Adler | The Aces of St.Sinclair BOOK 1.

See | A FORTY THREE

A/N: Dedicated to leana971 and shesareader321. Your votes and comments are always welcome and appreciated!

The Porthshire Hotel outmatched my uncle's own, without a doubt. By the architecture, prestige and resplendency— which were only a few to list off the top of my head. However, there was one minor flaw the luxury resort had in comparison to uncle Louie's.

Amina hadn't stopped glaring at me since we were given our room keys at the front desk. It turned out she expected to still have her single suite, regardless of my inclusion.

She tried to negotiate for separates but Garren couldn't pretend to care because he was busy keeping Ben on a leash from starting up whatever he wanted out of the pretty passerby dressed for the pool. Mr. Hertford was no better as he was prioritised on mapping out which establishments allowed tobacco, the trip being nothing more than an early holiday for him.

I'd at least have hoped to form bridges with the competing schools, as we clearly shared a common love of academics. Sadly, as Will had told me earlier, that seemed to be a fruitless endeavour. Every group, from the Ivory Hill Prep stationed in the capital of Kenya to the closer neighbours, Gidrith Academy's top brainiacs of Ireland's elite boarding school— none were friendly.

They quite daringly went out of their way to glare at us when catching our 'special IAO champion' badges at reception. "Do we have to wear these?" I asked Garren in a whisper.

The dirty looks from Canada's team were the most brutal. Two of them even started picking on Andrew, stealing his water bottle to toss about until Tate and Fraiser came to their fellow member's aid. Although the two Woodland Wick students seemed resentful enough to seek revenge right there with fists, they had quite fine muscles from what I'd involuntary noticed. However, the staff were passing the boys stern looks and they aborted, retreating to their group.

"Why wouldn't you want to wear it?" Garren retorted, looking blatantly confused. "It's letting everyone know who we are."

"Yeah, which is the problem." I sighed. "And they only seem to be glaring at us. Why aren't they acting hostile with each other?"

"Who here wouldn't be hostile to the school that's won this thing three years running, Stevie?" Garren pointed out.

"Actually, we tied the last two times." interjected Will.

Garren shot a glare and continued, "So yeah, you see, for them, this isn't just about taking a step up from being LOSERS!" He rose the volume in his voice on that note, deepening the scowls on pairs of eyes simultaneously. I gulped.

Garren wore a prideful smirk and reverted his tone, "this is about trying to end our winning streak too. We're the bigger threat than anybody else standing."

"Oh, great." I said flatly.

"What's the matter?"

"This!" I gestured to the predators wearing fine pressed trousers and ties. "This is the matter. All the brochures and flyers I'd see about IAO with smiling faces, talking about how it was a great experience to bond intellectual minds from across the globe—"

Will snorted. "Yeah, that's so not true."

"Clearly." I frowned. "I thought this would be fun."

"It's a competition, not a party Stevie." said Garren. "And what do you mean, this is still fun. We'll be against actual peers who take winning seriously. A worthy battlefield, tell me that doesn't excite you."