My Secret, My Bully, My Mates

We walk inside to a grand entrance and I am immediately wrapped in a hug. I can't see anything around the soft material covering my whole head, burying my face in a chest.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you. I thought we were all going to go crazy not being able to check in or see you at all this summer."

Xander releases me from the stranglehold he has on me and holds me out at arms distance, giving me a once over clearly checking for lasting damage.

"Xander, I'm okay." I pat his arm awkwardly, his tight grip on my shoulders making it difficult to do anything. "I promise Doc Sylvia and Doc Ganon patched me up and cleared me for training."

grabs my hand and drags me off without a word to anyone around us. I guess he's my tour guide now. We traipse through the main halfway that could easily fit hundreds of people, like a banquet hall. But got no better look at it before he had me flying up the grand set of stairs to the balcony overlook. Just when I thought he was going to stop and show me

arm off?" I went for a joke to see if I could

moving. Like he was trying to get away from someone, he dodged in and out of hallways and doorways, up stairways

stop in a little alcove in who knows what part of the castle. Then he spins me around and grabs my

shrugged him off. "Who is 'we?' And what makes you think I will answer to a demand like that? No friend asks a question like that. You have been hanging around Cameron, Dakota and Oliver a little too long, I think." I'm

left shot up between Xander and I at that moment. I don't want to do this here. I'm a new me, I'm away from all of that for just a little while. I want to pretend that the whole situation doesn't exist. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves and bring back