Cara glanced back too. “Yeah, those ladies are such bitches. I want to constantly remind them that they are glorified PA’s, and that they don’t own this school. I swear, Ms. Sampson likes to tell people she’s directly descended from the Darkens themselves.”
I wanted to ask what the big deal was with the Darkens, besides the fact that they were blessed with money and great genetics, but before I could we were through the door, standing in a less sterile-looking waiting area. They were much friendlier in here. An older man led me to the uniform section and it took no time at all to get me fitted out with two complete sets. No tailoring was even needed, which was great. I changed in the small bathroom, and while the stiff starchiness of my new outfit was uncomfortable, I was glad to finally blend. Stuffing my other clothes into my leather pack, I walked out to find Cara waiting.
“Looking good, girl. You wear the uniform better than most of these rich dipshits.” She changed subjects rapidly then, as she often did. “I got your locker number too. It’s right near mine, in the scholarship section.”
I followed her from the room, the friendly man waving us off. Once we were back in the main part of the school, the bell let out a chiming ring. It echoed around the hall and the masses of people started to clear out, heading toward their classrooms.
Cara must have noticed my slightly panicked look, because she flashed me a huge beaming smile. “Don’t worry, I logged our late attendance with the office. They will send it around to all the teachers’ palm pads.” She noticed my confused look. “It’s like their own special version of a tablet device. I’ve never seen them anywhere but at this school.”Okay, then.“So we won’t get into trouble. And we’ll only miss homeroom. After that, your first class is history. I have math, so I’ll drop you off and catch you in AP English, which we both have for second.”
Schedule, right. I pulled out my copy, which clearly Cara had already checked out. She was right, and thankfully next to each class was a small map that showed me how to navigate the school. She leaned over my shoulder to see it again. “Then we have lunch together, which is great. You don’t want to cross that jungle alone.”
I nodded, having no doubt now that I’d seen this place that she was probably right.
Pushing our way through some students, we ventured into one of the arms of the building, where I was surprised to see a moving sidewalk in the center, which Cara jumped onto.
“Trust me, you don’t want to walk all the way to our section,” she called as she started to move away.
Of course not. Wouldn’t want to use our legs like suckers.
What the hell was this school? I hurried to jump on after her. The path moved quickly, and when we were about halfway along I started to understand the need for the moving paths. These arterials were huge. After another minute, Cara pointed out our stop and we hopped off at one of the breaks and strode over to a small row of lockers. I counted maybe thirty bunched together here.
“So this is the scholarship section,” Cara said, her elegant nose wrinkling. “They stash us down here. It takes us forever to get back to our classes. Thankfully, the teachers rarely care what we do. They don’t even notice whether we’re there or not.”
Lovely. My locker was 1102, and it was already cleared of all previous student information, so all I had to do was touch my thumb to it and then it was mine. Inside, all of my textbooks were neatly stacked. There were even extra notepads and pens. Sara and Michael had assured me that this scholarship included everything, and it looked like they had been right.
Cara crowded close to me and I forced myself not to push her away. She had no concept of personal space at all. I was getting used to it, but this was very close. I didn’t want her to know I was a damaged freak yet. I needed at least one friend. So, holding my breath, I waited while she rifled through my things. Finally she grabbed the books for my first few classes, and a small card.
“This card is for your lunch,” she said, handing everything to me. “We don’t get to eat the same food as the other students, but you won’t starve. Keep this on you.”
I took it from her, surprised to see my face on the side in a small square. “Yeah, it’s also your ID card, and as you can see, ours are red.” She whipped out her card too and flashed it at me. “The elite have black, and the rest of the school get purple. The class system here is insane. You need to learn your place fast.”
I swallowed hard, tucking my ID into my pocket. An actual class system? What the hell had I gotten myself into?
4
Homeroom was just finishing as we made our way back toward the main building. Students streamed out into the hallway again. Cara assured me that they would have already marked me as being present. The school monitored everything through these palm pad devices – they were the size of smartphones, and specifically designed for the Starslight network.
It would be wise for me to remember that every time I opened my locker, or passed one of the many surveillance cameras, I was being watched. It made me feel almost as paranoid as Sara and Michael with all their conspiracy theories.
A lurch of worry rocked my stomach as I thought about my guardians. I’d been trying to ignore it, and a new school was definitely a good distraction, but ever since I’d gotten up this morning to find they were still not home, a decided feeling of dread had settled into my gut.
Something was wrong. I just continued to hope that whatever it was they’d be back by the time I got home this afternoon. Otherwise I’d have to figure out what to do. I had to push that worry down again when we reached the history classroom door.
Cara left me with a wave and I started inside. I always took history; it was my favorite subject, along with archeology and anthropology, which I hoped to study in college. With this school’s curriculum, I was a little confused though. It wasn’t very clear what sort of history this class was about. There hadn’t been an American history course on offer here, or any other kind I recognized. My favorite was ancient history, but I love it all, really. I religiously watchedIndiana JonesandBonesin my spare time. Well, at least Ihad, before the fire destroyed my DVD collection, and my life.
Walking farther into the room, there were about twenty desks spread throughout it. Nice desks, with what looked like real wooden bench-tops. The chairs were padded with a thick dark cushion. Everything looked larger and more comfortable than any other school I’d been in.
As I glanced between the many empty spaces, I wondered if there was assigned seating. I should have asked Cara. Deciding it was better just to sit and move if I was in someone’s chair, I chose a spot close to the back, on the left side, furthest from the door. I dropped my backpack on the floor and pulled out the history text, a notepad, and pen. I had a few minutes, so I quickly flipped over the front page of the thick textbook to see if I could figure out what we were studying.
Pausing on the table of contents, the book appeared to be divided into four main sections. Number one was … “House of Darken.” I ran my eyes over the other three sections. “House of Royale.” “House of Leight.” “House of Imperial.” The large bolded title at the top of the four sections read: Starslights’ founding families.
Well, shut the history classroom door. Now I understood about the elite and chosen thing. The founding fathers … those statues out the front … they were linked to the rich guys from my street.
Still, how could they have an entire class about the founders of this school? How was there enough information here to warrant that?
My interest was rising as I continued to scan the subheadings under each of the sections. One was focused on Astoria, another titledThe Rise of Humankind. Um … what? This school was whack. Why did rich people think they could just do whatever they wanted? They had pretty much discounted all history here except that of the four families who’d founded this school. Arrogance, thy name is Starslight Prep.
A few students were trickling into the classroom. I made a concerted effort to keep my gaze on the page, not really wanting to catch anyone’s eye yet. Cara’s warnings were paramount in the back of my head, and even though it annoyed me that they would even have such a class system, I decided to lay low until I learned the ropes. From beneath my lashes I saw a few glances thrown in my direction, but thankfully most dismissed me without a second look. One or two might have narrowed their eyes at me, but no one sat on my side of the room. In fact it almost looked as if they were all choosing to sit as far from me as possible.
