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Penny tells me about the plans she and her partners have come up with for surviving the year apart, and I’m managing to concentrate on her words until we walk into the dining hall.
According to the university website, the dining hall is one of the most unique in the world. There are large windows and seating of varying types—tables, benches, high and low—but their claims come from the food. Apparently, there are two Michelin starred chefs running the kitchens, and the evening meals are cooked to order from a menu which changes every day. For breakfast and lunch, it’s a buffet, but the food is supposed to still be restaurant quality.
But it’s not the dining hall nor the food that’s caught my attention.
Gabrielle has just walked past me. She looks rough. Although her hair and makeup are immaculate, her eyes are downcast, and she’s walking more stiffly than I am.
Last night, the question of what was happening had crossed my mind several times, but I hadn’treallythought about it. Behind the screen, it was weird, yes, but also hot. Now that I’m looking at her, I can’t help but wonder if she wasn’t as willing as she seemed.
“Tori?” Penny waves her hand in front of my face. “Are you hungover or still drunk?”
Blinking back to reality, I see she’s staring at me, expectantly. “Sorry, just a late night. What’s up?”
“I asked what you wanted. Hot? Cold?” She points at the food.
The website was right about the choices. I scan the offerings, ready to go get cereal until I see pancakes. It’s been so long since I had them. Probably back before Cole came here. “Pancakes,” I tell her.
“I was told the charred avocado and eggs were to die for, so I’m going to go grab them. First one grabs a seat?”
While she disappears for her meal, I grab a stack of pancakes and then drown them in syrup. As I grab a glass of apple juice, I see Penny, still busy getting her food, so I find us a table and sit down.
I’ve managed to devour a third of them before Penny joins me, her own plate piled high. “Fam-ished,” she says, sitting down opposite me.
Ederson Dining Hall is nice. Too nice to call it a dining hall, really. But I guess it’s just another way to show that everyone here has money: only the best for the best. With Penny distracted by her food, I look around.
Something feels… off. I can’t quite work out what it is, though. The vibe of the dining hall is bright, the sun warming the area, but the air conditioners are keeping the temperature cool. The colors are muted, except for random splashes of bright fabric from the chairs.
I glance over at the table close by, trying not to look too obvious as I watch the people sitting there. Everyone seems rather subdued. Maybe I’ve gotten used to high school cafeterias so loud you struggle to have a conversation without shouting, and also frequently had fights break out.
Looking around, I recognize quite a few faces from the Welcome Mixer last night, and I’m certain most aren’t freshmen. So why does everyone seem on edge?
And then the conversations in the room seem to instantly become whispers, everyone focusing their attention on the doors.
Curious, I turn, and almost instantly, see Royal walking into the dining hall. It’s not to see him, as he naturally draws attention to himself like he’s an angel.
I’m fairly certain the only angel who fucks like him is Lucifer.
Despite how things ended last night, I’ve not been nervous about the prospect of running into him again. His actions told me it was a one-time deal anyway, and I have no regrets.
As he moves forward, he clears a space for someone else to fill. This guy is Asian, although I’m not sure of his ethnicity. What I can say is that he’s beautiful. He’s got dark eyes, a pointed chin, and modelesque high cheekbones, which are even more prominent with his hair in a ponytail. His hair’s not that long—there’s just as much spilling out of the elastic band as there is pulled back.
Like Royal, this guy isn’t wearing the college uniform. Whereas Royal is in jeans and a fitted T-shirt, this guy has ripped skinny jeans and a hoodie, despite how warm the day is.
“Who is that?” I mutter, mentally telling myself the question I’m asking Penny is only because I want to know who as many people are as possible, and not because I’m curious about Royal’s friends.
“Who?” Penny looks up from her breakfast and over where they’re making their way through the dining hall. “Oh, that’s Gemini Remington.”
“Remington.” It sounds familiar.
“The guy is probably the richest person in this college, and he hasn’t even inherited his parent’s wealth yet. The Remington’s areold money. Imports, exports, oil… the family has been part of that since…” Penny shrugs. “I guess back when this country was still getting established.”
I glance back at Penny, frowning. “He’s one ofthoseRemington’s?”
That was why the name was familiar. Although my old high school wasn’t as exclusive here, there were rich kids there. Even back then, when my family had money, it still paled in comparison to some of the other students. People of old money make the rich look poor. Gemini had never attended my high school, but I’d definitely heard of the Remington name.
“He’s adopted. Him and his sister. According to the story Elena Remington gave the press, they chose adoption because they wanted to give some poor desolate children a chance at a good life.” Penny snorts. “According to Bubbe—who thinks she knows everything—Daddy Remington is firing blanks, so buying a baby from an Asian country and passing it off as adoption was a publicity stunt because Elena Remington hasn’t got a maternal bone in her body.”
“You know him then?”
