CHAPTER 21 - In the Quad

Lyra We entered the Quad to find more than half of the outdoor seating occupied and the smell of a hundred different lunches wafting through the air. As it was an unseasonably warm day. The small eateries that made up the square bustled with students who were either eating, talking, or reading in the shade. The energy, which came from such a happy place, made me forget about my troubles for the moment. Whitney, Sally, and I, managed to find an empty picnic table that was half under a canopy of trees and half facing the sun. I sat in the light with my plate of steaming pasta, while Whitney, with a burger, and Sally, with a salad, stuck to the shady side. I had barely unfolded my napkin when Whitney asked, "You two stay on campus or off?" "Lyra and I are roommates. We stay on campus. Were in the—" "Wonderful. I am off campus myself. Daddy didn't want me in a co-ed dorm. Said I would be too distracted." She laughed, a tinkling sound. "He was right about that. My poor, Liam. Unt