CHAPTER THIRTY

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

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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.

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