Chapter 26

The day came to an end and Jasmine sluggishly walked to her room. Captain Crosswater conducted a brutal obstacle course, which had left everyone feeling pain in regions they never thought they would feel. All of the students struggled with this course, but as hard as she tried to not be the best, Jasmine found herself taking the lead. This in turn, seemed to have motivated Greer into a competitive mode, as the two found themselves racing each other to the end. Greer ended up tripping, which let Jasmine come in first place. What can the girl say, she was just too competitive to not face a challenge, especially one posed by Greer.

However, as her friends cheered over the fact that she did beat her 'nemesis', she caught Jim's eye and felt the disappointment radiate off of him. She did promise that she wasn't going to try to be the best at anything, due to Jim's fear of her getting noticed by the army, but she couldn't help it even if she did want to. It didn't have anything to do with winning or beating Greer, it was something she had always been wired with. Next to the compulsive need to be violent, she had always felt the same compulsion to do everything perfectly. The only thing she ever really struggled with, skill wise, was cooking.

Sighing over, as usual, disappointing Jim, Jasmine stepped through her bedroom door and found Adeline doing her homework, already dressed for bed. Deciding to take a shower, she grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom. The water seemed to refresh her body, but did little in regards to her mind. Stepping out of the shower, she turned to look at herself in the mirror and wondered if she truly recognized herself in it. It was a difficult thing to decide, when the girl in the mirror too seemed to be wearing a mask.

Grabbing her brush, she ran it through her hair as she walked to her bed. Adeline was quiet as the girl reentered the room, but eventually, she began tapping her pencil on her notepad. A habit she only did when she was trying to decide on what to say. Letting her be, Jasmine began hanging up the suit, that she received on her first day back to the Academy, in her closet.

The tapping stopped, and Adeline looked up at her friend to say, "Jasmine, are you okay?" causing the other girl to look at her.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"It's just... you seem to be really tense lately," Adeline answers.

"I'm fine."

Watching as Jasmine began putting away her laundry off her bed, the princess couldn't help but press on the matter, "You've been saying that a lot lately."

"Well, that's because I am fine."

"So what was that outburst today in Professor Price's class?"

Kicking her bottom drawer shut, "Okay, for one, that was not an outburst, since the professor asked me what was on my mind and I had no choice, but to answer," Jasmine states.

"Okay fine, but clearly there's something bothering you and I think you should talk to someone about it. If not me, then most certainly Jim."

"Like I said, I'm fine."

Adeline didn't believe her, and to prove that, she got up from her bed and sat on Jasmine's. Arms crossed, golden eyes stared into brown until they rolled, and a sigh escaped from their owners lips. Sitting down next to her friend, Jasmine thought about what she should say without revealing too much of the truth. There was no way she was going to put Adeline in possible danger, just by everything she's come to know over the past several months.

"I feel as if I've been pulled into this game that I didn't ask to play, and no matter how hard I try or what moves I make, I'll still lose and those around me, who didn't play, will somehow get hurt and it'll be my fault."

"What makes you say that?"

Jasmine wanted to say why, but all she could settle for was, "Intuition."

"Have you told Jim this?" Adeline questions.

"Somewhat."

"I think you should try talking to him about it, it might help strengthen your relationship."

Eyes widening in surprise, Jasmine couldn't help but blurt out, "What do you mean, strengthen our relationship?"

Sighing, Adeline looked at her friend blankly and answered honestly, "I mean what I said. Look Jasmine, you and Jim have been together for almost two years, through thick and thin. However, the guys will agree with me on this, there's tension between you two and you may not have noticed it before, but it's there. Maybe it's caused by this game you're playing, but if you're not careful and honest with him, it could create a gap between the both of you that neither of you can cross."

There was no way she was going to allow that to happen, but with the cards set and someone else's rules she has to follow, she feared the inevitability of her possibly losing Jim.

Seeing Jasmine's downcast gaze, Adeline couldn't help but feel a little guilty as she went on, "I'm just saying this as a worried friend, not that it would happen. I'd just hate to see you two become like me and Talion or worse."

If only you knew the truth about Talion, Jasmine thought and felt guilty for not being able to tell Adeline the truth. Silence fell between the girls and soon it was time for bed. However, sleep didn't come easily to Jasmine that night, as she kept on fearing seeing Jim walk away from her and not look back. When she did fall asleep, she dreamed of a faceless killer coming to hurt the people she cared about, and all she could do, was stand there and watch as it happened. If only her dreams were the worst of her problems, as she was soon to discover a truth about herself that she won't be able to bear.

Author's Note: Heya! Got another chapter for you all! This one took a couple days for me to finish writing, because I'm just so anxious to work on the next chapter, but I knew I wanted this to come before it, so I had to sit myself down and pace myself until I got it done. I just wanted to get something simplistic out of the way, before I dive down into something crazy that I've been wanting to reveal for a long time in this book, but wanted to wait in order for it to feel as if it flowed right. So yeah, be expecting some crazy shenanigans happening in the next couple of chapters! Anyways, I want to thank Sirrah K again for your continuous support and feedback! I enjoy reading them and it really helps motivate me to continue on with this story. Now, I better post this chapter before I decide to spoil something here in the AN :D