Shaking her head, Amelia tightened her grip on my arm and tugged me along. “Pay no attention to her. The more you do, the worse she’ll get, trust me. She probably made your first night here a living hell, didn’t she?”

“Oh, it was all right,” I murmured.

“Anyway, since she probably won’t even talk to you, I suppose I should tell you that Noelle is on Seven Hills’ basketball team. In fact, she is the first female captain the team has ever had.”

Impressed by how quickly she had gotten the conversation back to after-school activities and companionship, I asked,

“Basketball team?”

“Yes. Since this is an international boarding school and we have students from all over the world, we offer a wide variety of sports. I, myself, am the captain of the cheerleading squad. If you are interested in joining, you can visit our practice some time.”

“Maybe, if I have the time,” I lied.

A moment later, we arrived at the entrance hall where Amelia had picked Seth and me up yesterday. There, she led me towards a door between the two flights of stairs that I hadn’t noticed last night because it had been shut. As we neared it, I could hear the clattering of tableware and loud voices.

“The Great Hall,” Amelia commented. “We have all our meals here.”

Behind the door lay a huge hall with long rows of tables and benches. Banners in black, white, and navy—the colors of Seven Hills—adorned the stone walls and were wrapped around the tall pil ars that held up the arched ceiling. Nearing the buffet in the back of the room where the students queued to get breakfast, I was engulfed in the smell of pancakes and toast, sausages and scrambled eggs.

When it was our turn, Amelia said, “I recommend the whole grain bread and some fruit.”

Pretending not to hear her over the racket, I loaded my plate with a chocolate croissant and a fruit yogurt. Amelia eyed my choice with disdain but took off towards the tables without commenting.

As we crossed the hall, I was glad to have Amelia with me.

Most of the tables were already occupied by different groups that seemed like they were formed based on age, with the year-nine students at one end and students who seemed to be our age at the other. However, there were also other distinctions, as one table seemed to be made up of athletes in tracksuits like Noelle’s worn over their uniforms while another group looked like it consisted of theater kids. I didn’t know where I fit into the ecosystem yet, so I happily followed Amelia as she hunted down an empty table close to the entrance.

I was even happier when Seth made his way towards us. The tray he was carrying had two plates overflowing with food and clattered loudly against the table when he slammed it down.

“Are you all right?” I asked, scooting a little to the side to make room for him as he slumped down next to me.