He ushered Oliver through the door. Oliver gasped. He was standing in another huge room, this one filled with candy-dispensing machines. They ran all the way around the room, like marble runs for candy. Oliver watched, his mouth open, as kids pushed buttons and watched their candy roll through the network of brightly colored tubes before being dispensed into their palms at the bottom.

AWESOME! Oliver cried. He looked over at Ralph. What do you have to do to get candy?

Follow the rules, Ralph told him. There are a lot of rules.

They left the amazing reward store and headed back out to the main atrium. Here, Oliver saw a door with a large L on it.

What does L stand for? he asked Ralph, feeling eager to look inside.

L for library, Ralph explained. He nodded his head in encouragement and Oliver went ahead to open the door.

Once again the room was just as big as the main atrium, the sports hall, and the candy reward store; fifty floors of books. Vast ladders connected all the shelves on all the floors, and students whizzed around on them, pushing themselves with ease around the place. Some people were even in harnesses, climbing like monkeys up the shelves then leaping off with their books in hand and floating back down to the ground. And right in the middle was a column of seating; a giant vertical, red leather couch unit, with different booths and armchairs at various points.

Okay, this is definitely my kind of place, Oliver said, astounded. I love to read.

Youre not allowed to take any books out, Ralph said. Its a rule. Im not sure why, something to do with paradoxical texts exploding. He chuckled. Anyway, dont stand there drooling, theres plenty more to see.

They went back out to the central atrium and headed toward more doors. The next door they reached was marked with an X.

X? Oliver said, racking his brains. X for X-ray? Or xylophone? He couldnt really imagine the purpose of a room filled with xylophones but from what hed seen of the place so far, he wouldnt be surprised.

X is for no entry, Ralph said. There are places the students arent allowed to go. Anywhere with an X on it.

Oh, okay, Oliver said, feeling a little deflated by the answer. Hed been quite excited by the xylophone room. Why?

Its another one of the rules, Ralph said. Think of them like faculty rooms. You know, even teachers have lives. He chuckled again.

His mention of teachers brought Oliver back to reality. He was here to learn, after all, not eat candy and play badminton. And as much as he was enjoying Ralphs tour, he still had so many burning questions in his mind, about who he was, why he was here, how any of this existed at all.

What are the teachers like? he asked Ralph. What do we even study?