Seth’s answer was a groan and a shake of his head. Up close, I could see the dark circles under his eyes, his skin even paler than it had looked yesterday.

“Didn’t sleep well?”

He stared darkly into his coffee. “It’s bloody Gabe.”

“Who’s Gabe?”

“My roommate.” Looking up at Amelia with a pleading expression, he asked, “There’s no way I can change rooms, is there?”

Amelia gave a brusque shake of her head. “We cannot please everyone. Consider it a lesson to improve your social skil s.”

Seth looked like he was about to chuck his cup of coffee at her face, but instead he only took an angry sip. “God, you should see our room. If you can call it that. Rubbish tip is more accurate.

How can one person alone make such a mess over the course of the two days he’s been here? And the smell.”

“Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?” I laughed.

“Yes. I’m not the most organized person, either, but Gabe . . .

I went in and I swear I couldn’t even see my bed under all the trash he’d thrown on it. I literally had to shovel empty cans and crisp bags off my sheets.”

“You are being overdramatic,” Amelia stated. “There are worse people to room with. Just ask Evelyn.”

Seth looked over at me in surprise. “Why, what happened?”

“Nothing happened,” I quickly said. “Noelle is just a little . . .”

“Deranged?” Amelia threw in.

I frowned. “Harsh.”

“What’d she do?” Seth asked. Bracing his elbows on the table, he suddenly seemed much more awake.

“Nothing, it’s fine,” I said before Amelia could answer. “She’s just not very happy to have me as her roommate, is all. I’m sure we’ll get used to each other eventually.”

Amelia didn’t look convinced. Her expression darkened even more when she spotted something behind me. “Speak of the devil and she shall appear.”

Noelle was just settling down at a table at the opposite end of the hall. While she was wearing parts of the uniform, she was breaking the dress code completely; instead of the socks, she was wearing fishnet tights, along with black boots that looked ten times more comfortable than the ballerina flats the rest of us were wearing. She had also disregarded the tie and the blue jumper and was just wearing the white button-down and the skirt instead.

Next to her was a boy who immediately caught my eye because of his unusual hair color, a bright silver. When Noelle sat down next to him, he grinned at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“Who’s that guy?” Seth inquired. Like me, he was also looking over his shoulder to get a better view.

“That is Jasper Des Lauriers.”

“Is he Noelle’s boyfriend?” I asked.

“Jasper?” Amelia asked. “No, they are friends. Best friends, apparently. Noelle is with a guy from year twelve. Jasper’s also in year thirteen with us.”

Seth considered the pair for a few more seconds before he turned back with a shrug and dug into his scrambled eggs. “She doesn’t seem that bad.”