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“Jeez, simmer down, alpha,” I tease.

She pretends to growl. I chuckle, and Ever gives me a smug smile. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh. See? I knew you were excited.”

Not about the ranking, but about her friendship? Yeah, I’m pretty pleased with how things have turned out. I gather my things, shoving my laptop in between stacks of books, and together we rush across campus.

Outside of our spire, a truck is parked on the grass, and staff members carry armloads of supplies into the building, Boxes, packing tape. Some push dollies.

“Well, shit, they didn’t waste any time,” I mutter. I’m not sure how I feel about some random stranger touching my things.

Ever leads us inside. We pass by the first halls before cutting into ours. It’s filled with staff tossing belongings into boxes. It’s a well-practiced assembly line. Fill a box, pass it along, tape it up, add it to the pile outside the owner’s room.

I slip into my room, offering to help, but I’m shooed away. I rejoin Ever in the hall, and we wait together, watching as the university staff makes quick work of packing our things. They call out names when they’re done, leading students to their new rooms. I wait for my name, unease swirling around me. I like my room. I’m familiar with my surroundings. I don’t want to move, but like most things in my life, I don’t get a choice.

“Ever!”

“That’s me. I’ll find you once we’re settled,” she says as she’s escorted out of our hall and toward her new dorm. Ever’s name was high on the Vanguard list, but not close enough to mine. I have a feeling we’ll be in separate halls now. I don’t like that.

“Raina!” A portly woman calls, her pale skin splotchy from the work she’s been doing. Tera, her name tag reads.

I step forward. “That’s me.”

With a nod, Tera turns to grab my things but pauses, frowning at the singular box. “That can’t be right.” She turns to another staff member. “Where are Raina Stone’s things?”

“Oh, that’s all I have,” I say quickly, snatching the box and cradling it to my chest.

She eyes me, but there’s too much going on for her to do anything other than nod and lead me toward my new room. I pass Ferals in tears, enough to make me scowl. The Foundations have their own side of the dorms, their swanky rooms paid for by their families. It’s unfair that they get to stay in their rooms while the rest of us have to move, but I guess money changes things, and that’s something we Ferals don’t have much of.

Tera, moves quickly up the stairs to the second floor.

Following her, I keep my gaze straight ahead, avoiding eye contact as she leads me past rows of rooms and students watching me. I spot Ever on the third floor in one of the last halls that’s all Feral.

Tera crosses to the other side, starting up the next flight of stairs, which is on the opposite side from the other set. The Foundation stairwell.

“Are you sure this is the way?” I ask, gut heavy. I glance over my shoulder. Fuck. I don’t see any other Ferals coming this way.

“You’re Raina Stone?” she asks over her shoulder.

“Yes.”

“Then this is the way.” She hits the fourth-floor landing with renewed vigor. Since they’re not moving, the Foundation side is calm. There are smaller halls on this floor and even fewer doors. These dorms must be massive compared to the one I just left.

A handful of students are chilling in the lounge area at the end of the hall. All of them pause what they’re doing to stare at me. Tera strides toward them. My hackles rise. They straighten in their seats, eyes narrowing.

Tera casts a look in my direction. “Chin up.”

I meet her gaze with a nod. There’s no telling how the Foundations treat the staff at the university, but most of them are spoiled brats, so I’d hazard a guess that it’s not good.

“Right, here you go, then,” Tera says loudly, stopping at the last door before the cluster of plush couches the Foundations are draped on. “Raina Stone, number one in her year.”

Okay, now she’s laying it on a little thick. The Foundations scoff at her words. A few insults I choose to ignore float over to me. Tera twists the knob and pushes the door open.

I move into it in a daze, not sure how to feel about this turn of events. The dorm is more like an apartment, with an open-concept living room, dining area, and kitchen. There’s a door that likely leads to the bedroom that’s separated from the rest of the space. My mind flits to all those students I left on the first floor. This is too much.

Turning, I start to tell Tera I can’t stay here, but she’s already gone, and in her place stands a group of Foundations.

Five Foundations sneer at me. The guy in the front of the group strides into my dorm. He’s massive, at least six-foot-five, skin so bronze I know he’s never missed a day out in the sun, and built like a linebacker. He walks in like he owns the place and sits on my new bed.

Great, now I need to burn the bed.