I was sitting on a bus. The bus was empty other than myself and my luggage. Rain pattered mournfully on the windows. When I shifted my weight the seat squeaked. I was on my way to my new school. Before we get this started I should introduce myself. I'm Lucy Carlyle, fourteen years old, fifteen in two months. I have short brown hair, and big brown eyes. My clothes were old, and worn, and my boots had a hole in them. With thick brows, and long nose I wasn't exactly what you would call pretty. Still, I had seen worse in my life. I was on my way to my
new school, I was starting partway through the year.
The bus jerked to a stop, and I put my hand on the seat in front of me to stop from crashing headfirst into the old plastic covering.
"Here's your stop girl." The driver called. I thanked him, grabbed my luggage, and moved toward the door. Outside the rain had slowed to a drizzle. I pulled out my umbrella, then took a look around. I could see the bus, driving away, the bus stop, and an old dirt road, I could see a blurry gray smudge in that direction. Since there was nothing else in sight, I figured the road led to my school.
After about an hour of walking I got close enough to actually see it. My school was a massive, castle-like structure, surrounded by a high iron fence. There were even two towers, one on either side. I think I must've stopped dead for a minute, when I got myself together I started forward again. The road soon changed from dirt, to cobblestones, and a few high lampposts shone their lonely spotlights down on me as I passed. The closer I got, the more imposing the structure seemed. It gave off an aura of cold austerity, but unless I wanted to go back this was the way to go.
When I reached the gate to the premises I found it locked. I looked for one of those fancy intercom things you see in movies, but didn't find one. I tried knocking, and as a last resort yelled for someone to come let me in. No one came. Probably because it was raining. I looked around, and found nobody in sight, so I shoved my lugged between the bars, and worked on climbing the fence. It was slippery, but not too bad. I gave up holding the umbrella halfway through, and tossed it over to the other side, where it landed in a puddle with a splash. Once I reached the top, I paused to look at the curiously pointed tips of the iron posts.
"What are you doing?" I must admit, to my embarrassment that I slipped. I let out a cry as I fell, and tried to grab onto something to break my fall. I failed, and plummeted down into the mud below. I groaned, at least I was on the other side now. "Who are you?" I tilted my head back to look into the face of one of the most filthy sights of my life.
"Who are you?" I asked, and sat up, trying to wipe as much of the mud off me as possible. It was a girl, she had frizzy straw colored curls, that stuck out from her face almost horizontally. She was wearing a puffy blue coat, an old pair of jeans whose faded knees rivaled my own. A big pair of wellington rain boots protected her feet from the mud I was kneeling in.
"Flo Bones." She said, "Now who are you? And why were you climbing the fence? Trespassers aren't allowed." She pointed to a sign I hadn't noticed before.
"I'm Lucy Carlyle, and I climbed the fence because I couldn't get in."
"Evidently." Flo said drily. Suddenly realization seemed to come to her, "Oh! Are you the new student Mr. Rotwell was going on about?"
"Probably?" I said, and began to gather up my stuff. I folded up the umbrella, it was useless now, I was completely soaked.
"I've got to go, gardening business." Flo said matter-of-factly, "But the schools that way." She pointed, "Good luck."
"Thanks." I said, but she was already gone. I tucked my umbrella under my arm and trudged up the the steps to the school. The doors were enormous, at least twice my height. There was a large iron knocker on each side. I grabbed the closest one, and swung it. It it the hollow wood with a massive thud. I waited, knocked again, and waited some more. When nobody came, I pushed it open hesitantly.
The inside was almost as impressive as the outside. High ceilings, and chandeliers were above me. A portrait of a beautiful, middle aged woman was to my left, a painting of a unicorn to my right. I stepped inside, and shut the door behind me. It was warm inside, though not particularly welcoming.
I looked around for somebody to tell me where to go, but found the entrance hall deserted. There were smaller hallways leading left and right. I decided to take the left passageway. The inside of the hall was empty, although there were several wooden doors on either side of me. They were all shut. Eventually I came to another crossroads, I chose to go right this time, and ran headlong into a person.
We both cried out, and went toppling to the hard stone beneath us. Whoever I had run into was on top of me, and I was losing air by the second. They scrambled upright, and helped me up. Then I got a good look at him.
He was tall, taller than I was, and very slim. Dark brown hair hung elegantly over one eye, and he brushed it out of the way, revealing even darker brown eyes. He was wearing a pair of dress shoes, too tight pants, a button up white shirt, and a navy blue blazer with a pin over his heart. There was also a red, and gray plaid tie that hung down over his chest.
"Sorry about that," He was saying, "wasn't watching where I was going." Then he got a good look at me. "Say, are you the new kid?" he asked me.
"Guess so." I grunted. He beamed, and some of the cold aura seemed to blow away,
"Brilliant! I was just coming to get you. What happened to you? You're covered in mud."
"I fell." I said shortly.
"Must've been some fall." He said cheerily, "Follow me, let's go to the headmaster's office." I reached for my bag, but he beat me to it. "What's your name?" He asked me, "I'm Lockwood."
"Lucy." I supplied. I thought about being friendlier, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. I needed food before I could make friends.
"Well Lucy, welcome to Fittes Academy! It's pretty big, but you'll get used to it."
"Where is everybody?" I asked,
"It's the middle of the day," He told me, "classes are in. If you hadn't found me it would've been a half hour till someone found you. Look, here we are." We were standing in front of another closed door, although this one had a nameplate beside it. It read Miss Fittes. Lockwood leaned forward and knocked briskly. Almost immediately there was a reply,
"Come in." Said Miss. Fittes. Lockwood, grinned at me, hand on the doorknob,
"Ready?" He asked, but before I could reply, he swung the door open.
Inside looked like every office I had ever been in before. Books lined the walls, filling their shelves with a well-read authority. There were two hard backed wooden chairs in front of a large dark wood desk. At the desk was a woman, who was looking up at us expectantly. She had curly dark hair, and smooth dark skin. High cheekbones, and big dark eyes formed her face. She was beautiful in a cold, regal way, just like the rest of the school.
"Sit down." she said. It sounded like a command. Lockwood strode in confidently, I shut the door behind me, and followed him with less grace. We sat down. She smiled at us thinly, "I take it you are Lucy Carlyle?" She said.
"Yes." I confirmed,
"Fourteen years old?"
"Yes."
"Transferring because of an unfortunate accident?" I swallowed,
"Yes."
"Okay, thank you, do you think you could fill this out?" She asked, and pushed a sheet of paper and a pen my way. I looked the paper over and began filling out the blanks. It was your typical document, asking my age, gender, birth date, address, etc. Once I finished, and signed my name at the bottom I handed it back to her. Miss. Fittes skimmed over it, then tucked it away in a drawer. She pulled out another piece of paper, and handed it to me. "Your schedule." She said, "Anthony, help her get acquainted with the school. You start tomorrow. You are both dismissed." We stood up, and left. When Lockwood shut the door behind us, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.
"Well," Lockwood said happily, "Let's take a look!" We peered at the crisp piece of paper in my hand.
1 - Homeroom - 207
2 - Maths - 159
3 - History - 783
4 - Science - 300
5 - Art - 209
6 - English - 566
7 - Fencing - Gym 2
"We have homeroom, and fencing together!" Lockwood cheered, "And you have maths, history, and english with George."
"Who's George?" I asked.
"George Cubbins." He said, and started down the hall, "Best researcher in the school, and my friend."
"So," I began, "is there anything I need to know about the school?"
"Make sure to tuck in your shirt, don't be caught after hours, don't fail a class, iron your jacket, do your homework, keep your room clean, don't go into the boy's dorms." He listed. The bell rang, loudly, and all of the sudden we were awash in a river of bodies, all clad in navy blazers, and red plaid ties.
Lockwood turned around, and handed me my bag.
"I have to go now, Girls dorms are down that hallway." He pointed, "Get settled, I'll see you at dinner!" And then he was gone, and I was left to face the school alone.
