“Please, call me Haru.” He extended a hand—not to Lottie but to Jamie. “You must be Jamie—it is an honor and a pleasure to have another Partizan here.” There was unexpected affection in the way he said Jamie’s name, and Lottie worried how their Partizan would respond to such attention.
Jamie took his hand, but there was an obvious hesitation, and Lottie was sure she could feel static when their fingers touched. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
Saskia cleared her throat loudly, placing a hand on her hip with a spark of amusement in her eyes. “Partizans—plural, I think you’ll find.”
“Oh yes, Partizans.” He gave a lazy smile, but it faltered as soon as she gave her name. “Hello, Saskia.” There was the tiniest waver in his voice, and Lottie assumed he must have heard about Saskia’s interesting past. She hoped it wouldn’t be a problem.
Three black cars took them into the city, blending with the night. They drifted through the high-voltage twinkle of neon signs and tiny lantern-laden streets. It was like a kaleidoscope, every fizzy sensation growing and fading away while they drove by. Just before midnight they arrived at Takeshin, and it was everything the brochure had promised: a quiet, peaceful haven—a different world from the bustling, glowing urban energy of the city.
Fog greeted them as they passed the black iron gates at the bottom of the driveway. Rosewood Hall was set apart from the rest of the world by stone walls that gave way to its namesake, the Rose Wood, but Takeshin was separated from the busy streets only by the dense bamboo that grew in tight formation all around. If you squinted, the fog turned into wispy figures phasing through the trees.
“They look like ghosts,” Ellie whispered. “Ready to haunt us.”
“Or maybe to watch over us,” Lottie suggested.
Their luggage was carted away and they were led to their dorm rooms. They removed their shoes at the sliding doors and slipped their feet into fluffy slippers. The girls had to follow Sayuri, tiptoeing quietly on the tatami, not wanting to wake any of the sleeping students. Memories of sneaking around Rosewood with her friends in the dark sent a pang through Lottie’s chest, an ache for her home that morphed into firm resolve. She had to succeed at summer school and improve her grades; it was the only way to stay at Rosewood.
Haru led Jamie and Micky to their room, which they’d be sharing with a summer-school student from China and a Takeshin pupil. Saskia, Anastacia, and Lola were put in one room, while Lottie and Ellie went to a room they’d share with Sayuri and her roommate, who was fast asleep with a pink eyemask covering her face and what looked like blue hair.
“I hope you will find these futons comfortable, Princess,” Sayuri whispered as she settled down into her own futon, after they’d all gotten ready for bed. “We will give you and your companions an exclusive tour of the grounds tomorrow. I look forward to seeing which program you choose. Oyasuminasai.”
The feathers of her voice fluttered to the floor, and the room turned dark.
“She seems nice,” Ellie whispered sarcastically.
Lottie took one last look over what was to be their home for the next eight weeks. Beyond the screen door she could hear a nighttime chorus of insects, and from a small crack a sliver of moonlight cast a glowing line over the low wooden table in the center of the room. They curled up on their fluffy futons to have their first night’s sleep in a strange new world, which somehow echoed Rosewood. Safe in her warm cocoon, Lottie wondered what sort of welcome Ellie’s father had received here.
As her eyelids drifted closed, the exhaustion of travel seeping through her, she floated somewhere just between sleeping and waking. Suspended in that special place, waiting for her dreams to take over, Lottie felt sure she heard a cat give a soft meow from beyond the room, and it sounded like a welcome.
6
“IT’S SIX THIRTY IN THE morning,” Ellie groaned, sleep making her vision blurry.
“Yes?” Sayuri stared down at her from the platform opposite. She was already dressed in the honey-colored sailor top and chocolate pleated skirt that was the uniform of Takeshin Gakuin. She looked incredible, the earthy colors complementing her midnight-black eyes. It annoyed Ellie to even look at her, Sayuri’s elegant demeanor a bleak reminder of the physical discomfort she’d felt recently in her own body.
“Yes!” Ellie said indignantly. “And it’s too early for any normal human being.” She moved to lie back down when a pillow came flying across the room and whacked her in the face.
“Hey!” Ellie shot back up, and Lottie finally sat up too. But it wasn’t Sayuri who’d thrown the pillow. To her side, hands on her hips, stood their mysterious roommate. The girl was no more than five feet in height; she might have even been smaller than Binah. Periwinkle hair framed her round face in an immaculate wavy bob cut above her ears. But most noticeable of all was the little blue heart she’d drawn like a beauty spot next to her left eyebrow.
The blue heart on the welcome sign.
Her bedding was also blue, blue penguins to be precise, on which sat a blue penguin stuffed toy that reminded Ellie of Mr. Truffles (who was still trapped in Lottie’s suitcase).
“Yamete kudasai!” she growled. “Don’t talk to Sayuri like that.”
Ellie froze, unable to move from the shock, and Lottie tried not to laugh.
“Now get up,” the girl ordered. “Hayaku kudasai!”
So, swallowing her irritation, Ellie did.
The two of them were left alone to change into the school uniforms that had been given to them, and it only took a few minutes
