Wretched Power | 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 (BOOK ONE)

| CHAPTER SIX |

The first few weeks of life at Welton Academy weren't as bad as Lana had thought. Sure, there was the occasional name-calling from George Hopkins and Chet Danburry (but her stitches were now a scar so they would have to come up with a new nickname), the waiting to have a shower, the broken heater in her dorm room, and the bombarding of work, homework, extra curriculums, and studying. But Meeks, Pitts, and Charlie made everything a little bit more bearable for her. Charlie made it a whole lot crazier, but Meeks and Pitts made it bearable. 

     She had gotten to know the boys quite well, and they had gotten to know her, too. 

     Charlie Dalton is extremely social and would talk anyone's ear off if they allowed it, but Lana thinks that's mostly because he likes the sound of his own voice. He's shown Lana a lot of respect and has defended her name in front of her, and when she hadn't been around, so Lana found him rather trustworthy and noble. Meeks and Pitts both like to keep to themselves and either enjoy the silence between each other or work on small projects together. They do everything together, and have started working on fixing an old broken typewriter they found in the library for Lana (she's been helping too). She was happy with the small group of friends she had found. 

     Normally, no one else is at their table at dinner, lunch, and breakfast. No one really paid any attention to them. They all shuddered away from Lana's gaze, but that changed when Richard Cameron decided to sit beside Meeks and Pitts and stare intently at Lana who sat beside Charlie at lunch. 

     "Richard Cameron," he introduced himself to Lana, ignoring the boys beside him who were giving Charlie confused looks. 

     Lana hesitated for a second before she swapped her fork in her hand and shook his hand with a soft smile. "Lana Paradis." 

     "I know. So, how did you get into Welton?" 

     "Cameron!" Charlie sent a strong glare in Richard Cameron's direction who outstretched his hands to defend himself. 

     "What? Everyone is thinking it!" 

     "Maybe she doesn't want to draw attention to it. You can be really insensitive sometimes." 

     Richard Cameron dropped his head and focused on his food but didn't bother to apologise to Lana. They sat in awkward silence, the four of them sharing glances and then looking at Cameron who kept his eyes on the lower half of the table, trying to push himself into the other conversation. 

     Lana and Meeks looked at each other before she looked at Charlie and quickly shot her eyes toward Cameron with a soft nod. Charlie rolled his eyes before he began talking again but didn't look at the orange-haired boy. 

     "Cameron, this is Meeks and Pitts. Boys, this is Cameron who is completely insufferable." 

     Meeks and Pitts both shook Cameron's hand, although it was clear that Cameron only decided to sit at their table to learn more about Lana. It fell into an awkward hush again. This time, Lana broke the silence. 

     "Mr Nolan knew my father." She answered Cameron's question, which caught his attention. "My brothers went here." 

     Taking a leap, Cameron decided to get more out of her. "How did you get that scar?" 

     Charlie dropped his cutlery on his plate with his jaw clenched, and he looked like he was about to lean over the table and slam Cameron's face in his food. But Lana stopped everything just in time with a soft melodic whistle which alerted the boys around her that Mr Nolan was approaching. Charlie looked down at his food, relaxed his jaw and grabbed ahold of his fork.