“Have you met anyone else?” Finn asked as we leisurely walked down the hall a few more feet away from the music. We stopped and leaned against the wall that turned out to be near the lounge. As people walked by and crowds shifted, I spotted the man I’d spoken to earlier. He was on the opposite side of the hall, listening to the music.
“I met Headmaster Vetter and the dean, Viktor Svendsen,” I said.
“I met both of them in October at the family event.”
Of course.
“I wasn’t there for it.” For whatever reason, I felt I had to say that even though he obviously knew I wasn’t there. Atlassaid there were twenty incoming first-year students, so it would probably be easy for Finn to have noticed I wasn’t there. I appreciated him for not asking me why.
“Some people at the event were talking about delays with airlines, but I think a lot were coming from outside the U.S.” Finn took a sip from his glass. “Are you from the U.S.?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m from California.” I took a quick sip and then asked, “Where are you from?” I had picked up on a slight accent from him with certain words.
“Norway.”
“Really? That’s cool.”
Finn shrugged. “It’s literally cool, as in cold,” he explained. “California has nice weather year around, don’t they?”
“For the most part, yes.”
“Oh, by the way, I met the two other first-year guys who are in the same cohort with us. Levi is from the U.S., and Jack is from Australia. They’re really cool. I think the four of us will get along. I’m sure they’re both here, so I’ll see if I can find them and will introduce you.”
“Thanks, man.”
I was glad Finn wasn’t uptight and all proper, and it sounded like he thought the other two guys were going to be decent. This might be close to the college experience that I’d hoped for.
We talked a little more about Norway and California while we made our way back to the room where Atlas and Louis were at. They were waiting for us in the same spot as when we left them.
“Ready for dinner?” Louis asked.
“Starving. The Coke hit the spot,” Finn said. He and Louis walked side by side ahead of us.
“Can I bring this to the dinner table?” I asked Atlas quietly as I held up my glass.
“Yes, you may,” he said, and winked at me.
May,notcan.Noted.
17
Atlas
December
In the dining room, there were several large circular tables with black tablecloths. There were five tables that were clearly the focal point and were centered. These tables each had a different colored tablecloth that would represent the five cohorts: emerald green, navy blue, burgundy, dark gray, and purple.
Ryder and I followed Louis and Finn to the navy-blue table. We remained standing and spoke to Professor George Baile and Dean Viktor Svendsen while we waited for the other two students and their mentors to arrive. I wasn’t thrilled about Viktor being at our table, but I also wasn’t surprised either. I knew there was a good chance that either the headmaster or dean, or possibly Kaleb Andrews himself, would have purposely placed themselves at our table.
Many eyes were going to be on Ryder this evening, mainly because so few knew much about him. Naturally, everyone was curious about him. Every cohort table had been assigneda professor who taught courses in grooming or etiquette to the first-year students. It was a good way for the students to somewhat know a professor on their first day, and it gave the professor an idea on who the students were.
Reuben Valenzuela and his mentee, Levi Oliver, arrived, and introductions were quickly done. Once Kyran Gibbons and his mentee, Jack Anderson, made it to the table, another quick round of introductions took place and then we all took our seats.
As the waiter moved around our table and took our orders, Ryder caught my attention by tapping my foot under the table. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows, giving him the indication that he could speak freely.
“There’s a lot of silverware,” he commented.
A look of panic was on his face. His gaze bounced around the table at the other students, wondering if they were as lost as he was. And my heart went out to him because these type of social settings and dinners were where he was going to be learning from square one.
