His eyes narrowed beneath the crest of his helmet. He crossed his arms, the gesture made awkward by the strips of shielding on the safety suit’s sleeve. He looked like an overgrown beetle. So did I, for that matter.

“What for?”

I frowned. This wasn’t the answer I’d been expecting. It was a student organization, after all, and I was a student. “I just want to know more about it.”

The suspicion in his gaze increased, and I had a feeling he was connecting the dots back to his interrogation by Sheriff Brackenberry and my conspicuous presence right outside.

Thinking fast, I added, “Britney told me a little already.”

Oliver chuckled. “I doubt it.”

Again, this wasn’t the reply I expected. “Sure she did. And I want to join.”

Now Oliver laughed outright, sounding genuinely amused.

I blushed, the unpleasant awareness of being the butt of some inside joke making my eyes burn with tears coming to the ready. I fought them back. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s impossible for you to join the Terra Tribe.”

“Why?”

“No darkkinds allowed.”

His words hit me like a bucket of ice water to the face. “What … what … why?”

“It’s for naturekinds only. Which you would’ve known if you really had talked to Britney about it.” He swung around in a clear dismissal.

I stood there, reeling from shock and indignation.

Tears threatened again and I resisted a strong desire to punch him in the back of the head. I contemplated returning to Selene, but I didn’t want to give Oliver the satisfaction of seeing me retreat.

Not that it mattered. Oliver kept his back to me the whole time, talking and laughing with one of his friends. I told myself it wasn’t about me, although I suspected it was—the darkkind who dared to mingle with naturekinds. A blush of shame blossomed over my skin, and I was glad for the helmet covering my face.

When it was my turn to enter the Gauntlet, I went in without hesitating, grateful for the chance to escape the crowd. I had a feeling my conversation with Oliver had been overheard and that everyone in the class knew about it by now. All I wanted was to be by myself.

Two steps into the Gauntlet though, and I knew I wasn’t alone. Not by a long shot. A murky, uneven light illuminated the tunnel in places, casting long, dark shadows. Some of the shadows were moving, writhing like something alive. I couldn’t see the walls or ceiling of the Gauntlet. It might’ve been five miles long or only a couple of feet. I took a deep breath and walked on, braced for whatever.

A few steps in, a portion of the floor sunk beneath my right foot like a lever depressing. There was a loud pop and a hiss. I froze as the stench of sulfur burned my nostrils.

Something flashed, and I jumped back as a wall of flames burst up in front of me.

“Crap.” I stared at it, trying to calm my racing heart, which proved difficult as I caught a whiff of something burning. I ran my hands over my helmet and down the front of my suit, checking for fire as I tried to decide what to do next.

Then I remembered my simple goal—get to the other side. I pointed my hand at the flames. “Hydro-rhe.” A jet of blue light shot out from my fingertips. The flames sizzled and hissed then disappeared. That was one spell I didn’t struggle with anymore.

I moved on. Several more obstacles rose up to block my way, but I took care of them easily, relying on spells and techniques we’d learned in class.

After a while the obstacles began incorporating a more physical element. This was gym class after all. A magically propelled tire rolled out of the darkness, barreling right toward me. I jumped left, dodging it, but then I had to twist to the right to avoid the next one that came quick on the heels of the first. The third, I hit with a deflector spell. It careened sideways, out of my path and was swallowed by the shadows once more.

Next, I had to vanish a creek of boiling green liquid, probably some kind of acid. The fumes made my eyes water, and the stench of it lingered in my nose long afterward.

But really, the Gauntlet was proving to be pretty tame for gym class, full of obstacles a blind person could see coming. My mind soon began to wander. I found myself thinking about what Oliver had said, the shame and embarrassment coming over me as strongly as before. It was so unfair. Like there was anything wrong with darkkinds. We were all more or less the same, right?

Whack.

I reeled backward, clutching my pounding face. What the…? I turned in a circle, searching for whatever had hit me.

Whack.

This time the something struck me in the back of the head. I dropped to my knees on instinct. A wooden bat swung through the air above me. It was moving comically slow. A baby could’ve dodged it—if they’d been paying attention. I cast a restraining spell at it, and the bat stopped midair, giving a slight tremble as it fought to get free of the magic.

I stood and walked past it, my head back in the game as I strained to see more obstacles. I shouldn’t have let myself get distracted. Always a bad idea in gym class. With my right eye watering, seeing grew harder and harder. The skin where the bat had struck felt tight and puffy. But somehow I managed to get through the rest of it with only a couple of minor scratches and a bruised shin to add to my injuries.

By the time I emerged from the end of the Gauntlet, my eye had almost swollen shut.

Coach Fritz grinned when he spotted me. “Run into trouble, did you?”

“Nope. I’m just trying to start a new fashion trend—black-eye foundation,” I said, cupping a hand over my eye. The pain made me forget the dangers of mouthing off, but to my shock, Fritz chuckled.