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“What’s that?”

Halen sighs. “I forget what it stands for, but she’s in charge. And lucky us, we’re on the same floor as her now. We’ll probably get the first bed check every night.”

“Awesome. Can we change into our pajamas now?”

“If you can do it in the dark. We can’t have any light in here after bed check.”

“Do they think we’re twelve? We’re almost eighteen.”

“What’s special about eighteen?”

“We’re legally adults then.”

“Is that what it’s like on land?”

“Yeah. It’s not here?”

Halen snickers. “We’re not free until we graduate from the academy.”

“Seriously?”

“Have you forgotten everything about life under water?”

“Apparently.” I sigh. “So, what’s the deal with Earwig?”

“Earwig? What’s that? Hair for our ears?”

I hold back a laugh. “No. They’re disgusting bugs.”

“Interesting.”

“I was asking about that one girl at dinner. What was her name Earlyn or something?”

“Oh, you mean Earwyn.”

“Right. Like I said, earwig.”

Halen laughs. “A gross bug is pretty fitting. She’s the most popular girl in the Royal School. Rumor has it she started out as a scrawny thing that got picked on all the time. But she’s gotten meaner by the day and eventually topped everyone socially.”

“Why does she hate me? Was she a big Tiberias supporter?”

“No. That girl couldn’t care less about politics. She and her two besties were living in this suite until this morning. So, between that and the fact that you hold the potential to be more popular than her, you’re her public enemy number one.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Yeah. You’re going to want to watch out for those three. I’ll help you when I’m around, but I don’t know if we even have any classes together.”

“What are Earwig’s friends’ names?”

Halen yawns. “Cove and Vanya. Cove is the blonde one and Vanya has brown hair. They’re just as horrible as her, but they usually wait for Earwyn’s permission before saying or doing anything—she’s the one you’re really going to have to watch out for. Goodnight.”

I sigh. “‘Night.”

My shirt itches. I’ve got to get it off. Hopefully with everything my parents sent over, they remembered pajamas. I can’t sleep in the uniform.

“You still awake?” I ask.

Halen lets out a little snore.