Page 11 (1/2)

He tugged his full botto deeper into his chair as he spread his legs languidly, tapping the bottom of the desk in the row next to his with his foot He’d loosened the tie of his uniforht outfit look casual

“Are we boring you, Mr Whittaker?” Mrs Gates called from the front of the class “Eyes up here, please”

He flicked his gaze up toward the front of the rooot the distinct iot the iuy doif he didn’t want to—and not just because he was practically double her size He had an air of easy confidence about him, as if the world had opened every door he’d ever stood in front of, and he had no doubt it would do so again and again

Must be fucking nice

I peeled opento the cha

pter nu as Mrs Gates lectured I didn’t look at the guy again, but I didn’t need to Every tiaze landed ondragged lightly over my skin

When class finally let out, I ive Mrs Gates a chance to pull me up to the front and make me introduce myself or some shit like that Not that she see Everyone here was already a week into classes, and she clearly didn’t feel the need to slon her lesson plan with “new student show and tell”

And I’d been right about the curriculu harder here

This class ay ahead of where I’d been at Sand Valley High, and if allto have to kick ear to catch up—or at the very least, not fall any further behind

Since I hadn’t actually made it to my first two classes, the next period after History was lunch At least I knehere the dining hall was, thanks to Leah’s tour I leftto look any more like a tourist and an outsider than I probably already did, and hiked across the quad toward the large cafeteria building

It was done in the sas in campus, with arched hite walls, and a red tiled roof The look was actually starting to grow on me Between that and the constant, relentless blue skies and sunshine, the whole place seelow like it existed on some kind of ethereal plane

I could understand why soa break for the West Coast It was fucking beautiful

Wide steps led up to the dining hall entrance, and a sign out front declared it Astor Hall

My storowled as I climbed the stairs I’d been too nervous and distracted to eat breakfast before leaving

Like every other place at Oak Park, the dining hall was unnecessarily elaborate and luxurious At its most basic, it was set up just like my old cafeteria—but in actual appearance, it didn’t look anything like that place Food was served along one wall, and it looked like they either had it catered in or had soit chefs on staff There were dozens of options, including a full salad bar, and stafftrays from empty tables