Everything was quiet for a few moments. All I could feel was pain, so I knew I wasn’t unconscious. Then I heard a small buzzing noise.
The sound grew louder.
And louder.
Until I realized it was a crowd of people screaming and someone was slapping my face, shrieking “Cora!”
“Ow,” I muttered weakly. “I ran through a gazillion explosions and this is my prize?”
The slapping stopped instantly. Dylan voice said, “Well, if she’s being sarcastic while she’s in pain, she’s all right.”
I opened my eyes. Everything looked hazy. I could sense a crowd all around us, but the only faces I saw were Ruby, Sam, and Dylan.
“Did you slap me?” I asked Dylan, disgruntled.
“What? No! That was Ruby!” Dylan exclaimed, turning red and shooting a glare at his sister.
She shrugged. “Sorry. You weren’t waking up. I was worried.”
“Thanks a lot,” I muttered. Then I turned my head painfully and looked at Sam. “Did I pass your test of going through hell?”
Sam stared at me, awestruck. “You did it. You actually did it.”
“If you’re talking about the curse, it wasn’t me,” I said in a tired voice.
“Huh? No, not the curse! I knew that wasn’t you...you’re too, I don’t know- innocent to do that.”
“Good to know,” I wheezed, and they all laughed.
Sam continued, “No, seriously, Cora. I thought that you were this nerd who always- wait!” He looked horrified. “Did I just call you Cora? And say that you’re not a nerd?!” He clapped his hands over his cheeks in mock terror.
I had to laugh. When Sam wasn’t being a bully, he was funny. Well- funny in a clueless, bad-humor sort of way.
“Hey, Cora- I mean, Cory.” Dylan said.
“Yeah?”
“Um, I’ve got no idea how to say this, but- uh, sorry.” He said the word quick and instantly looked away.
For a second I couldn’t believe it. Dylan was apologizing? I stared at him suspiciously for a moment and then said feebly, “Thanks.”
I didn’t ask what he was apologizing for. All of us knew what a bully he had been- almost as bad as Sam.
Sam.
I turned around and looked at him with raised eyebrows. “You going to apologize too?”
He snickered, rolling his eyes. “That’ll be the day.”
Okay, he wasn’t saying sorry, but I felt like something had changed between us. We definitely would never be friends, but maybe he wouldn’t bully me as much as before.
And Dylan had apologized! Maybe we could actually become friends, if he stopped saying that he wanted to ‘talk’ to me. Or perhaps the talk was the apology.
My brain couldn’t register this too well, as I was still in immense pain. Ruby sensed this and helped me up. While I searched for my wand to heal myself, Finch’s door opened.
Everyone in the crowd flinched- especially me- as the principal came out, pointing at me triumphantly.