A WELCOME PARTY

James Patrick can't sleep and loiters outside the school compound, watching and hoping for Williams to return, which is where Mary finds him. They both lie that they just couldn't sleep, but James breaks first and asks if Mary has heard from Williams.

She tells him that Williams left school, and James is hurt and angry. He asked Why would he go to Kingston Peak if he was just going to leave? He grumbles that Williams only cares about fame, and Mary leaps to his defense, assuming he had a good reason to go.

But right in front of her, she spots someone approaching and asks James to pinch her skin. He pinches her cheeks, and when Williams asks what they're doing, she runs off embarrassed.

James goes all wide-eyed to see Williams once again but denies that he was waiting for him, whining, "Kitty!" He goes in for a hug but gets shoved away instead. Williams smiles at Patrick's antics, and James tells him to stop that, "because I might like you." Both boys smile shyly at that.

Up in their room, Williams notices that James stole his bed, but he easily takes Patrick's old bed when James Patrick offers to switch back. He warns that this will be the only time he'll concede to James, but James just tells him to stop acting cool.

Someone slides a note under their door, ordering them both to the bell tower armory tonight. In another room, Matthew's roommate tells him that he has to go tonight, but he refuses, saying that he doesn't care if those guys stay or go. The teachers all chill out in the lounge doing their things, and Nadet's drone checks to make sure the coast is clear.

The boys take the note to Mary and Helen too, who tells them that the UN soldiers used to fight in the bell tower armory, and it's off-limits. They make a big deal about a secret room where bad things happen to curious students, but I suspect they're just winding the boys up. Williams and James assume the students just want to make sure they know how unwelcome they are, so they head out, determined to prove they're serious about staying.

The armory is pretty old and mysterious, and as soon as Williams and James arrive there, they're locked into a room full of old weapons. Two boys swing down from an upper walkway where the rest of the students watch, and they grab a pair of swords, looking aggressive.

Helen is nervous, and she and Mary leave so they don't have to watch. Williams finds a sword and James a staff, and they brace themselves for the beating they're surely about to receive. Just as it looks like someone's about to get seriously hurt, the kids all start to cheer and streamers go off.

Williams and James are stunned for a minute, but it's obvious that this is their welcome party as all the kids cheer and congratulate them for finally staying in the school. Poor James, however, with his big-talking mouth, looks so embarrassed. But both boys are touched to be finally accepted.

The teachers all go out together for a party outside the school, hoping the kids don't drink too much. Professor Washington took the lead. The teachers tell tall tales about how much they can drink. Teacher Jonathan says he just chooses not to drink because his face gets all red, and all four end up in a drinking contest.

During the party, James confronts Williams for leaving without saying goodbye, but Williams disarms him when he says he came back because of him. Then he jokes that he knew James would tell everyone he didn't want to clean the bathrooms.

Curious, Matthew slinks up to the party after all and goes right for Williams and James. He takes responsibility for the cooking class incident, shocking the entire room, and James reluctantly accepts his apology. But Matthew refuses to shake hands with them and says again in random English that this doesn't mean he's acknowledging them.

I still dislike these guys! He told Helen.

Dean Micheal gets a call that every last one of his teachers is dead drunk at the restaurant, forcing him to go pay their bill. Fortunately, it's not that much, because they all passed out after one round.

In the city, Helen's dad and Aunty go out to dinner, and Aunty slips that Helen is coming home from school this weekend. Her Dad thinks she's been studying for the civil service exam, not knowing her daughter Helen is studying in the same school that caused his blindness.

Aunty pretends it was a simple slip of the tongue, but they just happen to be outside the restaurant where the teachers are, and they run right into Dean Micheal.

The dean is less than thrilled to be caught with these four drunken idiots and practically ignores Aunty's greeting. Aunty tells Dad that that was the Dean of Kingston School from the mountain nearby, and Dad reacts oddly as if he's terrified.

He says never to let Helen near this college— they offered her a scholarship, but Dad was told that she turned it down. He repeats that she's never to go there, that a woman doesn't need to learn about chemical discoveries. He's shaking badly, clearly worried out of his mind, and insists on walking a longer way home just to avoid running into the teachers again.

The kid's party continues, and James Patrick turns out to be quite the party animal. Williams becomes a good dancer, he could be an idol. Williams seems a bit unsettled at how Helen is watching James, which is interesting. She goes off to take a call, and Williams asks Mary about the secret room they talked about before.

The students confirm that it's true, that there's a treasure hidden in this school, this place is called the Petralona cave.

This place has been a secret for many years and Mary is yet to find out because her father refused to tell her about this place, anytime the story pops out.

Only a person who possesses accurate knowledge about it can hold the treasure, the legend says. But if someone who doesn't have the power tries to clasp it, they'll meet with terrible misfortune. There's even a story about a student who went into the secret room to claim the treasure and died. Even now, you can sometimes hear her crying in the forest mountains.

Helen's call is from her boss at the

chicken place, who calls her in to discuss a discrepancy in the till. Her boss thinks it's strange that Helen left work early today, and accuses her of stealing the restaurant's money. Helen can't decide whether to cry or scream at the unfairness, and by the time she gets back to Kingston College, she's deflated.

The party is over, and only a few students are still hanging out. They stumble off to bed, and Helen sits alone with a bottle of alcohol to think. As it turns out, her boss had even insisted she take her clothes off to prove she didn't have the money, which offended Helen so badly that she started doing just that, until the boss' son came into the store.

He'd cheerfully told his mother that he took some money earlier, and the boss had ordered Helen to clean up, pretending she didn't just accuse Helen of theft. Helen then refused, and quit on the spot, no longer willing to work for too little money and without even basic trust.

That night Williams dreams of fire and a screaming child, while at the same time, the man in the coma relives memories of his wife and two small children. He talks with his wife about the Petralona cave, saying that if someone who goes against nature and human power ever possesses it, the whole world would be in danger.

He starts to say, "If anything ever happens to me", but his wife stops him because he's scaring her.