"When are you going to stop following me?" Astra finally broke the silence, keeping her gaze fixed on the distant skyline where gleaming skyscrapers pierced the clouds.
She could feel him studying her profile, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of meeting his eyes.
"When you stop avoiding me," Ziyan replied simply.
"Tsk." The sound escaped her before she could stop it, her tongue clicking against her teeth in annoyance. She knew very well that it was not going to happen any time soon, just as she knew he wouldn't give up anytime soon either.
Too tired to continue this game, she pulled out her earbuds and slipped them in, letting music drown out whatever else Ziyan might have to say. It was not long before she received a message from Rowan, asking her where she was and why she was not having her lunch in the hall. She responded with a simple 'rooftop', a decision she came to regret approximately five minutes later.
The door to the rooftop burst open with enough force to make her jump slightly and entered Emrys, twirling through the doorway like a ballerina.
Behind him, Rowan appeared, his eyes immediately narrowing when he spotted Ziyan. "Do I even need to ask what you're doing up here with her?"
"Just providing some company to my new classmate," Ziyan responded casually.
Rowan narrowed his eyes, "You might be my best friend but I don't trust you with my sister."
Ziyan's only response was a shrug, though Astra caught the slight uptick at the corner of his mouth.
Rowan turned to her, his expression melting into a grin as he held up two brown paper bags. "I had a feeling you would skip going to the dining hall so I got some food ordered for us."
"You can order food inside the campus?" Astra couldn't keep the note of exasperation from her voice.
"Only if you're family owns to the academy," Silas chimed in. He had settled himself across her, at a slight distance.
"Huh?" Astra frowned.
"Right," Silas shook his head, looking at her with something between pity and disappointment. "I forgot you've been living under a rock, completely disconnected from our world."
Astra pretended she did not hear the insult.
Emrys clapped his hands in excitement, "it seems like it's finally time for your official introduction to the world of money and power!"
"Uh-huh," Astra responded, eyeing them all with deep skepticism. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like whatever came next.
"Once upon a time, hundreds of years ago, there was a rich ma- Ow!" Emrys yelped as he rubbed the back of his head, shooting a glare at Silas. "What was that for?"
"Ignore him," Silas said flatly, turning to Astra.
[can't I ignore all of you?]
"If you're going to be part of this world, you need to understand how it works," Silas continued, settling into what Astra recognized as his lecture mode. "Our country Orlania's power structure is built around five families. People usually call them the 'Five Pillars'."
Despite her initial reluctance, Astra found her listening to him.
Rowan settled beside her, passing over a container of pasta. "You're going to need your strength for this boring history lesson."
"The first family, the Lennox, should be familiar to you," Silas began, and Astra noticed Rowan straightening slightly at the mention of his surname, though he tried to play it off by adjusting the collar of his uniform. "They own an empire of luxury hotels, resorts, exclusive clubs across the globe."
"The second pillar is the Ellington family." He gestured toward Ziyan, who was sprawled out on the concrete, one arm behind his head as he lazily scrolled through his phone. Despite appearing completely disinterested, Astra noticed how his thumb had stopped moving across the screen.
"They dominate the healthcare industry. Hospitals, pharmaceuticals, biotech research, you name it. Ziyan's mother is actually one of the world's leading medical researchers."
"And our dear Ziyan here is their only heir," Emrys added. "No pressure or anything."
Ziyan's only response was a slight smirk. Astra's fork froze halfway to her mouth when she felt a sharp suffocating pain tug her heart. Her eyes flickered toward Ziyan for just a moment, long enough to see that lazy smile on his face before she looked away and continued eating.
"Moving on," Silas interjected. "The Harding family, Emrys's lot."
"Ah yes, the mighty empire of entertainment and media!" Emrys spread his arms wide, nearly knocking over Rowan's drink in the process. "Though I probably won't ever run anything, what with having three older sisters."
"You're forgetting the part where you have absolutely no talent in music or entertainment," Rowan pointed out, while he pulled his drink close to his chest.
"Hey! I may be tone deaf but I can act well, you know," Emrys said, sounding offended. "I have worked as a child actor once."
"The only role you did was playing a beggar," Rowan snorted, "and you appeared on screen for what... two minutes?"
"Okay, that's it!" Emrys launched himself at Rowan, sending them both tumbling across the concrete. "I will not have you make fun of my sacred acting career!"
Silas shook his head, watching his two friends watched his two friends roll around like children half their age. He pushed his glasses up with one finger before turning his attention back to Astra.
"Next, we have my family, the Pattons," a hint of pride could be heard in his voice, "We run the biggest law firm in the country, with judges and lawyers scattered throughout the family tree."
And finally," he concluded, "there's the Kayzer family. They're a bit different from the rest. They are a military family, but their influence is just as strong as any of ours, and has strong ties to the government."
"Now that I think about it, your last name is also Kayzer," Ziyan pointed out without looking up from his phone, though Astra could tell his attention was on her rather than his phone.
His statement made the others look at her. Even Emrys and Rowan stopped their wrestling match, both turning to look at her with curiosity. There was no reaction from Astra as always but she knew at his statement, her heart skipped a beat.
"It's just a surname," she said finally. "Anyone can have it."
"True," Silas conceded, though he was looking at her with increased curiosity. "But it's not exactly a common one."
"Speaking of names," Emrys chimed in, "did you know Ziyan's mother wanted to name him 'Anaximander'? His father had to practically beg—"
"Finish that story and I'll tell everyone about what happened at your sister's sweet sixteen," Ziyan interrupted, looking up from his phone with a dangerous smile.
Emrys's mouth snapped shut so quickly they could hear his teeth click.
"I thought so," Ziyan said pleasantly, returning to his game.
Rowan, who was passing Astra a chocolate bar, suddenly perked up. "Wait, what did happen at—"
"Nothing!" Emrys practically shouted, his face turning an interesting shade of red. "Nothing happened! Hey, who wants to hear about the time Silas tried to represent his stuffed animals in a mock trial?"
"I was five," Silas said with dignity. "And I won the case."
"He made his mom cry," Emrys leaned close to Astra only to whisper out loud for everyone to hear. "She still has it on video somewhere."
Astra leaned back at the wall and silently watched them banter back and forth. It was chaos, unfiltered and ridiculous, but it was also warm.
So this was what a real friendship looked like? This was the first time she had experienced such a thing. Since a child, she had always been alone, staying away from people. There were people who had tried to befriend her but she always declined their offer. In elementary school when kids were playing out on swings, she sat in class and watched them from the window. In middle school when they had sleepovers, she would be sitting by the window of her room watching the sky, in high school when they would go to parties, she would be tucked away in some corner of a library.
Now, in her final year of high school, she was experiencing something new, something she should have long ago. It felt strange. Though she couldn't tell if these emotions were hers to theirs, she realized she kind of liked it—this messy, chaotic thing they called friendship.
And while she watched this group, one question surfaced in her mind.
[Whose family did they say owned this academy?]