2
Rain pattered against the window. The gloomy sky outside contrasted sharply with the yellow classroom walls. Being a Leyrian colony, Alios used the Leyrian education system. That meant no desks, just worktables with tablets or writing implements or art supplies. Whatever you happened to need at that particular moment.
Claire was hunched over with her elbows on one of those tables, her hands pressed to her cheeks. She stared dumbly at the SmartGlass screen where her teacher had given a math lesson.
Sitting in the corner, Sora looked up from her notes. “Claire?” she asked, peeking over the rims of her glasses. “Why haven’t you gone for lunch? Is everything all right?”
Claire grimaced and then gave her head a shake. “No,” she mumbled, forcing herself to stand up. “It’s not.”
She had be
