Anya was shocked. Elaine had transformed the dining hall into a lovely dinner party environment!

First Elaine had determined that their guests would fit at one long table. That meant that all the student tables except one were pushed to the side. Elaine had then instructed Josh and Anya to gather all the candles they could find. They were also to “borrow” all the flower arrangements in the building.

When that was done, Elaine had lit the candles and arranged them throughout the room on tables, shelves, and ledges. The same went for the flower arrangements. After she’d added a couple of well-placed lamps from her own dorm room, the dining hall glowed, sufficiently lit for practicality yet dim enough to create a relaxed dining atmosphere.

But Elaine didn’t stop there. She also persuaded the cook to lend her some school china — some official school china! — plus silverware. “How did she do that?” Josh asked Anya in disbelief. “The cook thinks we’re going to burn the kitchen down, but he gives her china!”

“She’s Elaine Whiltshire,” Anya replied.

“Yeah, okay,” Josh agreed.

Elaine told Anya to run to Rose Cottage and fetch some black linen napkins from a cabinet that Anya hadn’t even noticed before. Where did Elaine learn about this stuff? Had she gone through every room with a magnifying glass on her first day at Covington?

Elaine’s final artistic touch was to fold the napkins into swans.

“She is amazing,” Josh commented to Anya as Elaine fussed with the table settings. “Like, truly.”

Elaine heard him. “Well, don’t just stand there like bumps on a log. There’s plenty to do. Come on, children!”

“Until she talks,” Josh added. “Funny how that works.”

Anya nudged him. “It doesn’t matter. Did you see what she did with that sad hen? It’s, like, gourmet!”

Will came in holding a dessert box. “Here’s your cake, just as requested,” he said to Elaine.

“Yo, next time, I’ll do the whole pastry chef part,” Josh offered. “I’m good at that.”

Anya smirked at him. “Yeah, I think I’ll ask you to prove that in advance of inviting Lady Covington, yeah?”

When Kit made it back to her room, tired, filthy, and yet hopeful, she found a note on her pillow. ACT SURPRISED, it read in Anya’s flashy printing. She laughed, wondering what exactly was in store. Could it match her excitement at finding TK?

An hour later, Kit and Nav, both dressed for dinner, arrived at the dining hall. “Yeah, so then her note said to act surprised —” Kit stopped talking. Both of them stopped walking.

The dining hall looked beautiful! And at one central table sat Will, Josh, Anya, Elaine, and Lady Covington, all of them talking and laughing like one big family.

“And here I am,” Kit said, “not having to act. . . .”

“Is she smiling?” asked Nav.

Kit knew he must be referring to Lady Covington, and, yes, indeed, she was smiling! “Is this a trap?” Kit wondered aloud.

She was about to go in when Nav reminded her, “Not a word about TK, not until we can make a plan.”

Kit nodded just as Anya spotted them and called, “Kit!”

Everyone at the table turned to watch Kit and Nav enter. “Who did this?” Kit asked, amazed.

“If I’m being honest?” Josh said. “Mostly Elaine.”

Elaine smiled modestly. “Everyone played their part. And it’s getting cold, so come! Sit!”

Kit led Nav to their chairs as Lady Covington said, “What a surprise. Elaine, this looks, quite simply, delicious.”

Kit sat down, beaming. These are my friends, she thought in awe. My friends! And look what they’ve done, just for me! Nav found TK, and Elaine, of all people, organized everybody to make Thanksgiving dinner! Kit realized something wonderful at that moment.

She felt at home.

The feeling wasn’t solid yet, and big problems still loomed in her life, but right now she had friends, food, and laughter. Life was looking up!

As dinner began, Kit didn’t know that her dad was peeking into the dining hall. He watched his daughter smiling and laughing and sharing with her friends, including the Dragon Lady herself. It was a wonderful sight indeed.

“Kit seems very happy,” said Sally in a soft voice.

Rudy had sensed her approach. Now she stood beside him looking so cute with a pencil stuck in her bun and her arms full of books. The ultimate English teacher.

“You’re doing something right,” she added.

“I hope so,” Rudy said. “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster.”

“I’m not an expert, but I was a teenage girl, and I think you’re getting off rather lightly, actually.”

Rudy gave her a grin. “Your kid gets older, and it’s harder to make decisions about what might be right for her or you . . .” He shrugged, feeling the weight of his role as father — and not only that but as single parent — very much on his shoulders. He knew Sally was waiting for him to explain himself, but he didn’t have the words to do so. He rarely did. “Ah, just ignore me,” he said. “Nothing quite so sentimental as an old cowboy.”

After dessert was eaten and the formal conversation wound down, Lady Covington thanked her students for a lovely time and made her exit.

Kit and company weren’t ready to end the night yet, so they gathered closer over second helpings of cake and talked about the upcoming league gala.

Josh set the tone of the conversation by stating, “Honestly, guys? I feel that we have a shot at making the league gala our own.”

“And, Elaine, you’ve run a clear course for the last six times,” Nav put in.

“It’s Thunder,” Elaine said. “He’s been impeccable.”

She still had her modesty running at full blast. Kit figured it was because she didn’t want to rock the boat, and for that, Kit felt a smidge of affection for Miss Perfect. Only a smidge, though. After all the trauma she’d been through with Elaine, a solid friendship was going to take time. Then again, all friendships take time, don’t they? she thought. Then, aloud, she brought up a question that had been bugging her. “So what do I have to do to participate in the gala?”

Total crickets, and then everybody responded at once: “What?” and “Really?” and “You’re serious?”

“What?” Kit asked defensively.

“I just thought, with TK gone, you might not want to,” Anya said.

Kit could deal with that. She had been making such a huge fuss about TK, complaining and whining to everyone who would listen. But now that she finally knew where TK was, her confidence had shot up into the stratosphere. “I know,” she said. “But maybe it’s time that I just go for it.”

Everyone’s response differed. Anya looked gobsmacked, Elaine seemed a bit wary, and Josh looked ready to leap into Cheerleader Mode. Kit noticed how Nav grinned, though — he knew she was up to something, and she could tell he was quite curious.

Will was the one who brought up the biggest practical consideration. “The deadline is tomorrow. You know that, right?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kit said. “Of course! . . . Um, the deadline for what?”

“You’re not even in the league,” Will pointed out. “To compete, you’ll have to do an official timed run.”

“You’ll have to complete the entire jumper course,” Elaine chimed in.

Kit turned to her. For once, Elaine wasn’t speaking with sarcasm but with what seemed like genuine concern. Kit would have been wowed by that, but the idea of doing the jumper course . . .

And then Nav just had to repeat the worst part by reminding her of the deadline. “Tomorrow,” he said.