Chapter 7 – Dorm Rules + Rivalries
Sam's POV
The morning comes too fast.
I don’t remember falling asleep. One minute I was staring at the ceiling, convinced Elias was still awake and watching me, and the next the sunlight is stabbing through the blinds. My head feels heavy, like I’ve been drugged, but it’s just exhaustion.
The first sound I register is the shower running. The second is humming.
Elias is in the bathroom.
I sit up quick, heart jumping, and scan the room. His bed is empty, the sheets messy but not completely wrecked. His book is still on the nightstand, open face down. His lighter’s gone.
I pull on my hoodie and force myself to breathe. Today’s the real start. Yesterday was just the arrival. Today, I have to live it.
A knock rattles the door before I can fully wake up.
“Orientation,” a voice calls from the hall. “All new blood, down in the lounge.”
New blood. That’s me.
When Elias comes out, hair damp, uniform shirt untucked, he doesn’t even look at me. He just grabs his bag, slings it over his shoulder, and says flatly, “Don’t be late. They don’t like that.”
“They?” I ask.
But he’s already out the door.
I follow the stream of bodies down the stairs. The lounge is big, with couches arranged in a sloppy circle and a giant flat-screen dominating one wall. Boys sprawl everywhere, laughing, trading jabs, eating from bags of chips like it’s breakfast.
The moment I step in, every head turns.
It’s like being under a spotlight.
Declan Ward is there, of course, sitting at the center of the couch like a king on a throne. Adrian and Nathaniel flank him, their laughter too loud, too sharp. They make space for no one. The air bends around them.
The sandy-haired guy from yesterday—Tyler, I think—claps me on the shoulder hard enough to rattle my teeth. “There he is. The scholarship kid.”
The word scholarship makes my stomach twist, but I force a grin. “Guess that’s me.”
Declan studies me, expression calm, too calm. Then he smirks. “New blood needs the rules.”
The room goes quieter.
My pulse quickens.
Declan leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Dorm 9 isn’t just where we sleep. It’s a hierarchy. You respect it, you survive. You break it, you don’t.”
His blue eyes lock on mine.
Rule one: Don’t question orders.
Rule two: Don’t touch what isn’t yours.
Rule three: If someone above you wants something, you give it. No excuses.
The way he says it makes my skin crawl.
“Simple enough?” Adrian asks, his smile lazy, dangerous.
“Yeah,” I say, voice low. “Crystal.”
Nathaniel laughs, sharp and grating. “He’ll learn.”
The boys around the room nod, mutter, some smirk. It feels like a cult initiation, and I’m the sacrifice.
Declan leans back again, satisfied. “Good. Now, one more thing.” He points to a tall boy across the room. His uniform is crisp, tie knotted perfectly, posture military straight. His expression is cold, detached.
“Dorm 8 and Dorm 9 don’t mix,” Declan says. “That’s Grayson Blackwood. Captain of their debate team. Daddy’s a judge. And he’s a snake. You see him or any of his crew? You don’t talk. You don’t deal. You don’t breathe the same air unless we say so. Got it?”
Grayson doesn’t flinch at the words. He just stares back, eyes like sharpened steel. The tension between him and Declan hums like electricity, thick enough to choke on.
Rivalries. Wars. Invisible lines I can’t cross.
I nod, forcing myself to look neutral. “Got it.”
Declan’s smirk widens. “Good boy.”
The words sting like a slap.
The meeting breaks after that, boys scattering back to their routines. But the rules cling to me like chains.
Upstairs, Elias is waiting at our door. He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
“So,” he says. “You’ve been briefed.”
I shrug, trying to sound casual. “Guess so.”
His eyes narrow slightly. “Don’t let them pull you in too deep.”
Something in his tone makes me pause. “Why?”
He tilts his head, studying me again, that same unreadable look. “Because once they own you, you don’t get out.”
Before I can answer, Declan’s voice cuts through the hall. “Hale!”
I stiffen.
He stands at the end of the corridor, Adrian and Nathaniel at his sides, all three grinning like they already know I’ll obey.
“Time to prove you’re one of us,” Declan calls.
My blood runs cold.
Elias pushes off the wall, eyes narrowing.
“Don’t,” he says quietly. “Whatever they want, don’t.”
But Declan crooks a finger, sharp and commanding.
And every pair of eyes in the hallway turns to me.