Alek looked up at the gigantic oak doors of Palatino Boarding
School with a dejected sigh. His heart ached for parents, for life to go back to normal, for them to not have gotten on that doomed plane… but that was three months before. After being tossed around by his relatives they decided that the best place for him to be was a prestigious school where a certain Klaus Volger worked as a foreign language teacher. Alek and his family weren't on the best of terms. Instead of his father, Franz, taking over the billion dollar family business he decided to become a biologist and travel the world with his wife, Sophie, thus making himself, his wife, and their only son outcasts in the family. They never stopped traveling: The longest time they stayed in one place was 10 months. None of this had bothered Alek for the 15 years that he had spent with them; it had brought them closer as a family and he had learned a lot about life from living in different cultures and countries. Sure it had been a bit lonely not having good friends but Alek had managed just fine. He hoped he'd fare as well here. He rang the doorbell and waited in a defeated silence until a young teacher let him in. "Hello. You must be Aleksander Hohenburg. I'm Dr. Barlow. Welcome to Palatino Boarding School.
Deryn huffed in exasperation as she stared at the unfinished drawing in front of her. She couldn't seem to finish it. Something was missing; the lines were there, they just weren't connecting. Deryn sat there staring at the erratic curly cues, straight lines, and wavy lines until she was knocked out of her aggravated haze by Lilit, her best friend and fellow gymnast, informing her that the new kid, a guy named Aleksander, was walking down the hall towards them as they spoke. "They say he used to travel the world with his parents before he was exiled here. You think that's true?" Deryn looked up from her easel, finally comprehending what Lilit had just said. "I don't know. Maybe? It's not like I know him." "Wow Deryn. Rude much?" Deryn sighed because she knew Lilit was right. That sounded kinda mean especially since she'd said it like she didn't want to know him. But it wasn't her fault that the drawing wouldn't connect. Or maybe it was. Either way she didn't have time to ponder whose fault it was because Alek and Dr. Barlow walked into the room at that moment. "And this is our art room, complete with a darkroom." Dr. Barlow gestured to the numerous paintings and drawings on the walls of the classroom. "These pieces of art work are the best pieces made by students so far, most of which have been have been made by Deryn Sharp, one of our best artists. By the way, shouldn't you two be somewhere?" Deryn racked her brain for places she needed to be at and came up with nothing. Lilit, however, wasn't so lucky. "Crap. I forgot I had tutoring with Mr. Rigby! Oh I'm so late! See you later Deryn." Lilit quickly grabbed her bohemian style bag and headed for the door. "Nice to meet you." She quickly said to Aleksander before she sprinted down the hall. "That's odd. Lilit seems really distracted today." Dr. Barlow said to no one in particular. Deryn just shrugged. "Anyway, since you don't seem to have anywhere to be can you show Aleksander around the campus. He's already dropped off his stuff at his dorm." "Cool." Deryn plucked her backpack off the floor and slung it over her shoulder. "I'm Deryn by the way." Aleksander answered with a nod. "Follow me."