I didn't get any sleep the rest of the night. Tossing and turning, I couldn't prevent the unsettled feeling from creeping into my skin.

Loki slept peacefully, never leaving my side.

When my alarm rang the next morning, I turned it off with a groan. I knew Naomi would be here soon, but I didn't want to leave my room.

My mother might have wanted me to be here at Whitethorn, but this didn't feel like a home. Nothing seemed to be right here. Everything was different.

When I stood up, Loki stretched and yawned before hopping off the bed and moving to the food bowl. After Ms. Rose had left last night, I'd set up all his things for him.

He happily munched on his cat food while I decided on what to wear. Everyone at breakfast yesterday had been wearing their uniforms.

With a sigh, I pulled out a white button-up and a navy blazer. Then I went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of khaki slacks. I'd never had a school uniform before.

It felt weird to be wearing something I knew everyone else would be wearing too. But having so few choices also felt like a relief at the moment. I didn't have to worry about what to wear. One less decision to make.

I'd barely finished getting dressed when I heard a knock on the door.

Naomi waited on the other side, a smile on her face. "Ms. Rose said you wanted me to go with you again today?"

I gave a nod. "I didn't want to try braving the dining hall alone. Not after what happened yesterday."

Her face turned sympathetic, even though I wished it wouldn't. I hated that she thought I was someone to pity. "I'm sorry for not defending you. But Mari... she scares me."

"She seems to have that effect on a lot of people," I told her as we headed down the flight of stairs to the ground floor. "Why are so many people scared of her anyway?"

"Her dad is a really big donor for the Gifted program. No one wants to make her angry with them. They're terrified of her father."

"So she's spoiled, with a rich dad."

"Basically," Naomi said. "She's also a bully. But you already know that."

I thought of the oatmeal and anger washed through me, red hot. Who did Mari think she was? Just because her dad was rich didn't mean she could terrorize people.

Ms. Rose gave us bright smiles as we passed her desk. I could tell she was glad I was giving the dining hall another try, but I was still nervous about the whole thing.

We headed out into the brisk cold of the morning, our breath instantly puffing into the air in front of us. The grass blades glittered with frost as we moved across the quad.

Several students were out and about, moving from building to building. Their laughter rang out across the quad.

Naomi and I were silent as we headed into Whitethorn Hall. The dining hall was just as packed today as it was yesterday. My eyes instinctually scanned the crowd, checking for signs of Mari. When I didn't see her, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Naomi guided me into the line, which was thankfully devoid of rowdy boys this morning.

Breakfast ended up being a completely boring affair, which I was thankful for. I didn't think I could handle another morning like yesterday.

Once we were finished, Naomi led the way out of Whitethorn Hall and back to the quad. The sidewalks were more packed now, with a sea of students all dressed in their school uniforms.

"Inara gave me a copy of your school schedule so that I could show you where your classrooms will be."

"Don't you have your own classes to go to? Won't you miss them if you're spending the day showing me around?"

"Inara's excused me from my classes while I show you around for the day."

"That was nice of her," I commented.

"She's a really great headmistress. She cares about all of her students."

I thought about how Inara had been the one to personally pick me up from the police station, how she'd told me that it mattered the most about what I thought about myself and not what others thought. She'd been nothing but kind to me, even though she didn't know me.

She had claimed to know my mother though. Old friends, she'd said they were.

We approached Omega Hall, where most of my classes were held, since I wasn't part of the Gifted program. The hallways inside were packed full of students.

Naomi and I merged with the crowd, trying to follow the crowd of students as they made their way to their classrooms.

"Your first class should be English in room 317," Naomi told me, though she didn't pull out a piece of paper or anything.

"Did you memorize my schedule?" I asked her, curious.

"Oh, um, kinda," she seemed embarrassed. "I didn't really mean to, actually. I have a knack for memorizing random things."

"That's really cool," I told her. "And I don't care that you have my schedule memorized. I'm just surprised. I have trouble keeping anything straight."

We headed up to the third floor without much else said between us. I was sure she was still embarrassed, but I had meant what I said. If she wanted to memorize my school schedule for this tour, who was I to blame her?

Naomi had been the only student who bothered to do anything for me. She'd been kinder than I thought any student here would be.

The crowd was thinner on the third floor of the building, with enough room to squeeze through a group of girls who'd stopped to gossip outside of their classroom.

One of them glared at me as I accidentally bumped against her, and I quickly moved away, but I still wasn't watching where I was going.

I slammed into someone else. Electricity buzzed under my skin as I came into contact with a brush of skin.

"I'm so sorry," I said quickly, but the boy in front of me said nothing. He wore the same uniform as everyone else, though his blazer was unbuttoned, revealing the matching navy tie and the stark white shirt underneath.

Everything clung close to his figure, showing off the lean muscles.

I looked up at him to apologize again, but I froze. I knew him. The familiar brown eyes that stared at me with such disdain called to some memory deep inside of me.

Suddenly I was seven years old again, standing outside of my childhood home. He was the same age as me, but his brown eyes were full of life and happiness.

Though it had been years since I'd seen him, I was sure it was the same person.

When I was little, I'd had a best friend. His name was Alek. He'd lived up the street from me before my dad had died and we used to play together all the time. And then, one day, he was just gone.

The house that Alek and his mom had lived in was deserted, with no signs of life. Even the cute little swing set in the yard had disappeared.

I remembered asking my mom where they had gone, but she'd pretended that they'd never existed. No one else I talked to remembered them either. It was as if they'd been erased.

Every time I'd mention missing Alek, my best friend, my mom would tell me I was too old to have imaginary friends. After a while, and years of therapy, I'd believed her. I'd thought he truly was a vivid part of my imagination.

But now here he was. In a school my mother had sent me to after I disgraced my family. Was this a coincidence?

"Alek?" I asked, but Alek instantly frowned, as if he were remembering me as well. His brown eyes were hard and cold, and he narrowed them at me. I shrank back under his gaze, sinking back to the floor.

"Do I know you?" He asked me, irritation coating his words. The thought that he didn't remember me as stung and I fought against the odd urge to cry.

"You used to. A long time ago." Nerves pricked at me. People in the halls lingered, staring at us. I'm sure it was an odd sight: me, on the floor, and Alek glaring down at me, as if I'd done something terrible.

His eyes flickered across the hall briefly, looking at something I couldn't see. I was tempted to turn, but his cruel gaze had once again fallen on me. And despite the hostility in his eyes, Alek had been my friend once.

He didn't look convinced that what I said was true. "I don't think so."

I swallowed hard. Why was he pretending to not know me? I knew that it had been years, but I recognized him. "Sorry. I'm probably wrong."

There was a short, tense silence before replied. "Watch where you're going next time." His voice was clipped when he spoke and the malice in his voice surprised me. Apparently, as he'd grown up, he'd become a jerk. Or maybe I'd never really known him at all.

After all, could a friendship we'd had as children really be defined as knowing someone? Especially when I hadn't known him in over ten years. And a lot could change in ten years.

Like his attitude.

"I'm sorry," I eventually mumbled. Alek said nothing else, pretended to brush dirt off himself, and stalked away from me.

Across the hall Mari watched as Alek walked toward her.

She brushed her hand along his chest as he moved past her and into the classroom. The touch was brief, but the intent was clear: she was claiming him as hers.

Little did she know that there was no need to stake her claim. I had no intention of even being around Alek after this.

Mari gave me one last glare before disappeared into the classroom, her friend following at her heels like a well-trained dog.

The little plaque on the wall showed that they'd all disappeared into room 317. Fantastic.

My first class would be filled with a mean girl who hated me and my ex-best friend, who seemed content with pretending I'd never existed.

"Are you okay?" Naomi asked as she moved to help me up off the floor.

"I'm fine," I told her, but I was still dazed by seeing Alek.

"Do you know him?"

I brushed some dirt off my pants, but avoiding meeting her gaze. "I used to, a long time ago. He used to live up the street from me. We were friends. Or at least I thought we were."

"I guess he's changed?"

I glanced toward the classroom, though I could no longer see Alek. Hurt still flashed inside of me at the thought of someone so familiar, but who wanted absolutely nothing to do with me.

"I guess so," I replied, finally tearing my gaze away from the classroom.

"Let's keep going," Naomi said quickly, as a way to change the subject. "Obviously, this will be your English classroom. Actually, I think you'll have your second class in there too."

She continued to chatter, talking about my classes. She showed me the other classrooms for my morning classes and some of the afternoon ones.

"But right after lunch, you'll have your gym class in the gymnasium. Coach Knight can be a bit of a hard ass sometimes, but she's a really great instructor."

The bitter cold bit against our skin as we stepped out of Omega Hall. Not for the first time, I wished for the blistering heat of summer.

It felt like more than a few days that I'd felt the warm sunshine on my skin and lounged on the pier of Lake Astro with Hanna.

Another ex-best friend who wants nothing to do with me, I thought bitterly. Maybe I was a problem. Unlike Midas, who turned everything he touched to gold, maybe I just ruined everything I touched.

Maybe Vincent was right.

And even though I instantly chided myself for that thought, I'd already had it. Was Vincent right? Probably not. But at the moment, it was starting to feel like nothing would ever go right for me.

Naomi led me toward the gym, but a strange sensation halted me in my tracks. A line of evergreens lined the edge of the school grounds, but just beyond that, I felt like something was calling to me. Whispering.

I took a step off the sidewalk, unable to stop myself. Naomi had stopped talking about Coach Knight, but I couldn't make out the words she was saying to me either.

"Selene!" Naomi had grabbed my arm as I took another step into the grass, the frozen blades crunching under my shoes. "What are you doing?"

"I—" What was I doing? "I don't know. I don't think I feel very well all of a sudden."

Naomi looked concerned. She cast a glance toward the woods before she grabbed hold of my arm again. "Let's get you back to your dorm."

I followed without hesitation, though I could still hear a distant voice whispering my name from just beyond the evergreens.