After what felt like an hour but was probably only a minute or two, I spied Sophie’s strawberry-blond head poke up above the crowd as she waved me over. I let out my breath in a rush and hurried over to the table. As I drew near, I saw that Cece was also there, sitting across from Sophie. Good, they were friends. That spared me from having to choose who to sit with.
“Hey,” Cece called out cheerily. “You found us. I was about to send out a search party.” She pulled out the chair next to her. “So, how’s it going?”
“Not bad, I guess,” I said, sinking gratefully into the chair. “Seems like the same kids are in most of my classes, so the initial curiosity is beginning to wear off.”
“Yeah, the brainiacs,” Cece said.
“Hey, I resemble that remark,” Sophie launched back.
“You said it, not me. Anyway, shut up and let me make the introductions. Everyone,” Cece said, “this is Violet McKenna, my new roommate.”
Two girls I’d never seen before stared at me.
“This is Kate Spencer,” Cece said, pointing to a perky-looking blonde. “Kate is Sophie’s roommate. And this is Marissa Tate.” An exotic-looking girl with long, straight black hair eyed me warily. “Marissa somehow got one of the single rooms. No roommate, so we let her hang with us.”
“Hey, I can’t help it if I like my privacy,” Marissa shot back.
“It’s great to meet you both,” I said, sounding way more confident than I felt.
Marissa reached out to touch my bag. “Ooh, Prada. Nice.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. I’d gotten it last year at Patsy’s Junior League tag sale.
“So. Sophie says Aidan Gray was checking you out,” Kate said, her chin propped in the palm of one hand.
“Really?” Cece asked, her eyes widening. “You’re kidding, right?”
Sophie shook her head. “I kid you not. His head snapped up the second she walked in the room, and next thing you know, he was over there whispering sweet nothings in her ear.”
“He was just picking up my schedule, that’s all,” I countered.
“And now, get this,” Sophie continued on, completely ignoring me. “Dr. Penworth asked him to tutor her, and he actually agreed.”
I swallowed hard. “Well, not really tutor me. Just help me catch up is all.”
“Wow.” Kate sat back in her seat, her arms folded over her chest. “You better milk it for all it’s worth — take your sweet time catching up, if you know what I mean.”
I shook my head. “He makes me kind of. nervous.” No, that wasn’t the right word. Not nervous, just. self-conscious. I couldn’t explain it, really. I knew I was being silly — I’d only exchanged a couple of words with him, after all.
“Nah, it’s not nerves you’re feeling.” Kate shrugged. “It’s just the Aidan effect.”
“The Aidan effect?” I asked, curious.
Kate smiled, her cheeks dimpling. “Yeah, he makes us all a little gooey and speechless. Come on, girls, back me up here.”
“Sad, but true,” Sophie said, nodding gravely.
“Embarrassing as hell,” Marissa added. “Jenna Holley seems to be the only one immune to it. He pretty much ignores her, though.”
Kate nodded in agreement. “Even though she looks like a model.”
“I think she is a model,” Cece put in. “Isn’t that what she does during summer break? In Europe, or something like that?”
Kate shrugged. “As if I would know.”
“Um, I don’t mean to interrupt,” I said, looking around at the long tables filled with students, all eating. “But I’m starving.”
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” Cece stood up, and the other girls followed suit. “We were so busy yapping, I forgot you skipped breakfast. C’mon, let’s get some food.”
We left our bags sitting there at the table and hurried across the packed room. At the far side of the dining hall, several lines snaked out of open doorways.
“Okay,” Cece said, “you’ve got hot lunch there. I think it’s spaghetti and meatballs today. Soup and salad bar that way. Sandwiches this way.
What’ll it be?”
Everyone looked at me expectantly. “A sandwich, I guess?”
Minutes later I was back at the table, a chicken salad sandwich on my tray along with a bottle of iced tea. My stomach grumbled as I sat back down and attacked my food.
“Sophie says your mom’s a hotshot lawyer at the UN,” Cece said, then took a bite out of her own sandwich.
“Yeah, something like that,” I answered around a mouthful of chicken salad, wishing Sophie hadn’t been quite so forthcoming. “But she’s. um, she’s really my stepmom. My real mom died when I was little.”
“What about your dad?” Marissa asked. “A lawyer, too?”
That bite of sandwich suddenly felt like a rock in my stomach. “No, he’s a. um, he was a journalist, but he passed away too. A couple of years ago.” Might as well get it over with.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Cece said, giving Marissa a dirty look.
“No, it’s okay,” I said, even though it was anything but.
“Was he sick?” Sophie asked.
My throat constricted. “No. It was. an accident.”
“An accident? Like a car accident?”
“C’mon, Soph, stop,” Cece said. “This isn’t the Inquisition. Let Violet eat, will you?”
“What about your parents?” I asked, my voice wavering only slightly.
“Both doctors,” Cece answered. “Dad’s a psychiatrist and Mom’s an ob-gyn. Boring as hell.”
“Not as boring as mine.” Marissa pushed her long, straight hair behind one ear. “My dad’s a professor at Columbia, and my mom’s a fund-raiser.
Nowhere near as interesting as Kate’s mom.”