So this is my second fanfic, not counting a horrible one I published, but quickly deleted a few months ago. I hope you all like it and please remember to comment!
The last day of my eighth grade year came and went, and I was ready for a summer of rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, whoever controls the universe had different ideas. On the first Saturday of vacation, a really fancy envelope came. And it was for me. The letter was written in the most elegant print I'd ever seen, and apparently life was pulling a Harry Potter on me. It turned out I'd been accepted to some private academy, and I would continue to attend until I would normally graduate high school.
My mother was besides herself with happiness, and couldn't believe that I was off to learn how to be, and the letter put it, a world leader. I couldn't believe it myself. I mean, I wasn't exceptionally smart, or very, um, leader-ish, but I guess the school was going to turn me into one. The letter didn't have that much information, not even a location. It merely said that someone would be here to pick me up on August 15, and to not worry about materials or even clothes, everything would be provided for me.
And so there I was, on that Saturday afternoon, with a small backpack (because I'm a rebel) waiting for whoever it was to come. Finally, at exactly noon, I saw a young woman with three or four girls with her approaching my house. She wore a pale blue business suit and had strawberry blond hair piled up on her head. She also wore clear high heels, and I couldn't help but think she reminded me of someone. There was a crisp knock at the door that my mom went to answer.
"Yes, I'm here for Miss Adriana." A pretty, melodic voice said. My mom gestured me over. "Ah, hello, I'm Ms. Glass, are you ready to go?" I nodded, gave a quick hug to my mother and followed my guide. I glanced at the other girls, most of them looked about sixteen, except one, who seemed about my age. Before I could introduce myself though, Ms. Glass stopped us at a bus stop. "Alright girls, time for transport. Older ones first, if you will, and I'll take the newcomers." She instructed.
One of the sixteen year olds stepped up and touch a charm on her necklace to the post of the sign. She then joined hands with the other girls, and not a minute too soon, because a glowing white light encased them and sucked them in, and poof, they were gone. "Nothing to be afraid of girls, it'll be a bit ticklish, and please, don't go crazy when it's over." Then she touched her finger to the post, grabbed our hands, and then I didn't see anything else cause the light was too bright.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed. It felt like I was falling, but my stomach didn't drop, and I did feel like I was being lightly tickled. Finally the light ceased and I looked around, slightly dazed. Then I saw Ms. Glass. "Whoa! What? Who?" I tried, but I was too stunned to form a complete sentence. My teacher now wore a full length blue ball gown and, I'm not kidding here, glass slippers. "Are you...?" I trailed off, mind still whirling.
"So sorry about the concealment, but yes, I am Princess Cinderella." She smiled kindly at us. "I know it's a bit hard to take in, but please stay calm for the headmistress, she has a tendency, well, when you meet her you'll know." Cinderella turned to a huge gate. "Come, school awaits!"
As we walked up to the main building, which was a beautiful southern-style white mansion I walked with the girl who had transported with me. "Hi, I'm Adriana." I started. The girl gave a little lurch of surprise, probably startled by my introduction. She gave me a shy little smile. I immediately liked her. She was very pretty too, almost Egyptian looking, glossy black hair, gorgeous amber colored eyes, which were accented by dark black eyeliner, and light caramel skin.
"I'm Ria, going to be a category six." She told me. My brow furrowed slightly. What categories? "What category are you?" She asked. I gave her a puzzled look. "Do you know your patroness?" I had a patroness? I gave Ria a shrug. "Well, I guess you'll find out soon enough. My patroness is Princess Jasmine." Now her complexion made sense. She did look an awful lot like Jasmine.
"So are you from that area?" I asked. I didn't think so because she spoke perfect English, but I still wanted to check. And if our patroness was based on our country of origin, than there must be a lot of European girls here. Ria shook her head, but couldn't explain because Cinderella had stopped in front of a huge set of oak doors with very detailed carvings.
"Alright girls, you are about to meet the headmistress, best behavior please." And with that the princess threw open the doors. "My queen, I have our newest students." The room we now stood in was quite possibly the nicest room I'd ever seen. Two of the walls were all windows, and the other wall was covered with beautiful paintings of the Disney Princesses. At the desk in front of us was the Snow Queen herself, Elsa of Arendelle. Not knowing what else to do, I curtsied, and Ria followed suit.
"Wonderful. You, my dear, already know your category, I'll have your patroness come up to give you a tour." Elsa said to Ria, who curtsied again. "And you, well, I'll call her up and give you a surprise, eh?" She told me. I nodded and did as Ria had. "In the meantime, please, sit girls." Elsa gestured to some benches near the door we'd just entered. "And Cinderella, you have lessons to prepare, I think?" The princess nodded and left with a small wave to us.
"So, where are you from?" I asked Ria, hoping to continue our conversation. As it turned out, her maternal grandmother had been from the area, as had her father, though he had been in the States for quite some time. We chattered on until there was a knock on the door. Half a second later, in came Ria's patroness, Princess Jasmine, all swathed in silk. "Bye." I gave her a wave and a smile as she left, hoping to see her again. So I was left alone with the queen.
"Excited, my dear?" She asked, noticing my motionless fingers. I nodded. "Yes, yes indeed. It's no wonder she chose you." I startled. Did Queen Elsa mean my patroness? I quickly ran through the list of Disney Princess, trying to think ones who had nervous energies. A fair few did. Before I could ask though, the doors were flung open.
"Elsa! Where- oh never mind, I see her." It was Princess Anna, the bubbly sister of the queen in front of me. "Hello! I'm, well, I guess you know who I am. Are you ready for your tour?" Anna said without hardly taking a breath. I glanced over at Queen Elsa, who looked slightly amused. I nodded, and was led out the door. "Yes, so this is our main building, you'll be taking most of your classes here." Anna started. "These two buildings are the student dorms, which have nothing to do with what category you're in. You, by the way, are category twelve." I tried to follow, but she talked terribly fast and I was still taking in the shock of being taught by Disney Princesses. "Are you not a talker?" Anna asked me, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Oh, don't worry, I can be quite the babbler at times, but this is all so new to me. It's a lot to process." I explained. Anna nodded. Then she took me back to the main building to get my necklace. She explained that each student had a necklace, a piece of ribbon and two charms, all of which mostly relate to my patron. My necklace was made of a dark green ribbon with a sunflower shaped and colored charm and a golden, circular charm with my initials and category number. "So, which building do I sleep in?" I asked as we went back outside.
"This one," Anna replied, leading me to the building on the right. We went in, and I found myself in a hotel lobby-like area. The princess went up to the desk, reached behind it and found a folder with a picture of me paper clipped to the corner. She opened it and handed me a little hotel room key card, and than gave the rest of the folder. "You'll find your schedule and a whole lot of other stuff in there. I've got to run now, I think your roommate is already up there. Bye!" And with that Anna hurried off.
I looked at my little key card, I was on floor five, in room 2560, and my roommate would be a category five. That put Ria out, I thought sadly. I went to an elevator and rode it up to my floor. After twisting and turning through hall after hall, I finally found my room. Knowing that my roommate was probably in there, I knocked. "Coming!" A voice called. A second later, the door flew open. "You're my roommate, right?" The girl asked. I nodded. "Welcome! I'm so happy you're finally here, it's been a very lonely two weeks." As she talked, I noticed she had a small accent, British maybe, and pronounced her 'r's funny. "Anyway, I'm Emily, category five, my patroness is Belle."
"I'm Adriana, category twelve, my patroness is Anna." I said. "I love your accent, are you British?" I asked. She looked more Italian than British, with long golden-brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, and was very tall. Emily's face suddenly grew slightly stoney, and I knew I'd said something wrong. "I'm sorry, are you not British?" I tried to apologize.
"No, I'm most certainly not. I have a speech defect that I've been working on getting rid of all my life, and I've heard the British questions more times than I can bear." Emily said. Then her smile returned. "But it's okay, just try not to mention it, please." I nodded. "If you don't mind, I took the window bed, I like rising with the sun." Emily told me. I looked around the room, which had two beds, the one next to the window was covered with books, two desks, parallel to each bed, and two large wardrobes. "Check out your clothes, they're divine!" Emily encouraged me. I went over to the one near my bed and opened it.
"Whoa." I said. In the wardrobe were about a dozen or so long, white dresses, something like what a girl in Ancient Greece might wear. On the little shelf on the bottom were four pairs of brown sandals. In the drawers under the shelf were these cape like things, with sunflower pins on each of the top corners. "They're very pretty. Will they fit me?" I asked. Emily shrugged and gestured for me to try one on. I grabbed a dress and went to the bathroom to change. It felt wonderful, light and silky, and it fluttered a bit when I walked. I pinned on the cape using the sunflower pins and found that it just brushed the floor, and fell as straight as a sheet. I went back out to show Emily, and found that she had changed as well, the only difference between our outfit being the pins on her cape were roses.
"We look fabulous!" Emily exclaimed. I nodded. "Can I see your schedule?" She asked. I pulled it out of my folder and handed it to my new friend. "Hmmm, we have most of it together, except you have your specialized subjects at a different time." I gave her a confused look. "We are taught regular school subjects here, like math and science, and then we also have specialized subjects, where they teach you how to be a leader." Emily explained. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I went to answer and found an older student with long, honey-blond hair and playful green eyes who had a special pin on her dress.
"Hello, I'm Kataline, category twelve, you're Adriana?" She said. I nodded and noticed her sunflower pins. "I'm here to show you for dinner." I glance behind me at Emily wondering about her, and Kataline, following my gaze smiled warmly. "Don't worry, Emily knows her way around here like the back of her hand, she was the first one to arrive during the summer." I nodded. "Now, come." I waved to Emily and followed Kataline. "So, I am the eldest of category twelve, I will be graduating this year." She told me. "The rest of the FCLs, that's First-Class Ladies, have these pins, so you'll be able to identify them very easily." She said, gesturing to her pin. "You are currently a Second-Class Handmaiden, but don't worry, it doesn't actually mean anything." I noticed that like our patroness, Kataline was quite the talker.
"So, I can see why you're a category twelve, but have you any idea about me?" I asked. "The headmistress did say something about it while I was in her office, I think about my nervous energy, but other than that, I've got nothing." Kataline smiled at me kindly, and also a little sadly.
"Unfortunately, that's for you to find out. You do a paper about it in Public Speaking, which will be third year for you, and that's when you're supposed to really know." She replied. I nodded. "Ah, here we are, come along." I noticed that we were now at the back of the main building, over looking gorgeous rolling hills and a marble structure where many students, all in gowns similar to mine, were gathering. "There's the dining pavilion, there is no seating arrangements, so you can sit with you're friends." I scanned the tables, hoping to see Ria.
"Is there a way to contact people in other rooms?" I asked. "You see, the girl who came in with me, a category six, we became friends, but I don't know where she is." Kataline led me back and into to the main building. She opened a door that led into a long, skinny room. It looked sort of like those telephone booths at a mall or something, with about six phones lining the wall across from me. One was occupied.
"Check that book. The students are listed by category." Kataline told me. "If she doesn't answer, it probably means that she's on her way to the dining pavilion." I nodded and Kataline left. Then I turned and opened the huge book. I found Ria on the second page of category sixes. She was only a floor below me! I dialed her room number.
"Hello?" Came a voice, not Ria's.
"Oh, hi. I was wondering if Ria was there?" I said. I heard a little mumbling in the background before I heard my friend's voice.
"Adriana!" She exclaimed. "Well, who is it?" I told about my patroness and all I'd discovered here. We exchanged room numbers before she hung up, agreeing to meet me in the dining pavilion. I put the phone back on its stand and went outside. I found a nice deserted table and waited for Ria. A second or two later, the girl from the phone room came over.
"Hi, would you mind if I sat here?" She asked shyly. I shook my head and gestured for her to sit. "I'm Lauren, category one." She said. I noticed her apple pins and figured that meant Snow White. I introduced myself and we talked for a few minutes before Ria came. I waved her over.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Ria, this is Lauren, category one, Lauren this is Ria, category six." I introduced. The two shook. "So, who's your roommate?" I asked, curious about the girl who had answered. Ria jerked her head to the left a bit, indicating for me to look there. I inhaled just a little bit. She had a head full of thick black wavy hair, her eyes were a dazzling ice blue, and she had very pale skin. Overall, she looked a bit like Lauren, except Lauren's hair was shorter and curlier, her eyes were more like bluebird blue, and her skin wasn't as pale.
"That's Reine, category thirteen." Ria told me. Her pins were snowflakes, which meant that her patroness was the headmistress herself!
"Her name means queen in French." Came a voice behind me. I smiled as Emily slid in next to me. "I didn't know Queen Elsa had students." She said. I shrugged. "You know, this technically makes you two sisters." Emily said teasingly. I shook my head and looked back to Reine.
"Is she nice?" I asked. Ria nodded, though somewhat hesitantly. "What?" I asked. She looked over at her roommate.
"Well, she's a bit distant. She's definitely polite, not at all stuck up or anything." Ria said. "But she sort of well, I don't really know how to say this."
"She won't let us in, won't let us see, be's the good girl she always has to be, conceals, doesn't feels, won't let us know!" Emily sang. We all laughed. Ria nodded with a slight shrug. "We should invite her to sit with us." Emily said. She jumped up before anyone could say anything and went over to Reine. And a minute later she came back, a potential new friend in hand.
"Hello, Ria." Reine greeted her roommate. She sat down a bit stiffly. I smiled at her encouragingly. "I suppose Ria told you who I am. May I know your names and categories?" She was very polite.
"Emily, category five." Emily started. "And that's Lauren, category one, and Adriana, category twelve." Reine arched an eyebrow when she heard my category. "Oh, look, the food's here!" Emily suddenly exclaimed. She bounced up and went over to a long buffet table that had just been rolled out. We all went to follow her.
Dinner was delicious. There was every type of food, from every corner of the globe. Sushi, tortillas, pasta, you name it, they had it. I had some amazing tomato soup with a piece of French bread to dip in it. On one side of the table was a soda machine, that had what I guess was international drinks. I had this yummy cream soda with flavoring that I couldn't quite name. Not raspberry, but something that made the drink a reddish pink. When I'd filled my plate, I went back to my seat. The best part was dessert. None of us could decide what to get, so we all got something different and tried a bit of each.
I tried creme brûlée, double chocolate cake, baklava, and enough sugar to make me feel dizzy. As we were finishing up, the headmistress called for silence. I noticed that Reine sat up a little straighter. "Hello, girls. First of all, I'd like to welcome any newcomers, if they would meet me before you go to your dorms, that would be wonderful. Second, a reminder that classes start only the day after tomorrow, so start prepping. And that's about it, have a good night." The Queen said. Everyone got up and went to leave, and Ria and I went to see the headmistress.
"Alright, I have your supply lists, I don't know why they weren't in with your folders, but here you are." She hand Ria and I, and about five other girls a piece of paper. "You will be able to pick up your supplies tomorrow." And with that we all curtsied and left. I bid Ria good night before I caught up with Emily and we went back up to our room.
"So, where do I get my school supplies?" I asked Emily as we changed into our nightgowns, which were in one of the drawers of the wardrobe. They were both white, but mine was embroidered with sunflowers at the neckline and my roommate's with roses.
"It's this really cool store thing." Emily started. "First you get your books, which are sort of pre-ordered, then you get to pick out your notebooks and pens and pencils and other stuff like that." I nodded. "I'll bet your Second Lady will be here to show you in the morning." Second Lady? What did that mean. I gave Emily a confused look. "Oh, your patroness, Princess Anna, she's the First Lady of category twelve. Then, whoever is oldest is Second Lady." I nodded.
"Okay, thanks." I said as I climbed into bed. I took off my necklace and placed it on the night table. Emily turned off the light, then produced a little book lamp and started to read. "Good night." I said, and with that, I drifted off to sleep.
I hope everyone liked it, please please comment, and if your a Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus fan (which I guess a resort of the same thing) check out my other fanfic! Thanks for reading, and see ya when I post! (Except, like, not really, cause this is, well, you know what I mean.)