The Stars Said Hello [1]

C H A P T E R - 1 0

Sophie was scanning the area to sit and her eyes caught the eyes of Biana. Biana held her gaze and shook her head—barely perceptible—but the message came through loud and clear: Don't even think about sitting here.

Sophie ignored the sting of the insult, focusing on the bigger problem. Biana was sitting next to Fitz and Meredith. 

Jensi rushed to her side. "Hey, my friends and I have a table—it's only guys—and most of them are pretty lame—but you can totally sit with us."

She might've hugged him if her hands hadn't been full. "Thanks, Jensi."

"Sorry," Jensi mumbled, setting his tray down with a bang. "C'mon, guys. I said be cool!"

"Sorry, dude," they all said in unison, and went right on staring at Sophie.

Jensi sighed. "So, how was the E?"

"'E'?"

"Elementalism," one of the greasy ponytails explained. "Dude, you don't know that's what we call it?"

"Of course she doesn't. She's been living with humans," Jensi explained before she could say anything. He grinned like he'd just done her a huge favor. But she had to fight the urge to crawl under the table. Especially when all his friends leaned back in their chairs and said, "Dude."

She barely held back her sigh. "Elementalism was good. I wasn't zapped."

"Well, duh," the drooly one volunteered. "Your clothes would be all singed and stuff if you were."

Jensi rolled his eyes. "Anyway—what do you have next?"

"The Universe." The name alone sounded daunting.

"Don't you mean the U?" the drooly one asked with an exaggerated wink. The other guys giggled.

Jensi shot them all death looks. "That's not what we call it. Stop messing with her."

"Sorry, dude," they mumbled.

"Enough with the 'dude'—you guys are killing it!"

"Sorry, dude."

Jensi looked ready to explode. Sophie covered her laugh with a cough.

"Thanks for taking care of her, guys, but I'll take it from here," a girl's voice interrupted.

All the greasy ponytails stared and drooled again as a pixielike girl grabbed Sophie's tray and motioned for her to follow.

"What are you doing?" Sophie hissed.

"Rescuing you," she whispered, tossing her blond hair.

Not sure what else to do, Sophie murmured a quick goodbye and caught up with the girl.

"You can pay me back later," she said without turning her head. She was extremely petite, and her uniform looked like it spent the night balled up on the floor, but she still looked pretty. Maybe it was the way she'd twisted some of her hair into tiny braids, or her huge, ice blue eyes.

"Sitting with those guys is social suicide," she explained.

"Jensi's not so bad," Sophie argued. Sure he was a little overeager, but he'd come to her rescue twice already.

"Yeah, he's fine, but those other guys . . ." She shuddered. "My name's Marella. Not Mare. Not Ella. No nicknames." She led Sophie to her table and set the tray down next to hers. "Most of the people here aren't worth my time. But I figured anyone who got Stina to hate her in less than a day is my kind of girl. Take a seat."

For some reason Sophie obeyed. "Stina hates me?"

"Oh yeah. But you're better off. She's evil."

"So I keep hearing." She wasn't sure it was a good idea to have enemies though.