Quickly sitting in an unoccupied area of the table, Liz released the breath she was holding. The walk over had been tough. With all of her friends graduated (a hazard of hanging around older groups), Liz found herself at a social disadvantage this school term, and it didn't sit very well with her. As she did her routine of scanning the Hall, she felt herself slide into the green arms of envy. People from every table, from every year were reconnecting with old friends or making new ones. There were very few left without conversation, and cynically, Liz thought it was only a matter of time before they were sucked into the chatter to.

Turning her focus to her own table and classmates, then shifting her eyes again to look at her plate, Liz heaved a sigh of slight frustration. She wanted to make new friends, really she did, but she just couldn’t bring herself to start conversation with a stranger. If more people simply initiated contact she was sure she could win people over. She could only hope this would be a year full of personal and social changes.