He shook his head. “Ask me again in a few months when I’m failing my GCSEs because I was too caught up in solving the mystery around The Chitter Chatter and a bloody kidnapping to retain anything we did in class.”

“Seth, we both know you’re going to do better than all of us combined,” I laughed. “And if not, we’ll just all have to stay here another year, won’t we?”

“I like the sound of that,” he said, clinking his glass against mine before both of us dug into the food.

In the quiet that settled over the hall once everyone was busy eating, Elle’s gasp was clearly audible.

I looked up in surprise, but before I could ask what was going on, Elle was already on her feet, sending her chair scraping across the stone floor. My eyes followed her as she darted across the room until they landed on the woman who had appeared in the doorway.

With high heels and a black evening gown, Crystal Danell looked like she had stepped right out of one of the magazines that were stacked on Elle’s desk. However, one thing was different. In all the photos of her, she had worn a small, professional smile, ready for the camera and the press. Now, as Elle flung herself into her arms, there was a genuine, bright grin on her face, though it quickly disappeared as she buried her face in her daughter’s curls.

In the startled silence that followed, it was easy to make out what they were saying.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Elle muttered, sounding a little choked up, though I was pretty sure that Jasper, Seth, and I were the only ones to notice. “Aren’t you in the middle of your tour?”

“I am.” Crystal Danel ’s voice was smoky and warm, much like when she was singing. “But I canceled the photoshoots and interviews I had scheduled today. Did you really think I wouldn’t try everything to see you after everything that happened, baby?”

Elle took a step back; from where I was sitting I couldn’t see her face, but I was pretty sure it displayed a similar expression to her mom’s affectionate smile. “I missed you so much.”

Some murmurs began to arise. Looking around, I realized that most of the other students seemed either surprised or disbelieving as they heard her soft tone, soaked in real emotion for once. They knew the stone-cold girl who would snarl at people in the hallways or the vicious team captain who yelled at her teammates on the basketball court, not the girl who turned on the fairy lights every night and talked to our kitten in a baby voice. I wondered if they understood what this meant, if they felt as honored as I had to finally be let in.

“I missed you, too, sweetie,” Crystal said, reaching out to stroke Elle’s hair in a gesture that was so gentle it made something in my own stomach twist.