Young Writers Society

Kynina huffed amusedly at Railyn’s comment, but shook her head. “Can we not argue? It’s not a great idea to have a fight when you’re already in trouble.”

"I fought tooth and nail to be here," Thane said coolly, ignoring Kynina. "Something I doubt you've ever had to do."

"So you didn't pay to be here, got it." Railyn decided to ignore her until she stopped being an ass. He leaned back into his chair and started scribbling on his notebook. Homework was not going to happen now.

Kynina bit her lip. “It’s fine if you didn’t,” she told the other girl. “It sounds like you got here fair and square despite the disadvantages.”

Thane looked at the girl blankly. "I don't need your stamp of approval, but thanks."

Kynina glanced back at Railyn for a moment. “I’m sorry if I offended you,” she said. “Can I ask for your name? I don’t want the two of us to start off on the wrong foot.”

Thane watched her blankly. She was slightly irritating, but much more tolerable than the boy. "Thane."

“Thane,” Kynina repeated, then nodded. “How did you get in here? This detention room, I mean.”

Thane sighed and looked at the front of the room, bored. "A kid passed out while sparring me."

Kynina hummed a little. “I thought that happened all the time in that class. Didn’t know they would punish anyone for it.”

Thane stayed quiet for a minute, then said, "I made them pass out while sparring me."

Kynina was also briefly silent, tipping her head to the side in a curious way. “Not an accident?”

Thane stared at her. "Apparently, when you trip over your own ego surrounded by pitch-black fog and hit your head when you fall, it's the other person's fault."

Something flashed in Kynina’s eyes before she nodded slightly. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like your fault. Since three of us ended up here because of something like that, I bet their rules around sparring aren’t very fair.”

"Biased," Thane corrected. "They're biased."