“Don’t worry, I know exactly how bad these types of people can get,” I tell him sadly, gripping the handle of my case and walking away.

“Welcome to Kingsacre University, freshman,” an overly bright girl says from her seat behind a desk situated out on the lawn under a gazebo.

“Hi.”

“Can I take your name please?”

“Starling Kennedy.”

Her brow furrows as she taps away at her keyboard. “Hmm, when’s your birthday?”

“It’s September 4th.”

“I have a Starling Lockwood, birthday September 4th. Have you changed your name recently?”

My blood turns cold and I freeze, all the breath in my lungs suddenly evaporating. “My surname is Kennedy, there must be some mistake.”

“Is Lockwood your husband’s name? It says here you’re Mrs. Starling Lockwood.” Her chuckle is forced and uncomfortable.

This must be some kind of fucked-up joke. Is this Evan’s doing, messing with me on my first day? It’s been years, and apart from the wedding I haven’t seen or spoken to any of The Elite since the day before I left town. Why would he do this now? It’s not like Sebastian was genuinely hurt by me leaving, he was just angry to lose his control over me.

“I’m one-hundred-percent single, I’m eighteen,” I say with a forced giggle.

“Wow, thank god. I was worried you were like Amish or something. Give me one minute, I’ll just call down to administration and have them double-check I’m giving you the right house number. You want to let your parents know it’s going to be a short wait?”

“I’m not with my parents, it’s just me.”

“Oh,” her brows lift almost all the way up to her hairline. “Okay, I’ll just make that call.”

I nod, waiting awkwardly as she stands up, takes a few steps away from the desk and lifts her cell phone to her ear. She returns five minutes later, smiling. “All sorted, must have been an admin error. You are most definitely the only Starling at the school, cool name by the way.” Sitting back down, she clicks at her keyboard again. A printer starts to whir before she hands me a packet with some papers and a hotel-style key card. “Okay, so your room is in Collinwood House, suite five, which is all the way over on the far side of campus. Orientation is at nine a.m. tomorrow where you can pick up your schedule and get an itinerary for all the freshmen activities. Give this”—she hands me a small card with my name and Collinwood House suite five on it—“to one of the cart drivers and they’ll take you and all your luggage over to the west quad to get your student ID and then to your house. If you have any problems or any questions, the number for student liaison services is in your pack. Also the annual welcome-freshmen party is tomorrow night, in the woods behind the gymnasium. It’s huge and all the freshmen go. I’ve marked it on your map, you don’t want to miss it. Welcome to Kingsacre, Starling.”