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A compact man with dark hair and a beard made his way around the corner Mrs Perkins cut off her previous sentence with a sreeted Ivy by name and reached both of his hands out to take hers

"Headh," she returned, in a tone that made me think that under typical circumstances, she’d leave the head this happen"

"Yes, well" Headan polishing theainst his shirt "We think that you--and Tess--will fit in with the Hardwicke family quite well"

"I knoay around Hardwicke," Ivy replied, in a tone that made me wonder what experience she’d had with the school--and why the headmaster looked uncoht place for Tess"

"And, of course," the headmaster added, "you can expect us to respect your sister’s privacy Just as we respect the privacy of all of our students"

There was subtext there--a warning

"What happens at Hardwicke stays at Hardwicke," Ivy said smoothly "Believe me, I know"

"Am I early?" a voice piped up froirl who stood there Ivy and Headht on ti the tension in the rooirls are inyou around today"

Vivvie was an inch or two taller than me with dark brown skin, a round face, and wavy black hair that she wore pulled into loose pigtails She offered etically "This whole ‘hey, new girl, go with the total stranger’ thing is kind of cliché, but don’t think of htened "Think ofcountry, where the locals are always restless and the bathrooy to Vivvie, an earnestness that uide," she continued, bringing her right hand to her heart, like she was pledging allegiance, "I aated to tell you that if we don’t leave now, the Hut will be totally sold out of everything bagels by the tiet there" She paused to let what I could only assume was the seriousness of that sink in "You cannot possibly be prepared for your first day at Hardwicke with only solanced over at Ivy and the head match Then I turned back to Vivvie "After you"

CHAPTER 7

The Hardwicke Hut was essentially a student-run coffee shop that didn’t serve coffee

"Two everything bagels," Vivvie ordered, with the air of a fairy god a most elaborate wish "And do not tell me you’re out," she told the boy behind the counter "You are not out of everything bagels The world would not be so cruel"

"We’re not out," the boy replied "But there’s only one left The world is a little bit cruel"