~x~ Chapter 66 ~x~
The guardians on duty informed us to start calming down about two hours after the dancing began. That gave us enough time to wind down before heading back to our rooms and get an early night in preparation for the task the guardians had prepared for us. If I remembered rightly, the task was a shorter version of the Senior year 'protect-your-charge' task where we would have to protect the charge assigned to us for a certain amount of time. It was a practical test to allow the students to know what the job entailed and what the task of protecting a charge would mean.
Before the night was over and as some students went back to their rooms first, Quinn took over the piano completely and Axel took the lead for a dance. I could tell after having danced with various other students tonight, that the way Axel held me occasionally had a much more mature feel to it. It was in the way he touched, the subtle teasing strokes of his fingers, the way his eyes could do crazy things to the body, and the very fact that he was more mature in looks didn't help much either. If it weren't for the fact that there were others in the room at the time, I probably wouldn't have been able to resist leaning in for a kiss or two. Axel was honestly far too handsome and attractive for his own good.
My spine tingled when I felt his breath against my ear as he pulled me close for a slow dance.
"It's good that the tension seems to be fully out of your system now, chick," he whispered.
"Well I have to admit, a lot of that is because of you, mister charmer." I teased.
"So I'm playing my cards right?"
"You certainly are." I grinned. "But thank you, Axel. I really do appreciate it. I was getting far too paranoid to have fun here before you so forcefully coerced me into our musical session earlier."
"You certainly caved a lot quicker than I had thought you would. Considering our conversation this morning I didn't think I would be able to get you to join me so soon."
"I didn't think I would cave so soon either. But hearing that our dearest composer had so many new creations it's hard to resist."
"It's been delightful to meet Risqué's lead singer in person at long last. You have been very hard to track down."
"Between school work and recording sessions, there hasn't really been any time to socialise as an artist. We agreed to maintain a sense of anonymity for me at least until I finished school so that I could focus on that first. The others in the band were the first to suggest it. They're quite protective of me."
"I would say that for a girl as strong as you it's probably unnecessary for them to be so protective. But then again, it's usually the strongest ones that need the most protecting. I get the feeling that you are certainly one of those."
"Is that so?" I drawled playfully as I twirled away from him before he gently tugged me straight back against him.
"Indeed. You are powerful but you're not invincible. You can't shoulder everything by yourself and I get the feeling that you don't really know how to share your burdens with others. You find it hard to trust people."
"I haven't found it too hard so far since arriving at St. Vlad's. I've found quite a lot of trust worthy people."
"In two weeks? I've got to say that must be something of a record for you, chick."
"It is." I admitted. "But I trust my instincts and my instincts say that you fellas are safe."
My breath caught as his face leant down and his forehead rested on mine. Considering our height difference the angle was probably rather uncomfortable for him but in that one moment I didn't care. My heart pounded in my chest as his eyes connected with mine and I grinned. Axel was nothing like any male I'd ever met.
"I should probably change dance partners or else there will be all sorts of rumours flying about tomorrow, mister charmer." I whispered.
"If that's what you want," he murmured. "Time is on our side, chick. I have all the time in the world to charm you."
He twirled me away from him and I fell into step with Drew.
"Axel seems to have a relaxing effect on you." Drew commented curiously.
"Of sorts." I laughed. "Relaxing but also exhilarating. I've never met someone like him before. He's not too full on. He's got the charm on just the right level. I can understand why the girls ogle at him so much."
"What about you? Are you captivated?"
It wasn't as hard to stare up at Drew as it was with Axel. Drew was only about a head taller than me. The way he looked at me took my breath away. It was different to Axel's smouldering gaze. There was something unfathomable with Drew's expression. If there was any comparison it would be somewhat similar to the way that Ali would look at me sometimes. But surely that wasn't right. I must have been imagining things.
"Intrigued, sure. It would be hard not to be. But I wouldn't go as far as to say captivated." I told him truthfully. "If I didn't know any better, Ozera. I'd say that you sounded a little jealous."
For a moment, I could feel heat increase from his fingertips where he touched my back. My eyes widened and was speechless as he suddenly drew my body even closer. The beat of the music suddenly changed from a simple slow waltz to a heated tango. As he span me so that my back pressed to his front, I noticed that Axel had taken over on the piano and Quinn was dancing with Els as Dan danced with Ingrid.
Wherever his skin touched mine I could feel heat searing. It wasn't quite painful but it definitely couldn't have been his normal skin temperature either. Heat simmered between us as he led the tango. Dancing with Drew made me remembered why I enjoyed dancing even if I didn't have as much of a natural flare for it as he did. He was innovative, fun and unpredictable. And yet somehow he was such a perfect lead that it was so easy to follow. He was a phenomenal dance partner and I doubted that I would find one better.
When the song ended, my body pressed hard against his, our faces so close that our breaths mingled as one and our heart beats almost seemed in perfect sync.
"Do I seem jealous? I didn't think there was reason to be," he whispered playfully with a deep low voice the way he always purposefully did since he knew that it had an effect on me.
"Why does dancing with you always leave me so out of breath?" I complained, forcing myself to calm down. Drew was simply being his usual irritatingly mindboggling self. That was all there was to it. Nothing more, nothing less. He simply enjoyed teasing me. "I am so going to return the favour ten-fold the next time we spar."
He gave me one of his highly satisfied and victorious grins and released me. "I just might get good enough that we end up being on par with one another."
"Not going to happen. I'm not going to teach you all my tricks. If I teach you everything you'll be one up on me." I scoffed. "I still have my pride and reputation to uphold."
"I'm sure you'll find something else to even the game."
"So could you." I argued back.
"This challenge could go on forever. Neither of our prides can handle having the other take the lead."
"Exactly. It would turn into a vicious cycle of us both trying constantly to be better than the other at something." I agreed. "It's a fun game but I think I'd rather settle for taking things rather gently for now. It's been so hectic the past two weeks I want to have a little relaxation time."
"Hopefully you'll have the summer to get back into a life pattern that isn't too full of surprises."
"A life I know is something I look forward to getting back this summer. Away from all this madness, rumour obsessed students and all that. It'll be a nice break."
"Rumour obsessed students?"
"It's the perfect label for them. I mean, I get that it's normal for people to gossip and spread rumours but boy I've had my fair share already in the past two weeks to last me an entire life time."
"But there will always be more," he commented meaningfully and I knew exactly what he was referring to.
"I know that it will happen when the secret is out. But I think for now I'll focus on giving them as little gossip material as I possibly can."
"Which will be hard considering Axel's fascination with you. As much as you might not want it, attention will always follow you wherever you go."
"Let's hope there will come a day in the very near future that people get bored of me and my antics and stop caring about who's attention I attract." I sighed. "From what I can tell, I've already come into contact with the most gossip worthy royal Moroi of our generation. So I can at least hope that they'll stop bickering about me meeting any more new people since they shouldn't care as much."
"You can hope. But I get the feeling that it might be useless."
"Hope is all I've got at the moment." I grumbled. "We'd better start heading back to our rooms. I can see the guardians staring at us in warning."
I headed over to the piano where Axel was sat.
"Retiring already?" he questioned.
"The guardians are getting ready to pounce on those of us still awake. And we've got a mad exercise set up for tomorrow which we should get a good night's rest for. Thank you for the music today, mister charmer."
"Just the music?" he teased, reaching out to take my hand and pressing a soft kiss on the back of it.
"And the dance." I grinned. "Try and get some rest instead of staying up all night doing whatever it is that you do."
"I would much prefer having you in my company but alas my bed shall be lonely with just me lying in it tonight."
"What? No other female here for you to charm that is age appropriate?"
"There are. But why settle for less when I could have something more exciting?" he murmured with a husky voice causing me to laugh.
"You are a handful. See you tomorrow, mister charmer."
"I wait with a bated breath."
"Don't hold it for too long you'll suffocate." I joked as I walked away from him. "Are you guys ready?" I asked the girls.
"The guardians were nice enough to let us stay until the last minute." Roxy grinned.
"And you certainly look like you've had a good night." I teased, cheekily glancing at Jacks briefly causing her to blush.
"We probably should go though. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's activity." Ingrid shuddered.
"I think we'll be working in teams so it won't just be you alone with a charge, Ingrid." Els reassured her.
"But you'll be fine anyway. We've already done a round of the areas we're allowed to access today." I told her.
"But everything looked the same to me. I'm going to get so lost."
"Maybe you'll get a charge who's good at navigation?" Dan pointed out.
"And there will be various guardians at check points tomorrow." Quinn added.
"It'll be just fine." Drew told her with a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "But we should go to bed. We'll all need the sleep."
"And we all know what you're like when you don't get enough of it, mister grumpy pants." I joked.
"You're no better, miss prodigy," he fired back.
"Point taken. But at least I don't burn people."
"No, you bite their heads of instead."
"Alright, you two. This can go on for hours." Quinn cut in. "Let's go before the guardians decide to physically drag us back to our rooms."
"Our word of reason." I grinned. "I could do with the rest. I didn't get much of it last night."
With that said, we headed back to our rooms and got ready for bed. Maybe because today's activities were physically exhausting, and maybe it was because of spending time with Axel, but tonight I had no trouble getting to sleep. I wasn't as anxious as I had been last night and I was out before my head even hit the pillow.
The next day, after breakfast, everyone on the guardian programme including the Moroi had a half an hour warm up whilst the guardians finished setting up for our activity. Glancing up at the sky, I began to wonder if this was such a good idea. I knew that in real life, anything could happen and we should be prepared no matter the weather. But having us move around the hills and woods didn't seem like a great idea with the clouds up ahead threatening to let it rip any moment now.
The guardians then spent fifteen minutes telling us what we should do if the rain did turn out to be too heavy. They prepped us on the warning signal they would send out to signal the end of the exercise if it got too dangerous.
Then they told us what teams and parings we had.
My jaw dropped when they announced my charge.
"He's not even a student!" I protested. "This is a terrible idea!"
"Prince Zeklos insisted and his personal guard will be following and will only intervene if the situation gets out of hand." Crispin explained. Turning to Joe, I saw that he was pinching the bridge of his nose and he was frowning. A lot. Clearly Axel had done something and caused some kind of havoc to have forced the guardians to allow this.
"This is stupid." I grumbled. The idiot himself strolled across the beach towards me with, whom I presumed to be, his guardian in tow. "You are ridiculous. Seriously? You love causing the guardians grief that much?"
"You should be thanking me, chick. I know those woods. I've been here enough times to know. It'll be an advantage for you."
"That's beside the point. It looks like it could chuck it down at any moment and you want to go into the woods voluntarily? You are absolutely out of your mind."
"Miss Valentine, my name is Nathan and I'll be accompanying your group. I'll do my best to make sure that Prince Zeklos doesn't get in the way of your exercise too much."
"He's already being a pain by forcefully volunteering himself." I sighed. "Can't you do something like physically lock him up in his room or something?"
"I'm afraid no one can stop him once he sets his mind on something," he responded in exasperation.
"Geez… just how much trouble do you cause your guards, mister charmer?"
"Just enough to keep them on their toes."
"Try not to torture the guardians too much. That's just mean."
"I promise nothing," he declared. "Trust me, you'll be glad to have me on your team. Just so you know I am a Spirit user with exceptional senses for my surroundings."
"That's your specialty?" I blinked. "Well, that's better than nothing."
"I could also compel all the other students to give you their stamps when they get them but somehow I don't think you'll approve of that method."
"You guessed right. I'd throw you off the cliff if you tried something like that." I scoffed.
"Alright everyone! Listen up. Between now and lunch time, you'll have to protect your charge while us guardians set up traps and attack them. Then after lunch, you'll remain in the same pairs but will also be joined by two other pairs to form a team of six. There are several stations laid out in the woods for you to collect a stamp from. Each stamp will be guarded by a small team of guardians. The first team to get all ten stamps will win and the prize is a secret until the end of the day."
"If the prize is a life time's worth of coffee then I'm all in." I murmured.
"If I behave myself and make your job easier how about I get a kiss before you guys head back to the academy?"
"Are you serious?" I stared at him. "No way. I don't trade kisses. Kisses are meant to be, as you said, 'a pleasurable activity'." I grinned cheekily, playfully batting my lashes at him.
Amusement glimmered in his eyes and he stepped closer to me but before he could get too close Nathan cut in and placed his hand on Axel's shoulder with a light but firm touch.
"People are watching. Think about the consequences of your actions." Nathan warned him.
"You let me off the hook last night when we were dancing. Let me off the hook now." Axel complained.
"That was only because you did your job and played the piano."
"You guys have a reward system going?" I asked curiously.
"It's the only way to get him to behave himself sometimes." Nathan sighed.
"How long have you been his guardian?"
"We went to school together and since I was the only one who knew how to manage him they assigned me as his closest guardian in the team. I work with Guardian Mathews who's worked as the family Zeklos guard for years."
"Prince Zeklos, are you certain you want to be involved in this exercise?" Joe asked as he approached us.
"With her as my partner, no doubt about it." Axel grinned. "I'm ready for whatever the guardians have planned."
"Valentine?"
"I'll whoop his ass if he ends up being a pain." I stated bluntly. "I'm ready."
"Alright, then let's get started."
A moment later several guardians surrounded us and went straight for Axel. Instincts took over and I placed him behind me protectively. I eyed the three guardians warily and waited for them to make their first move. When the first one made a move I was ready for it. Without reservation I flipped him as he lunged at Axel and kicked a second guardian in the shoulder, toppling his balance. Grabbing Axel's arm I tugged him along with me as we dashed across the beach towards the main building.
Several other guardians made a move against us but Axel was surprisingly adept at keeping out of both mine and the guardians' way. By the time we reached the main building things calmed down a little and we walked as a leisurely pace inside.
"You don't move like a student, chick." Axel commented as he strolled alongside me.
"Is that a compliment, mister charmer?"
"You've got the confidence of someone who's been a guardian for years."
"Thanks." I smiled.
"How are you like this when you only arrived at the academy two weeks ago?"
"I think I'm like this because I've been living outside of this place. I know a bit more about what the real world is like. The Academy is a great training place but it is a bubble. Living in a bubble can be dangerous if they don't know what to expect once they've graduated."
"Did you fight a lot when you were out there? I've heard you've already received tattoos."
"I wouldn't say a lot but I have encountered a fair number of Strigoi. Where I was living there were a lot of Moroi and as we all know Moroi have a tendency to attract Strigoi."
"If there were a lot of Moroi why weren't you brought to the academy sooner? Surely you would've been told that you should be studying at an academy."
"Oh I've been told. I've been told more times than I can remember. But why would I choose to live in a bubble when I had such a great life out there?"
"Do you regret being brought here?"
"Regret? No I wouldn't say so. I've met great people since being here and I have had opportunities that I wouldn't otherwise have had if I had stayed in the outside world. I count myself lucky that I've had the chance to experience the outside world."
"You are a breath of fresh air to the students. You bring new ideas to how things could be. You don't care about the hierarchy and let others know that royalty isn't everything."
"I guess living in this world is like being brought up in old monarchy days."
"That's a good comparison."
"I'm not saying that it's all bad. The vampire community is meant to be kept a secret from the humans so I guess it does require intense structure but the social hierarchy in the school is so over the top. It's even worse than normal high schools out in the real world."
"What was it like? Living out there."
"Incredible. It was hard at first when I started living on my own but I got used to it pretty quickly because I met adults out there who took me in as if I was their own child."
"For one thing you wouldn't have had the career that you do now if you were brought up in the academy."
"You managed it. How did that happen? You were popular and renowned even before I became a singer."
"I sent my compositions out online and when solo artists began performing them I caught several producers' attention. My parents were against it at first but they realised that there was nothing they could do about it. They couldn't control the internet and I was getting so many offers for my compositions so they said that so long as I worked under an alias and protected the vampire community's anonymity they'd allow it."
"I'm glad to hear it. The world would have been missing out if you didn't reach a compromise." I smiled. "Let's go raid the kitchen. I want to pick up a few things to spice up this task."
"Pick up a few things? What are you going to do to the guardians?"
I gave him a cheeky smile that I'd learnt from Ali all those years ago whenever we were about to play a prank. He took me to the kitchen and the chefs in their stared at us in shock.
"Prince Zeklos, what can we do for you?"
"Not me, this chick here wanted to borrow a few things."
"Can I borrow some flour and cling film, please?"
"Flour? That's what you're going to do?"
"Well what's the harm in having flour bombs in a task like this? We're pretending that the guardians are Strigoi attacking our charge so why not have a few tricks up my sleeve?"
"Oh it's going to surprise them alright. Are you a trickster at heart?"
"I've been like this for a long time, buddy." I smirked.
I thanked the chefs as they handed me the flour and cling film and made as many as I could carry. Axel took a few for himself and we left the kitchen to walk around the main building of the resort.
"Do you want to throw the first bomb?" I asked him.
"I can't wait to see the expression on the guardian's face."
"Then my three o'clock in about three, two, one."
As the word 'one' left my lips, Axel took a flour bomb and threw it at the guardian who lunged at us. It hit her on the right shoulder and she stumbled in surprise as the cling film tore and flour exploded. Her stunned expression caused Axel to laugh and I pulled him out of the way just as another guardian attacked us.
The rest of the exercise went on like that for the whole morning up until a loud siren rang out signalling lunch time. So far, we'd used up all our flour bombs, stunned fifteen guardians, and Axel was in hysterics by the end of it. When we got to the dining hall, we found a slightly battered looking Ingrid, and a worn out Els and Roxy. Before heading for the table, I went and got some food first.
"How are you three doing?" I asked curiously, checking Ingrid over to see if she was hurt besides the bruises that were already beginning to show.
"Let's just say I am definitely not looking forward to the task in the afternoon. I'm already this battered… going out into the woods is going to be a nightmare." Ingrid complained.
"The guardians were everywhere. Even when we thought we were safe they would just appear out of thin air." Els groaned.
"Why do you two look completely unscathed? It's not fair." Roxy grumbled.
"You two have caused quite a bit of trouble, I heard." Quinn laughed as he approached us.
"The guardians are both impressed and annoyed that you decided to arm yourselves." Jacks grinned.
"They didn't say that we weren't allowed to. They said no sharp weapons but they said nothing about other distractions. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought of it." I protested.
"True but no one else thought to raid the kitchen for weapons either." Drew chuckled.
"I was surprised when I was attacked by a powder coated figure." Christian grumbled as he took a seat beside Dan. If I remembered correctly the two of them had been paired up. "It took me a moment to realise that it wasn't actually a ghost or something."
"It's scared the hell out of me when the guardian attacked us. She was completely covered head to toe with the stuff. You guys really did a number on her." Dan commented.
"But we had a lot of fun." Axel grinned. "I thought I would get tired of their shocked expressions but it got better each time."
"You've got a pretty good aim. I was surprised."
"Are you finally glad that you were assigned to me?" he teased.
"No, you're still a pain but you're a bearable one." I teased right back. "So what are your charges and guards like? How come they're not with you?" Turning the question to the others.
"Our guards are in the infirmary getting their concussions checked out." Drew stated.
"Our charges are feeding." Els mumbled.
"This exercise was intense. Not as much as that real attack we had last week but it's been intense nonetheless." Roxy agreed.
"That attack last week was shocking and terrifying. It was nothing like what we're doing now." Ingrid pointed out. "This is just a game of battering us students."
"And clearly the training is paying off as well. You guys did well against the Strigoi." I turned to the Moroi quartet.
"We didn't really do anything. You and the other guardians took care of things pretty quickly."
"You saved my ass, Jacks. If you hadn't thrown up that wall of earth I would've been chomped on."
"The Strigoi was nowhere near your neck."
"It still would've been a nasty injury. So thank you for that."
"It's been getting clear that Moroi training in magic for combat is helping the situation." Drew added. "It was about time we did something rather than just sit back and be protected."
"You guys set a good example for the younger generations, that's for sure. I heard people talking at court about how more and more Moroi are choosing to attend the guardian programme." Axel pointed out. "Not all of them last long but those who do will probably turn out to be great fighters."
"Just imagine. Moroi and dhampirs finally working side by side properly and efficiently." Quinn commented.
"It's been slow process but I think we're finally starting to encourage more Moroi to take action." Jacks added.
"Which can only be a good thing."
"Tell that to all the Moroi who are wimps and can't keep up. I mean, seriously I reckon a lot more Moroi could actually do pretty well on the guardian course but they chicken out far too early because it's too much tough training." I grumbled.
"I reckon a lot of them could do better than I could with training if they actually tried." Ingrid commented sheepishly.
"It's a fact that they could. If we're forced to go through this hard training and it's clear that it's not impossible for Moroi to keep up then they should man the hell up and join." I scoffed. "I've been meaning to ask as well, charmer boy, how is it that you can move so well. You react to my actions as if you've gone through guardian training before."
"I didn't go through the proper course set by the academy but I have done a fair amount of training with the guardians at court. It's my way of keeping in shape. How am I supposed to charm the ladies if I didn't look good?"
"Seriously? That's why you trained?"
"Like I said, it's harder to charm and impress the ladies if I didn't look the way I do now," he shrugged.
"He's got a point. We didn't get so popular at the academy just for being from royal families. It's partly because we've done well on the guardian course that we've got the reputation and respect that we do now." Quinn pointed out.
"We're also the first group of Moroi from royal families who have managed to keep up with the training for so long. I think the record so far has been three years at most. By that point the Moroi just give up for various reasons." Dan added.
"So basically you guys are famous for all sorts of reasons." I asked.
"Pretty much." Jacks shrugged.
"Well, hopefully with you guys setting the record more kids from the elementary division might admire you lot enough to want to sign up and stick with it once they're given the choice." I sighed. "Ingrid, I really do think that you should head over to the infirmary to get your bruises checked out to see if they can do anything about them before starting the next exercise. That's going to be a lot worse than the one we've just finished."
"I heard you slipped and hit your head at one point. You should probably get that checked out." Christian mentioned.
"You hit your head? You should've gone straight for the nurse before coming here, Ingrid!" Roxy chastised. "I'm just about done eating and by the looks of it you're not going to eat much more either. Come on, let's go get you checked out."
"If we see your charges we'll let them know where you two are." Quinn assured them.
"Thanks. See you later."
For the rest of lunch, we all chatted idly about what the next exercise was going to be like. The others spoke of the stories spread down from year to year of the previous year's experiences and nightmares. Apparently, it was almost impossible to completely clear the task and to this date only a couple of groups each year manage to collect all ten stamps within the allocated time slot.
This exercise was clearly much more than a simple game of collect the stamps and fight against the guardians. It tested the potential for leadership and teamwork in a trainee. Being of a group of six, there should no doubt be some kind of a leader to help the team win. It would be up to the leader to assess each individual's skillset and to create a plan appropriate for their team.
I was dreading to find out who would be in my team. Though I'd never admit it out loud and most definitely not to the person himself, I was actually quite glad to be partnered with Axel for this exercise. I was trying to imagine being paired with another Moroi and balked at the thought. If I had a terrible snobby Moroi to take care of, chances were, I probably would've killed them myself. But Axel was different. He was funny and uplifting and most of all he really didn't get in my way at all which was absolutely delightful.
But once lunch break was over and we all gathered outside in the front car park to find out our teams, apprehension took hold once more as I stared out into the woods. They could reassure me as many times as they wanted but there was no way that I was going to be okay with this exercise. The feeling that something really bad was going to happen once again took hold and it took a lot of control to get a grip and not go plead with Joe to cancel the task. My instincts were bouncing all over the place and I knew that it was something much more than just the fact that we were going to head into dark woods where guardians might try and attack us every which way we went. The sense of wrongness escalated and I was so anxious I didn't hear them announce the group Axel and I were in. I didn't even hear them blow the whistle for the task to begin.
I briefly snapped out of it when I felt the hard shake of my shoulder. Glancing up a little, I saw Axel watching me carefully, concern evident in his eyes as he handed me the kit bags they issued to everyone.
"Are we ready?" I asked by way of response and looked at who I had in my team.
So it wasn't all bad. Christian and Dan both stared at me with frowns. I must've been zoning out big time. As for the other pair, Sarah and Travis, I wasn't so delighted about that. Sarah was one of Marissa's 'friends'. As for Travis, he sat on the jock table with Nick O'Connor but I had yet to actually have a bad experience with him so maybe he wasn't so bad.
"The real question should be: are you ready. You're the one who looks out of it." Sarah scoffed, crossing her arms in clear distaste over the fact that we were in the same team.
"I'm good to go." I told them simply.
There was no point trying to explain how I felt to them. Dan, Christian and Axel might understand since they knew me better but I had the feeling that Travis and Sarah, more specifically Sarah, wouldn't be so considerate.
"So, who has the stamp card?" I asked offhandedly.
"I do. You better protect me properly, Kylie," she sneered.
"You're not my charge. If you need protecting, that's Travis' job. We're just here to help collect the stamps." I told her flatly. I was not in the mood for this. I was most certainly not in the mood for her snobbishness right now. I hoped that Travis or one of the other boys was good at handling girls like her because I wasn't on a good day and today was rapidly descending into a terrible day.
Sarah looked like she was going to say something even more aggravating so I simply cut her off.
"One pair will take the front and the other will bring up the rear. Travis you need to stay as close to her as possible or whatever works best for you but you are her guard. If they break through the outer defences you need to be ready to protect her." I declared.
"We'll take the lead." Christian stated. "You and Axel can watch our backs."
"I feel better having you two protect our backs." Dan agreed.
"I feel safe with you taking the lead. You know these woods well enough." I smiled. "Are we all good with the whistle signals?"
Everyone nodded and so we set off towards the forest.