Chapter 48—House Games Begins

Elara's POV

The tug of war competition started right after lunch, the entire school was gathered around the field, screaming and cheering for their houses.

Miss Lily stood in the center with a whistle, looking like she was having the time of her life watching us all get competitive over a rope. There was real intensity in the air, the kind that only happened when houses started competing for real points.

House Nightborne lined up on one side. That was us — me, Freya, and Nyx, along with the rest of our house members. We were gripping the rope, digging our heels into the dirt, getting ready for this.

I could feel the energy radiating off everyone on our team, this was real now. The games had actually started and there was no taking it back. We had to win.

House Blackwood was on the other side of the rope. Leo was there too, positioned near the middle, smirking like he already knew what was going to happen.

He caught my eye and winked, which was probably not the smartest move because it meant he wasn't taking this seriously enough. He was overconfident.

Miss Lily raised her whistle to her lips.

"On your marks," she called out, her voice cutting through the noise. "Get set."

We tensed up, pulling the rope tighter, feeling the weight of Blackwood on the other end. My palms were already starting to sweat.

The whistle blew.

It was chaos for about thirty seconds straight. Everyone was pulling as hard as they could, feet sliding in the dirt, hands gripping the rope until their knuckles went white from the pressure. I could hear people screaming, feel the rope burning against my palms, feel my muscles straining with effort.

Freya was next to me, her jaw set completely tight, completely focused on not letting them win. Nyx was holding on like her life depended on it, her whole body leaning back into the pull.

But Blackwood was stronger or maybe they just wanted it more. Either way, they pulled and pulled, and we kept getting dragged forward inch by inch.

Our feet were sliding backward in the dirt, and there was nothing we could do about it. They had the advantage and they knew it, they were using it.

The rope crossed the line.

Blackwood won.

The crowd erupted, their cheers drowning out the groans from our side. Leo jumped up and down like an absolute idiot, pointing at us with this huge grin on his face like he personally had won the match.

I let go of the rope and brushed the dirt off my hands, trying not to look as annoyed as I felt about losing to him.

"Better luck next time, Nightborne!" Leo called out, jogging over to where we were standing. "That was rough. I could feel you guys struggling the whole time."

Freya rolled her eyes and turned away from him completely. Nyx didn't even acknowledge he was there, she just walked past like he was invisible. I just shook my head and started walking toward the bleachers to watch the next match, hoping he would take the hint and leave us alone.

But Leo wasn't done not even close h was just getting started.

For the rest of the day, whenever he saw us, he had something to say. At dinner he made comments about how Blackwood's rope technique was superior to anything Nightborne could have done.

He talked about their coordination, their strength, their strategic positioning. During the afternoon classes he kept bringing it up in random conversations, making jokes about how we should have trained harder or eaten more or something.

By the time the sun was starting to set and we were all exhausted from watching the other matches, we were ignoring him completely.

He would open his mouth and we would just look away or walk away or pretend he didn't exist at all.

It didn't stop him though. If anything, it made him more determined to get a reaction out of us, like the fact that we were ignoring him was a challenge he had to win.

We were walking back toward the dorms after everything wrapped up for the day, tired and ready to just collapse, when Leo came running up behind us like he hadn't gotten the message yet, still going on about the match like it was the most interesting thing that had ever happened.

"Seriously though, did you see how Blackwood coordinated their pull? That's championship material right there. House Nightborne didn't even stand a chance against us we were too strong. Did you feel that power? That was pure dominance."

He wasn't looking where he was going. His foot came down on a loose stone in the path, and the second his weight hit it the stone shifted beneath him.

His arms windmilled as he tried to catch his balance, his body flailing as he realized what was happening, but it was too late. There was nothing he could do about it. He went down hard, landing flat on his back in the dirt like someone had swept his legs out from under him.

For a second there was complete silence. We all just stood there staring at him lying in the dirt.

Then I lost it completely I started laughing so hard I could barely breathe, could barely stand up straight.

It was the kind of laugh that came from deep in your stomach and just wouldn't stop. Freya was bent over, holding her sides, laughing until she was gasping for air.

Even Nyx's lips were twitching, her quiet laugh barely audible but definitely there. Leo was lying there in the dirt looking absolutely shocked and confused that gravity had decided to take his side for once, and we were all laughing at him like it was the funniest thing we had seen all day.

"Shut up," Leo groaned from the ground, but he was already smiling despite himself, despite the dirt covering his back.

We didn't shut up we laughed harder, tears streaming down our faces.