The cafeteria bustled with the sound of young voices, boys and girls had flocked together into groups the moment they had entered the large room.
Lauri on the other hand sat - mostly - alone, whilst he had no clue of how to find the cafeteria. Lauri felt the two people in the rooms beside him begin to move after the announcement. It was a boy with turquoise hair and a fairly average girl who had led Lauri to the cafeteria.
The boy with turquoise hair was now at the centre of one of the larger groups, whereas the girl was now sitting across from Lauri on the otherwise empty table.
'Ugh, what a bother. Couldn't she have gone anywhere else?'
Rolling his eyes, Lauri returned his attention to the tray of food in front of him. The tray was something he had seen the other kids here do.
'They grabbed a tray, waited in line and then told the nice-looking old ladies behind the counter what they would like. Is getting food here really that easy.'
Picking up his fork, Lauri prodded the small mound of mashed potatoes.
'I know I should try and eat something… But I just can't…'
Leaving his fork sticking out of the mashed potatoes. Lauri sighed.
'I just don't have an appetite.'
Looking up at the girl sitting across from him, Lauri noticed unlike everyone else who had come here, this girl didn't have a tray.
Lauri stared at the girl and then glanced at the counter where food was still being served.
Letting out a long and slow sigh, Lauri cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, would you like some of my food? I noticed you haven't gotten a tray and I lost my appetite so… Here."
Lauri pushed the tray towards the girl.
The girl was slow to react, as Lauri pushed the tray slightly towards her. The girl frowned slightly.
"Oh um, thank you for the offer. But I've lost my appetite as well."
'H- Huh.'
Lauri felt the tips of his ears growing hot as he covered his mouth. Looking away he mumbled words of apology.
"R- Right, I hadn't thought about that."
The girl softly smiled, "I really do appreciate the thought. Um, my name is Ashley or my friends call me Ash… If I had any friends here."
Ashley dryly chuckled to herself as she cast a glance at the different groups of kids.
Lauri followed her gaze to the centre of the largest group. The boy with turquoise hair.
Lauri tilted his head confused.
"How come you're all alone here and not over there with them?"
Ashley turned back to Lauri with a baffled expression as she squinted at the boy opposite her.
"Why am I not sitting with those kids? Maybe because they come from some of the strongest Awakened Families in the world."
"Awakened Families?"
Lauri tilted his head to the side, a confused expression adorning his face.
"You mean like, families filled with Awakened?"
Ashley blinked a few times, slowly turning back to face Lauri.
"Huh, wh, what? You don't know what the Awakened Families are? Oh, you're not kidding, are you, have you been living under a rock or something? You don't know about the big three Awakened Families?"
Lauri remained silent, he simply raised his hands and shrugged.
Ashley rubbed her brow.
"Good gods man, okay, okay." Placing her palms on the table, Ashley's face lit up with a bright smile as she leaned forward, holding up one finger. "There are many Awakened Families, but only three stand out amongst the rest. They are: Sullen Love, Ambrosia and Evertide. But of course, they aren't like actual families, sure there is the main family filled with powerful Awakened, but then there are also the branch families, offshoots, people who serve the Family, exiled members, amongst other things and of course, I'm not trying to put down the other lesser families - of course by calling them lesser it might sound like I'm throwing dirt over their reputation, they've all done a lot for humanity in their own special way. But it is a well-known fact that Sullen Love, Ambrosia and Evertide have done the most for humanity, except for I guess Windbred after its founder went mad and killed the founders of the other Greater Awakened Families. Except for Ambrosia, Ambrosia's founder slew the founder of Windbred and then went missing in old Australia a few decades later."
Ashley paused breathing heavily from not having taken a breath as she explained the families. Turning slightly she glanced at the boy with turquoise hair and whispered.
"You don't think he heard me do you?"
Lauri on the other hand blankly stared at the girl.
'Wh- What?'
Leaning back in his seat, Lauri followed Ashley's gaze.
"So… Who is he? The boy you keep looking at?"
"Who!"
Ashley spun back around, almost jumping across the table at Lauri.
"Who is that!? That's Gareth Evertide! A member of the main bloodline of the Great Evertide family! Youngest son of its current leader! Samuel Evertide! He's practically a celebrity of our generation! Like, have you seen how cute his face is!"
Ashley coughed as she sputtered out her last words. She followed this up with another quiet whisper.
"I uh, I didn't mean to say that last bit out loud."
Lauri blinked a few times before coming to a realisation. Lauri recognised this expression, it was how some of the older ladies acted in the village whenever they saw Laurence performing manual labour. Usually, this happened on hot days - but Lauri wasn't quite sure why.
"Ohhh, I see, so you're a fan girl."
At Lauri's casual comment, Ashley almost jumped in her chair with a squeak that seemed to attract attention to their table.
"Sshhhhhhh, what are you saying, calling me a fangirl!"
Her voice carried with it a furious whisper as she glared at Lauri.
"I can just appreciate the good things in life, like cute boys, is that something to be scorned!"
Lauri slightly laughed, his moment of humour wilting as the main focus of the room left his group and walked over to Lauri and Ashley's little table.
Scowling, Lauri looked away.
"Whoever said I was scorning you? If you want to know, why don't you ask him."
Ashley blinked a few times and then froze.
"Y- You don't mean-"
Slowly turning around, Ashley looked up into the eyes of the upcoming star of the Evertide Family.
The young man held a steady smile as he looked at Ashley.
"I couldn't help but hear you raising your voice."
Gareth's smile faded as he moved his head slightly, pinning Lauri with an icy glare.
"Is this guy bothering you?"