The dining room was nothing like the cafeteria at my school back home. The lighting in the room was soft with large orb pendants dangling over the tables, and the wooden floors were a nice departure from the crappy bright linoleum I was used to. Plants were scattered throughout the area, bringing some life and vibrancy to the room, and large floor-to-ceiling windows lined one of the walls overlooking the courtyard at the back of the building.
The place was packed with students, and as we made our way across the room, people started to turn in their seats to watch us pass. Cress and Anna didn’t seem to notice, but I couldn’t help but shrink a little under the curious gazes coming my way. I knew I was the new kid here, but the way people watched me made me feel like an alien who had just landed on Earth.
I followed the girls over to a series of buffet stations positioned on the far side of the room. They continued to chat happily as they gathered food onto their trays, and when I saw the selection laid out before us, I was briefly distracted from all the people scrutinizing me.
I couldn’t believe how much food there was, and I’d never imagined it could be presented so beautifully. Each plate looked like a mini work of art, a far cry from the slop they used to serve at my old school. I wanted to try everything, but I didn’t think my stomach would let me. It had been tied in knots since the moment I’d entered the hall, and I wasn’t sure those knots would loosen until we left again. Not when it appeared I was the latest exhibit at the Weybridge Zoo. I ended up getting a salad and a Coke before I followed the girls to find a seat.
It was a relief when they placed their trays down at an unoccupied table in the corner of the room. As I sat, people gradually stopped staring at me and turned their focus back to their meals. I could still feel a few eyes on me, but it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as before. I’d never received attention like this in my life, not even when I was on Levi’s arm at a victory party. It couldn’t just be because I was new here, could it?
“Do I have something on my face?” I asked Anna.
She frowned at me, but her eyes lit with understanding once she realized why I was concerned. “Like I told you earlier, you’re fresh meat. I’m sure everyone will get over it before the week is through.”
The thought of putting up with the staring for a whole week was terrifying. “Surely there are other new students?”
Anna shook her head. “Not for seniors. The school has a set number of places for each year group. The only way a new student gets in is if another student leaves, and students rarely leave Weybridge.”
“So, someone had to leave for me to be here?”
“Yeah, Elizabeth Watts. Apparently, her dad got in trouble with the IRS. She got pulled out over the summer holidays.”
“That’s horrible.”
Anna shrugged. “Her loss is our gain. She wasn’t the nicest person here.”
“No,” Cress agreed. “She was best friends with Veronica, who’s the self-appointed queen of the school. And when those two girls got together, they were more toxic than the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.”
They both seemed pretty pleased the girl had left. I had no time for toxic people either, especially after how things had ended with Nina last year, but I still felt bad this girl’s family was in trouble and she had to be pulled out of school right before senior year.
“Speak of the devil,” Anna said, nudging Cress and nodding toward the other side of the room.
A group of girls had entered through the large double doors. They were all dressed in outfits that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a nightclub, and each girl’s hair and makeup was as flawless as the next. Despite how gorgeous they all were, it was easy to pick out the queen of the group. She walked slightly ahead of the others and was a head taller with long red hair and skin the color of porcelain.
It wasn’t her beauty that made her stand out from the crowd though. Every girl in the group was stunning, but her expression held her above the others. There was an arrogant look in her eyes that could only belong to someone who always got what they wanted. I was all too familiar with that look because Nina had often worn the same one.
As I stared at the girl, I realized I’d seen her earlier today. She was the one who’d been hanging off Noah’s arm in the courtyard. That made sense. Of course, the king and queen of Weybridge Academy were together.
Cress gasped as her gaze landed on Veronica. “I think she got her lips done over the summer!”
“Either that or a swarm of bees attacked her mouth.” Anna snorted. “Can you imagine?”
“I’d really rather not,” Cress replied. “No, she probably did it to impress Noah.”
“Probably,” Anna agreed with a roll of her eyes. It was clear neither of the girls liked Veronica.
“Why would she do something so drastic to impress her boyfriend?” I knew girls sometimes did crazy things for guys, but this seemed slightly ridiculous.
“Oh, he’s not her boyfriend.” Cress seemed very eager to correct me.
“But they are kind of endgame,” Anna added. “At least, everyone seems certain they’ll end up together.”
I hadn’t seen Noah in the dining room, but then again, I hadn’t exactly been searching for him. With so many people watching me, I’d been avoiding looking anywhere but at Cress and Anna since I sat down. I scanned the room for him now, but I couldn’t see him at any of the tables. He wasn’t the kind of guy who was easy to miss, so I assumed he wasn’t here.
I found my gaze drawn to Veronica again. She was closer to us now, and I could see she did have rather large lips. I never would have guessed they weren’t natural though. Then again, the closest kind of cosmetic treatment I’d encountered at my old school was braces. I’d sported a hideous set on my teeth for two years, and I’d never been more grateful than I was on the day they were removed.
“Isn’t she a bit young to be getting surgery?” I asked, turning to the girls.
They both laughed.
“Lip fillers aren’t exactly surgery, and I think you’ll find a lot of the kids here are keen to enhance their natural beauty,” Anna explained. “Sometimes, having enough money to do whatever you want is a bit of a curse.”
“Yeah, and Veronica’s lips seem to have gotten on the bad end of an engorgement charm,” Cress added with a laugh.
I perked up a little at her words. I didn’t know much about lip fillers, but I certainly knew a Harry Potter reference when I heard one. It was the second one I’d heard from Cress today too. “You like Harry Potter?”
“Uh, yeah, I’m a Hufflepuff,” Cress said proudly.
“And I’m a Slytherin,” Anna added. “But, don’t hate me. I’m just ambitious AF and far too resourceful to end up in any of the other houses. Plus, I look great in green, and I think Malfoy is hot. I have a recurring dream where we’re snuggling up together by the common room fire.”
“Yeah, snuggling,” Cress replied, her voice dripping with innuendo.
Anna shoved Cress’s arm as she laughed.
“So, what house are you, Isobel?” Anna asked, her cheeks still slightly pink.
“I always thought I’d be in Ravenclaw.”
She looked surprised. “So, are you super smart?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m super smart, but I do okay in school.”
“Only someone super smart would say that.” She grinned.
“Maybe you can rub some of that studiousness off on me this year,” Cress said. “I’m useless at doing my homework.”
“Ha!” Anna laughed. “There’s an impossible challenge if I ever heard one.”
“I’m not that bad,” Cress grumbled.
“Every time you’re meant to study, you ditch your books after about five minutes and start practicing dances instead.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“No, I say that like it proves my point.”
I focused on my food, realizing I’d yet to take a bite. It was just a salad, but I let out a moan of appreciation as I had my first mouthful. I’d never tasted anything so good before. It was filled with light and creamy burrata cheese, and the tomatoes were so sweet and flavorful they almost tasted like strawberries.
“How is this so good?” I asked the moment I swallowed.
“You think dinner is good, wait until you get to dessert,” Cress replied.
“Good, huh?”
“Insanely good.”
I ate my salad a little quicker so I could try the desserts as Cress suggested. She hadn’t been kidding when she said they were insane. The chocolate cake was as decadent as the school itself, and I barely came up for breath as I made my way through a massive slice. It was rich and moist, and the sponge felt light as air. It even rivaled my mom’s pecan pie, and that was my favorite food in the world.
“I’m going to get so fat this year,” I said with a groan as we made our way across the courtyard back to our dorm. My stomach felt like it was going to burst out of my pants. Maybe I’d gone a little too hard on the cake.
The girls nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, it takes serious self-control not to leave school with some extra happy pounds at the end of each term,” Anna said. “The food here is amazing.”
“Especially the waffles,” Cress added. “Just wait until breakfast.”
I loved waffles so I was definitely screwed.
As we entered the dorm, Anna started off in a different direction than us. “I’m going to go find something to wear for tonight,” she said. “I’ll meet you guys back in your room.” She gave us a wave before disappearing down the corridor.
“We better start getting ready too,” Cress said. “Or Anna will be banging down our door in ten minutes demanding we hurry up.”
“She gets ready in ten minutes?”
“Yup. But, then again, she’s practically a model. She looks good in everything and barely needs any makeup. It’s really not fair.”
I could see what Cress meant. Anna was so tall and her skin so flawless that I could easily picture her walking down fashion runways. I had a fair bit of height too, but my long legs didn’t work all that well with my curves, and I often struggled to make outfits work.
When we got back to our room, Cress started rifling through her side of the closet. “Is it too early for me to be stealing your clothes?” she asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.
“No, of course not. Go for it.”
She squealed and clapped her hands together. “Yes! Thank you, thank you!”
She started rummaging through my clothes, but instead of finding things for herself, she began offering me items to try.
“You have to wear these,” she said, pulling out a pair of black jeans. “Oh, and this tee will look so cute with them.” She then added a belt, a blazer, and a pair of wedge boots to the outfit.
“You’re going to look amazing,” she said as she dumped the pile of clothes in my outstretched arms.
“Uh, thanks.” I felt a little overwhelmed. Whenever Nina and I had gotten ready to go out, she’d always been too worried about herself to care what I was wearing. Cress’s enthusiasm might have taken me by surprise, but it was nice how she genuinely seemed to want to help me.
“Shit. I’m being too much, aren’t I?” she said, her happy expression dimming a little as she caught the look on my face.
“No, you’re definitely not too much. I’ve just never had a friend like you before. It’s nice.”
“Aww!” Cress rushed over and pulled me into a hug. “You’re going to make me cry.”
I choked out a laugh as she wrapped her arms around me. “And you’re going to make me pass out. You may be small, but your hugs are strong enough to squeeze all the air out of a girl’s lungs.”
“Sorry.” Cress laughed and skipped back. “So, what do you think about the outfit?” She nodded to the clothes in my hands.
“I think it’s perfect. I’ll go put it on. Help yourself to whatever you want in my closet.”
She clapped her hands together with excitement once again and spun to face the closet with a huge grin on her face.
I quickly changed in the bathroom and put a bit of makeup on. I never usually wore much as I hated the feel of foundation on my face. I put some bronzer on my cheeks and a dash of mascara over my lashes. My natural curls meant there wasn’t much I could do with my hair other than run a bit of product through it.
“Damn, you look hot,” Cress said as I walked back out into the room.
I didn’t dress up like this often, and the last time I’d bothered with any makeup was when I went to a wedding last year. My mom had gushed over how pretty I’d looked at the time, but it was a different feeling hearing it from a friend. I smiled warmly at her in response.
Cress had changed too. She was wearing an outfit similar to mine. Her jeans were denim though, and the bustier she was wearing was slightly more revealing.
“If anyone looks hot tonight, it’s you,” I said.
She smiled brightly and gave a little spin. “Yeah, I just had to borrow this top. I hope that’s okay?”
“It’s more than okay. It would be a crime for anyone but you to wear it.”
Her smile widened. “Ugh, we never had any choice but to be friends, did we?”
“No choice at all,” I agreed with a laugh.
We were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. “You girls better be ready in there,” Anna called.
Cress and I shared a look before we burst out laughing.
“I told you she’d come a-knocking.”
“You totally did,” I agreed.
“Yeah, we’re coming!” Cress called back through the door.
I grabbed my phone off my bed and tucked it into my back pocket as Cress opened the door.
“Damn, Cress, that top is amazing.”
“Thanks, it’s Isobel’s.”
“I might have to raid your closet sometime too.” Anna spoke to me, but her eyes hadn’t left Cress’s outfit.
“You can take whatever you want,” I replied.
“Perfect.” She grinned, turning to face me this time. “So, are you ready for your first Weybridge party?”
“Uh, yeah?” The way Anna had asked the question made me feel suddenly unsure of the answer. The party suddenly sounded more serious than I’d initially imagined, like something you needed to prepare for in advance.
“Good,” she replied. “Because tonight is going to be wild.”
