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Pendragons move to Half Moon Bay
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"Hey! How is your first day going?"

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"Pretty well, thanks. I managed to get David out in dodgeball, that was cool."

And now they should probably start talking French instead of English.

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Woo, conjugation!

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Liam is actually pretty good at languages. Unfortunately, the part he's good at is the speaking and understanding, not the formal rules like conjugation and verb tenses. Not that he's bad at this part, he just doesn't have any particular advantage at it. 

It doesn't help that his French is rusty, since he's been studying Spanish for the last few years and hasn't touched French in that time. Still, he manages reasonably well. 

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The teacher is impressed, as is Allison, but neither comment on it.

And then he has Choir.

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Choir is fun. Liam is out of practice with this as well, though. He's kept singing casually, but hasn't been in a choir since he was twelve. He dropped out when his voice broke. 

Apparently he's a tenor now. That's nice. 

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Liam's first day of school ends, just in time for after school activities. Is he interested in any of those?

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He is! Today is the Human Rights club, according to the schedule he picked up.

He talks Rowan into coming with him instead of sitting in the library to start on homework.

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The meeting has already begun, but it's not much of a meeting. The girl who greats them explains that this week is just for everyone to introduce themselves and get to know each other. 

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There is one familiar face.

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argh why are names so hard to remember - oh right that was it -

"Hi, Scott." Rowan leads Liam over to sit near the one person she recognises.

"I met Scott in Spanish, he's really good at it," she explains for Liam's benefit.

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"Hi. I'm Scott. You know that, she just said that. It's nice to meet you?"

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Liam chuckles. "Nice to meet you too, Scott." He has a way of saying 'nice to meet you' that somehow sounds like he genuinely means it, rather than just being polite. It took him months to perfect, back when he was twelve.

"I'm Liam, Rowan's brother," he introduces himself in return, since Rowan forgot to do that part.

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"Are you guys liking Half Moon Bay? I hope it wasn't hard to adjust."

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"We like it okay so far," Liam answers for both of them.

"Well, Rowan doesn't form judgements about things on this little evidence - " he goes to ruffle her hair; she dodges " - but we haven't had any problems settling in."

He turns a charming grin on Scott. "What about you? Have you always lived here, like everyone else I've asked so far?"

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"I was born here, but me and mom moved back when I was around ten. I like it better than the East Coast."

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"Oh? Why, what's wrong with the east coast?" Liam asks, only half-serious. 

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"I like the sun, and I don't miss the rain. No offense."

The president reminds everyone that next week they'll begin writing letters in earnest.

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And what issues will they be writing letters about?

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not going to defend British weather. Complaining about it is practically the national pastime! I won't miss the rain either."

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They'll be writing to their representatives to urge them to abolish the death penalty.

"You're probably going to miss some things. I hope you guys settle in okay."

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"Thank you," Liam responds, social niceties as instinctive as breathing by now.

"...you know," he remarks carefully, "I might miss being in a country that sees the death penalty as barbaric and outdated." Rowan nods agreement.

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No argument from the human rights club, or Scott.

People begin filtering out.

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And the Pender siblings head home.

"Well, we survived," Rowan says once they're on the bus. She slumps in her seat, staring blindly out of the window.

Liam squeezes her hand, knowing she wouldn't accept a hug in such a public setting. "We did," he agrees.

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Allison returns home, mildly enthusiastic about the new students. She steadies herself.

"Alli, how was school? Are you making any new friends?" 

"There were some new kids today. They just came from England."

"I hope you're not feeling lonely."

"It's fine, mom."

"I know things have been difficult for you-"

"It's fine."

"We're here if you need anything."

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The next day, Danny and Allison sit on the front steps as the other students walk past them.

She looks like she may have been crying. 

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