when she heard. They were the new most popular couple, and although they never really showed too much PDA, people adored them and some prayed they'd get married one day.

Tamarin had been unbelievably upset ever since Anemone got the phone call that she'd be going to boarding school, and I almost never saw her throughout the day.

Meanwhile, there was a new kid–Fjord.

Girls fell for him almost as quickly as they'd fallen for Qibli. When he roamed the halls, people made sure to get out of the way as their new idol walked through. In my personal opinion, their reactions were ridiculous. I found it weird that people idolized others based on how they looked and acted as though they were merely servants to a king.

"So, what do you think?" I asked Kinkajou as we all sat together for lunch. "I know you usually love new students. Have you met him?"

"He is literally the rudest person on the planet," Kinkajou informed importantly. "Maybe even ruder than Winter."