Serina laughed. “I like the company. When it was just me and Sam it got really lonely.” She handed me the rest of my books and belongings, and I quickly stacked them on the shelf.

“Now what?” I asked once that was accomplished.

“Now you grab a shower and go to bed so we can do it all over again tomorrow,” Serina said. I noticed that Tess and Eliana had already disappeared through the door to the bathroom, and I was thankful for Serina, who patiently showed me where to find towels and shampoo and everything else that had always been provided for me without question or hassle at home. As I crawled into my scratchy sheets later that night, I smiled. Scratchy sheets or no scratchy sheets, this was exactly the fresh start I’d been hoping for, and for a moment I forgot about the Cocoon and the ominous shadow it had cast over everything. I forgot about the seemingly random bullet points that seemed to be marching Elliot and me toward something huge, and I fell asleep excited to see what tomorrow would bring.

What it brought was a grumpy Elliot. Which shouldn’t have been a huge surprise, but it was still a bummer to sit down to my first breakfast at the mountain to his scowling face.

“Good morning,” I chirped with a wide smile as I set my tray of eggs and toast down next to his.

“Debatable,” he said, stabbing another piece of egg onto his fork. I sighed as I dug into my own breakfast. Different location, same old Elliot. Since my dining partner left a lot to be desired, I glanced around the room. The other kids in the program were still in line to get their breakfasts, and behind us, Callaway was sitting at a small table with some of the other mountain faculty. Compared to the expansive staff of the Academy, the mountain was run and maintained by just a small group of professors, a handful of security officers, a few tech specialists, a cook, and a housekeeper. Apparently, they all ate together. It was a sharp contrast to what I’d grown up watching. Callaway sat side by side with the techs and the cook as their equal and friend. Everyone knew he was in charge, but he was also genuinely liked by everyone at that table. Although, as I listened to his big booming laugh fill the cavernous room, it wasn’t hard to see why.

Looking back over at Elliot, I noticed that someone had dropped off the day’s schedule, and he was frowning down at it like it had just personally insulted him.

“You know if you’re not careful your face is going to freeze like that,” I said.

“Like what?” he asked.

“Like you just ate something rotten,” I said.

“It’s not the same,” he said, throwing the schedule down in disgust.

“What do you mean?” I asked.