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with nicer clothes, better hair, and straighter teeth. Yet somehow, there he was—uncomfortable in the crested blazer and charcoal-gray trousers that had mysteriously appeared at his door the day before—standing across the street and wondering how on earth he’d arrived at that moment and what lay ahead. The light changed three times while he waited.
    “It’s going to be okay,” Silas said, kneeling behind him and pretending to tie his shoe. “You’re ready for this, Andy. Just be yourself.” By the time Andy realized who it was, Silas was already half a block away, watching as his newest recruit took a deep breath and stepped off the curb.
    Andy had missed all the usual new-student orientation meetings because of his very late enrollment, so the headmistress, Dr. Everly, had called to welcome him to the school and to answer any questions. Now, standing on the top step at the main entrance, she cut an imposing figure, a stylish, fiftyish woman in a black dress. Her hair, glistening in the morning sun like polished stainless steel, hung past her shoulders as she scanned the sidewalk, awaiting the return of the army of Wellbourne students—
her
army.
    She met Andy at the doors at seven-thirty-five. “Mr. Llewellyn, I presume?” she said, shaking his hand. “I’m Dr. Everly. We spoke on the phone yesterday.”
    “Oh, hi,” said Andy, looking around for other students. “I guess I’m a little early.”
    “A little, but that’s all right. I’ll show you where the main office is and how to get to your homeroom. Today’s an easy day. You’ll get your schedule and meet all your teachers, and you’ll be assigned an SA—that’s a student advisor. Most of your classmates have been here since kindergarten, so they will be able to help you, too, but here at Wellbourne, everyone in the upper school gets a ‘buddy’—it’s an important part of who we are. Ah, here she is now! Welcome back, Winter. I’d like you to meet a new student, Andover Llewellyn. You’re going to be his advisor this year. Andover, this is Winter Neale, one of Wellbourne’s star pupils.”
    Andy’s bottom lip fell open—just a crack—when he turned and got his first look at Winter. At first, he thought she was standing on the next step above him. She towered over Andy, who was still awaiting his growth spurt, by nearly six inches. Her uniform was
perfect,
he noticed, looking as if it had been pressed and starched to the crispness of a new dollar bill, and her hair, blue-black and reaching the middle of her back, hung in a flawless, satiny sheet.
    “Pleased to meet you, Andover,” she said, shaking his hand with a firm grip. Pointing at the bandage on his forehead, she added, “What happened to your head?”
    “I, uh, had a little—”
    “I’m sorry, it’s none of my business,” said Winter, her perfect white teeth almost blinding him. “I’m just naturally nosy, I guess.”
    “It’s all right. I fell. A few stitches.”
    “Ouch.” She pointed at the earbuds hanging around his neck. “What were you listening to?”
    “Um, Karina Jellyby. Do you know her?”
    “Sure. She’s okay, I guess. Did you know that she went to school here? Pretty cool, huh? Her name was Karina Carmichael then. Who knows where she got Jellyby. * Where were you before…Wait, let me guess. Birch Wathen? No, Buckley. That’s right, isn’t it? You definitely seem like the Buckley type.”
    “I, uh, actually, Wagner, on Seventy-Sixth.”
    “Really? Wow, public school. I know some kids who go there. Well, you’re going to
love
it here. Wellbourne is the best. The teachers, the other kids, Dr. Everly—all
amazing.
”
    “Why don’t you give Andover a quick tour of the school before homeroom, Winter? He just registered the other day and didn’t have a chance to go through the usual orientation process. You can drop him off in his homeroom when you’re done.”
    “Sure thing, Dr. Everly. Come on, Andover,” said Winter, leading him through