Chapter 8 Trust Falls and Tension Lines

Chapter Eight – Trust Falls and Tension Lines

The morning mist clung to the trees like a second skin. Fog curled around the campsite, soft and silver, quieting footsteps and blurring outlines. The forest felt slower today, like it, too, was waking from a dream it couldn't quite remember.

"Team-building day," Mr. Rowan announced at breakfast, his voice far too cheerful for six-thirty in the morning. "Trust exercises, partner games, and a ropes course for the brave. Let's see if you can all work together without glaring or threatening to shove someone off a cliff."

There was a low groan from the group, mostly from Jace, who was still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Is this legally allowed?" he muttered. "Feels like torture."

"You're not in prison, Jace," Selene said dryly. "You're just a little dramatic."

"Just a little?" Elias added, sipping his coffee with mock seriousness.

Jace clutched his heart. "Betrayal. From all sides."

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They were split into pairs for the day's activities, much to everyone's surprise and a few people's silent panic. The teachers seemed to be enjoying the psychological torment of pairing up students who hadn't yet spent much time alone together.

Amara was paired with Jace.

Elias was partnered with Selene again, a fact they both accepted with suspicious ease.

And Valeria?

She was paired with Aiden-again. Though this time, the tension between them was less awkward and more quietly charged.

They didn't talk much as they walked to the first activity-a classic trust fall station set up between two low platforms with thick mats at the bottom.

Valeria stood on the edge of one, arms crossed, raising a brow.

"Let me get this straight," she said. "I'm supposed to fall backward and trust you'll catch me?"

Aiden looked up at her with a slow grin. "I caught your heart already. How hard could your body be?"

Valeria blinked, then shook her head. "You've been spending too much time around Jace."

But she turned.

And she fell.

And he caught her-clean, solid, sure.

Their eyes met again, closer this time. For a heartbeat, they just stood there-arms wrapped around each other, breathing in sync.

Valeria let out a shaky breath. "That was... surprisingly not terrifying."

Aiden's voice lowered. "Good. Because I won't drop you."

She wanted to believe him.

Part of her already did.

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Elsewhere on the trail, Amara and Jace had a more chaotic partnership.

"Don't tell me how to hold the compass," Jace grumbled as they attempted to navigate a simple orienteering course. "I got a B+ in geography."

Amara snorted. "Yeah, and a D in listening."

Despite their bickering, there was a rhythm to them-like old friends who never quite learned how to flirt without teasing.

When they finally found their checkpoint (after a wrong turn and nearly stepping in a squirrel nest), they collapsed onto a mossy log, breathless from laughing.

"You're not so bad, Amara Quinn," Jace said, nudging her knee with his.

"Neither are you, surprisingly."

A beat of silence passed.

"Hey," he said, voice quieter now. "Do you ever feel like we're all walking into something we don't understand?"

"All the time," she replied.

"Does it scare you?"

Amara looked out at the woods.

"Yes. But not enough to stop."

Jace looked at her a moment longer-then nodded, like he was filing her answer away somewhere private.

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Meanwhile, Elias and Selene had found themselves on the ropes course-a suspended bridge with shifting planks and hanging vines for handholds.

Selene moved like a cat, graceful and measured.

Elias... less so.

"Please don't fall," Selene called back.

"I'm trying," Elias muttered, gripping the ropes with both hands. "But these planks are thinner than my confidence right now."

"You're doing fine. Just trust your balance."

"I'd rather trust you."

Selene paused mid-step, glancing over her shoulder.

"You do?"

Elias looked up at her, hands tight on the rope.

"I think I trust you more than I trust myself."

Selene blinked-and almost missed her next step. She caught herself, steadied.

"Don't say things like that while I'm in the air," she said, but her voice was softer now.

She waited at the end until he reached her. When he did, he was winded, flushed-and grinning like a fool.

"Made it."

Selene offered him a hand.

He took it.

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Later that evening, as the sun bled into the horizon and cast the world in rose gold, Valeria opened her journal to find something tucked between the pages.

A folded note.

She looked around the campsite, but no one seemed out of place. No sign of who had slipped it in.

She unfolded it carefully.

There were only a few words:

"He's not who he thinks he is. And neither are you."

No name. No signature.

Just that strange, cryptic message.

She read it three times.

Then closed the journal and said nothing.

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That night, the campers sat around the fire again, tired from the day's events. There was less laughter now, but it wasn't a bad silence. It was reflective, full of the soft ache of connection.

Valeria rested her head on Aiden's shoulder.

Selene leaned lightly against Elias's side, arms folded.

Amara watched the fire, her eyes flicking up every now and then to glance at Jace across the circle.

They were all changing.

And none of them could stop it.

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Just before dawn, a sound echoed through the trees.

Low.

Long.

Howling.

Distant, but clear.

They heard it in their dreams.

Some of them stirred.

Aiden sat up in his sleeping bag, heart thundering. Not in fear.

In recognition.

The forest was calling.

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