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Val leads the way to the faculty dining hall. During class he tends to sit at the back of the classroom. When I glance back at him (one or twenty times per class) he usually looks either amused or disinterested. But all the teachers love him anyway. Other than his attitude, he’s the perfect student, easily acing every assignment.
Val holds one of the heavy double doors for me. Inside I see nothing but gloom. But that instantly transforms when I pass through the doorway. Suddenly, it’s like I’m still outside—but in a beautiful Grecian garden.
White pillars with creeping vines stand in a circle around stone tables set with grapes, wine, and food. On a dais is a taller table with the more “important” teachers and Zee’s guests of honor. It looks like a wedding party, or the Last Supper,
