Free Tora (The Tora Trilogy Book 1) by Lucy Nichols

shoulder.
    “Head over there before someone else takes it.” Ariana pointed towards a large arched window over the eastern side of the room where Eva spotted a few of her classmates. Ariana led Eva through the isles over towards a bay window where a string of black and white bunting hung awkwardly over the glass.
    “Hey Eva.” A voice belonging to someone sitting next to her said. She hadn’t even noticed until she whipped her head around and saw it was. Avan.
    He looked glum, but resoundingly sharp at the same time. In the baby lighting, his skin looked a little paler than it had been in the dim peaky classroom.
    “Hey Avan.” She returned, smiling a little, hoping it would help lift his mood a little. Eva since Francesca had given him a hard time, he looked miserable. She couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for him.
    “So no hello for me?” Ariana blurted out, scrunching up her face.
    “I already said hi to you on the canteen line.” Avan replied.
    Ariana looked as though she was about to protest, but then her expression softened, as if considering it.
    “Francesca was good to you.” Eva said turning to Avan, twisting her spaghetti around her fork.
    Eva expected him to laugh it off, but he just shrugged.
    “Francesca’s unpredictable.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin.
    “Like the weather, you know.” Avan stared down at his plate, twisting his fork.
    “Yeah.” Eva felt uneasy. She could understand where Avan was coming from, but the last thing she wanted was to get on the wrong footing again with her teachers. If this was the last school to accept a girl who had leapfrogged too many times to count in her life, she couldn’t afford to lose her last chance. Then, God knows where she’d end up. Eva – didn’t want to go there.
    “By the way, where did you come from?” Avan changed the subject. “You’re accent, it sounds like –”
    “Florida.” Eva finished. “Boca Raton.”
    “I was gonna say, but I wasn’t sure.” He said. “I’m just surprised – that you’re here, that’s all.”
    “Really?” Why was it surprising? She thought. Was it her clothes? She looked down self-consciously. If that was what it was about, she could alter her style to something that was more fitting. An all black dress code wasn’t hard to manage.
    “Avan, we all are.” Ariana laughed, then gave Eva a look that read you’re-all-right.
    “Why?” Eva asked, looking from Avan to Ariana.
    “You just don’t seem like the type to stuff up, that’s all.” Avan said.
    Ariana piped in, “My first impression was, she’s’ an innocent angel. But what the heck is she doing at Combe Bank?”
    Eva shrugged. “I’m really not as innocent as you think.”
    Contrary to what Avan and Ariana thought of her, Eva was definitely not innocent. Much of her innocence had been lost as a child. The death of her parents had taken it all away from her. Life hadn’t always been smooth when she was growing up, even when Michelle was around to shelter her. In a way, having no biological parents to lean on forced her to grow up.
    “Well Combe Bank isn’t really the school to bring out the innocence in people anyway, the tough systems’ in place to harden people up.” Ariana said in between a mouthful of food.
    “So are you both in all my classes?” Eva asked, hoping it was true. She barely knew Ariana and Avan, but she could do with all the advice she could get to make it through the day.
    “Pretty sure,” Avan grinned, eyes pouring over Eva’s timetable he pulled from her open duffel bag.
    “Next up, is…GYM CLASS! His excited tone dipped to one of sarcasm. Ariana groaned and made a face.
    Eva loathed gym class. It wasn’t that she hated fitness. Her old gym teacher, Mr Frost pushed them to their limits making them do intense drills in every session. If they didn’t try hard enough, he would be quick to punish. It wasn’t a very fair system for the unfit kids in particular.
    Forcing down her unease, Eva