– Ah, it seems to me…
– Everything is fine, Ada! The situation was just awkward, but it’s all over now. Nonsense! – I reassured my friend.
– Right?
– Exactly! “I nodded and turned to the others: “Girls, what are our plans?”
“We’ll go to the library to get textbooks, then to our room to clean up,” Volde answered for everyone.
– Maybe we’ll look at the schedule first and get the form? Just when the flow of visitors will subside,” Lisel suggested.
– Of course, let's go look at the schedule. It's right here!
Khvoyana pointed to a large stand in the center of the hall, to which a line of first-year adepts lined up. They approached one at a time and placed their palm on the large round stone at the bottom right, after which writing appeared on the surface of the stand, giving information about the group, class time and list of items. The stand quickly went out, so some did not have time to rewrite everything and applied their palm again to the displeasure of those waiting.
We walked up and also stood in line. The guys looked sideways at us, but were silent. Some actually blushed, and some looked with interest. I thought that they, like us, were embarrassed. That is OK. We will still study together, we will get to know each other in class and maybe even make friends with some of them.
The line was barely halfway through when a group of older adherents approached the stand, led by the same curly-haired guy who had provoked Zikki with his attention in the cafeteria. They watched us pointedly for a while, and then one asked:
–What are they doing, Harvey?
– What hole did these idiots come out of? – The other one grimaced.
– Disperse, young bastards! “They pushed the freshmen out of the way.
Curly slowly approached the stand and pathetically declared:
– Watch and learn!
He activated the stand, and the others simply came up one by one and applied sheets of paper or notepads to its surface – whoever had what. Harvey himself applied the sheet last, and then turned it over and, holding the top corners with two fingers, showed it to the newcomers.
– Nobody told you, right? “With feigned sympathy, he looked around at the new arrivals.
Next to me, Wolde’s paper rustled out of nowhere. It seems that she was the only one who thought of taking a notebook with her to the dining room.
– Be there! – Kudryaviy’s comrade waved his hand.
And he turned and said:
– Ashers, where are your manners? They could have let the girls go first, after all, they are the weaker sex.
He blew a kiss to Zikkaera, who almost lost her composure.
– Quiet, Zikki. Calm down! – Ada held her by the shoulder.
“I didn’t understand why then they didn’t let us through if those were the rules?” – Volde asked, clutching a notebook to her chest.
“Because they made fun of them and us,” her sister muttered.
“Come in, eshsheri,” the guys, embarrassed and ashamed of the senior student, suggested in disarray.
Kudryaviy’s group settled down in the recreation area. They chatted, looking in our direction every now and then. This seemed suspicious to me, and I decided to watch them too.
“Mirre,” Volde called me and handed me a sheet torn from the notebook. – Hold it.
– Thank you! – I thanked my prudent cousin.
Wolde sacrificed a notebook for us and provided everyone with paper, and Lisel went to the stand.
– Ready? – for some reason she asked and put her palm to the activator stone.
