the gauntlet discussion

A lot of benches, fountains, and statues of famous Guardians. There would be a lot of trimmed hedges and such.

Nate walked through the courtyard, just looking for a place to sit for a few minutes. He had to jot down a few things about his training, as his parents required weekly updates on training. That included logs of actual training, ranking results, food logs, and anything else that was pertinent. It was a bit much, but required if he wanted to remain in their good graces, so he acquiesced. Eventually, he was hoping to put in updates about Lyca so he could get his parents off his back a little bit, maybe even pull her out for something. Nate glanced around and saw an open bench, so plopped his bag down on the marble surface, and sat down beside it. He pulled out a leather-bound book and a pen, and began jotting down everything he had done in the past twenty four hours, with as many details as he could remember, lest his parents ask later.

Everyone here was so serious about the gauntlet, it was intimidating to say the least, especially to a girl like Alice who hadn't even wanted to apply here in the first place. She'd done a race with some of the other people on the track earlier, just for 'fun' and it was ridiculous! She hadn't come in last, but she'd definitely been the only one who had been taking it for fun. She was pretty sure that she'd even seen someone almost fall after being tripped- needless to say she'd skipped out on the training pretty quickly after that. Instead she found herself in the courtyard, in desperate need of the presence of trees and hedges and anything that resembled a forest. She even sat on a bench, right next to a person, all smiles, "So...any of these statues a relative of yours? Seems like everyone here is related to a Guardian. It's a little intimidating, yeah?" There was definitely a breathless sort of nervous laugh at the end of her introduction there.

What? Boys were....intimidating here.

A person sat down beside him, and Nate looked up, startled. It was a girl. Um. Wait, what was he supposed to do about girls? They were banned form the race until last cycle, and now they were being admitted to the Academy, but there was no way in hell that they had a chance at winning. But a woman had won the last cycle, so they were capable? Shit, now he was just staring at this girl like a deer in the headlights. No, she asked him a question. Statues. Relatives. Answer the question, dammit! Nate shook his head, trying to get his thoughts, any thought really, together.

“Yes.” He said, the word coming out a bit sharper than he intended. He winced slightly, already knowing he was going to screw this up royally. “Any Guardian named Delacroix.” He gestured to a few statues that bore his surname. “All ancestors.” And with an enormous amount of luck, he’d be up there one day too. Unless someone killed him like they had killed his brothers. Shoot, now he was sitting silently again. “What about you?” He asked as calmly as he could manage.

Did she mess up her introduction? Maybe she didn't actually say anything out loud....after all it was taking him a bit to answer her. He was just staring at her like she was growing horns or something- oh! Wait! There he went! With his words Alice nodded, perhaps a little too eagerly. "Oh, that's cool." Delacroix....were there a lot of Guardians named Delacroix? Alice couldn't remember. Suddenly it was like the names of every Guardian was just gone and out of her head. She just couldn't think of any of their names right now. But then at his inquiry she found herself shaking her head, "No. Nope, just a family without any connections to any famous Guardians," Which probably showed this guy that she had absolutely no chance for winning.

"So any...immediate family? I ran into this girl in the hallway and her dad is a Guardian right now, that's impressive right?" And now she was rambling, because that's who she was as a person. At least Alice wasn't playing with her ponytail right now. That would have been a real disaster, because she only tugged on her ponytail when she was anxious. Not that she wasn't anxious- she was. Because it was a boy, but if she was going to be expected to compete with them, obviously Alice had to get used to talking to them and interacting with them. Especially if she ever wanted to be able to take a shower here.

Nate simply nodded. This girl was clearly not from Guardian family circles, even before she confirmed it. “At least one a generation.” He said, and watched her move and talk as if she had suddenly forgotten where she was. He was one thing, getting tongue tied, but she was a little different. So she wasn’t from the social circles that his family was involved in, that much was crystal clear. Which means that she was probably from a poorer family, and this competition was her way to gain economic and social stability.

“Uh…” Nate blinked, still a bit perplexed by this bubbling, ponytail wearing person in front of him. Training had never covered talking to girls. And his sister didn’t count. “Not yet.” He said slowly. “That’s why I’m here.” He gestured with a hand to mean all of Ainsley. Then she was mentioning Joelle Bronte. Didn’t everyone know Jo? She was pretty much royalty. She wasn’t a Guardian yet, but she could easily be in a year with the head start she has. Nate silently berated himself. He was supposed to be more put together than this. Girls were a thing here now, he had to learn to deal with it. “So, uh…um…” What was a basic question to start a conversation with? “My name’s Nate.” He said, a bit faster than he intended to. “What’s your name?”

He was looking at her with this strange expression, like he just knew she didn't belong here. It was apparent in the way his eyes were summing her up, as if she really didn't belong here. Could he honestly tell that just from these few moments that he had talked to her? Honestly he looked like he was in some kind of pain talking to her, was she that troublesome to talk to? Or- Oh no. What if she smelled bad from running earlier? She hadn't thought she'd sweat that much but maybe she had. Maybe her hair was in all sorts of fly aways and she was all sweaty and looked like some girl zombie monster thing. What if she was making this awful impression for all the girls that were going to Ainsley?

Oh right. No immediate family then, which she should have known considering the fact he did tell her which Guardians were related and now he definitely knew she had like next to no idea as to who the current Guardians were. Gosh she was such an idiot. "Nate. That's a nice name. Uhh Alice. Alice Bell." She tried to give a nice smile to him. But what if she messed it up? Did she look like a serial killer or something? She kind of felt like she maybe looked like one and her hands quickly found her ponytail, tugging at her hair and tightening that little hair-tie. "Not like my last name is important or anything I mean...I'm just a nobody." Oh god, and she was doing that thing now, that awkward laughing thing where she sort of laughed at the end of her sentences like it was a joke even though it obviously wasn't.

She looked more and more uncomfortable the more Nate watched her. Oh shoot, was he staring? What kind of expression was he wearing? He probably looked absolutely disgusted, which was not a good first impression. Oh gosh, this was awful, and not going to get better any time soon. Alice. Her name was Alice, that was something. So she was from a lower class. She was trying so hard to be nice, or at least somewhat nomal, and he was failing miserably. He hadn’t even been here a week and he couldnt’ get through a general conversation with a very non-threatening girl.

“You’re not a nobody.” Nate said before he even knew what he was saying. “I mean..” He stammered. “Everybody is a somebody.” What? Everybody is a somebody? So original. “That is… you got into the Academy, right? So someone thought you were somebody.” If his parents could see him now, they’d cut him down right then and there. Twenty years of speaking and presentation tutoring, and now he was limited to a fifteen word vocabulary. “Now you just have to prove them right.” Whoever them was.

Oh. Wait, was he saying this because he meant it or because he felt like she was going to fall apart or break or something if he didn't? Was she coming off as pathetic? She did not want to come off as pathetic. "Well...yeah...but I mean even Ainsley has to take in some losers every year, to make sure that some people fail the Gauntlet, right?" Okay, not true, Ainsley took the best of the best. But she had no idea why the Academy accepted her. There was nothing special about her. No big hoorah when you looked at her. In fact...there was nothing particularly remarkable about her at all. Especially not when it came to her chances of winning the race. She'd met her roommate earlier and the girl could run 10 miles in like an hour. Alice certainly couldn't do anything like that.

"But that's okay. I don't...really want to win. I don't think I'd make a very good Guardian, I mean Guardians are big important people. Protectors and masters of their element and all that. They have legacies and stuff. You have a much better chance you're all," She paused then flexing her arms and puffing out her chest to emphasize her point, "Y'know? You just look like you could be a Guardian. Minus the eyes. You have kind eyes, Guardians have intimidating eyes. I'm sure you could work on that though....not that kind eyes is a bad thing," She rushed to tack on that last part with another nervous laugh because oh wow now she was really talking way too much. Here he was, master of saying as few words as possible and here she was rambling about kind eyes.

This girl really liked to talk, Nate thought to himself as Alice rambled on. Although the words she was saying seemed to be coming from a place of nerves more than her genuine desire to say all of those things. That made two of them, at least. And she did have a point. The powers at be in the Academy could very well have accepted a bunch of lightweights that they were planning on weeding out within the first couple months. It wouldn’t be the shadiest thing Nate had ever heard of. “Only a few win the Gauntlet, so technically, the majority of us will be losers.” Nate pointed out. “Depending on how you look at it, we’re wasting our time, but we won’t know it until the race.” As if that would make her feel any better about her place here.

Nothing Nate said was going to help. “Yeah, but legacies aren’t everything.” He said, slightly deflated. Like despite the fact that there were at least ten statues in this Academy bearing the names of his ancestors, the probability that he would join them was slim. He would be the next disappointment, despite her compliment about his.… kind eyes? “Uh…thank you.” He said slowly, trying to think of an appropriate response. She was right about the Guardians, in any case. They were all scary intense, partially due to how they had gotten that position, and everything else that went with their positions. Now it was his turn to say something. Nate searched for a question, but all he could come up with was “So if you don’t think you’ll win, why did you even apply?” and immediately kicked himself. But he couldn't take back the question, so there it was.

Well wasn't that the truth. Majority of them would be losers. Majority of them would fail miserably at this whole thing and would have spent the whole year wasting their lives, some of them would come back crippled....and some wouldn't come back at all. But everyone that Alice had met so far had seemed so capable, from that Joelle girl to her own roommates....and now Nate. They all seemed so strong and good and sure of themselves and Guardians in the making. The only person that didn't really fit was...Alice. Awkward, nervous, trips over her own feet Alice was definitely not the kind of person that anyone wanted to become a Guardian. The whole world would probably fall apart if that happened.

But she didn't have time to focus on that, not when Nate was throwing those hard-hitting questions straight at her and knocking the metaphorical wind out of her. "Oh, well my family. It's really important to them and my brothers didn't do so well....so they're kind of relying on me to change that. I'm the last chance for my family's glory. I mean no surprise there, a lot of people are here because of their families right?" Anything to make her feel less awkward and less like a freak for having lied on her application and saying that she really wanted to win for her own personal glory and the chance to prove herself. "That's why you're here, right? your family legacy."

If he had to guess, Nate would estimate about 95% of the Academy’s participants were here due to family reasons, for better or worse. Achieve family glory, like Alice was trying for, prove themselves to be something, as many of the girls were trying to do, or carry on the family legacy, like himself. “Yeah, it is.” He said in response to her question. “Become a Guardian or die trying.” He said, only half-joking. So many people tied each cycle trying to win each year, or came back cripples or worse.

Taking a quick glance upward at the sun’s position, Nate reckoned he should be heading back out to train more. “I really should get going.” He said to Alice, offering her a kind smile. “But, you know, training.” He kicked himself again. What was with him and words today? Nate gathered his books up and shoved them into his sack, and stood up, and was about to offer his hand to Alice to shake when it happened. He tripped over his own damn feet, and instead of regaining his balance like any sane person, he fell right at Alice, taking them both down into the fountain where they had been sitting.

Oh right. Training, of course, if Alice was a little smarter she probably would've gone off to do that too. But she wasn't that smart, so she just nodded and smiled, "Yes. Training. Good plan. For you-" And she would have probably kept rambling about how maybe she should hit the gym or the pool or something else too but she'd just been reaching up to shake his hand when it all fell apart. When suddenly she was being pushed back into the fountain cold water immediately shocking her system. Well looks like she wouldn't be needing a shower since apparently Nate here had just given her a bath.

Blue eyes blinked water away as she sat up dripping in about a foot of water - you know after Nate had had the good sense to get off her and move to the side. Except...oh wow his shirt was soaked and really clinging to everything there wasn't it? And oh my- she was wearing a yellow shirt. Light yellow.....so that meant that right now Alice's shirt? was about 100% see through. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, ears and cheeks turning a bright red as she quickly clambered out of the fountain. "I'd shake your hand but.... towel. My room. Bye." Now who was the oh so eloquent one? And with that the blonde was practically running to her dorm.

What a great first impression.

As soon as he realized what he’d done, Nate scrambled to the side to get off of Alice. He’d gotten both of them completely soaked. Which was fine for him, but she…Nate glanced up but immediately looked down. Her shirt was see through, and he could see…well, everything. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his face turn bright red as she moved to get up and out of the fountain. He kept his mouth glued shut as she muttered a few words about a towel, and he heard her run away.

Opening his eyes, Nate saw that his shirt was clinging to him, so he just pulled it off and plopped it on the bench. He then proceeded to gather up his belongings from where they were scattered around the fountain. Everything in his sack was completely soaked, and so he just had a sopping mess of stuff to carry back to his dorm. With a sigh, his face still burning in embarrassment, Nate scooped the whole mess up into his arms and started making his way back to his dorm, the complete horror of his first impression burned into his mind forever.

After the excitement of last night, Dan just needed to sit down for a few minutes. Waking up to sirens in the middle of the night had been insane, but so was the competition. Luckily he’d been wearing his running clothes already, since he had been planning on waking up and rolling out to go run early anyway. So the three minutes thing hadn’t been as big an issue as it had been for some. The competition itself was a bit more insane. Dan had just taken off, running as fast and hard as he could, and it had worked out for him, he’d made it in third, with Ophelia just a few seconds ahead of him. Which was pretty cool.

It’d been a little hard to sleep after that excitement, so even though he’d gotten an hour or so of sleep after the competition was over, he was still dragging a bit today. Spotting an empty bench, Dan made his way over to it and slowly lowered himself onto it. The sun was out, so he could just sit for a bit and relax. Dan leaned back, his hands braced against the bench, and took a deep breath, letting the sun hit his face and tried to shake the grogginess out of his head.

Admittedly, Karaline had a little bit of trouble when the sirens went off during the night and it had been announced that they only had three minutes to get ready and be outside for the competition. She had to resist the urge to look at herself in the mirror before leaving her dorm last night for the competition. It's not that she was particularly full of herself, though she will admit she's pretty sexy (or she'd like to think she is), but after having been nothing but eye candy for a good few years now, it was hard to break the habit. God it was almost sickening how much of a habit of checking her appearance had become.

Luckily, Kara had managed to stop herself from her nasty little habit, and got out in time. Eighth place, she pretty proud of herself for that one. Running was not a problem for her but she figured with all the rich kids around here, they would have had better training in something as simple as running. Although, Kara wasn't above admitting that she preferred running with her shoes on than off. That's one of the reasons she was currently stretched out on the edge of a fountain, enjoying the sun on her skin the sound of rushing water. She would have preferred to be swimming in the Wave Pool, but with everyone having to get one of the rings from their, she didn't want to get into dirty water. And, that's where she had seen that crazy psycho.

(Admittedly, I don't know how to make them interact)

After a few minutes, Dan glanced around, just to check his surroundings. Over by the fountian, he saw, oh what was her name…Caroline? No, Dan thought, it started with a K…Karaline. She’d come in top ten last night, and it seemed like she was also recovering from the experience. Dan considered whether or not to go over and introduce himself. On one hand, he knew that his placement put a huge target on his back, but he wasn’t too concerned about it just yet. On the other hand, Karaline was nice to look at, and after the conversation he’d had with Nora yesterday, why not?

Dan pushed himself up from the bench and walked over to where Kara was sitting at the fountain. “Hey, I’m Dan.” He said in greeting, lowering himself to the seat beside her. “Congrats on the great finish last night.” That was a good compliment, right? Dan didn’t have the longest history of talking to girls, but if they were going to be a part of this competition, and if Nora was going to get him laid, then he needed to get better at it.

Anyone who looked at Karoline could tell she was enjoying the sun. She was stretched out in the fountains ledge, leaning against her arms, and her face was tilted up. But what made it so much better was the fountain right next to her and she was debating whether she could dip a foot in real quick when she saw a figure sit right next to her from the corner of her eye. She turned from looking up at the sun to the boy next to her. He seemed friendly enough, thank God, she didn't know if she could deal with moody guys for the entire time she was here.

"I'm Karaline, but you can call me Kara," She introduced herself. "Thanks but I think the one who should be congratulated for the race is you. Third place is rather impressive. I thought I was good at running but maybe you might give me some tips later." Kara might no longer be trying to find some rich guy and have him spend on her while she's his eye candy, but having spent so much time flirting and teasing, she had genuinely become a bit of a flirt. But when had a little teasing ever hurt? Besides, when this was all over, she would hopefully never have to be a Sugar Baby again. She was here to get stronger, to be more than everyone back home thought she could be.

Dan smiled kindly in greeting. “Kara, nice to meet you.” He said, bracing himself with one arm against the fountain, so he could still enjoy the sun’s rays. He let a corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk when she congratulated him and asked for a few running tips. If he was being completely honest, his third place finish had shocked him. He had just taken off at a dead sprint, like he did every other day of his life, and went to the places he was instructed. The rest was pretty straightforward. Run as fast as you could, scoop up your rings, and keep running. Don’t get caught up in a group, and stay on your feet. The dark hadn’t been a huge problem, since he was used to running in the woods. But third place was still surprising. But if that was what it was, so be it. Dan wasn’t complaining.

“You’re the second person to ask me that in the past twenty-four hours.” Dan said, glancing over at Kara. “I’m starting to get a bit nervous, to be completely honest.” He said, his tone light so he could be sure she knew he was joking. “People must think I have some secret elixir to running fast.” Or they wanted to be his best friend. You know, whichever one worked best. “What about you?” He asked her, “Do you have any secret skills people want to pull out of you?” He said, matching her slightly flirtatious and teasing tone. Everyone had a skill here, he knew that. For Dan, it was more about figuring out who would be willing to have fun with the time they did have, and who would be willing to crack a few jokes with him.

"Oh? I think that win might be getting to your head," Kara smiled back. She was an easygoing person by nature but once you strike out, she was the type to never forget it. It was nice to talk to someone who wasn't a jackass and wasn't obsessed with the fact that girls don't belong. Besides, she had three brothers at home, it was a little odd to be in a place that didn't have much chatter. Not that Ainsley was quiet by any means but it was more usual to hear people running or the sounds of metal clashing than conversations. "You shouldn't be nervous around me, I don't bite... too hard. But you'd enjoy it,"She winked at him, loosening up around Dan when she realized that he wasn't trying to play some sort of shitty game with her and that he was genuinely being nice.

"If you have a secret elixir, you should share it with me. I can keep a secret. On my honor," Kara swore, raising up a hand for a few seconds before drawing in her legs and sitting with her legs crossed. She leaned in towards him, enjoying their banter," I have a lot of secret skills it just depends on the game we're playing," Her smile turned flirtatious as she cocked her head slightly. "Oh, were you still talking about the Gauntlet? My bad." She laughed softly before eyeing him for a few seconds. If she remembered correctly he was a rich boy, a Moss to be exact. "If we are still talking about the race, how do I know your skill is running, hmmm?" She raised an eyebrow. "You're a Moss, your skill could be anything or everything. You never know with you Guardian types," She waggled a finger at him.

The win get to his head. Dan secretly hoped to himself that he never let it go to his head. That was the last place it should be going. Dan was fully aware of the target he had placed on his back, and that he would be the center of many focused attacks to wreck him. But that’s why he was out talking instead of training. If he could get wonderful people like Kara here to appreciate his humor, they might be less inclined to chop off his head with an axe. Or choke him to death, or whatever it was that air elements did with their power. “Why would I be nervous?” He asked, raising an eyebrow in slight confusion. But he dropped that when he heard her next phrase. Of course. “Ah, but human bites cause infections, and I don’t know what you’re carrying.” He said with false caution, but his failed attempt to hide his smile ruined the effect. This, he could do. Kara understood he was here just for fun, and she was picking up what he was putting down and dishing it back, which he appreciated.

Dan just smiled and chuckled at her next few comments. “Truthfully, I don’t have a secret elixir.” He said, putting a hand to his chest as if he was letting her in on some big secret. Just a lifetime of running around in the woods, fighting it out with his older brothers and the best tutors money could buy. But that wasn't a secret, as she obviously knew, identifying him by his last name with ease. “You caught me. You would never know” He said, spreading his arms out and shrugging. But Kara kept laying on the innuendo, and Dan make a face of mock-horror. “But as for skills, I couldn’t possibly comment.” He said with a wink. He wasn’t giving up anything that easily. “Besides, a beautiful, mysterious girl like yourself probably has many more interesting secrets and stories than I could ever hope of having.” She’d gotten into the Academy, so there was definitely some story there.

Karaline couldn't help but smile around Dan ,he was pretty easy going and she enjoyed his humor. Many people here were tense because they didn't want to die or they wanted all this fame and glory and were training non stop. Kara wasn't here for fame and glory, she was here to prove a point to everyone that she was more than a face and to be able to give her family the life that they deserved. She was putting everything on the line for this, if she didn't win the Gauntlet and if she didn't die then she would have to go home. Going home a loser meant going home to a family that wouldn't be disappointed because they didn't think she could win because of her gender and nothing because of her actual skills on being able to run the race. If anything Kara knew that her abilities to feel her elemental surpassed all three of her brothers. She was faster as well because she was less bulky and all legs. That might make her weaker than them, but she could get stronger. She could learn to fight and use a weapon. She could be their equal and she would prove that the gender she was born with would not make her any less than she was.

"Are you trying to say I have some sort of disease?" Kara covered her mouth in an exaggerated anger. "They might show you Moss's how to win the Gauntlet, but they don't show you how to win over a lady, do they?" She teased. "I do have to admit that it's pretty disappointing that there's no secret elixir and the fact that I can't get your secrets about your skills from you is a letdown. "She smirked slightly, as humorous as he might be, he was still on guard about letting anyone know his advantages in the race. Smart boy. The first competition was only the first of many but everyone was already taking notes on who excels in speed and who doesn't. Marking the weaknesses and strengths already. This was going to be a long stay at the academy but in the end, she knew it would be worth it. "Perhaps I do have some interesting secrets, perhaps not. But isn't it the wealthy that enjoy playing games and hiding secrets?" She countered.

“Let’s just say I’m not willing to let you bite me to find out.” Dan said casually. After all, they had only just met, and uneducated as he was, Dan was pretty sure biting people was not part of introductions, at least that he had heard of. On her comment about winning over ladies, he just shrugged. “I hate to admit it, but when the only female Mosses have had to marry in for the past six generations, I would say the Moss…knowledge, if you will…of ladies is less than perfected.” Sure, he’d been given lessons on proper etiquette and how to court properly and all of those other posh things rich kids were taught, but he’d grown up being introduced to girls in formal, stiff settings highly supervised by parents. Lyca was the only girl he’d known has a friend, since they had played together growing up. Talking to girls outside of those settings was a new adventure for him. But so far he had all of his body parts still attached to him, so he couldn’t have been doing too poorly.

Dan shrugged at her comment of exiles, “Nope. No secrets. I’m an open book.” He said, spreading his arms again before dropping them to the bench. Which was partially true. Dan wasn’t a believer in keeping secrets, since they never did much good, and there wasn’t much he wouldn’t tell someone, if asked. Granted, context mattered, so would he tell someone here that he once shot four empty bottles off branches thirty feet up in the air with a spear by first throwing the spear at a squirrel to kill it, then attaching the squirrel the spear so he could heave the spear up at the branch so that all four bottles came down at once, just to piss off his brother? Probably not, but who would ask about such a thing? Dan leaned forward, bracing himself on his hands against the edge of the fountain, and considered Kara’s comment for a moment. “Sometimes.” He agreed. The wealthy did have their fair share of games and secrets for sure, some more than others. “But I think it’s more about what you do with the secrets, not what they are…wouldn’t you agree?” He asked, casting her a sideways glance.

"Why sir! We've only just met, who says you deserve to be bitten by me?" Karaline smiled at him, flashing her pearly whites."if the choice was either learning more about women or being trained to run the Gauntlet, I think you've had the better end of the deal." Usually, women and men were the same. They both loved to have their egos stroked with compliments. If they were smart men and women, well, that was an entirely different matter. Those were the tricky ones. Kara had grown up around three brothers and as much as she loves them, they were the pretty simple men. She supposed that had a reason in why they didn't win. The Gauntlet was rarely a place for the simple minded. She was sure that she was more than that. At least, she hoped she was. Coming to Ainsley was certainly a gamble for everyone but some had more to lose if than others if they couldn't succeed. Of course, the majority of everyone here was bound to fail. Only a lucky few would go on to be Guardians and the rest would cute their loses and go back to their lives. Obviously a few positions were more than already spoken for by some families who were bound to win, but there was some spaces for newcomers that were up for grabs.

"Wouldn't that be something that someone who has something to hide would say?" Kara asked. Of course everyone had secrets. It was impossible not to have one, they didn't necessarily have to be a bad thing but the ones that are kept closest to you were the ones that would hurt you the most. "That's true," She agreed, brushing back a few pieces of auburn hair. "Secrets are worth more than diamonds in some cases. I like the way you think." Someone who was good at philosophies seemed like they would be good strategists. Daniel Moss looked like someone who was skilled and would need to be watched if he was like some of the others. But for the most part it looked like he had a good head on his shoulders and was as easy going as he portrayed himself to be. Kara didn't like playing dirty, not with people who she liked being around and she liked being around Dan. But anyone could see that the boy had a target on his back now with his good score in the race. Of course ,it would be forgotten when the next competition came around.

“Well, then, thank you.” Dan said, accepting the compliment. He’d like to think his years of social grooming had been of some use to teach him decent social skills. Otherwise they were a complete waste of his time, which would be unfortunate. But if Kara was offering the compliment, who was he to say no? On the topic of secrets, Dan pursed his lips and scrunched his eyebrows for a moment, as if thinking, but then shook his head. “Maybe, but it still holds true for me, at least.” He said with a shrug. Everything about his family was common knowledge, or otherwise easily acquired. The wealthy families were all like that. They were all so interconnected by marriage or friendships or Guardian relations that they knew everyone’s business. Everyone knew about the VanKent family dynamics, everyone knew about the Delacroix falling out, they certainly all knew about the Bronte’s disappointing try for a son, the Augustus’ extreme elitism and everyone knew about the Moss’ family tragedies. Secrets were not something you could keep for very long in those circles. Sure, Dan had his own personal…flaws, let’s call them, but nothing as juicy as what Kara was talking about.

But if there was one thing Dan had learned living among the elites, it was that secrets were infinitely more valuable than money. And Kara agreed with him. “They sure are.” He replied. “Although diamonds are pretty cool too.” He said, a little more light-heartedly. “I’m not sure I would wear a necklace of them, but they’re pretty to look at. They also make really good blade edges.” If you wanted a more precise axe, spear, knife, or even a fork. Diamond tipped was the way to go. Dan glanced up at the sky, realized what time it was and as if on cue, his stomach growled. “Well Kara,” He said, turning back to face her, “I’m really sorry, but after last night’s excitement, I think I forgot to eat.” He pushed himself up off the corner of the fountain, giving her an apologetic smile. “You’ll just have to tell me all of your secrets next time.” He said, and turned to move away. But then a thought came to him. “Actually,” He said, turning back around with a mischievous smile on his face, “Here’s one secret free of charge: you know Jamison Augustus? He’s all brawn, no brains. If he thinks he could be your trophy husband when he doesn’t win, you’ve got him.” Granted, that wasn’t too damaging of a secret, but since Jamie had made it plain for a few years now that being a trophy husban was his backup plan, Dan figured he could use it. Plus, if it got around, it would make Jamie really mad, which would be really funny to witness. Dan gave Kara one last knowing wink before heading off to track down some food.