It didn’t help that there were posters lining the walls from the 1950s and 1960s saying things like “Help fight the red menace!” with cartoon soldiers facing down a hammer and sickle. Over the two weeks Fort had been there, those posters had slowly started being replaced by new ones showing dark, shadowy figures with bony hands reaching straight out at you, saying “Don’t trust anything not human!” His favorite, though, was a boy covered in soot who said “Magic is only safe under adult supervision. Don’t blow yourself up!”

Good advice all around.

When Fort finally located the cafeteria, he saw that Cyrus had done as asked: Rachel and Jia were both sitting at their regular table in the corner, with Cyrus making a beeline for it from the food line. Fort nodded at them, then quickly jumped into line, knowing he had to eat, even if he was too nervous to keep anything down.

“So get this,” Sebastian said, coming up behind Fort in line. “I just talked to Dr. Ambrose, and you won’t believe what she’s making me do. Me, the top student in her class!”

“Except Jia’s the top student,” Fort murmured, not looking back. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to Sebastian complain, especially since on a list of his favorite people, Sebastian ranked near the bottom, just above Colonel Charles, the military coheadmaster of the school, and various cartoon villains. And Sebastian only made it that high because he’d helped save everyone back at the old school.

“I heard that,” Sebastian growled. “Now I’m not going to tell you what Ambrose said about you.”

Fort frowned. Dr. Ambrose had said something about him? He hadn’t seen her since the attack, as classes hadn’t started yet at the new school, which meant that days were mostly left up to the students so far. Why would she—

Sebastian banged his tray into Fort’s. “Keep moving, New Kid,” he said. “Some of us have places to be. And wait until you see where you’re going.” He grinned, which made Fort even more nervous.

He tried to put it out of his mind as he grabbed a burger and some green beans, then jumped out of line. Whatever Sebastian was hinting at could wait. The only thing that mattered now was the plan, and for that, he needed to get back to his friends and hopefully have a moment alone to go over it—

“Fort!” someone shouted as he made his way to their table. Fort sighed and turned to find Trey waving him over. “Come sit with us. Bryce and Chad are being really annoying!”