My uniform was still slightly damp in places, but the sunlight quickly warmed it as I stepped into the open courtyard. Students were gathered everywhere, most of them trying to get breakfast from the vendors lining the edges. For a moment, I considered joining them. I still wasn’t particularly hungry. The pistachio drink I had yesterday sounded very good though. Unfortunately, I had a class to get to, and with this busted leg, I was going to need all the time I could get to walk over. I crossed the courtyard. Then I noticed a familiar face among the crowd. Lynne stood near one of the southern entrances, dressed in the academy uniform. A dark forest-green blazer covered her white dress shirt, with brass buttons running down the front and the academy emblem embroidered over her chest. Below it was a dark ash-colored plaid skirt. She was talking happily to someone. I slowed down. Was that June? June almost looked unrecognizable. She was smiling. Like actually smiling. Then Lynne said something and June giggled. I stopped walking for a second. Even when June was glaring at me, I thought she was stunning. Seeing her smile just felt unfair. Apparently, she wasn't always like that. Maybe it really was just me. I found myself wishing she would look at me that way. Lynne noticed me from across the courtyard. “Xu!” She waved excitedly. I waved back and started limping toward them. My leg didn’t hurt nearly as badly as yesterday, but my leg still ached enough that every few steps turned into an awkward little hobble. June looked toward me the moment Lynne called my name. Her eyes dropped briefly toward my leg. Then returned to my face. Her smile disappeared. There was the expression I recognized. Lynne turned toward her. I couldn’t hear what June said, but she spoke briefly before walking away. Lynne waved goodbye, then hurried toward me. “Good morning!” “Hey. Good morning. How are you?” Her smile was infectious. I could feel one creeping onto my face before I even realized it. “I’m good. I finally found where they do the laundry.” Then I remembered I still had her brother’s spare shirt and oversized trousers. “Some of my clothes are still drying, but I’ll bring your brother’s stuff back once they're done.” Lynne stared at me for a second. Then her eyes widened. “Oh! Right. Jonathan’s clothes.” “Yeah.” “Don’t worry about it. You can keep them.” “I don’t know about that. They’re a little too big for me.” “He has plenty of clothes. He probably wouldn’t even notice.” “That seems unlikely.” “He really has a lot.” “I think I’ll need a belt before I need those trousers again.” “Maybe you just need to eat more.” I stared at her. “You really are your mom’s daughter.” Lynne laughed. “She asked how you were doing.” “I’m good, except for the missing wall in my room.” Her smile disappeared into confusion. “Missing wall?” “Yeah. Room 107.” She nodded slowly. “I have no idea where that is.” “Haven’t you been here before?” “I have.” “How do you not know where it is?” “Because I don’t live in the dormitories, remember?” “Oh.” Right. “And I never enter through the northern gates,” she continued. “I usually come across the bridge from the south.” She pointed behind herself toward the enormous entrance where she had been standing with June. “The only dormitories I really know are the girls’ ones near the eastern towers.” “Oh. You used to live there?” Lynne shook her head. “No. I just went there to visit June and Cecily.” “Ah.” I glanced toward the direction June had disappeared. “So did June actually come to your house?” “She did! I caught her just in time on my way home.” “So she did understand me.” “Of course she understood you. You know she speaks seven languages fluently.” “That’s impressive…Does that include body language?” Lynne laughed. “What does that mean?” “Usually people nod or say okay or something when you talk to them. Just so you know they actually heard you.” “She does do that.” “Maybe with you.” Lynne laughed again. “What did she say before she left just now?” “Oh. She forgot her books in her dormitory. She needed to get them before class.” “I see.” I looked toward the eastern side of the courtyard. For some reason, I doubted that. I mean maybe she really did forgot her books. But she conveniently remembered them right after seeing me. I wanted to ask Lynne if she knew why June acted that way. I just couldn’t think of a way to ask without sounding like I had spent far too much time wondering about it. Which I absolutely hadn't “Did you end up asking her?” Lynne looked at me blankly. “Where she was going? No, she told me.” “No not that.” “Then what?” “You know.” She continued staring at me. “About how she was acting yesterday.” “When?” “When I told her to go to your house.” Still nothing. Then I watched the realization appear on her face. It was immediately replaced by a nervous smile. “Oh.” I waited with anticipation. “Sorry. I forgot.” I sighed. “Oh, but she did ask about you.” I immediately looked back at her. “Ask what?” “Well…” She shifted awkwardly. “Well, actually she didn't really ask about you now that I recall.” “Huh?” “Jonathan was talking about you.” “Oh…oh no.” Lynne giggled. “He said he thought your name would be something like Raja or Vihaan, but instead your nametag says Xu XiaoXing.” That wasn't as bad as I was thinking. “I guess that would be strange if you were from...What was it called again?” I wanted to say Chinese, but I knew that was wrong. I forgot the word they used. “Zhanghua?” “Yeah that's it.” “It is a bit curious regardless, truth be told.” “Did June say anything about it?” “No, not that I remember.” “Oh.” “But she was listening.” I looked at her. “What do you mean?” “You know, she would kind of stop and listen.” “Like stop what?” “Oh you know...” “...I don't” Lynne still had a smile on her face, but I could see she was struggling to convert her thoughts into sentences. “She was listening.” “So she was being polite and listening to your brother.” Lynne laughed and waved her hand. “You don't understand, June never listens to an idiotic syllable that spouts from Jonny's mouth.” She suddenly stops laughing, and brings her hands to her chin as if she just had an epiphany. “Now that I think about it, that was actually very out of character for June.” “Politely listening?” “To my brother, yes.” Lynne tilted her head. “Perhaps she was curious about you, maybe she’s just trying to figure you out.” Yeah me too, I'm also trying to figure me out. Lynne stepped closer. “I didn’t tell her, though.” “Tell her what?” She leaned over my shoulder until her mouth was beside my ear. “That you cried.” Then she immediately pulled away with a mischievous smile. I pressed my lips together. “Well. Thank you for that, I guess.” “Mum did though.” I stared at her. Lynne scratched the back of her head. “Sorry. I couldn’t stop her.” I could feel the disappointment and disbelief seeping out onto my face. “We were talking about what happened the day before and it was the first thing mum said.” Lynne does an impression of Mrs.Daniels. “Oh that darling boy! Sobbing and shaking like he had been dragged through hell! Poor child didn't remember a thing, didn't even know where he was sleeping that night.” Her impression was surprisingly masterful. I almost forgot I was embarrassed. “He told me was going to sleep in a tree, a tree! Can you believe that?” Lynne continued her pitch perfect impersonation of her mother. I couldn't help but laugh at the way Lynne emphasized “a tree!” It almost looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head when she said it. I could absolutely picture Mrs. Daniels telling June everything completely unprompted. I mean I didn't really tell them to keep it a secret. I just kinda hoped June of all people didn't hear about me crying like a bitch as Jonathan so elegantly put it. And I still had no explanation for why June acted that way around me. But she knows I cried, so that's great I guess “Give her some time,” Lynne said. “She eventually warms up to people.” “Hopefully.” Lynne glanced toward the clock tower. “What class do you have first?” “Natural Philosophy.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the stone Professor Aurelia had given me. “The one where I stare at rocks.” “Oh! I loved that class.” Her entire expression brightened. “Professor Aurelia is so witty and sweet.” “You had her too?” Lynne nodded. “What class do you have?” “Intermediate Restoration, Regeneration, and Curation!” She said it like she had just announced she was going to an amusement park. “That sounds complicated.” “It can be.” She looked almost excited that I had asked. “It starts really simply. There are only a few basic principles you have to understand at first, but then you add different tissues, different injuries, illnesses, magical conditions, age, blood loss, exhaustion—” She began counting them on her fingers. “—and sometimes one treatment changes how another treatment works, so then you have to account for that, and then those rules overlap with other rules, and eventually it becomes really complicated.” I stared at her. “You just made it sound more complicated.” “No, no.” She waved both hands. “That’s the good part.” “That’s the good part?” “It’s just lots of simple things happening at the same time. Once you understand why each individual thing happens, the complicated part isn’t actually that complicated anymore.” She smiled. “It just takes practice.” The bell rang. Lynne looked toward the clock tower. Her eyes widened. “Oh!” She gathered her books closer to her chest. “Sorry. I could talk your head off about this all day if you don’t stop me.” “I don't mind, but we should probably head out to class.” She started hurrying toward an archway on the western side of the courtyard. “I’ll see you later, Xu!” “See you.” She waved over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd. I looked down at the stone still sitting in my palm. Lots of simple rules. Understand why each thing happened. Then eventually the complicated part became easy. I turned the stone over between my fingers. Hopefully mine worked like that too. The second bell began ringing. I shoved the stone back into my pocket and started hobbling toward Natural Philosophy.

Chapter 24