Page 25 of Jinxed

He grunts at me. ‘Not plotting any moreharm to Aero are you?’

‘Excuseme?’

‘First the pine cones. Now you try to drop a ton of books on his head.’

I stop in my tracks. ‘The pine cones?’ So hedoesremember what happened at the beginning of the summer... but not the same way that I recall the incident happening at all. ‘Hang on a second, you sent your eagle to scare my friend! She almost lost her brand new baku because of you.’

He stops too, pivoting on the heels of his sneakers. ‘Aero wasn’t scaring your friend. He was catching a baku ball. Carter threw it at her head and it would have hit her if it wasn’t for me. He was being an idiot.’

I open my mouth to protest, but then I realize he could be telling the truth. ‘Oh,’ is all I say.

Tobias’s eyes search my face, then he starts walking again – and I have no choicebut to follow. He leads me to an empty classroom, where the rest of the team is waiting. I trail a little bit behind, still wary of his story – and regardless, it doesn’t change the fact he’s friends with Carter. Unfortunately, it’s harder to remember the grudge when he looks at me with his deep green eyes. I grit my teeth and tamp down on those feelings as much as possible.

He swings open theclassroom door, and I’m greeted by three expectant faces – two guys and a girl. One of the guy’s faces turns sour immediately, giving me a dark scowl.

‘Guys, this is our first year teammate, Lacey Chu. Her baku is...’

‘Jinx,’ I reply. I give the group a nervous wave, confused by the wave of hostility coming from the guy – who has the tallest spiked hair I’ve ever seen. He has a beautifullarge husky-type baku at his feet. Tobias gestures to him first. ‘This is Kai, and his baku Oka. He’s my second-in-command, a third year like me, and the team’s main companioneer.’

‘What’s up with your baku?’ Kai asks, folding his arms across his chest.

I swallow, but Tobias answers for me. ‘He got black-marked in Mr Baird’s class.’

Kai looks aghast. ‘Toby, man... What the hell? This isn’twhat we agreed.’

Something passes between the two teammates that I don’t understand. It seems like they’re talking in code, similar to what passed between Tobias and Gemma in Mr Baird’s classroom. I hug my arms around my waist, uncomfortable with the feeling that this is all to do with me – even though I’ve done nothing wrong except, apparently, having been chosen.

‘I’ll tell you later,’ saysTobias. Before I have chance to question it, he moves on. He points to the second guy – a tall, lanky red-haired guy with a face covered in freckles. His baku is – unusually – an oversized frog, but still a level 3. ‘This is River. He’s also a third year – and a mad talented designer. His baku is Lizard.’

I frown, looking at his baku – which is clearly a frog. ‘But that’s a...’

‘I know. Don’task. He’ll be the one responsible for any mods we want to make.’

‘All right, Lacey?’ River asks, but his head is down and he’s sketching in a notebook – so I don’t get the impression he really wants to know the answer.

‘Hi,’ I say anyway.

‘And then this is Ashley – our second year, and electronics geek. Her baku is Jupiter.’

‘Welcome to Team Tobias!’ she says, giving me the first warm welcomefrom the new team, along with a Hollywood-style, mega-watt grin that’s impossible not to return. Her long blonde hair is tied back in a casual messy bun – the sort that every teenage girl is supposed to be able to pull off effortlessly, but I can’t achieve no matter how hard I try. I look down at her feet and feel a stab of jealous at the beautiful spaniel baku at her feet. He’s the closest thingso far to what I would have chosen if I’d had the opportunity. ‘Hey, come sit over here,’ she says, standing up on her chair and jumping up on to the desk next to it.

‘Thanks,’ I say, bumping awkwardly into the back of the chair before finally managing to sit down. I close my eyes for a second, trying to calm my nerves. I wish more than anything that Jinx was awake – he might not be able to easemy anxiety, but he’s at least good at distracting me.

Tobias takes point in the middle of his team. ‘Right. This is my third year of Baku Battles, so I’m not going to let anything – or anyone– mess this up for me.’ Tobias’s eyes flick to me. My cheeks burn for what feels like the millionth time today – it’s so unfair, because he must have chosen me and seensomepotential, but because of theblack mark I’ve somehow been judged as inadequate.

I stare down at Jinx’s inert form in my arms. I miss having his banter in my ear. No doubt he would be commenting in my ear about my teammates, or offering insights into the Baku Battles. I miss it, even though it’s been less than twenty-four hours since he first spoke.

Tobias continues: ‘I’m deadly serious about winning this year, so the hardwork is going to start today. No one has any plans, right?’ As if anyone would dare to disagree with the ferocity on Tobias’s face. He turns to Kai sitting next to me. ‘What do you think of following a similar strategy to Nathan’s last year?’

I jump in before I can stop myself. ‘But what exactlyisthe Baku Battle competition?’

Tobias stares at me and Kai rolls his eyes, but I see Ashley noddingand smiling at me encouragingly.

When I turn back to Tobias, his chest swells out and his chin lifts. He’s enjoying this. He’s in his element – a leader – and as if by divine intervention, a perverse sunbeam slices through a slat in the blinds to cast a band of gold on his dark brown skin.

He looks positively regal.

He takes a deep breath before beginning. Even my fingertips are tingling withanticipation at what he is about to say. ‘Baku Battles,’ he pauses for dramatic effect, ‘are a long-standing tradition at Profectus. Pitting baku against baku teaches us how to innovate – to create, to imagine – in the most extreme environment, with stakes that actually matter to us. You’ve heard the old saying that war drives technological advancement? Well, we don’t want to haveactualwar,so we’ve got to simulate it. Of course, you can’t fight bakus in the real world but here, under strict rules, in a controlled environment... we get to gonuts.’ His eyes flash as he talks, and my heart twists inside my chest. This is amazing. It’s even better than I could have hoped. I knew Profectus would be competitive, but this is on another level.

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