Stranger

Chapter 15: Jane

Ellie turned and leaned over so she could nudge her friend playfully. "You really are the nicest person I know," she said.

Jane blushed, pointedly looking at her bare feet. "Anyway," she drawled. "What do you think they're going to serve at dinner tonight?"

"What they always do," Ellie remarked as the water from the shower sprung to life.

After Sophie had gotten out of the shower and changed—Ellie gave Sophie one of her extra toothbrushes—Sophie asked her roommates to keep what she was secret for the time being. She knew that eventually people would know what she was, but for now, she didn't want any more unnecessary attention than she was already receiving because she was the new kid.

* * *

To say Sophie was overwhelmed was an understatement. The new clothes she was in, the bed she got to call hers, even the food she was in front of currently – it was all too much but in the best way.

"It all smells delicious," Sophie said from behind Jane.

"Doesn't it?" Ellie asked, almost wistfully.

"Ellie loves food," Jane said once more.

"That I do," Ellie agreed. "Hey Jane, since we're up, you should go ask Ethan if you can talk to him. You don't have to mention what you want to talk about, just schedule an appointment or something. And don't worry about Depogare. He's all the way on the other side of the table."

"Ha, ha," Jane retorted dryly. "Okay, I'll be right back. Save my place." She handed Ellie her plate and headed to the staff table.

"Is everything okay?" Sophie asked, watching Jane's departure.

"Oh yeah," Ellie said with a nod. "She just needs to talk to Ethan about something. Nothing serious. Actually," Ellie smiled, "she went to talk to him earlier today, but he was gone—I think getting you—and since Will was with you guys, Depogare was left in charge. He's the guy at the far end of the table, the one with the black hair and the big nose. On top of being RH director to Aqua, he's the mental trainer. Thank God I've never dealt with him personally. You should hear some of the stories Jane has." She suddenly furrowed her brow and glanced at Sophie. "Speaking of training, who's going to train you? I mean, since you're a ... you know." Ellie's voice had dropped to just above a whisper.

Before Sophie could answer, Jane reappeared. "God, I'm starved," she muttered.

"How did it go?" Ellie asked.

"Fine," Jane said with a shrug. "He said I could come to his office tomorrow at nine."

"Nine?" Ellie nearly dropped the serving utensil holding up her generous portion of salmon. Sophie watched as Jane wrinkled her nose at the sight of the fish. "But what about—"

"I'm just going to have to wake up early," Jane said, pouring herself some broccoli cheddar soup in a small bowl. She put the bowl on her plate and grabbed a sourdough roll.

"Soup again, Jane?" Ellie asked with an arched brow.

"Do you know how limited my options are, being a vegetarian who doesn't like vegetables?" Jane asked. "Except, apparently, in soup. And celery with peanut butter. And diced onions on grilled cheese sandwiches. And carrots just in general."

Sophie laughed at this. She piled various foods on her plate, filling it so the bottom was practically nonexistent. She could feel Jane's eyes on her and felt her cheeks heat up. Sophie couldn't help the fact that she was hungry, almost desperately so. When was the last time she ate, anyway? In fact, when was the last time Sophie did anything a normal teenager got to do?

Not that it mattered. She was here now. She could catch up.

* * *

As the three girls made their way back to their table, Ellie hung back with Jane.

"Do you think we could invite—"

Jane interrupted Ellie with, "I was just thinking that."

Once the three sat down, Ellie leaned toward Sophie, making sure to keep her voice low. "Hey Soph. Can I call you Soph?" Not waiting for answer, she continued, "Jane and I were wondering if you wanted to come to Ultra with us. It's a nightclub that actually plays good music and doesn't remix the songs with techno music."

"You can wear one of my dresses," Jane said from the other side of Sophie. "But you're a little taller than I am, so they'll be shorter on you ... which might actually be a good thing."

"The catch," Ellie said, "is that we'll be out after curfew. But Jane and I have been going to Ultra since the beginning of Year Three and we've never gotten caught."

"We really are good kids," Jane felt compelled to add. "We don't drink or smoke or do drugs. We do our homework."

"Jane's a real brain," Ellie teased. "4.0 GPA. I'm not kidding."

Jane blushed, but ignored Ellie's chiding. "We just like dancing," she said. "And we're smart enough not to get caught."

"You guys!" Sophie exclaimed, though her voice was low. "I've always wanted to go to a club!"

Ellie caught Jane's eye, feeling the excitement brimming in her blue irises. "Tonight is going to be so much fun!"

"Oh, and you'll get to meet Brie!" Jane said. "Okay, see that girl sitting over there at the Aqua table with the chestnut brown hair and glasses? She's kind of by herself eating the salad and fries? That's Brie Hale. She's in my Numerology class, and super sweet. She's quiet at first, but I promise she's really nice."

"Aqua?" Sophie asked, looking between the two girls. "I thought Ignis and Aqua have some rivalry thing going on."

"We do," Ellie confirmed. "But Brie's not like that. And we're not like that."

"If you say she's nice, then she's nice," Sophie said before a brilliant smile captured her face. "I'm so excited, I don't think I can eat anymore!"

"You have to eat," Jane said with a grin. "We're going to be dancing our asses off, thank you very much, and as such, we're going to need all the energy we can get."

"Here, here," Ellie said, softly clinking her glass of root beer with her fork. Then she took a big bite of her salmon.

***

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