full of students and teachers alike.
“Alex! Dix! Over here!”
Alex heard Jordan call out for them and she led D.C. over to where their friends were sitting.
“We were worried you weren’t going to make it in time,” Bear said as they took their seats between the two boys.
“Us? Late?” Alex asked with wide eyes. “Never.”
“Right. I’ll remember that next time we have to barge into your dorm to get you up in time for PE,” Bear said.
“Once. That only happened once,” Alex grumbled. “And I was the one who opened the door and let you in. There was no barging
Ignoring the stifled sounds of amusement from eavesdropping classmates, her attention moved to the rest of her table. Normally the food court was set up into clusters of randomly shaped and sized tables, but tonight all the furniture was larger, with groups of people seated together. Looking around her table, Alex recognised many faces from her classes last year.
Jordan must have seen her curious expression because he spoke before she could ask. “The first night of every new year we all sit in age-based groups so it’s easier to organise getting our new class schedules.”
That seemed logical. But unfortunately for Alex, she’d been so overwhelmed by the transition into Akarnae—andMedora—during the previous year that she hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know many of her fellow classmates.
“I don’t know most of these people,” she admitted quietly to Jordan. “Can you give me a brief rundown?”
“No problem.” He turned away and called out loudly enough to draw the attention of everyone at their table, “Hey, guys, let’s do an icebreaker!”
“Jordan!” Alex hissed.
“What?” he asked innocently. “This way we’ll all get to know each other even better.”
“Sparker,” called one of the guys sitting further down the table. “What gives?”
“You know, an icebreaker,” Jordan repeated. “We’ll each say something random about ourselves. Something that not many people here know. Fun, right?”
No one else seemed thrilled by the idea, but in true Jordan fashion, he managed to get them all to grudgingly agree.
“I’ll start,” he said. “My name is Jordan Sparker, and when I was three years old I shoved a pea so far up my nose that it had to be surgically removed. Your turn, Alex.”
Turning to eagerly awaiting eyes, Alex’s mind suddenly blanked. “I’m Alexandra Jennings—but just ‘Alex’ is fine—and I, um, like reading?”
She wished she hadn’t made it sound like a question. In fact, she wasn’t sure why she’d said it, since she didn’t read all that much. But it wasn’t as if she could have said she was from another world.
D.C. went next, then Bear, followed by Connor and Mel O’Malley, the cousins who Alex had spent some time with in the previous school year. The introductions continued around the table and Alex had a chance to learn about some of her other classmates.
“I’m Savannah Hill, and I’m a virtual reality addict,” said a blond girl who Alex remembered from her Delta PE class last year. “The projector in the Rec Room here is way better than the one I have back home, so I’m a little obsessed with it.”
“Kelly Gleeson,” said the next girl, who had short brown hair and squinty eyes. “My favourite movie is Beyond the Crescent Moon .”
Next up was a tall, lanky, extremely tanned guy with spiky hair who, when he spoke, sounded like he’d walked straight out of a surfing commercial. “Whazzup! Friends call me ‘Blink’. I’m into extremes—extreme sports, extreme food, extreme music—anything extreme. Embrace the rush!”
The introductions continued until the names all blended together and Alex knew she wouldn’t be able to remember everyone. Chelsea Jones… Kimberly Cooke… Mathew Parker… Andrew Nickles… Tate Golde… Ruth Voran… Anna Ford… Elliott Parvie… Samuel Hortham… The names kept coming until there were only two people
“Alex! Dix! Over here!”
Alex heard Jordan call out for them and she led D.C. over to where their friends were sitting.
“We were worried you weren’t going to make it in time,” Bear said as they took their seats between the two boys.
“Us? Late?” Alex asked with wide eyes. “Never.”
“Right. I’ll remember that next time we have to barge into your dorm to get you up in time for PE,” Bear said.
“Once. That only happened once,” Alex grumbled. “And I was the one who opened the door and let you in. There was no barging
Ignoring the stifled sounds of amusement from eavesdropping classmates, her attention moved to the rest of her table. Normally the food court was set up into clusters of randomly shaped and sized tables, but tonight all the furniture was larger, with groups of people seated together. Looking around her table, Alex recognised many faces from her classes last year.
Jordan must have seen her curious expression because he spoke before she could ask. “The first night of every new year we all sit in age-based groups so it’s easier to organise getting our new class schedules.”
That seemed logical. But unfortunately for Alex, she’d been so overwhelmed by the transition into Akarnae—andMedora—during the previous year that she hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know many of her fellow classmates.
“I don’t know most of these people,” she admitted quietly to Jordan. “Can you give me a brief rundown?”
“No problem.” He turned away and called out loudly enough to draw the attention of everyone at their table, “Hey, guys, let’s do an icebreaker!”
“Jordan!” Alex hissed.
“What?” he asked innocently. “This way we’ll all get to know each other even better.”
“Sparker,” called one of the guys sitting further down the table. “What gives?”
“You know, an icebreaker,” Jordan repeated. “We’ll each say something random about ourselves. Something that not many people here know. Fun, right?”
No one else seemed thrilled by the idea, but in true Jordan fashion, he managed to get them all to grudgingly agree.
“I’ll start,” he said. “My name is Jordan Sparker, and when I was three years old I shoved a pea so far up my nose that it had to be surgically removed. Your turn, Alex.”
Turning to eagerly awaiting eyes, Alex’s mind suddenly blanked. “I’m Alexandra Jennings—but just ‘Alex’ is fine—and I, um, like reading?”
She wished she hadn’t made it sound like a question. In fact, she wasn’t sure why she’d said it, since she didn’t read all that much. But it wasn’t as if she could have said she was from another world.
D.C. went next, then Bear, followed by Connor and Mel O’Malley, the cousins who Alex had spent some time with in the previous school year. The introductions continued around the table and Alex had a chance to learn about some of her other classmates.
“I’m Savannah Hill, and I’m a virtual reality addict,” said a blond girl who Alex remembered from her Delta PE class last year. “The projector in the Rec Room here is way better than the one I have back home, so I’m a little obsessed with it.”
“Kelly Gleeson,” said the next girl, who had short brown hair and squinty eyes. “My favourite movie is Beyond the Crescent Moon .”
Next up was a tall, lanky, extremely tanned guy with spiky hair who, when he spoke, sounded like he’d walked straight out of a surfing commercial. “Whazzup! Friends call me ‘Blink’. I’m into extremes—extreme sports, extreme food, extreme music—anything extreme. Embrace the rush!”
The introductions continued until the names all blended together and Alex knew she wouldn’t be able to remember everyone. Chelsea Jones… Kimberly Cooke… Mathew Parker… Andrew Nickles… Tate Golde… Ruth Voran… Anna Ford… Elliott Parvie… Samuel Hortham… The names kept coming until there were only two people
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