I hope so. [ she looks away and smiles sheepishly, doing her best to look forlorn but hopeful. ] I guess it's because I can't help but feel worried for some people back at home. While I know they'll be fine without me-

[ she winces at that bit because oh fuck. that's too close to home right now, given the circumstances she had been in prior to waking up in this weird-ass place.

maybe she should dial that back and she does, looking back at him with a trying-to-be-positive! smile. ] -I can't help but worry about them. Hopefully, we'll figure it out in record time so we don't cause too much fuss while we're gone.

[ time for a quick change of topic before she makes another mistake: ]

So I take it you're also going to Frederick Loren High too? We could look for each other after lunch or before classes next week. Maybe see if there are others interested in this too.

[ because noelle sure as hell isn't going to spill these details on the device she found in her room. not when there's a chance it's bugged or rigged to share certain things if keywords or phrases are triggered.

better to do it face-to-face and keep the information between parties she knows are in the same boat as her. ]