Chapter 17 A Heartfelt Gift

• During the next official banquet, I stopped just inside the entrance of the dining room. The girl who had shoved Elva that first day was sitting in my seat beside Nicholas.
• Julian, sitting nearest the door, rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his palm. He grinned at me with a toothy smile, much the way a cat would look at a mouse it had planned to eat. Eventually. After playing with it, of course.
• “My brother Nicholas personally invited Kirsten to take that seat,” he said. “It makes sense, I guess. We are supposed to get to know all the girls here, and he’s already well-acquainted with you.”