It was lunch period at Gardenview University, and the cafeteria buzzed with the usual mix of chatter, laughter, and the sound of trays clattering on tables. Scraps, however, wasn’t paying much attention to the chaos around her. She was on high alert, scanning the cafeteria like a hawk, looking for any signs of trouble.

Her younger brother, Goob, was seated at a nearby table, a pile of food in front of him, looking completely absorbed in his doodle-filled notebook. Scraps watched him with a protective eye—there were a lot of weird kids in this school, and she wasn’t about to let anyone mess with him.

She noticed Glisten and his usual posse heading in Goob’s direction, laughing obnoxiously, as they always did.

Scraps didn’t need to see what was happening to know exactly how it would go. Glisten would try to mock Goob for something.