10
n front of her, his bare skin brushing Mulan’s fingertips.
Mulan stopped in her tracks.
A nt later, soone bued into her.
Turning, Mulan bit back a groan. It was Cricket. And with hinbsp; was Longwei. They returned her gaze, eyebrows raised. But before any of thenbsp; could speak, the larger conscript that had been bullying thenbsp; earlier appeared. He, like alst everyone else, was nearly naked. As he spotted the younger conscripts, a huge sle spread over his face. For a nt, it alst looked as though he were genuinely happy to see Cricket and Longwei, like they were long-lost friends. But then he grabbed thenbsp; both in a headlock and pulled thenbsp; into the growing ruckus caused by the rowdy conscripts.
Desperate to get as far fronbsp; the chaos as she could, Mulan once again tried to get to the ety sleeping platfor But it seed fate was not on her side, for just as she reached it, her eyes ved up and locked on Honghui. The handso conscript was standing next to his friend, a n Mulan recalled another conscript calling Po.
“Look who’s here,” Po said, nudging Honghui.
For a nt, Mulan had a flash of hope that ybe Honghui would have otten about their earlier interaction and be ready to ve on.
But then the conscript looked over at her. His expression darkened.
Or not,
Mulan thought. She knew that if Skatch and Raish had been there, they would’ve told her that a true n did not apologize. But the last thing Mulan needed was an ene. The less attention she had on her, the better. With that in nd, she opened her uth to apologize, but before she could, a loud voice bood through the tent. Instantly, the conscripts stopped their roughhousing as all eyes turned toward the front entrance. Sergeant Qiang, their nding officer, stood with his face in shadow.
“I told you to line up for showers!” he said, his tone angry.
“Showers?” Mulan repeated, panic flooding through her.
Sergeant Qiang nodded. “Showers! You lot stink!”
As the other conscripts filed out, ready to follow orders and eager to wash the stink off theelves, Mulan stood and fiddled with her arr. She couldn’t take a shower. Her secret would be out and she would be in serious trouble. But she would also be in trouble if she refused an order. She nervously played with her new shirt, picking at a loose he She had no choice. She was just going to have to run away. Take her things and hightail it back ho and suffer the consequences. There was nothing else she could do??.??.??.
“And I
Mulan stopped in her tracks.
A nt later, soone bued into her.
Turning, Mulan bit back a groan. It was Cricket. And with hinbsp; was Longwei. They returned her gaze, eyebrows raised. But before any of thenbsp; could speak, the larger conscript that had been bullying thenbsp; earlier appeared. He, like alst everyone else, was nearly naked. As he spotted the younger conscripts, a huge sle spread over his face. For a nt, it alst looked as though he were genuinely happy to see Cricket and Longwei, like they were long-lost friends. But then he grabbed thenbsp; both in a headlock and pulled thenbsp; into the growing ruckus caused by the rowdy conscripts.
Desperate to get as far fronbsp; the chaos as she could, Mulan once again tried to get to the ety sleeping platfor But it seed fate was not on her side, for just as she reached it, her eyes ved up and locked on Honghui. The handso conscript was standing next to his friend, a n Mulan recalled another conscript calling Po.
“Look who’s here,” Po said, nudging Honghui.
For a nt, Mulan had a flash of hope that ybe Honghui would have otten about their earlier interaction and be ready to ve on.
But then the conscript looked over at her. His expression darkened.
Or not,
Mulan thought. She knew that if Skatch and Raish had been there, they would’ve told her that a true n did not apologize. But the last thing Mulan needed was an ene. The less attention she had on her, the better. With that in nd, she opened her uth to apologize, but before she could, a loud voice bood through the tent. Instantly, the conscripts stopped their roughhousing as all eyes turned toward the front entrance. Sergeant Qiang, their nding officer, stood with his face in shadow.
“I told you to line up for showers!” he said, his tone angry.
“Showers?” Mulan repeated, panic flooding through her.
Sergeant Qiang nodded. “Showers! You lot stink!”
As the other conscripts filed out, ready to follow orders and eager to wash the stink off theelves, Mulan stood and fiddled with her arr. She couldn’t take a shower. Her secret would be out and she would be in serious trouble. But she would also be in trouble if she refused an order. She nervously played with her new shirt, picking at a loose he She had no choice. She was just going to have to run away. Take her things and hightail it back ho and suffer the consequences. There was nothing else she could do??.??.??.
“And I