Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

Chapter 680

Next to them, Slater, grinning like he was up to no good, was holding a water bottle, with Arkle trailing behind, arms full of gear and snacks.

Roseanne looked away.

She wasn't exactly close with Grace.

"Roseanne!" Mamie called out from a distance, waving at her as she jogged over, a hefty backpack strapped to her back, bulging at the seams. It was stuffed with sunscreen, insect repellent, a hat, water bottles, and of course, a stash of snacks.

"I've packed a bunch, we can share later!" Mamie beamed.

"Sounds good," Roseanne replied.

"Hey, where's Scales? Hasn't he shown up yet?" Worrying about being late, Mamie had sprinted the whole way, even arriving five minutes early.

Scales, who was there before her, quipped, "Where did you get the confidence that I'd be later than you?" Mamie pouted, "So what if you're two minutes early? I just hit the snooze button one too many times. But... why do you guys have such small bags?"

Roseanne didn't need to say anything, and even Scales had only a small backpack that looked nearly empty, hardly weighing anything.

"We heard the botanical facility we're visiting is pretty well-equipped, so I just brought the essentials," Roseanne explained.

Scales nodded in agreement.

Mamie was speechless.

was the only one who packed a giant bag, half-filled with

teacher checked off everyone's names,

located in the outskirts, over 60 miles away, requiring a

Mamie and Roseanne sat together, with Scales in

navigate a winding mountain road en route, where cell signal

out his Kindle to

sociable, struck up conversations with

leaned back and

sun rose late. Despite the early start, daylight had only just begun to

hung around the mountainsides, like

about to peek through, promising a

for as long as

morning, they arrived

was divided into

sectors, A

further segmented intohet

planted with different

gathering at the main entrance, the groups went to check in and drop off their luggage. The exam would last two days and

account for 80% of their final grade. Finding rare specimens would earn them bonus points, with each discovery worth an additional 20%. It was a mix of mandatory

Completing the mandatory tasks

a decent grade, while the optional ones were a chance to score extra

the trio

we head to first?" Mamie