The make-up holiday passed in the blink of an eye, and when I returned to school after two days, the liveliness of the school festival had already faded away. Our usual routine had quietly resumed.

  I knew that Roman usually arrived earlier than most of the other students. Normally, I would leave home at the same time as she did and take the bus with her. Today, however, I rode to school with Cire in the car driven by her family’s private chauffeur, and we arrived a little ter than usual. Cire was well known enough that if she walked outside, people would quickly recognize her and gather around her, so she rarely used public transportation.

  As Cire walked down the hallway, the eyes of students throughout the school turned toward her. It made me realize just how extraordinary she was. Cire herself seemed completely accustomed to the attention. With a calm expression, she walked lightly along the corridor toward the cssroom. Whenever she passed friends she knew well, she waved to them and exchanged cheerful greetings.

  When we reached the cssroom, Cire was immediately surrounded by a group of girls. They eagerly asked about the stage work she had been doing while she was away and about the countries she had visited. Standing in the center of the circle, Cire answered every question with a smile, without the slightest sign of annoyance. She looked exactly like a celebrity surrounded by paparazzi.

  I took my seat by the window, the second desk from the back. There was still some time before homeroom, so I opened the book Cire had lent me yesterday, intending to read a little more. Just then, someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

  When I turned around, I found Ocean grinning at me.

  “Avery, you stayed over at Cire’s pce yesterday, right?” she said. “Her house is huge, isn’t it?”

  “It felt like another world,” I replied. “She even has a rge library. And their private chef made sushi for us. I never imagined I’d get to experience something like that.”

  “Actually, even though we’re pretty good friends, I’ve never been invited into her house,” Océan said. “She’s got ridiculously strong boundaries. She almost never invites friends over. Guess you’re special.”

  Océan gave me a meaningful smile.

  As for Cire, she had finally been released from the paparazzi-like group of girls. She came over to the seat beside mine and sat down with a small sigh.

  “The superstar has arrived,” Océan teased.

  Cire shot her a pyful gre, though she was smiling.

  “You’re the star,Océan. Or should I say Hee-shan? You messed up the fifty-third line, by the way.”

  “You noticed that?” Océan said.

  The three of us chatted idly until our homeroom teacher, Mr. Stephan, arrived. Stephan Richard, our homeroom teacher for Css 1-A of the Acting Department, was a former stage actor in his thirties. Because of his handsome looks and his humorous, student-centered teaching style, many girls at the school admired him.

  After briefly mentioning the school festival and praising our efforts, he began to talk about the friendship gathering for the “Sisters.”

  The introductory meeting would be held tomorrow at four in the afternoon in the gymnasium.

  I remembered the conversation Cire and I had had on the bus yesterday and realized that I still hadn’t checked who my assigned Sister was. After homeroom ended, I hurried to the bulletin board in front of the auditorium. When I looked at the sheet posted there, I saw the printed name of a third-year student I didn’t recognize next to mine.

  To begin with, I barely knew the names of any third-year students other than Roman, so checking the list didn’t really help much.

  “Who’s your pair?”

  I was startled when someone spoke to me. Turning to the side, I was surprised to see Mia Pascal standing there.

  She was more than five centimeters shorter than I was, and she smiled at me with clear blue eyes like the summer sky. For a moment I was taken aback by the color of her almost hypnotic eyes, her translucent white skin, and the brilliant aura she seemed to radiate—something far beyond that of an ordinary person.

  “It’s a third-year I don’t know,” I said. “Someone named Jeanne…”

  “Jeanne, huh…”

  Mia murmured the name thoughtfully.

  “And you’re paired with Cire, right?”

  “It seems so. I just found out myself,” she said. “Are you close with Cire?”

  “Yes. We only became friends recently, but she’s very kind. She’s a wonderful person.”

  “I can imagine,” Mia replied. “She has quite a good reputation in our circles.”

  By “our circles,” she probably meant the world of entertainment that she and Cire belonged to.

  “I’m gd she’s my partner,” Mia said. “Well then, see you this evening.”

  She gave me a small wave and lightly ran back toward the school building.