It wasn't much, but the restaurant did have an adequate supply of cheap food that could be thrown together hastily, sadly much of it fried.  (There were still sandwiches, salads, and a rotating soup of the day, it seemed.)  A few other students were gathered here and there.

Alicia stared at the menu.

"What would you recommend?" she asked the cashier.

"Depends on what you like, honey," said the cashier, an older woman.  "But I do make a mean grilled cheese.  Either way, eat hearty.  You're going to need your strength."

"I'll take one of the grilled cheese sandwiches, a salad and a glass of lemonade," Alicia said, paying for her friends food too. She left a twenty for a tip.

"...are you really rich?" Luisa asked.  "It seems like you have a lot of money."

"Kinda," Alicia said nervously. "What gave it away? Was it the tip? I don't know how to tip..."

"That was a big part of it," Luisa admitted.  "But it's cool."

"Ah, okay," Alicia said, letting out a sigh of relief. "What did you two do before you came here?"

"I'm a student, but I had a job as a waitress on weekends," said Luisa.

"I mostly did track and field," said Rosa.

"That sounds fun," Alicia said.

"Track and field?  It is," said Rosa, "but you seriously have to do a lot of work."

"I never got to really do any of that. My parents made sure I was homeschooled," Alicia said.

"Why?" Luisa asked.

"They never told me a reason," Alicia said.

"Huh.  Weird," said Rosa.  "I don't know about the quality of schooling, but I'm glad that I got to be around other students.  That was really the highlight of school before now."

"Yeah, it does sound fun. I only really got to play with the servants' kids when my parents were out of town. Which was often," Alicia said.

"...wait, they did homeschooling, but didn't teach you themselves?" said Luisa.

"Kind of messed up," said Rosa.  "No offense.  At least you had some kids around..."

A pretty young woman, with several fashionably-dressed friends, was walking into the grill like she owned it, the building that housed it, the land under it, and the IP of their entire menu.

"Jeez, who is that?" Alicia asked. "That's quite an air she's putting on."

"No idea," said Rosa.  "But you're right about it."

She appeared to be heading their way, too...

Alicia looked at the girl, slightly confused.

She looked over the group at the table, seeming to pass over Rosa as boring, outright sneering at Luisa, and then settling on Alicia.

"Well, you have good taste in clothes," she said.  "I'm Jeanette Lecroix.  Tired of slumming?  We're getting lunch over there."

"No, sorry, I'm here with my friends," Alicia said. "And I'd prefer that you not insult them."

"...Seriously?" said Jeanette.  "Look around.  They aren't your kind.  Don't hold yourself back."

"I have told you politely I'm not interested," Alicia said coldly. "I also told you not to insult my friends. You can leave."

"Don't regret your decisions," said Jeanette, coldly.  "...You just might."

But she did leave, giggling with her friends, glances going towards the table...

Alicia shook her head and went back to eating her lunch.

"...wow," said Rosa.  "What a... well.  Shame we have to share a school with her."

"I don't even know what that is," Alicia said.

"Well, she's a mean girl," said Luisa.  "...we had those at my old school.  I hated that."

"Ah, it's pretty clear what you mean," Alicia said. "And I'm certainly not fond of her."

"Hopefully we can avoid the jerks," said Rosa.  Her eyes were large, and deep, and her strong soul burned in them...

"I guess it's kind of inevitable that there would be," Alicia said.

"I wish there wasn't," sighed Luisa.  "Oh, well... oh, look!  Open mic night coming up!  There's a sign!"

"For what? Singing?" Alicia asked looking for the sign.

"Well, whatever, I guess," said Luisa.  "But I'm a musician!  I think I'm okay... do either of you sing or play an instrument?"

"I don't but I'm looking forward to this now," Alicia said.

"Either way, it sounds like fun," said Rosa.  "Let's do this."

...Rosa did like music.  Alicia remembered that now.

"We'll be there to cheer you on," Alicia said.

"Good," said Luisa.  "...someone will clap, at least.  Um.  Should we head back...?"

"Might as well," Alicia said.

"I really starting to like this place," Alicia said.

"Food's pretty good," said Rosa, ordering like the teenager she was.

Alicia let the others order first before deciding on the daily sandwich with fries. She made sure to tip well again.

They all ate hungrily.  It appeared that most of the students were in the cafeteria; the grill was pretty lonely at the moment.

"I wonder why people aren't eating here?" Alicia said.

"Well, the cafeteria's free," said Luisa.  "And a bunch of people are probably using it to socialize or whatever."

"A shame, the food's better here," Alicia said.

"Yeah, but 'free' is still a thing," Luisa pointed out.  "Well, for most people..."

"Ah. Sorry, I didn't mean any insult," Alicia said.

"What?  No, no, not at all," said Luisa, hastily.  "I just mean, that's a factor for most people."

"Ah. Okay," Alicia said, letting out a nervous laugh. "Guess I'm just being silly."

"Hey, it's okay," said Rosa.  She put an arm around Alicia's shoulders, exactly like she always did when--

--where did that come from, again?

"Huh? That felt really familiar," Alicia said.

"...What did?" said Rosa.

"...the arm you put around her?"  Luisa guessed.

"The arm?  When... Oh, I guess I did," said Rosa.  "Uh, is that OK?"

"It was like a memory from anothe rtime," Alicia said.

"...I guess so," said Rosa.  She paused.

"But is it okay?"

"Yeah, it is," Alicia said.

Rosa started to answer...

...Harold was walking by the coffee shop.  He looked in.

He saw what was happening.  He took an angry step, glaring...

"Oh no, he's here...," Alicia said.

Rosa looked him right in the eye.  Pulled herself closer to Alicia.  And kissed her on the neck.

Harold's face turned purple...

Alicia's eyes went wide. This could be bad.

"I will get her back!" Harold snarled, but luckily, he just turned on his heel and walked away.  This time.

"That went better than I expected," Alicia said, letting out a sigh or relief.

"He's gonna be trouble, though," said Rosa.

Luisa was blushing.  "I-I don't believe you j-just kissed her like that..."

"Oh yeah, you did!" Alicia said, blushing.

"Yeah, well, it seemed like a good way to get rid of him," said Rosa, also blushing.

"It did," Alicia said still blushing, since it was her first real kiss.

"...I mean, uh, sorry about that," she said, still blushing.

"it's okay," Alicia said.

"Yeah, but I mean, I didn't even ask..."

"It's okay," Alicia said.

"...so now what?" Luisa asked.

"I don't know, I'm done blushing yet," Alicia said.

"...should I give the two of you some privacy?" Luisa asked.

"No, it's okay. I'm fine," Alicia said.

"...I kinda think we should head back," said Rosa.  "I don't trust that Harold guy to leave us alone, even after that."

"I suppose you're right," Alicia said. "But I was hoping to go to the store first before that."

"I'm sure we can do that," said Luisa.  "What did you want to pick up?"

"I was hoping to get some snacks and maybe some electronics for our room," Alicia said.

"Snacks sound great!" said Luisa.

"Um, what kind of electronics?"  With all the money Rosa apparently had, it might be cool stuff indeed...

"A TV, some laptops, that kinda electronics," Alicia said.

"Sweet!" said Rosa.  "Yeah, totally okay with that.  Anything else?"

"I'm not sure. How about we see when we get there?" Alicia said.