Sage pulls me into a hug before I can react. It's fierce and sudden and smells like cherry blossoms and peppermint and everything I've missed.
"I'm so glad you're here, Mae," she mumbles into my shoulder. "Seriously. This place just got a hundred times better."
I hug her back, blinking against the sting in my eyes.
"Me too."
She pulls away, grinning.
"Text me later? From your ancient phone?"
"Beatrice will do her best."
"That's all I ask."
Jace offers a casual wave. "Good luck with the timetable, MaeMae. And the roommates. And the, you know." He gestures vaguely at everything. "All of it."
"Thanks. I'll need it."
"Nah." He shakes his head, something knowing in his golden eyes. "I think you've got more going for you than you realize."
Before I can ask what he means by that, Sage is dragging him away, already complaining about being late and coach's wrath and something about running laps until she dies.
I watch them go, their bickering voices fading down the hall.
Friends. I have friends again.
Weird. Wonderful. Terrifying.
I turn to face the administrative office, squaring my shoulders.
The door looms in front of me, golden and gleaming and full of bureaucratic promises.
On the other side: my timetable. My schedule. The structure that will shape my next six weeks.
Beyond that: a tiny room in a house full of Alphas. Three men who represent my past, my trauma, and possibly my undoing.
A figure skating club I'm too scared to join but too hungry to ignore.
A deadline ticking down like a bomb strapped to my future.
And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a chance.
A real chance to figure out who I am when I'm not defined by fear or failure or other people's expectations.
Six weeks. That's all you have.
Make them count, Mae.
I take a breath. Push open the door. Step inside.
The administrative office is quiet and efficient, staffed by a Beta with kind eyes who hands me a folder without making me fill out seventeen more forms. My timetable is inside, along with a campus map and a list of clubs accepting new members.
Figure skating club. Right there at the top. Like the universe is mocking me. Or challenging me. Hard to tell which.
I tuck the folder under my arm, grab my luggage, and head for the exit.
The hallway is emptier now. Most students have filtered off to classes or practice or wherever they go when they're not being ambushed by their pasts.
