The desks had been pushed into facing clusters of six, the chairs scraping against the old tile floors. Dartwell's third period English had been transformed into a battlefield disguised as a class project.

On the whiteboard, the topic for debate was scrawled in large, slightly smudged marker:

"When is loyalty no longer the right choice?"

Dominic Hunter sat straight-backed between Tyler Blake and Sky Matthews, all of them casual on the surface.

Casual. Not relaxed.

Across from them sat Bennett Frazier, Declan Lynch, and Jordan Wallace.

The Musketeers weren't making much effort to hide their shift in energy. Eyes sharper, shoulders tighter, politeness thinned to something that didn't quite qualify as neutral.

The tension was like a current beneath the classroom noise. Only a few people noticed it yet. But it was building.

Jordan twirled his pen between his fingers, leaning back just far enough to seem nonchalant. "So. Graveshollow royalty."

Sky tilted his head, tone light. "Royalty's a bit much. But sure. We'll take the crown."

Jordan gave a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You guys always this confident, or is it just second day nerves?"

Tyler leaned back in his chair, smirking easily. "You're the ones looking ready to throw hands over a quote on page seventy-three."

Declan's knuckles tapped once against the table, slow and deliberate. "Maybe we just don't like being crowded."

Sky smiled wider, all bright teeth. "Good thing we're excellent at giving space."

Bennett finally spoke, voice even but clipped. "You're excellent at something, that's for sure."

Dominic cleared his throat, shifting slightly. "We're not here to start anything. It's just a school, right?"

"Right," Bennett said, but the word was flat enough to knock the air out of the room.

The teacher glanced over meaningfully, signalling for them to start.

The six didn't move.

Dominic could feel it, not just the words, but the way Sky's fingers tapped restlessly on the desk, the way Tyler's smile stayed lazy while his foot braced against the floor, the way Jordan's gaze never quite softened.

None of them trusted each other.

And none of them were pretending otherwise anymore.

From across the classroom, Arya stood up.

"We're switching," she said loudly enough that the teacher looked up from his desk.

Tessa pushed her chair back next, the scrape loud and clear. Davina followed with a slow, deliberate roll of her sleeves.

"What are you doing?" Dominic asked under his breath.

"Fixing it," Arya said cheerfully, patting his shoulder as she passed.

The Phantom boys stood aside without a word, trading places.

Dominic saw Sky flash him a grin on the way out. Tyler shrugged like he thought this would be more fun to watch from the sidelines.

Now, across from the Musketeers, sat Arya, Davina, and Tessa.

It didn't ease the tension. If anything, it sharpened it, crystal-clear and barbed at the edges.

Davina met Bennett's stare with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Tessa leaned forward with her arms crossed, daring Declan to test her patience. Arya, still the friendliest of them all, clasped her hands together like she might actually believe peace was possible.

Jordan glanced between them. "Sending in reinforcements?"

Davina smiled sweetly. "Think of it as an upgrade."

Tessa's glare didn't flicker. "Or a warning."

Declan's mouth tightened, saying nothing but saying everything.

Arya shrugged lightly. "We could be friends, you know. No point starting a war over seating charts and old grudges."

Bennett's stare didn't soften. "Could be."

Davina leaned in slightly. "But only if you're smart enough to stop seeing us as a threat."

"No one's seeing you as anything," Declan muttered, but even he didn't sound convinced.

Tessa's smirk was cold. "Sure, Lynch. Keep telling yourself that."

Jordan leaned forward slightly. "Loyalty's not about avoiding fights. It's about standing when it matters."

Arya smiled, but there was steel behind it now. "Maybe. Or maybe it's about knowing which battles are just noise."

The teacher cleared his throat again, reminding them of the actual assignment.

But none of them really heard it.

The debate had already started.

And it wasn't going to end with a grade.

The classroom buzzed around them, but Dominic barely noticed. He leaned back in his chair, arms folded, trying not to show how tightly coiled the tension in his gut was. Across the room, Arya, Davina, and Tessa were facing down Bennett, Declan, and Jordan like they were plotting an actual siege.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the subtle shift before he heard it.

The soft scrape of a chair.

The whisper of movement.

Naomi Lorraine slid into the empty seat beside him, close enough that he caught the scent of her shampoo, something soft, clean, unfussy.

Sky noticed immediately, raising an eyebrow in silent amusement.

Tyler caught it too, shooting Dominic a look that said, Oh. This explains a lot.

Dominic ignored them both.

Naomi kept her voice low, almost hesitant. "Are they... okay?"

She nodded toward the standoff happening between the Phantom girls and the Musketeers, worry tightening the corners of her mouth.

Dominic shook his head once, quick and sure. "They're fine."

Naomi didn't look convinced.

Dominic dropped his voice even lower. "Tessa might start swinging if someone breathes wrong, but the others-" He smiled slightly. "They're mostly harmless."

Naomi glanced at him sideways, searching his face for a moment.

Whatever she saw seemed to ease her nerves just a fraction.

Sky leaned over the desk between them, stage-whispering, "He's lying. They're tiny hurricanes in human form."

Tyler smirked, pretending to read his notes. "Especially the one currently glaring holes through Lynch's forehead."

Dominic gave Sky and Tyler a warning look, but both just grinned wider, unbothered.

Naomi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled too, soft and a little reluctant."You trust them," she said simply.

Dominic didn't hesitate. "Yeah. I do."

And somehow, Naomi's smile grew just a little bit more real after that.

Across the room, the teacher finally clapped his hands, calling the groups back to attention. The debate was about to begin properly.

But for a moment longer, Dominic stayed right where he was, feeling the world steady itself around him, not because the tension had broken, but because someone had looked at him with trust, and for once, he hadn't flinched away.

The teacher cleared his throat once, then again, louder.

"Alright. Let's get started. Topic Three: When is loyalty no longer the right choice? Group A, you have the floor."

Just a few days ago, at the hockey game their interaction had been easy. Civil, even. The Musketeers had offered nods, small smirks, polite curiosity. Nothing more, nothing less.

But that was before the Phantoms arrived on Dartwell turf. Before they were here, in classrooms and corridors and locker rows. Not visitors. Not guests.

Now?

Now it wasn't friendly.

Now it was tight smiles and locked jaws, like the debate topic wasn't a question, but a challenge.

Bennett leaned forward first, precise, calm, and unreadable as ever.

"Loyalty becomes dangerous when it asks you to sacrifice your morality. If the person you're loyal to asks you to compromise what you believe is right, that's not loyalty. That's control."

Davina's reply came instantly, smooth and sharp-edged.

"And if morality's subjective?"

Bennett didn't blink. "Then you're risking everything for a moving target."

Davina tilted her head, like she'd just heard something particularly foolish.

"Or maybe you're risking everything for someone who matters more than your comfort."

Jordan let out a low whistle. "That's romantic. And reckless."

"I find reckless people are usually the ones worth standing beside," Davina replied, still smiling.

Arya nudged her knee gently under the desk. "Vi."

Davina didn't look away from Bennett. "I'm just participating."

Declan's fingers tapped against the table once. Twice. Then he spoke, direct and blunt.

"Loyalty only means something if it's earned."

Tessa laughed. It was short, sharp, disbelieving.

"So what, people need to pass your test before they deserve your protection?"

"If they're asking me to go to war for them, yeah," Declan replied, steady as stone.

Tessa leaned in, fire behind her eyes. "Some of us don't need permission to fight for the people we care about."

There was a beat of silence.

Jordan arched an eyebrow. "That why your brother's already had to pull you out of two fights this semester?"

Tessa's smile could've sliced steel. "Careful blondie, you could be number three."

Arya cut in quickly. "Okay. That's enough."

Everyone looked at her. She was still smiling, but there was something firmer beneath it now.

"Debate, remember?" she said lightly. "You know, words, points, the usual."

Naomi, still seated a few rows back, let out a breath like she'd been holding it.

Bennett leaned back in his chair, gaze still on Davina. "You're not just here for a change of pace, are you?"

Davina didn't respond.

Because the answer was obvious.

None of them were.

Across the room, Dominic caught Naomi's glance. She didn't smile this time but she nodded.

Not because everything was okay.

But because now, she finally understood:

The Phantoms weren't invading.

They were fortifying.

And for the first time, the Musketeers had to ask themselves what they'd actually do when the new kids didn't back down.

⸻

They stood just outside the doorway, shoulder to shoulder, silent as the hallway drained around them.

Bennett leaned against the wall, arms folded, eyes fixed on a scuff mark near the lockers like it was going to answer all the questions currently chewing at the edge of his thoughts.

Declan hadn't spoken since they left the classroom. He'd just shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at nothing in particular. That usually meant he was thinking. Or brooding. Or both.

Finally, Bennett broke the silence. "They don't pull punches."

Declan didn't look over. "No. They don't."

"They also don't waste time."

Declan let out a quiet breath, not quite a laugh. "You mean Davina doesn't."

Bennett didn't deny it.

He hadn't expected her to match him beat for beat. Most people backed off the moment he met them with that particular brand of cold precision.

She hadn't flinched.

And worse, she hadn't been impressed either.

"She doesn't bluff," Bennett added.

"She doesn't have to," Declan said. "Neither does Tessa."

Bennett glanced sideways at him. "You noticed that too?"

Declan nodded once, slow. "She doesn't wait. She threatens."

"And she means it."

There was a pause.

Then, more quietly, Bennett said, "What did you make of Arya?"

Declan shrugged. "She was... trying."

Bennett didn't answer.

He didn't have to. They both knew what that meant.

Trying to de-escalate. Trying to be friendly. Trying to build bridges no one had asked for.

But even Arya's warmth had teeth behind it.

Charm wasn't her defence mechanism, it was her opening move.

Declan rubbed the back of his neck. "They're not here to blend in."

"No," Bennett said. "They're not."

He shifted slightly, arms still folded. His eyes weren't on the lockers anymore. They were somewhere far past them.

"They came to hold the line," he said. "And I don't think we've figured out yet what they're protecting."

Declan didn't answer, but that silence said everything.

⸻

The stairwell behind the science wing was half-forgotten by everyone. Paint flaked from the railing. The windows above had been cracked open since fall, letting in a slow drift of cool air that still smelled faintly of cut grass and the burned edge of a distant cigarette.

Davina and Tessa sat on the steps, side by side, legs stretched out like they had nowhere better to be. A few floors up, a locker slammed, and someone called out a name that didn't belong to either of them.

"Friday," Tessa said, twisting the cap off her water bottle, "I thought Jordan was funny."

Davina didn't look up from her phone. "He had decent timing. And good taste in sneakers."

Tessa tapped her boot against the step below, watching the scuffed rubber mark the concrete. "Declan seemed like the silent-and-deadly type. I respected that."

"I liked Bennett," Davina admitted, sending one last message before locking her phone. "Sharp. Dry. Low tolerance for stupidity."

Down the hall, footsteps echoed past the stairwell. Neither of them moved.

"So... what changed?" Tessa asked.

They both knew, but neither of them minded giving it shape.

"They weren't watching us like that on Friday," Davina said, her voice flat now. "They weren't looking for weaknesses."

"They weren't territorial." Tessa nodded once. "Or cold."

Davina tilted her head back against the railing. "They were fine when we were background noise."

Another voice drifted past. Laughter, loud, fleeting, unbothered. Somewhere above them, the building's old pipes let out a groan.

"I almost flirted with Declan," Tessa muttered.

Davina smirked. "I remember. He looked terrified."

"I was being nice," Tessa snapped, which made Davina laugh, sharp and brief, like a match being struck.

Tessa took another sip of water, her tone softening. "But they don't get to look at Dominic like he's trespassing."

Davina's jaw tightened. "They can stare at the rest of us all they want. But not him."

"Not even with their opinions."

Silence stretched between them, but it wasn't empty. It was decided.

Davina adjusted the fold of her jacket, her expression calm and distant. "It's always Dominic."

Tessa didn't hesitate. "Always."

They sat there a while longer, letting the building breathe around them buzzing lights, tired tiles, a breeze that slipped in through the windows and curled at their ankles.

Let the rest of the school carry on.

They'd already chosen their side.