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"What’s a ic Anyway, to answer your question, the mansion remains relatively the sa lost, and instead of adding on and adding on like a labyrinth, Marcus created the tube so you could get to the places that aren’t in constant use This is the most frequently used room, as far as I know I haven’t kept up with soet added to the tube board You’ll have to tube it to some of the classrooms and to the theater But don’t worry The blackboards know everything and are there to help you if you need it" Sean chuckled "Souard"

Meghan nodded "You rulances across the table as Meghan and Sean discussed Earl and the personalities of blackboards Alex shrugged and h

When the brother and sister began discussing Quill and the more delicate topic of their mother and father, Lani pointed stealthily to the bar-stool area Alex nodded, and the two slipped away to grab a snack before turning in for the night They noticed and discussed all sorts of odd things, like creatures and students doing ic tricks with folded up bits of paper, pencils, and other things that Alex and Lani had never seen before

What the two didn’t see at first was Sa with an unfamiliar, older, sneery-faced boy near the tubes Eventually, though, Lani noticed Sah narrowed eyelids, a spiteful sort of look on his face Startled, she poked Alex "What’s his proble

But by the time Alex turned to look, Samheed and his friend had disappeared inside the tubes

School

Several weeks of school and life in Artimé flew by There was sowas, and how to tell if music sounded happy or sad, and horite--not a story, yet, but actually horite numbers and letters Alex and the others could read, of course But they had not been perovernors could authorize a teacher to write out lessons in private, and even then they were very careful to s a teacher would teach Mostly it was math formulas and equations After all, to be successful in the Quillitary, one needed only to know certain things, and writing wasn’t one of the led to creativity, and creativity led to revolt, which was very bad

But noith this exciting world awaiting them, the Unwanteds dove into their studies It didn’t feel like school at all And while each child took classes in all the arts, each also had one particular art to focus on For Alex it was drawing and painting For Meghan it was , but Lani excelled in al she put her e

While Sarown a little bit softer by the end of a ry disposition still reared up regularly Luckily, these ee when a role required it, and that seeer directed at others But Samheed continued to hold some unexplained contempt for Alex, and for Artimé

Occasionally, Sa boy The friends found out soon enough that the boy’s name was Will Blair, and that like Samheed he was a theater focus Will’s face wore a permanent scowl Nobody seemed to like him very much He would shove people in crowded hallways and say rude things, as if his ere more i around with Will because Will is more of an outcast, and it han said, crunching on an apple at lunch one day when it was just she and Alex at the table

"Whatever," Alex said "I think Samheed is just mean He was mean back in Quill, and he’s still mean I have no idea what his probleot an unco whenever he saw the two boys hunching over in private conversation at a corner table in the lounge and stealing glances around the

But mainly Alex absorbed himself in his art under the instruction of Artiator, and he had very little time to think about Samheed and Will Blair

"Don’t be afraid of ator had said when Alex first atorabout, al on air

"O-okay," Alex said, noting the location of the door in case he would need to escape

"I’o to cover an area of instruction in which he was not particularly gifted--the fine art of drawing and painting Wasn’t it thoughtful of hiive me so many ways to excel in my craft?" She carried with her an eraser, a paintbrush, a pencil, charcoal sticks, a palette, and a cup of coffee, and could work on various tasks sileahtly lit room "I bet all your students listen to you too," he said

"Quite right" Ms Octavia grinned toothily

Alex learned quickly over his first feeeks to use a pencil, charcoals, ink, and paints, experi with colors and depth, precision lines and vast strokes with his paintbrushes He began by drawing and painting simple objects like a shoe, a pineapple, and a cactus, andon to structures and landscapes