User blog comment:Zathronas/Speculative author: Who is Summer Rose?/@comment-5217560-20140809062848/@comment-96.254.157.84-20140810171821

1) I could be 30 years older than a person and know them for 15 years - that would make them an old friend. Same thing applies.

2) So when Monty says old as dirt, you mean to say he's 20 or 30. Everyone ages differently. I have a grandfather who is in his 70, yet looks between his 40s and 50s. And don't forget that while Cinder looks like an adult to us, she is young enough to pass off as a student to them.