I made my way to Coop's office, my mind racing with questions. The first one was why Coop even had an office here. Yes, he seemingly funded most of the athletic department and such and was even labeled as a professor, yet I haven't seen him teach a single class or do anything that would suggest he was actually a teacher here. "Come in," Coop's voice called from inside.I entered, and Coop looked up from his desk. "James, what can I do for you?""I need answers, Coop," I said. "No more half-truths. I need to know everything about my mom and why she was here."Coop leaned back in his chair, studying me. "Alright, James. Have a seat."I sat down, my heart pounding in my chest. Coop sighed, looking weary. "Your mother was a student in the last co-ed class. She was exceptional, one of the best we ever had.""Why was she here?" I asked."She was here because she was special. The academy was experimenting with integrating from other schools, but it turned out to be more complicated than w

Much to Alec's dismay, I quickly set Kris's chessboard next to the others on the windowsill. It took up the entire space.He whispered, "Do you know how hard it will be to dust that many pieces?" making everyone in the room laugh at him. Kris and Adrien left for the student center, teasing one another about how close their chessboard gifts to me almost matched. Once they were out of sight, I got up and rummaged through my bag. I had something special for Alec, too.I pulled out a package and handed it to him. "Here, this is for you."Alec took the gift in surprise. He unwrapped it to reveal a coffee cup with the words, "You call it OCD, I call it You should have put the shit back where it belongs." Inside the cup was a keychain, similar to the ones I had given Jules, Bear, and Adrien. This one was a knight chess piece made from white and redwood. It was far more detailed and not a gag gift like the others.He laughed when he realized how closely it matched the one he'd carved. "O

Coop walked in from one of the back doors. Cam didn't even bother to take his feet off the table. Coop's surprised face at seeing me there seemed almost amusing to him. So Coop, who supposedly knew everything about this place, didn't know Cam could get in here? Cam smirked. "I let James in here to research since their guide is scared of dark corners. Sue me." Umm, why did he just use a random pronoun? "Their" instead of saying "his." Coop didn't seem to catch it, but I most definitely did. Coop was nearly fuming. "How could you get in here in the first place?" "Perhaps you should be a little more concerned about who you give keys to," Cam replied smoothly. Coop continued to look at Cam, his eyes narrowing. "James... head to the rink." "Rink?" I echoed, caught off guard. "Yeah, the coach wanted to call a last-minute team-building session to address any underlying issues within the team. But I'm honestly doubting if we need it, seeing you two in a restricted area, breaking

Wanda took one last look at Alec before addressing the rest of us. "You all stay with him while I go run some tests on this," she said, holding up the small vial. "He seems to be okay otherwise, just keep an eye on him. And boys... stop taking random things you don’t know what are!"With that, she left. Kris and Jules jumped up, grabbed the beanbags from the common area, and dragged them into the room. They settled in, made themselves comfortable, and pulled out a chessboard. It was their way of passing the time, a distraction from the worry gnawing at all of us.Alec was in and out, sometimes completely passed out, other times awake but disoriented. I stayed by his side, sitting on the edge of his bed to ensure he didn't fall off. Occasionally, he’d mumble something unintelligible, his eyes fluttering open briefly before he drifted off again.Trying to take my mind off the unease, I started talking more to myself than anyone else. “I still don’t know much about the end-of-year test,