Page 31 of Jinxed
Shh, I hiss. It’s too late for me to back out now. Thankfully, Tobias takes it in his stride. He clasps my hand.
I don’t knowif he feels it too. A spark. A moment where electricity leaps from my hand to his, where all the neurons in my palm seem to light up. It takes my breath away. It feels like our hands are clasped for a lifetime.
And then the moment is over. His hand slips from mine. ‘I’ll see you around then, Lacey,’ he says.
I swear there is a tiny smile playing on his lips.
Whatever it is, he leaves the room,taking his newly fixed eagle with him. And I have to catch myself on the desk or else risk melting into a puddle on the floor.
LECTURES, NOT CLASSES.
Professionals, not teachers.
Gathering, not homeroom.
And Baku Battles – not homework.
This is my first month at Profectus. Baku Battles seep into every aspect of my life,to the point that I wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, as I fend off razor-sharp eagle talons and shiny metallic tiger baku teeth. Jinx is never the one in the arena, it is always me. But then, Jinx isn’t allowed in the arena anyway.
I spend every spare moment not in school with the team in the Profectus team practice grounds, running drills, watching videos of old battlesand preparing strategies.
Mom’s pretty worried about my late hours. This is exactly what she was afraid of – that I would first disappear into my hobby, then into the school, then into a job – and then maybe for good. But I’m doing this for the two of us. To get us a better life. If that means working harder now so that I can relax later, then so be it.
Plus, I’m sure things will die down oncethe first battles are over.
And I’ve promised to see Zora this weekend to stream the latest season of our favourite sci-fi TV series, OUTERLANDS, which is launching Saturday at eight p.m. – prime time. She’s been pretty understanding that I had to concentrate during that first month of school, even though I can’t fill her in on exactlywhyI’ve been so busy.
But before I can think about theweekend there’s the first battle to get through. Ashley and Jupiter are going to be up first. According to Tobias, the first battles are always for low level students and bakus. It’s a chance for teams to test their mettle before the bigger events and to save their strongest players until later in the competition.
‘Any insider tips?’ asks Jake, seeking me out by my locker. He’s running the school’sgambling ring with aplomb, reworking old code so that the betting app makes suggestions based on heart rate spikes and pupil dilation. He calls it ‘tapping into instinct’.
I call it a load of crap. Which it is, but it doesn’t stop the entire student body (and most of the teachers) from downloading and using it.
‘No – and even if I did, you know I couldn’t tell you!’
‘Fair enough. Have to askthese things! Good luck, little Lacey.’
‘Thanks, Jake.’
The atmosphere for the first official battle is tense, and the entire school comes out to watch. My heart goes out to Ashley. She has to last thirty minutes to guarantee a share of the full one hundred points. If Jupiter goes down, we’ll have until the following morning to repair any damage back up to minimum 90% functionality.
‘Ready,Ashley?’ asks Mr Baird. As the companioneering teacher, he runs the battles.
She nods, her pale face tinged grey. She follows Mr Baird down into the competitors’ preparation room, where she’ll be loaded into one of the lifts to be brought up into the arena.
‘She’s going to get murdered,’ mutters Kai, as we file into the team box to watch. Front row seats to the action.
‘Come on now,’ says Tobias,but his expression is dark too.
‘You know she’s too soft about that baku of hers.’
‘Well, that’s why we’re sending her in first. She’ll have to toughen up. And you know she’s the best electronical engineer in the second year, so we had to have her on our team.’
‘At least she’s up against other level 3 bakus,’ says River.
‘I’m not so sure about that.’
All the eyes of the team flick to me.Because while Tobias, Kai and River have been focused on the strategies laid out on the backs of their bakus, I’ve been watching the other teams: in particular, Gemma’s team. And Gemma’s second year is walking into the team box.
