A high-pitched voice weaving through the hum of the dining hall like birdsong. My gaze flicked toward the sound, landing on a table not far from ours. A cluster of girls, all dressed in perfectly pressed uniforms with blazers that looked tailored and shoes that gleamed unnaturally bright, sat perched like a flock of swans, graceful and poised. Their hair was glossy, cascading in carefully curated waves or tied back with silk ribbons. Every move they made seemed deliberate—effortless, yet studied.
The beta pack.
Even if Ingrid hadn’t pointed them out to me on our first day, I would’ve known. There was a kind of quiet authority to them, the way they sat without needing to assert their presence—the room bent around them naturally. They didn’t speak loudly, but their chirping voices seemed t
