Hermione entered the big gate and proceed to the lobby of LENZLINE School ten minutes later than she should have.
"So remember, staying late out night of the campus is not allowed in this school.." the attendant barked at a cluster of three other students all standing with their backs to hermione. "Remember the basics and no one gets punished."
Hermione hurried to join the group. She was still trying to figure out whether she'd filled out the giant stack of paperwork correctly, whether this shaven-headed guide standing before them was a man or a woman, whether there was anyone to help her with this enormous duffel bag, whether her parents were going to get rid of her beloved pillow the minute they arrived home from dropping her off here.
At Hermione's left side were two boys and two girls. The other girl seemed easy enough to figure out, black and Neutrogena-commercial pretty, with pastel pink manicured nails that matched her plastic binder. And the other one was so pretty and blond hair with a blue sling bag at her left.. the two girls approached her.
"I'm Gabby and this is ginny ," the blond haired girl drawled, flashing Hermione a big smile that disappeared as quickly as it had surfaced, before Hermione could even offer her own name. she remembered her best friend parvati patil. She hadn't told her that she's been transferred to another school, she really miss her. To hermione's right was a guy with short blond hair, brown eyes, and a smattering of freckles across his nose. But the way he wouldn't even meet her eyes, just kept picking at a hangnail on his thumb, gave Luce the impression that, like her, he was probably still stunned and embarrassed to find himself here.
The guy to her left, on the other hand, fit hermione's image of this place a little bit too perfectly. He was tall and thin, with a DJ bag slung over his shoulder, shaggy black hair, and large, deep-set green eyes. His lips were full and a natural rose color most girls would kill for. At the back of his neck, a black tattoo in the shape of a sunburst seemed almost to glow on his light skin, rising up from the edge of his black T-shirt.
Unlike the other guy to her right, when this guy turned to meet her gaze, he held it and didn't let go. He gazed at her, standing as still as a sculpture, which made hermione feel rooted to her spot, too. She sucked in her breath. Those eyes were intense, and alluring, and, well, a little bit disarming.
With some loud throat-clearing noises, the attendant interrupted the boy's trancelike stare. Hermione blushed and pretended to be very busy scratching her head.
"now you can proceed to your dormitories and fix your things and get straight to your first class. Now!" the attendant ordered. All of the student listened to her and walked away except for hermione.
"We're still waiting on one person," the attendant sang. "I wonder who it is." hermione's attention snapped back to the attendant, which was now staring at her badly that she haven't recognized. She could feel the dark-haired boy's green eyes staring at her. She looked around and noticed that everyone is gone. She closed her eyes and slowly opened it and walked away.
"I can fill her in," the dark haired boy said to the attendant, nodding at hermione.
"Not part of our deal ron ," the attendant replied automatically, as if she'd been expecting this dialogue. "You're a new student again—that means new-student restrictions. Back to your dorm. You don't like it, you should have thought twice before breaking parole."
The boy stood motionless, expressionless, as Hermione walked away.
The dorm was formidable and square, a solid gray block of a building whose thick double doors gave away nothing about the possibility of life inside them. Even from this distance, hermione could see black mold covering the face of the dorm. All the windows were obstructed by rows of thick steel bars. She squinted. Was that barbed wire topping the fence around the building?
After hermione fixed her things in her room, she headed to the canteen but on her way she bumped inot a girl.
"Ooooooh," the girl reacted.
"oh I'm so sorry… I ~" the girl cut her off.
"she said sorry angelina. Be kind to our new student, I mean classmate." Ginny said .
"yeah I heard her!" Angelina argued
"but if I didn't butt in you will just shout at her and wouldn't accept her apology. Right?" ginny smiled at Hermione and grabbed her left hand. "come on I'll tour you around"
It was clear that Angelina did not accept the apology. She mimed a jerking-off motion at ginny, then stared at Hermione.
Behind ginny and Hermione, gabby laughed under her breath. And tapped angelina's left shoulder..
"Angelina," she said evenly.
"gabby," she returned.
"have you seen draco?" gabby asked
"there, with ron and harry" angelina replied.
"as usual" ginny sang beside gabby.
"who's draco?" Hermione asked
"ooh, you'll know her, for sure" angelina said .
In the canteen:
The four of them were sitting beside the big aquarium which Hermione was very fascinated because of the small fishes inside it, "it is a big aquarium but small living things in it" she thought to herself. While ordering, the black haired boy was heading to their table.
"gabby" he said.
"ron" gabby answered
"You know him?" hermione whispered, wondering whether there were the same kinds of cliques in reform schools as there were in prep schools like blaise.
"Don't remind me," gabby said, handing the menu to Hermione.
"what do you need ron? Is draco gone again? Harry?, well, I haven't seen them. Now go, and were trying to eat PEACEFULLY here." Angelina said
"Soooo," ginny said. "Now you've met snape."
"I thought his name was ron?."
"We're not talking about him," ginny said quickly. "I mean she-man in there." Ginny jerked her head toward the side of the aquarium where she last saw the attendant . "Whaddya think—dude or chick?"
"Uh, chick?" hermione said tentatively. "Is this a test?"
Gabby, angelina and ginny cracked a smile. "The first of many. And you passed. At least, I think you passed. The gender of most of the faculty here is an ongoing, school wide debate. Don't worry, you'll get into it."
Luce thought gabby was making a joke—in which case, cool.. At her old school, the green-tie-wearing, pomaded future senators had practically oozed through the halls in the genteel hush that money seemed to lay over everything.
More often than not, the other kids gave Hermione a don't-smudge-the-white-walls-with-your-fingerprints side ways glance in her old school. She tried to imagine angelina there: lazing on the bleachers, making a loud, crude joke in her peppery voice. Hermione tried to imagine what parvati might think of angelina. There'd been no one like her at astron(her old school).
"hey" ginny snaped her finger infront of Hermione
"what were you imagining?" gabby asked
"nothing. It's just that I miss my bestfriend. Right now, she must be very angry" she replied
"why would she get mad at you?" Angelina replied
"I haven't told her that my mom and dad transferred me here at Lenzline"
"ooh" gabby stared at her, with a pitiful look
"don't look at me like that" Hermione smiled.
And their food arrived. And they ate all up and proceed to their first class.
Next chapter: "first sight"