He’d experienced that firsthand himself when growing up. In the first year of second school he’d fallen in with a group of three other Creshen boys, and for a good half year they were inseparable, bonded by their love of pranks and mischief. That winter break Weysh introduced his friends to Harth—who went to a different, more exclusive and expensive school—and they instantly absorbed him into their gang. And despite what came after, Weysh still fondly remembered that era as one of the most entertaining periods of his childhood.

This friendship continued into the next year as well, even though their classes changed and they were no longer constantly together. However, in one of his upper-year classes Weysh met a new friend—Isaac.

He introduced Isaac to his gang with the same enthusiasm he had Harth, but he noticed something was different. They weren’t as receptive. When one day, confused, Weysh asked why they weren’t as welcoming to Isaac, his friend Philippe spelled it out for him.

“Isaac is great, Weysh, he’s funny and all, but do you think he can keep up? What if he can’t afford to go to Pascal’s with us after school?”

“En? So what?” said Weysh. “We’ll go somewhere else. Pascal’s is overpriced anyway. And if worse comes to worst, I can pay for him.”

By then Weysh’s uncle had taken him on to expand the delivery company from sea to air, and paid him handsomely for it. In fact, Weysh and Isaac had bonded over the fact that they were both working to put themselves through school. Weysh for his uncle; Isaac at Suli’s.

“You shouldn’t have to do that,” said Philippe. “Besides, it would just embarrass him. Look, Weysh, he’s a nice enough fellow, but he just doesn’t fit in with our crowd. It’s probably best you do your own thing with him when you’re not with us, for his sake.”

But after that, Weysh found it just wasn’t as fun hanging around with Philippe and the rest anymore.

And, ah Movay, he wasn’t immune. He’d assumed the same thing about Yenni, expecting that his modern Creshen townhouse would impress her when she lived in a thrice-damned palace.

“Weh-sheh? Are you all right?”