Title: The Mysteries of Isis

Chapter 1: House of Welcome

House of Welcome

Sunny was excited. She had waited a full year to be able to come to the boarding school. She was happy and just couldn't wait. She took her hair out of its bun. No way will I start a school year with a bun, she thought to herself. She looked out the cab window and saw the rolling hills of green and the tall oak trees looming over like skyscrapers. She looked at her reflection in the glass circle in the small compact. She wasn't like a supermodel but not ugly. She had curls of honey – auburn hair and amber colored eyes. Sunny shoved the compact into her small handbag and looked ahead.

That's when she saw the school

It was big and made of gray stone and it towered over the cab as it pulled up. She smiled, I knew this was going to be a great year, she thought to herself. She slid out of the cab and walked over to the trunk. The driver was already there, taking the heavy luggage out of the trunk, or at least attempting to.

"Oh my, let me help you!" she said as she grasped the handle of one of her bags and picked it up.

"Thank you. You are a sweet girl. American too?" the elderly female driver said as she stepped aside letting Sunni get her bags out and raised a eyebrow.

"Yeah, how did you tell? Was it that I don't have an accent? Or was it the fact that my luggage has the American flag on it?" Sunny asked the driver as she pulled one of her bags out of the trunk.

" I have a gift of reading people ….though the second one you said helped a lot" , the woman said as she laughed. Sunny joined in, laughter's contagious, she thought to herself.

"Well, thank you for everything." Sunny said as she handed the elder money.

"No, you are a sweet girl. Keep the money", Sunny frowned "Please keep it, and in case you need to go anywhere I'll give you my number "

The woman scribbled down her number on a paper, wished Sunny luck and then drove off. Sunny slipped the paper into her jean pocket and grabbed her luggage. She began to walk. This year will be simple, just lay low don't draw attention, she thought to herself. She was wrong, very wrong.

….

Sunny finally found her house. There it was, Isis House. She walked up the little steps and opened the door. She awed at the house. It was two floors, with a staircase leading up to the second floor. The main hall, in which she was standing in, had 5 doors. She looked around and when the second and last door on the left burst open she was startled. A woman stood there. She had short brown hair and creamy skin. She looked shocked when she saw Sunni

"Oh, you are Sunny Jefferson! I'm Matilda, your housemother", Matilda saw her puzzled expression and said" I clean, cook and mend broken hearts if needed." she said the last part with a warm smile as if she could be trusted with anything.

"Well thank-you. Um, where should I put my luggage?"

"You can just leave them there. Come in for lunch I'll put them up in your room later", Matilda said her voice thick with an English accent. Everyone had those here. Sunny nodded and walked through the door Matilda had come out of, leaving her bags there.

The moment she walked in the whole room was silent.

The door led to the dining room. It was a long table. Seated at the table were 8 teenagers. Four boys and four girls sat at the table. Everyone's eyes were on her.

"Hi, I'm Sunny Jefferson. I'm new here", she said calmly and smiled.

One of the boys, with curly, caramel hair said to the other boys his voice full of his English accent," I call dibs". Two of them just laughed but the other just rolled his eyes. The one that didn't laugh caught her attention. He had curly brown hair and his eyes were emerald green.

"Leo!' Matilda scolded as she sat a plate full of dinner rolls. The boy that had called dibs on her, Leo, just laughed more.

"Here you can sit here", said a voice, silky with an English accent. It belonged to a girl. She had brown hair and gray eyes. She motioned to the empty chair next to her.

"Oh, thank you ", Sunny said as she sat down. She took time to analyze the other adolescents. The boy who had "dibbed" Sunni was tall. He was talking to another boy who was seated to his right. The other boy had straight black hair; he was of Asian descent and had a smile on his face. To the left of Leo was the girl who had offered her the seat. She was smiling and was laughing at something the girl in front of her said.

"I'm Lilene", said a voice. It was the girl with brown hair, the one who offered her the seat

"I'm Sunny", she responded.

"Are you hungry? Matilda makes plenty of food." Lilene said as she grabbed a roll from the plate. Sunni hadn't noticed but she was starving.

"Thanks for reminding me, I was just lost in my train of thought." Sunni said as she eyed the food. Set on the table were a plate of sandwiches, rolls, a salad bowl and a plate full of chopped fruits.

Sunni served herself a sandwich, some salad and various slices of oranges and apples. The girl across from Lilene was what Sunni thought of as a popular girl. She had elegant curls and ringlets of black hair and blue eyes. She was laughing and smiling.Yeah, she's definitely popular, Sunni thought to herself. To the left of the popular girl was a pretty girl, she had black hair that fell in curls and brown eyes. She was scolding Leo about "the fish he placed in her laundry that made her clothes smell like salmon ", or something like that.

"Analyzing?" questioned Lilene as she bit into a slice of apple.

Lilene took the silence as a yes and said "The boy Leo is talking to is Lucas, we call him Luke. The girl across from me is Janine. The girl with glasses is Gwendolyn everyone calls her boy over there," Lilene pointed to a boy with black hair and grey eyes," is Jeremy. "That girl "Lilene motioned to a girl with blonde hair and ocean green eyes who was talking to and seated next to Janine," Is Anne. That boy over there, I know you were eying him earlier, is Troy".

Sunni blushed and said" What! No, he was just the only one who didn't laugh when I got dibbed"

Lilene smiled and whispered" Sure. Don't worry he's a good guy." She raised her voice to its regular conversational voice" So hey isn't it like so weird how you have the same last name and look just like the famous entrepreneur. You know Mona Jefferson, it's like you're her clone." Lilene laughed as she said the clone part.

Sunni looked at the ground and then locked eyes with the brunette and said "Yeah, very odd."

Matilda rushed into the room and said as she began to grab the plates, "Unless you want to be late you better go get tidied up so you can leave."

The teenagers began rising from their seats as Sunny asked to Lilene" Hey I need a uniform, don't I?" She looked down at her pale yellow shirt and simple blue jeans.

Lilene smiled and nodded as she said "Now I know why that uniform was lying on the extra bed. Here let's get you all ready".

The grey eyed girl grabbed Sunni's wrist and pulled her out of the room, up the stairs and in through the first door.

The room was so pretty. It had walls painted green with a large window jutting out, perfect for someone to just sit. There were 3 beds. One was full of lacy pillows and had a baby blue blanket and sheets. The other had green sheets and blankets. On the green bed were various books. The last bed was simple. It had white sheets, white blankets and had 4 grey pillows without pillow cases.

Lilene pointed to the white bed" That's yours. Did you bring sheets and blankets?" Sunny shook her head" Don't worry I have extras .Right now let's get your uniform. "

At the foot of each bed was a chest, to the left of the each bed was a dresser and to the right was a nightstand. Lilene walked over to the chest before the white bed. She opened the lid and took out two hangers and a box. The English girl placed the clothing and the contents of the box on the bed. The clothing was pretty. There was a white blouse, a grey waistcoat, a grey sweater with a V-neck, a grey skirt, knee length socks and black ballet flats.

'Let's get you dolled up. You always need to make a good impression on the first day." Lilene said.

They both laughed

"You look wonderful", Lilene said as she looked at Sunny's reflection in the large mirror. Sunny was dressed in the white blouse, grey waistcoat, grey skirt, knee-length grey socks and black flats.

"Thanks, Lilene", Sunni said as she blushed.

"Let's get going or we'll get detention for being late for class.", the English girl said as she grabbed her book bag.

The two exited the room and walked down the stairs and out the Isis House. Lilene and Sunny continued walking as they stared at the tall oak trees and admired the flowers. When they got to the school, Lilene asked "You brought you're schedule right?", Sunny nodded and Lilene continued as she read the American's schedule "Well after lunch you have History. I have that too! It's over here."

The American followed and entered one of the various classrooms. They both sat at one of the rectangular tables. Sunni looked around and noticed that some of her housemates were in the same class. She saw Leo laughing at Janine talking to Anne about the newest episode of some TV show while Troy and Wen were reading a book as thick as two Lord of the Rings books.

"Do Wen and Troy have a thing going on?" Sunny asked Lilene.

The brunette responded "No, they're just both avid readers so they both read books together. Nobody in Isis House really is actually dating anyone. Least not yet"

"What do you mean?" the American questioned

"Tell you later", Lilene quickly said as she saw the teacher enter the room. The teacher was a man, he had straight brown hair and wore a beige colored suit.

"First day is always the best." Lilene whispered to Sunny.

You never really know, Sunny thought to herself and sighed. She thought to herself this would be a good year, no a great year .It'll be the best.