Leuthold Preparatory | ✓

Chapter Seven

Outing

Tired and alone, Noah had to figure out the way to and habits of the cafeteria. Liam claimed he had already had breakfast and headed off without him to the castle. Noah could hardly blame him; when he came to the cafeteria it was in utter chaos. He felt that 'a couple hundred' was a vast understatement as he looked at the mass of people in front of him. Most were already at tables, in their uniforms and set pretty in their cliques.

There were dozens of tables filled by half-a-dozen-or-so students, all of them rowdy and talkative. The activity wasn't better in the lines, there were buffets filled with food that Noah was surprised and a bit glad to see he recognized and liked. He supposed that it made sense that it would be even better food than what he had at his private schools. Alas, he could hardly face or disagree with anything the lunch attendees gave him; they seemed to be fellow students, red-ties and all. He had never been good at telling people "no". 

"Noah!" A chipper voice called out to him after he took his tray with a plate of eggs, toast, and bowl of fruit.

He was surprised to see Hanna with her hands folded behind her and that she looked at him happily.

"Hi," he replied weakly. He felt both too awkward and tired to deal with anyone he did know, let alone anyone he didn't. Sinclair had frightened him to the point where he had refused to leave his dorm until the noise downstairs quieted and he was able to sneak out without being caught.

"I see that you found the cafeteria," Hanna said. 

He shook his head, his eyes still on his tray. "I just followed the smell of food."

Hanna took a glass bottle of orange juice from his tray that was precariously perched and gestured for him to follow her. Noah wanted to resist, he thought that he might be able to eat outside, or even away from everyone in some closed-off section of the castle or even back in his dorm.

Hanna weaved through the maze of tables until she walked into what appeared to be once a sunroom or perhaps even a botanical garden like the one Noah had seen the day before. There were fewer tables and people, they were nearer to his age, the tables were round and the cliques were nearly obvious. He realized then what Mi Na meant by claiming there were "kids" around, the room he had left was for those that weren't beyond their high school years. 

Hanna lead him to a table where Mi Na was already sat, she had her blazer already off, her sleeves partially rolled up and half of an apple was between her thumb and forefinger as she spoke to another girl on her left. Hanna sat on the other side of Noah and he was a bit glad that he wasn't beside total strangers despite that he still felt he was the focal point of attention, just to Mi Na's right. 

Seemingly in the middle of her conversation, Mi Na turned her attention to Noah.

"Ms. Rae work the hell out of you?" She asked.

Noah's muscles still ached but he wasn't certain if it was from the mopping or running from the theater. He hoped he wouldn't have to see Ms. Rae or Headmaster Berg. He could still hear their scoldings behind his eardrums.

"Yeah," Noah replied quietly.

The conversation went on without him, as most conversations always did. Noah couldn't count the number of times he just was talked over; he supposed he didn't mind it, it allowed him to slip into complete silence and avoid confrontation or socializing at all. He was so used to it, he hardly knew what to do when Mi Na leaned towards him, putting her free hand on the back of his chair and said:

"This is gonna sound like a really weird question, but," she shrugged, "you didn't happen to go inside the theater, did you?"

Noah paused in putting his half-cut grape into his mouth, the fork hovered before he shook his head and put the grape into his mouth.