Lunch rolled around and once again everyone gathered in the cafeteria for a delicious meal. 

The whole room held a delicious aroma of mashed potatoes, chicken, carrots, and green beans together with a gravy-like vegetable sauce poured on top.

The aroma from the cafeteria wafted down the halls, calling more kids to eat lunch.

The scholarship winners filed into the line, getting what smelled delicious put onto their trays.

Then once done, they walked over to a table and sat down, fanning out a bit so elbows didn't touch as they ate.

Sidney's eyes scanned the cafeteria for a certain someone. 'Darius said he would be but I don't see him. Not that I could talk to him anyway since he said he would be sitting with Thea.' She thought, letting out an annoyed sigh.

Witty's eyes scanned what hers did and didn't see anyone special. "Who are you looking for?" He inquired, pushing up his glasses while balancing his tray in his free hand.

Sidney twisted her body back to Witty and then pivoted on her heels. "Hmm?" She inquired, it took a moment for what he said to register in her mind. "Oh, um, no one of importance." She passively replied, turning back around. 

Witty wasn't going to push it and press her for an answer. "Okay," He nodded, then looked back around the room. 

Dree watched the scholarship as she walked out of the line. 'Their resilience is annoying.' She thought to herself as she glanced at Thea's cup. She elbowed it, spilling water on the floor with a wicked grin giving a soft laugh as she sat down at the table. 

Thea quickly grabbed her cup, frowning at how much water had spilled. "Dree! That was my water you just spilled. Couldn't you at least be more careful, sheesh?" She scolded the foreign princess, sitting down at the table. 

Dree rolled her eyes and nudged Thea with a smirk. "You really are dense. Opportunity to get rid of the scholarship winners. You need to focus on coming up with ideas on how to get all of the scholarship winners. expelled. I can't keep coming up with ideas, it's exhausting."

"Anyone could slip on it, Dree," Thea looked at Dree and nibbled on some carrots as she spoke. "I understand what you are doing, but you're being too bold. I was always taught to be subtle, like my mom when she's passive-aggressive but you couldn't even tell."

Dree huffed, shaking her head at Thea's words. "How well has that worked out for you?" She deadpanned, taking a sip from her water. "You need to start soon. The sooner they're gone the better for all of us."

Thea slowly shook, resting her elbow on the table and resting her cheek in her hand. "I want to space it out. Too many in a span of a week is too coincidental. Someone is bound to piece it together." She warned, taking a bite out of her carrot.

Dree bitterly narrowed her eyes at Thea. She hated to admit it but she was right, she should wait a bit before she did anything else. "Fine. I'll wait. But I can't make any promises on Thursday since amateurs around horses are bound to get hurt."

Mia glanced over at Thea who groaned then back to Dree. "I don't think that is a good idea. It's only a matter of time before Sidney grows a backbone and tells someone that it was you and you get watched like a hawk." She bluntly pointed out, taking a bite of her food.

Dree frowned as she narrowed her eyes at Mia. "Oh, I didn't know I was speaking to you, Mia. Because I wasn't, I was talking to Thea. You know, Thea, you should teach her to keep her mouth shut a little more." She turned to Thea, disdain laced in her voice.

"That is out of line and you know it. Mia is my best friend and she's free to say whatever she likes whether I agree with it or not. I don't treat her like crap like you do Skye or anyone else for that matter." Thea snapped, jabbing her finger at her.

Dree put her hands up in defense of Thea lashing out at her. "Goodness! No need to get in an uproar over this. How will you make a good Crown Princess by being so hot-headed? You should work on that, I don't think Duchess Katherine would be pleased to hear about it."

Thea slammed her hands on the table. "You'd rat me out to my mother over my attitude towards you? Wow, you are a piece of work -" She recoiled and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Dree," She apologized bitterly then realized she needed to save face. "I shouldn't be lashing out at you for unresolved issues. I hope you're not upset with me."

Dree shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not bothered. I expected that from you with how you've been raised. I don't let anything bother me because it doesn't affect me or sway my opinion of you. Don't worry." She flashed her signature smile.

Thea rolled her eyes and then scanned the room. "Where is Darius? He said he'd join us." She mumbled under her breath.

Sidney frowned as she saw her water glass was empty. "I am going to get some more water. Can't eat without something to drink." She said, standing up and walking towards the drinking fountain. 

She had taken five steps and on the sixth one her shoe got into the water and she slipped, her feet went right out from under her. She fell right into a large vase, knocking it over as it crashed into a plethora of pieces on the floor. 

She landed on top of them, and her hands and knees took the brunt of it. Then her hands slipped in the water and her arms crashed onto the small pieces of glass.

She felt horrible, her nerves were going crazy due to the glass that was embedded into her skin.

She cried out in pain trying not to get hurt on any more glass as she used the table Jingyi and Daianna were using to get off the glass.

She bit her lip to distract herself from the pain and the blood from the cuts she could feel pooling on her skin.

Daianna grabbed her waist and helped her to the seat. "Oh my goodness, Sidney, you're hurt." She said looking over at Jingyi and giving her a nod. "Go get the headmistress." She told her friend, who nodded and ran out of the cafeteria.

She turned back around and grabbed some napkins, dabbing the cuts that didn't have any glass in them. "I'm not hurting you, am I?"

Sidney bit her lip trying to ignore the pain, shaking her head. She flinched every time she touched one of the small cuts. "Ow, ow, ow," She hissed, feeling the sting of the napkins. "Why does this keep happening to me?" She mumbled under her breath, closing her eyes. 

Amelia rushed over to her friend and crouched down to her level, gently brushing off the glass that wasn't embedded into her skin. "What happened? Are you okay?" She inquired, working on getting what prices of glass out of her hand she could. 

Sidney opened her eyes and tears fell down her cheeks. "N-no. I slipped in the water and fell on the plant, breaking the vase . . . I am sorry." She sobbed, it was a mix of embarrassment and pain. 

"You have no reason to be sorry. It isn't your fault. It could have happened to any one of us." Daianna said, wrapping a piece of ribbon from her hair around the napkin and then held Sidney's arm in her hand as she gently pulled off the pieces that were just pressed into the skin, not like the others that were embedded.

Thea stood up after getting a glare from Dree. "Of course she does. She is a major klutz! A-a-a walking disaster! She broke the vase my mother had hand-picked out. It was one from a limited edition collection she had gotten over twenty years ago. They don't make them anymore. How will we replace it now?" She exclaimed, furious over the broken vase.

Daianna glared at the girl. "We all have fallen or slipped. It isn't because she is a klutz. Things happen beyond our control. It is just a stupid vase. It doesn't matter. Sidney is hurt and bleeding and all you care about is a stupid vase!" She exclaimed, standing up and her fists clenched at her sides.

Dree snorted, crossing her legs and leaning on the table. "Aww, little Daianna doesn't know her place as a royal lady, which is why she is here. I don't see why you get to become a royal lady, you don't have what it takes -" She was cut off by Thea, who seemed to be a little bit upset with her words.

"Dree, that is enough. Even if we don't agree with other royals and nobles, we never attack them. Any qualms we have we put away for the sake of diplomacy." She said, putting her hand up in front of Dree to stop her from saying any more. 

Dree frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes. "My apologies Daianna, I am just in a sour mood today and shouldn't have taken it out on you." She was trying to save her face as she straightened her soft peach bouclé jacket.

"It is alright, Dree. We have all had our moments before no matter who they are." Daianna turned back to Sidney and replaced the napkins on her hands with fresh ones and impatiently looked at the door.

Headmistress Devona rushed into the cafeteria followed by Jingyi. "Oh Sidney," She turned her attention to the black-haired boy with glasses. "Witty, can you take her to the nurse's office? I will stay here and clean up this mess while finding out who spilled the water, whether it was by accident or on purpose." She softly spoke offering an arm to help her up so she could take her to the nurse's office.

Sidney took her arm and gritted her teeth getting to her feet as the tears slowed down. "Ow," She flinched as Witty grabbed her other arm. "Why do these things keep happening to me? Maybe it is a sign I should leave." 

Witty shook his head, not exactly sure what to say but he wasn't going to agree with her, that was for sure. "It isn't a sign, Sidney," He reassured her, trying to put her worries to rest. "It is just an accident. Something was probably leaking, maybe the vase."

Sidney didn't say anything so she just bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as tears rolled down her cheeks. She buried her grave on Witty's shoulder as he gave her a piggyback ride to the nurse's office.

Once again she found herself sitting on the chair in the nurse's room once again. Monica's words echoed in her mind, from being told she hoped she didn't see her again here for this exact issue or how things would potentially get worse the longer she was here.

Monica opened the door crying a tray of different bandaids, ointment, disinfectant, cotton balls, a glass bowl, and a tweezer.

"Mr. Moss filled me in on what happened. You slipped in water on the floor and fell into a vase, breaking it?" She asked, sitting down on the stand and setting the tray on the small table beside her.

Sidney nodded, blowing her nose on a tissue she had taken from the same table Monica set the tray on. "Yeah. It wasn't even a big puddle. Apparently, flats don't have any traction when it comes to a marble floor with water." She replied in a shaky voice.

Monica grabbed the tweezers and gently pulled out the pieces of the glass still in her legs. "At least this time it was an accident, right?" She asked, gently cleaning the cuts.

Sidney nodded her head, resting the back of her hands on her thighs so her palms would be up. "Yes. It could have been anyone who slipped and fell, but I just so happened to be the one to get up to get some more water." She replied, wincing every time a piece of glass was removed.

Monica slowly nodded her head. It was a relief to know she wasn't targeted, as far as she knew. "It seems you've got very bad luck," She said, her voice light and airy, trying to lighten the mood.

"Apparently," Sidney dryly laughed, wincing once again while looking up at the ceiling. "I don't believe in luck though, I'm sure it's just because I'm a klutz, like Thea said." She sighed, puffing out her cheeks for a brief moment.

Monica glanced up after pulling another piece of glass from Sidney's knee. "I don't think you're a klutz. As you said, slipping on the water could have happened to anyone, it just so happened to be you." She said, feeling quite hard for Sidney.

Sidney flinched once again as Monica pulled the glass from her palms. "I guess," She nonchalantly sighed, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "Nurse Monica," She asked, opening her eyes and looking down at her. "Will I be able to attend the rest of my classes?"

Monica glanced up for a brief moment and shook her head. "I'd advise against it, but, since I know you don't want a tardy, I'll talk with the headmistress about getting you out of your next class only: social graces which are easy enough to catch up."

Sidney perked up at what Monica had said. 'Wait, she'd do that for me?' She asked herself before speaking out loud. "Really? Just one class? Can't I just attend that class too?"

Monica picked up on the disappointment in Sidney's voice. "You could but you've gotta give your nerves time to settle down and allow the pain medication I'm going to give you to start working which will be for the duration of one class." She emphasized that it was only one class.

Sidney sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair. "Okay, I'll ask Yasmin to give me her notes on the class since we have it together." That wasn't exactly the answer she wanted but at least one class was better than none.

Monica knew how much staying in the classes meant to scholarship winners like Sidney, especially since they had a lot of catching up to do. "That would be a good idea." She flashed a smile as she finished pulling the glass out.

She disinfected each cut and then put colorful bandaids on each cut, whether it was a small cut needing a small bandaid or a bigger one needing a bigger bandaid. "The bandaids I mark with a dot will need to be changed twice a day and you will need to reapply the ointment each time." She said, dotting each band-aid lightly with a marker.

She pushed herself towards the counter and opened the desk, pulling out a box of the said bandaids and a tube of ointment then scooting back over to Sidney. "Here," She extended them out to her, still smiling kindly.
 
Sidney took them with a faint smile. "Thank you, Nurse Monica." She meant her words. Every time someone at the academy was kind to her surprised her since she had a preconceived notion that everyone would be against her.

Monica returned the smile but brighter than the one Sidney had given. "It's my pleasure, Miss Barnes." She pulled a notepad from her pocket and scribbled some notes down.

She walked out of the room and then came back a few moments later. "Take these three times a day, no more than two." She extended the pain medication that anyone could buy at the drugstore. "I'll also relay this to the headmistress and inform your friend."

Sidney nodded as she watched her leave the room once again. She could hear faint voices, one belonging to Monica and the other to Witty who surprisingly had stayed and waited for her. 'He stayed . . . he's missing out on lunch because of me.' She frowned as those thoughts made her sad.

Monica walked back into the room and offered her hand out. "Do you think you can walk?" She asked, her eyes focused on Sidney. "Your friend Mr. Moss will help export you to your room and I think he said he was going to have one of your friends bring you your lunch."

Sidney slowly got to her feet after taking Monica's hand. "I think I can manage." She slowly walked out of the room with Monica's help and then was passed off to Witty who gave her another piggyback ride. "You didn't have to stay. You're missing lunch."

Witty glanced over his shoulder and gave her a lopsided smile. "Of course I did. You're my friend, a fellow Senoian. I still have time to eat lunch, I just didn't want to leave you alone." He replied, walking down the hall towards the dorms.

Sidney was taken aback by his words. They meant so much to her that her heart swelled. "That means a lot." She whispered, trying so hard not to let the tears welling in her eyes spill out.

Perhaps she could just endure whatever else was thrown out at her, since, after all, she had friends that had her back and she'd have theirs.

〰❦〰❦〰❦〰❦〰❦〰❦〰

A/N:
Aye, sorry this is so late. I have been busy and have not had much gumption to do anything but watch tv and play games. Staying inside the house is driving me crazy, even if we get out for a bit, it is still so very annoying because you have to keep your distance from people. I am working on getting more chapters and my other books done so don't worry I haven't forgotten. 

Chapter Talk:
Edit: I decided to divide this chapter into two since it was a little longer than I wanted. Plus I wanted another opportunity to have Monica show up and you'll be seeing more of her. You'll also be seeing the other teachers but all in due time, all in due time.

Thanks for reading!