"Hey guys," said Vasilio as he climbed into the chair between Mori and Liam in the back of the school atrium.
"Hey Vasi," said Liam, "What took you so long?"
Vasilio reached into his backpack and passed an erkuai—a Nanzo speciality consisting of fried dough wrapped in a rice tortilla—to each of them.
"Breakfast," said Vasilio, "You're welcome."
Mori began devouring her erkuai greedily, but Liam was still looking suspiciously at Vasilio.
"I thought you were with Rebecca," he mumbled.
At the far end of the school atrium, Principal Kahakai and Miss Snyder, the guidance counselor, had taken the stage to wild applause.
"Who says I wasn't," replied Vasilio, lowering his voice even as he clapped along with the rest.
"Good morning!" said Principal Kahakai, her voice magnified a bit too loudly by the microphone, "Good morning, everyone, and welcome back! We are so excited to be beginning a new year, and we hope you've all had an exciting and restful summer and have come back ready to learn and to serve others."
"Learning," grumbled Mori through a mouthful of erkuai, "Hooray."
"We have lots of exciting plans for this year," continued Principal Kahakai, beaming at the students, "And I know I'm speaking for all our staff and faculty when I say we can't wait to get started."
"I think if Werner ever got excited about anything I'd be worried," said Mori.
Liam snorted. He could just see Professor Werner's untidy white hair in one of the front rows.
"As with every semester," said Principal Kahakai, who looked to Liam like she was about to burst with enthusiasm, "We are joined by new students from around the world. If you are new to Everspring International Pokemon Academy this year, please stand."
Liam was relieved to be sitting and clapping this time around. He clapped along with the others and indulged in the game of trying to spot new students who looked around their age. Liam could see maybe three or four students that looked like they could be high school. The applause gradually died away and the new students sat back down.
"One of the new kids is in 9th grade," whispered Vasilio.
"Dang," replied Liam, "That class just keeps getting bigger."
Last year's 8th grade class had been the largest the school had ever seen. Liam knew a few of them from math class—enough to know that their class was loud, fun-loving, and a little too dramatic for his tastes.
"And now," said Principal Kahakai, "Let me introduce you to your student body president: Sylvia Liu!"
Liam, Vasilio, and Mori joined in the enormous applause that greeted Sylvia as she climbed onstage, grinning embarrassedly in the same way her brother Arthur had last year. Liam knew Sylvia would make an excellent president, and he was proud of her. But even as Liam felt glad for his classmate, the experience was bittersweet.
It should have been Cass.
As Sylvia ran through the various events the student government was planning that year—from the first lock-in two weeks away to the Spring Banquet in May—Liam was thinking about Cassandra McCloud. The summer, somehow, had been easy. They had emailed every week. Liam had thought about Cass a lot, but he spent most days with Vasilio and Mori, either hanging around near New Court or at the skatepark. Those places didn't remind him of Cass. Being back in school did.
"That's all from the student government," said Sylvia, "Miss Snyder?"
Sylvia handed the microphone to the school guidance counselor. Miss Snyder was a woman of about thirty with dirty-blonde hair—young enough to keep the students on their toes and experienced enough to not take any crap from anyone.
"Elementary teachers, you can take your classes now," she said sweetly, "Have a great year!"
The elementary slowly shuffled out of the atrium. When they were all gone, Miss Snyder turned to remaining secondary students with the air of a colonel addressing unruly recruits.
"All right, listen up," she said, "You're all going to go to your homerooms to get your schedules. If you have any issues with them, come see me during morning break. No earlier."
Several hands shot up.
"If your questions begin with 'what if,'" prompted Miss Snyder wearily.
"...put your hands down!" the students shouted back.
Liam smiled. He liked Miss Snyder's no-nonsense attitude.
"Permission slips for the lock-in are with your homeroom teachers," she continued, looking over her notepad, "Those are due by Friday—no negotiations."
"You guys gonna go?" asked Liam.
"I can't," said Mori gloomily.
Liam didn't ask for further explanation. He knew Mori's dad rarely let her go to anything that sounded fun.
"I am," said Vasilio, "Taylor and Robert somehow convinced Christine to let them DJ a dance party. It's gonna be wild."
"Ah," said Liam.
That sounded a little too wild for him.
"Alright, off to your homerooms," said Miss Snyder, "Have a good year."
Liam, Mori, and Vasilio picked up their backpacks and started for the main stairs. Behind them, the Machokes that worked with the janitorial staff were already stacking the chairs and tearing down the stage from the atrium. As they pushed past other students and deposited their things in their lockers, Liam found himself smiling. He was back in a rhythm, back with his friends, and there was a whole year's worth of possibilities ahead of him.