Cheers erupt all around me, and everyone rises as the chancellor and deans exit the stage.

The second they're gone, the gym becomes chaos, and the noise climbs to a roar.

"Make your way outside, everyone." The woman in the blue robe next to the door I came in through is calling to everyone on the bleachers. "Exit through here."

People near me start to file out, so I sling my torn backpack over my shoulders and follow Vivian and the rest of the students. I'm gonna have to find a way to fix the stupid hole in my bag. How embarrassing.

It's loud as hell in here, and I have to resist the urge to plug my ears. As we ever-so-slowly make our way out, the world starts to rock and tilt, and hot flashes flicker through me. I just wanna get outside.

It only takes a few minutes, but it feels like a million, before I'm finally back in the crowded corridor.

It's even worse out here, though, everybody packed tight as sardines as we make our way back to the building's entrance. I'm starting to sweat, dressed too warm for the temperature inside and this stressful experience.

Just a few more minutes and we'll be outside again.

"So where are you from?" Vivian's sticking to me like glue, and she's come up beside me. Boy is she chatty.

"Uh—Oregon."

"Huh? Say that again?"

"Oregon. I'm from a few hours north of here."

"Oh, wow! Close, then. I'm from Hong Kong. Crazy long flight."

She doesn't have an accent, but then again, no one around me does. Either she talks just like me, or it's the translator spell. Probably the latter.

I nod and try to smile, but I wish she'd be quiet, at least until we're out of this horrible crowd.

"But of course," she continues, "I went to Tokyo for high school. I'm seeing so many kids from Poseidon High here. Where'd you go?"

"Uh, you wouldn't know it."

"Of course I would." She gives me a weird look. "There's only eleven Atlantean boarding schools."

I clear my throat and stand on tiptoes, trying to see how far the exit is, but I can't see a thing.

"So where'd you go?"

"I wish I went to Poseidon," I try to look envious. "Didn't you just love it? I've heard great things." I smile at her encouragingly, and my diversion works, because you can always count on people wanting to talk about themselves, thank God.

Vivian's off to the races, chattering on about how great her high school was and how it's better in a lot of ways than the other Atlantean boarding schools. Better in very vague ways, but I just smile and nod some more, and Vivian takes the bait.

This reminds me of how I got through all my school years. I mean, people didn't try to talk to me that much by the time we got to high school, but still, when they did, I learned to be quiet and just listen. People will tell you all kinds of things if you just stay quiet and act mildly interested.

Vivian's already taught me a bunch about my new world, so as awkward as this feels for me, I guess I'd better just go with it. I gotta learn all I can and then be sure to keep my mouth shut and my head down. Otherwise I'll probably say some stupid shit, which is what I tend to do, especially when I'm not on medication.

"And that's how I got invited to ArchGuardian Takei's ball," she says proudly.

"Wow. You're gonna have to tell me all about that eventually."

"Oh, I will." Vivian's on a roll, so I let her roll all the way out the front door.

ArchGuardian Takei apparently lives in a palace in Japan, and all his guests are treated like royalty. And Vivian claims to have been the only kid with Cerberus parents who was invited, though it's not clear why. It seems ArchGuardians are really great at being snobs.

Note to self: Avoid the kids with ArchGuardian parents.

I squint as we hit the sidewalk outside the building, since the sun's super bright now, and there aren't a lot of trees shading us here.

The circular drive is full of sleek steel buses with numbers in the windows. There are dozens of them. They're silent, but they could be running. They're Teslas, after all. These guys really have a thing for Teslas.

"Form a line, please!" It's Arielle, the pale blonde in the green robe from the orientation paperwork table. She and Jax are trying to herd the lot of us like cats.

Vivian grabs my sleeve and tugs. "Over here!" she hisses, dragging me through the crowd.

She stops so abruptly, I bump right into her.

She's led us a few yards away, to the end of another line that's forming up.

And this line contains all the Guardian royalty kids Vivian was drooling over at the assembly... including Caelum.

Great.

My face warms, and I stare down at my boots. He's at the front of the line and paying me no attention. I'm not gonna pay him any attention either.

"You know them, right?" Vivian says in a near whisper. "Did you ever meet them?"

She's gesturing toward the three pretty girls who are standing two feet in front of us.

All three were a part of the Guardian royalty group, and they're talking in low voices and laughing.

"Ah... well, I never met them... Remind me again?" I dart another furtive glance at Caelum's back and smooth my hair back into my ponytail. It's starting to frizz, and little pieces of curls have popped out. Argh.

Vivian is giving me another weird and slightly judgmental look, like I shouldn't need reminding about who these people are. Oops.

"Jazmin Takei, Esme Nevala, and Zara Vallot." She subtly points to each one in turn.

Takei, as in ArchGuardian Takei from Tokyo? Ugh. Didn't I just make a note to avoid kids with ArchGuardian parents?

Jazmin's tall and slim and wearing a tight summery dress made with white eyelet fabric. She has a realistic flower clipped in her long straight black hair. Esme's a tall, willowy brunette with long wavy hair, and is dressed in a light blue dress with a ruffled skirt. Not a dress I could pull off, but somehow she does it. And Zara has dark brown skin, bouncy black curls cascading down her back, and a sleeveless yellow dress on. All three of them are in high-heeled sandals and clutching their Atlantis Academy folders just like everyone else. Well, everyone except me.

The crowd's getting thicker out here, and Vivian pulls me a few steps closer to the three girls so no one steps in front of us.

Please don't try to talk to them.

"Hey, Jazmin!" Vivian chirps.

Jazmin turns to look at us. Her gaze slides from Vivian to me, and she lingers on me, looking me up and down. She purses her lips, and her nose wrinkles delicately.

She's acting like we smell... garbagey.

Wonderful. I wish my cheeks weren't hot. They'll be bright red, giving away my shame.

"Do I know you?" Jazmin asks us, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah." Vivian smiles at her. "I'm Vivian. We went to Poseidon together. Remember?"

"Are you sure?" She gives Vivian a fake smile. "Maybe you need to get your vision checked again. Nice glasses, though."

Jazmin turns back around and whispers something to Zara, and they laugh.

Vivian looks like her dog just died, and my cheeks are flaming even hotter for her sake.

"I think your glasses are cute," I say quietly. "They're trendy."

"Contacts hurt my eyes," she mumbles.

A little flame of anger ripples through me. I doubt Vivian will stay my friend for long if she cares about being popular... but she's nice and didn't deserve that.

And I really hate mean girls.

The line we're in begins to move, so we move along with it. Vivian's just staring at her feet, shuffling along the sidewalk.

Arielle has come up beside us, counting the students in our line. "You're the last two in this group," she says to us.

A few students right behind us groan, but I'm happy to finally get away from all these people.

There are around thirty of us in the group, and Arielle leads us all down the sidewalk and around the side of the building, where the Redwood trees begin again.

Wow.

There's a wide boardwalk in front of us that's been built a few feet off the forest floor. It winds through the forest ahead and disappears into the trees.

A happy buzz fills my chest as I climb the wooden slat ramp to get up on it. The walkway's been built to go around the trees and extends through the forest as far as I can see. There's no railing, but every few feet there are little clear globes embedded in the wooden slats. Lights, probably.

The main building's to our left now, and I catch a few glimpses of steel and glass, other buildings, through the trees in the distance.

The Redwoods are calling me with their sweet, citrusy scent, and their energy seems to be humming through the air. Each of their trunks must be as big as thirty of the Redwoods in Port Ashford. The ground beneath the walkway and all around us is covered in the huge ferns and patches of Redwood sorrel.

I take a deep breath and eye the enormous tree to my right. If I lean off the boardwalk, I'll be able to touch it, but I'm not about to act weird in front of my new classmates. No one else seems to be fighting the urge to hug the trees.

Oh, but I want to touch it so badly! I edge closer to it.

"Gather 'round!" Arielle calls out.

Guess hugging a tree has to wait.