Chapter 303
Clementine:
“Anyway, this is what you are worried about? She’s more concerned about the flag. She didn’t even ask if you’re all okay,” I retorted, unable to stay quiet any longer.
That got to her. She glared at me in anger.
“Don’t try to poison their ears,” she snapped, but Haiden raised a hand to calm her down.
“She’s not poisoning our ears. Calm down, will you?” he replied, leaving her stunned.
“Come on. It’ll help if you two act like friends, at least for this task,” Troy suggested, then started humming some random tune, confusing me with whatever was going through his head.
“Yeah, I think it’d be nice if you two hugged it out,” Yorick added, making both Oriana and me stare at each other in disbelief.
What were they thinking? Just trying to get us both into bed? Was that their new goal?
“No!” Before I could deny it, Oriana had already snapped at them.
“I wouldn’t hug her or even shake her hand. What made you think you could suggest something and I’d agree to it?” she scolded, her tone sharp.
I folded my arms across my chest, tired and annoyed that they even brought up such an idea.
“Maybe Clementine wants to make things right too,” Troy said as he took another step forward. I watched his face in disbelief and disapproval.
Why would he drag me into this?
They were the ones who wanted her in their bed, they should be the ones trying hard, not me.
“I don’t want to make amends with her,” I snapped, but Oriana seemed too pleased to care.
She made it look like I did, even though she probably didn’t believe it herself.
The fact that the others were willing to put me down in front of her might have felt like a victory to her.
“Well, whatever it is, I’m not ready for it, okay? And you shouldn’t even say that,” she told them. “You weren’t the one she bullied. I was. She hit me. I was the one who tolerated her cruelty, so I should be the one to decide when I’m ready to forgive her. And she needs to apologize properly p>
Oriana, who moments ago had acted like a victim, suddenly looked fine.
She stood, folded her arms, and shifted her weight to one leg.
The idiots followed, standing up and turning to look at me.
“Seriously? You want me to apologize to her?” I asked, just to make sure I was seeing them right.
“Somebody has to start it if we want to restore the friendship,” Troy muttered under his breath.
“Then that somebody will be a monster, because I’m not doing it,” I hissed, deciding that walking away was the better choice.
“See? This is what I meant when I said she would never want the friendship restored. She’s too toxic for it,” Oriana remarked as I turned to leave.
“Where are you going, Clementine?” Yorick called after me, sounding like he didn’t want me going alone.
“To hell,” I replied. “You guys can play games with her. For me, finishing the task matters more than hanging around this bitch.” I shouted back at her.
Her gasp was loud, but I had already walked away, so there was no point in turning around and repeating the same argument.
After checking the area for a while, I finally caught sight of the four again.
We’ve been wandering around searching for the ogres.
“We’ll go to the left side,” I heard Oriana say when she noticed me heading to the right.
“Oriana, Clementine knows her way,” Haiden replied in a calmer tone. “If she’s walking to the right, then there must be something there p>
I realized then that they were following me.
Still, they weren’t wrong, I did have a place in mind that could be where the ogres were.
They followed me in silence until I reached a high school.
The doors were large enough for an ogre to walk through.
I rushed inside, noticing that the classroom doors were smaller, but the hallway was wide.
At the start of it stood a large gate with a heavy lock.
“Here, maybe this will do,” Haiden said, offering me the small knife. I looked at his hand before taking it.
“Sometimes I wonder if she used to pick locks as a hobby to steal things.” Of course, Oriana had to make a comment about my ability to open any lock, trying to turn it into something bad.
“I don’t know. I just think it’s cool that she can do that p>
Troy stepped in to defend me but was met with a quick grunt from her.
As I unlocked the door and stepped inside, I saw an indoor playground in the distance with a massive door.
I had a feeling ogres might be there because bones were scattered around the area.
With every step, we slowed down as the smell grew stronger, that same muddy, musty, crusty scent.
“What is this smell?” Oriana asked, making me turn around to look at her.
She had her arm wrapped around Haiden’s, holding onto him, and he didn’t seem bothered.
He was keeping her close too.
Gosh, it was going to be hard watching them grow even closer and eventually forget about me.
“This is the smell of the ogres,” Haiden replied.
“Then we should leave,” she said softly.
I expected that from her. I don’t know what she was thinking.
Was she even planning to get the flags, or just keep running from the ogres?
“Well, we can’t leave,” Haiden told her.
As soon as he said that, she turned to look at him.
“Is it because she wants you to stay?” And as expected, she dragged me into the middle of it.
“I think they’re in there,” I said, pointing toward the play area and watching their eyes widen at how certain I looked.
“Be careful, Clementine,” Haiden called out as I reached the door.
Oriana immediately threw a tantrum.
“Why would you say that to her? She’s not a child. Besides, she won’t even listen to you. If she wants to check it out, she’ll do it p>
Her reaction was strange. Even Haiden grunted at her, giving her arm a small nudge as he steadied his breath.