“Okay, so she might be under the impression that I am here to overshadow her or take her place in some way. I just need to stay under the radar enough to stay out of her way. I don’t want to be ‘the favorite’ or whatever she thinks. And the Alpha King calls me ‘ Little One’ too, it’s not a unique nickname. Almost all of my friends back home call me some synonym of short. Even Wyatt calls me ‘Mighty Midget.’ It’s just a thing.” I shrug.
“She doesn’t know that though. She was only at trials for the second day and she left on assignment almost immediately after. She didn’t see any of the interactions you had with other people socially.”
Nathaniel says matter of factly.
‘Midge, you just turned 15 and were personally brought here by the Alpha King and his lead warrior, you are on everyone’s radar.” I can feel the color drain from my face and I feel sick. Wyatt must notice, he hurries to amend his statement. “I think she’s the only negative one though. You have been the talk of the compound since we got here. Lillian and I have been asked nonstop questions about you since we got to work with you in a team. I think that’s why they
assigned me as your guide for the day tomorrow. I’m kind of interested in following you around at school.
I graduated two years ago, I wonder if anything has changed much?” He looks a little thoughtful, like he is remembering something pleasant about his high school experience.
“T think your brain might explode following her around to classes.” Nathaniel comes up from his food again. “Has it occurred to you that at 15, a technical sophomore, she is going to qualify to graduate by the end of the summer? She’s two and a half years ahead of all her peers, you barely made it out on time.” He and Lillian are laughing as the idea settles on Wyatt.
The look on his face was priceless.
“Okay, so really, what do I need to look out for? I don’t think I can do anything about Audrina right now. What other newbie hazing mistakes can I at least avoid?” I am pleading with them, but I need to transition in quickly. Like I told Warrior Osiston and Nathaniel pointed out I am on people’s radar and I can’t afford to make mistakes. This probationary thing must be serious if they got rid of thirty people on just the first day.
“It’s not so much avoidance of things, Everything we do is designed for us to f*ck up. It’s the way we learn
best, from our own failures. Make sure you are on time and are prepared. Listen to the little instructions, read between the lines and you should be fine. Like you said, it’s only been a month, you aren’t that far behind us. And based on what everyone was going on about after trials, I think you will pick up quickly.” Nathaniel gives me a warm smile and goes back to eating.
I have at least figured out, if I want a straight answer, he’s my guy. It seems like I made a good enough impression on Wyatt and Lillian that they will help me if I really need it too. We’ll see. I’m not sure if they play us against each other at all here, since they seem to do eliminations during the probation period.
“Oh! How long is the probation period and what happens after that?” I have to move away from the topic of Audrina and people trying to get rid of me.
“We have three levels of probation. The first 30 days we are probies or newbies, depending on who’s talking to you. No one is outwardly hostile, but not helpful either. They all want to see what you are made of, but understand if they are too mean or try to sabotage you and you end up on their team later, you could cause them problems if you hold a grudge.” Lillian points at me with her fork, like I am the one causing problems.
