I made it through all of my classes and headed back to the house after Japanese club. I had an idea of how to change things for the better and worked to put my plan into action. I didn't have a whole lot of time. I spent the entire time until dinner cleaning the house and especially my room. I found some oversized beanbag cushions and spread them around the living room table.

Professor Rhodes looked in on me when she got back. She smiled when she saw what I was up to. "Are we expecting company?" She asked. I turned and smiled at her.

"I hope so. I'm going to invite my mentors over to study after dinner." I hesitated and realized she might not approve of this plan. It was her house too. "If that's ok?" I added as an afterthought. I really should have cleared it with her first.

She grinned and her smile lit up her whole face. "That's an excellent idea! I'll make some cookies while you're at dinner." I laughed. She was trying so hard to encourage me and make me happier here. "Your mentors are always welcome here," she added. I relaxed and returned to making sure the living room was as perfect as it could be.

I ran out of time before dinner and waved to Professor Rhodes. "I'm heading out to dinner!" I told her. She waved after me and I rushed up to dinner, excited for once to join the rest of the school.

"Slow down, silly Apprentice, what are you so excited about?" Shannon laughed as I joined her, Meaghan, and Emily in line for dinner. I had skidded to a halt and would have been out of breath had I been less athletic. I grinned.

"I wanted to invite you three to come over to my place after dinner to study," I told them.

"Sounds like fun," Emily replied and I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Yeah, we'd like to see where our little sister is living," Shannon added.

"Little sister?" I asked her, confused. Yeah, I was younger than them, but we weren't related.

"It's a Japanese thing," Meaghan explained to me, rolling her eyes. Her voice sounded like she was tired of hearing about Japan all the time.

"Yeah, Shannon's a bit of a weeb," Emily added.

"A what?" Why were they using so many terms I was unfamiliar with?

"A weeabo. It's an unflattering term for someone who likes Japan and Japanese culture. Usually foreigners who get obsessed with anime," Shannon explained. "As for the little sister thing, Japanese upperclassmen sometimes refer to their underclassmen as younger siblings and vice versa."

We got our food and made our way to our usual table. No one bothered me while I was them. I didn't know why they were so feared or respected, but I was grateful for it. I still needed to figure out how to make friends with my classmates, but I could work on that later. Right now, anything besides outright hostility was an improvement.

After dinner, I went back to the house. The girls would be by later with their homework. I went up to my room and got my own homework and took it downstairs to curl up on one of the cushions I found so I could work at the coffee table with the girls. They rang the bell and I jumped to my feet to let them in. They put their homework down in the livingroom and I showed them around the house.

"This place is gorgeous and huge, way bigger than our rooms!" Emily exclaimed jealously. I smiled at them, glad to finally have friends here.

We sat around the table doing homework and talking for hours. Professor Rhodes brought us cookies and answered questions on the assignments. No one seemed to mind that she was around. She didn't hover and stayed in her room most of the time my friends were there, but she was around if we needed help, which was surprisingly nice.

I handed her my phone before my friends went back to the dorm. "Would you take a picture of us so I can send it to my parents?" I asked her. My friends grinned and we took a few pictures, one of which I even made the wallpaper on my phone. We all looked so happy in the group picture. I sent it to my parents immediately, glad I could finally give them some good news.

Once it was almost curfew, my friends packed up their things to leave. Professor Rhodes came back out of her room then. "I'll walk you girls back," she told them. She wasn't taking any chances with anyone's safety. "Sam, stay here and lock the doors," she told me. She also wasn't giving them an option. She was walking them back whether they liked it or not. They didn't bother fighting her and I locked the door behind them when they left. I put the cushions away and cleaned up from our evening while I waited for Professor Rhodes to return. Once she did, I said goodnight and headed up to bed, finally feeling like I was starting to belong here.