“Are you listening to me?” she snaps.

“Emma Jerico’s parents are fighting over the ski lodge in Canada, Hayden Long’s dad stole ten million from his clients, and Jeff Winterborne is exploring his sexuality with his family’s Puerto Rico pool boy,” I repeat back to her, my voice monotone and bored.

“Did you hear that Elliot Williams got his ass kicked by some juniors?”

“I actually did, I saw them dragging him into one of the science labs. He’s an asshole, he tried to grope my vagina this morning, he deserves a beatdown,” I say with a shrug.

“Oh my god, he tried to grope you?” She looks aghast, the other thing about Court is that despite the world she inhabits, and the fact that having endless amounts of money tends to give the kids we go to school with an unhealthy sense of entitlement, she isn’t like that. In fact, she’s almost naively innocent.

“I planned to knee him in the balls, but Logan saw him with his hand up my skirt and dragged him off me before I got a chance.”

“Logan has the biggest crush on you,” she smirks.

“He does not. He’s just a nice guy. He saw Elliot being an asshole and stepped in.”

“Would you date him, if he asked?”

“Logan? No, he’s cute, but I’m not interested in dating anyone at GAA. Can you imagine their face if I took them back to my house? The kids that go here spontaneously combust if they step into South Acres,” I laugh.

Rolling her eyes, she pushes open the door to the cafeteria and pulls me inside. “No one would care about where you live.”

“No, you don’t care about where I live and that’s because you’re the most amazing person I know, but the other kids that go here, they all care. That’s why no one but you speaks to me. I’m inconsequential to them and that’s okay, they’re inconsequential to me too.”

Stepping into the large open-plan dining area, the smell of garlic and tomato hits my nose and I inhale greedily. “Oh wow something smells good.”

“I think I gained ten pounds just from the calories in the air, but it does smell amazing. You need to eat it for me.”

“Come on, let’s find a seat. I can’t believe we order our food from an app instead of having to wait at the counter,” I say, steering her toward an empty table.

“Being a sophomore rocks.”

Sitting down, we both pull out our cells and order our food. I get the lasagna with a green salad and a bottle of water, my mouth already watering in anticipation.

“Skinless chicken breast salad, dressing on the side and a bottle of water,” Court says aloud as she taps at the screen of her cell.

“You don’t need to watch your weight, you’re practically skin and bone as it is.”

“If I want to fly this year, I can’t gain even an ounce. Heidi is making us do a weigh-in each week on a Friday and if you gain, you don’t get to cheer.”