Over all the noise and chatter, he could hear a faint call - "Hey Teggy... over here!" Looking around, he eventually saw his sweetheart waving and pointing to a gap next to her, so he went over to her... but then something stopped him... or rather, someone.
"And where do you think YOU'RE going, young man?"
Griselda blocked his way, glaring at him through her horn-rimmed spectacles.
"I'm just going to sit over there" he said, pointing to Musa and the girls.
"Oh no you don't, you're sitting with the rest of your grade."
"But Musa's saved me a..."
"No buts! Just because you're bigger and uglier than the rest of us, it doesn't entitle you to special treatment, especially not from me. You're here to eat, not make gooshy lovey-dovey eyes at your girlfriend. Now sit!"
Tegryn looked over at his love and shrugged his shoulders, then sat down next to Charlotte and the others, chaperoned by Griselda who then returned to her place at the teacher's table.
As soon as her back was turned, Tegryn spun around in his seat and waved at Musa. As soon as she spotted him, he pointed to his eye.
"What's he doing? Has he got something in his eye?" asked Layla.
"No. Look."
He pointed at his eye again...
"I..."
He then placed his hand on his chest...
"...love..."
And then, he pointed straight at Musa.
"Awww, he loves YOU!" laughed Layla. "How cute."
Musa replied, first pointing to her eye, then to her chest, then pointing at Tegryn, and finishing off by holding two fingers up.
"I... love... you... too!"
Quiet giggles sprang up around the dinner hall.
"What's going on?" Griselda snapped. "Tegryn, your dinner's in front of you, not behind you!"
"Sorry, I thought I had dropped a slice of bread... oh, will you look at that... it was on my plate all along!"
More sniggers and giggles.
He gave one final glance over to Musa and blew her a kiss before turning around to his well-earned meal. Tegryn addressed his classmates sat around him.
"Listen, I'm going to be moving into my new room after classes have finished, and then we're having a little room-warming party - I'd love it if you guys could come."
"Wow! That'd be so cool!" said Anyuna, a confident-looking girl with long jet black hair. "Who else is coming?"
"Well, Musa and the girls obviously, and some of our friends from Red Fountain."
"Ooh, Red Fountain boys! Count us in!" squealed Mimi and Nini, two near-identical twins who just happened to be from Musa's homeworld. They were alike in almost every way - they had the same straight brown hair, the same hazel eyes, the same taste in clothes and music - even their voices were nearly identical. If it wasn't for their slightly different taste in accessories, they'd be impossible to tell apart - for example, Mimi liked to wear a green braid in her hair whilst Nini preferred blue... or was it the other way round?
"Charlotte, you'll be coming too, won't you?"
"I, um, I dunno... I don't really go to many parties."
"Aw, come on! You're my study-buddy - you have to come! I'll sulk if you don't."
She gave a nervous laugh. "Okay then... if you insist."