Was Wellsworth near the ocean?
The smell got stronger the farther she ran. The ground felt soft and squishy, with patches of mud here and there. The trees were getting thinner, and soon she reached the forest’s edge.
She’d never seen anything like it. A wide valley of mud stretched out in front of her with two towering cliffs on either side. Layers of red rock were woven together with long bands of bright white that stretched across the cliff face.
“What’s that white stuff?” she muttered to herself.
“Chalk.”
Emmy jumped. Jonas, the man who had picked her up from the airport, was standing a few feet away. He was wearing thigh-high rubber boots and carrying a bucket with a rake resting on his shoulder.
“That white rock inside the cliffs, it’s chalk. Makes for quite a pretty view, even though it’ll all tumble down into the North Sea eventually.”
“It will?”
“Sure. Every day the sea floods this valley, and when the tide goes back out it takes a little more rock with it. One day the sea will steal all of North Norfolk.”
“Really?” Emmy asked.
Jonas chuckled. “In a few thousand years, give or take. So, what brings you out here, young miss?”
Emmy looked down and shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about Victoria, or school, or her birthday. She didn’t want to say that her mother had forgotten it. Again. Or that she had to spend it without a father. Again.
Jonas put down his bucket and started pulling his rake through the sand. After a few tries his rake pulled up a clam, which he picked up and threw in the bucket. “Something got you riled up?”
Emmy shrugged again.
Jonas dropped another clam in his bucket. “You know, I had a bit of a tough time adjusting when I was in my first year. Most people were okay, but there were a few who were just impossible to get on with. I was lucky, though. I had a great roommate. Made all the difference.”
Emmy blinked back tears. “Mine is horrible. I don’t know how I’m going to live with her for the rest of the year. Maybe…maybe I should go home.”
“Maybe,” Jonas said.
Emmy looked up. She hadn’t really expected him to agree with her.
“I guess it all comes down to what got you on that plane in the first place,” Jonas said. “It’s like I said on your first day. You’re the only one who knows if it’s worth it.”
Emmy tucked her hair behind her ear. Her father’s box was still sitting under her bed, right where she had put it on her first day. She’d been so busy, she’d barely had time to think about it, let alone get it out. Besides, if Victoria found out about it, she’d probably trash it, just like her economics textbook.
“I don’t want to give up,” Emmy said, “but I don’t know what to do next.”
Plop. Another clam went into the bucket.
“I couldn’t help but notice you usually sit with the same two people at lunch. One of the Galt boys and Madam Boyd’s daughter, am I right?”
Emmy shook her head. “I don’t sit with Madam Boyd’s daughter.”
“Sure, you do. Black hair, from Glasgow—can’t remember her name.”
Emmy stared at Jonas. “Lola?”
“Lola, that’s it,” Jonas said. “Lola Boyd.”
Emmy couldn’t believe it. Lola was Madam Boyd’s daughter? How could she not have known that?
Jonas threw another clam in the bucket. “Can’t be that easy having your mother as your head of house. And the Galt boy—it’s John, isn’t it?”
“Jack,” Emmy said.
“That’s right, Jack. I don’t think he’s had the easiest time of it, either. Might be worth having a chat with them.”
Emmy looked at the ground. She didn’t usually confide in people.
“It’s hard to find people you can trust,” Jonas said. He threw another clam in the bucket. “Give them a chance, and give Wellsworth a chance, too. I think you’ll be surprised. I bet by the end of the year, Wellsworth will be in your blood, just like it’s in mine.”
Emmy looked away. There were some things she liked about Wellsworth. She liked Jack and Lola, that was for sure. But the school itself? She didn’t feel much of a connection to it. She’d never really felt connected anywhere. It seemed pretty unlikely that a place could ever be “in her blood.”
Jonas flung his rake in a new direction. “And when it comes to that roommate… Well, in my experience bullies don’t usually bother pushing people who push back.”
• • •
Jack and Lola were sitting in the common room when Emmy got back. They were playing a card game Lola had invented that involved a lot of slapping of piles and shoving the other person out of the way.
“You’re not Madam Boyd’s daughter, are you?” Emmy asked.
Lola snatched a stack of cards from Jack’s side of the table. “Took you this long to figure that out, did it? Same last name, same accent, same winning personality.” She slapped her hand on a card and added it to one of her stacks.
Jack laid out four more cards and just managed to get his hand on one before Lola grabbed it.
“Is it weird having your mom as your head of house?”
Lola shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I don’t really know any different.”
Emmy chewed on her lower lip. There was something she’d been wondering about for a while, but she hadn’t figured out if it was okay to ask. “Your mom doesn’t seem very old. Why does she walk with a cane?”
“She was in an accident,” Lola said. “Tore the inside of her knee to shreds.”
There was a flurry of cards and both Jack and Lola emptied their stacks onto new ones. Jack pulled at his hair and groaned.
“Gotcha!” Lola grinned and turned to Emmy. “What about your mum? She writes books telling people all the things they’re doing wrong with their kids, right?”
Emmy laughed. “Something like that.”
“Do you hear from her much?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, but not today.” Emmy sighed. “I think she forgot that today’s my birthday.”
“It’s your birthday?” Lola said. “Why didn’t you tell us!?”
Emmy shrugged. “I’m not really a birthday person.”
“What about your dad?” Jack asked. “Did he send you anything?”