Chapter 1: Welcome To Ohio, Lucky Talia
Dalton Academy is a place for the children of rich parents who didn't have time to study and live. The strict rules and disciplinary system kept all of them in line while the academics had them tired enough to not cause any trouble. Of course, that wasn't true for students from a particular house. This story follows the lives of a number of those students and their colorful splash in the history books of Dalton Academy.
'The four of you are in Windsor House. That is the blue one on the Westernmost side of campus. Your Housemaster will be Mr Woodward, he will be here shortly with Charles Lentley, the standing Head Prefect of your house, to help you settle in.' Margaret Hencher, the Discipline Officer at Dalton, peered down her nose and spectacles at the four teenagers. They seem to get more mischievous every year. Putting them in Windsor… I'll probably regret this later. She thought. She circled the four slowly, her perfectly shined black heels clicking on the perfectly shined wood floor. The three boys and girl didn't dare move as the thin woman seemed to scrutinize every cell in their body for imperfection.
'Ms Reagan, I expect that you will be wearing the proper shoes by the time term starts. Two and a half inch heel, not two.' Ms Hencher said to the girl. Talia Reagan was the only girl who was transferring that year. She had thought that she had done okay, her heels not too high but near enough to the requirement. Her pale green eyes widened slightly in fear. At least she hadn't been told to straighten her hair. Her hair was naturally curly to the point where gravity was the only thing saving her from looking like she had been electrocuted. She swallowed, afraid that she would spit somewhere.
'Yes, Ms Hencher.' She said quietly, her clear, sweet voice breaking the icy silence. The boys were surprised as they heard the obvious English accent.
'And you, Mr Montgomery, do try to do something about your hair. No mohawks by the start of term, do you understand, Mr Montgomery? Proper belt too, Mr Anderson.' Ms Hencher said, towering above the already tall boys. Wesley Montgomery had been at a party three days before he was supposed to make his way to Westerville, Ohio. At this party, he had decided to cut his hair into a mohawk, under the influence of quite a number of different liquors.
'Yes, Ms Hencher.' The two boys chorused. David Thompson was the only one left. David, though quite mischievous, prided himself in being the most organized and disciplined. At least in front of teachers. He smirked inwardly as he knew Hencher could never find anything wrong with him. He had even measured his shoe laces so the two parts of the bow matched in length to each other and was only one centimeter shorter than the ends of the string.
'Hmm. Mr Thompson, keep up the good work.' Ms Hencher said, nodding slightly in approval at David's presentable appearance. Something loud buzzed, causing all of them except Ms Hencher, who instead blinked, to jump.
'Come in.' She called. The door opened and a man and a tall, blonde boy whose hair had been slicked back walked in. He looked reminiscent of Elvis Presley. His eyes darted from each of them before he smiled at Talia.
'Ah, Mr Woodward. These are our new students.' Ms Hencher said, smiling nervously, smoothing down her beige blazer down slightly. Talia fought down a smirk, she did however, understand Ms Hencher's crush. The man was even taller than Ms Hencher, who was herself at least six feet and two inches tall. Mr Woodward stood at six feet five inches with longish, wavy, dark brown hair, gelled slightly in the front to keep it in control. He had electric blue eyes that shone when he smiled, which apparently seemed like a whole lot. His teeth were perfectly shaped, aligned and colored, shining pearly white.
'Margaret.' He smiled at Ms Hencher politely and turned to the four teenagers standing in a line in front of him, heads tilted to meet his eyes. 'What are you names?' He asked, his eyes now blatantly showing curiosity.
'David Thompson, sir.' David smiled and shook Mr Woodward's hand with his own equally large one.
'Wesley Montgomery.' Wes smiled his smart smile and shook Mr Woodward's hand firmly to draw the teacher's attention away from his hair.
'Blaine Anderson, Mr Woodward.' Blaine smiled, trying to contain the use of his teeth in it, Talia could tell.
'Talia Reagan, sir.' Talia smiled sweetly, showing her teeth after greeting the teacher.
They seem normal. Maybe these four won't be weird. Joshua Woodward thought. Windsor house, the blue house, was the most notorious of the four. Windsor housed the best of the best, the craziest, the most extreme, the cleverest, they were all in there. Windsor produced noise at all hours of the day and night and laughter could be heard at any given second along with occasional explosions.
'Welcome to Windsor, I hope you fit in well. I trust that your things are already being delivered?' Mr Woodward said, rubbing his hands together. The four nodded slightly. 'Fantastic. Charlie will explain the mechanics of living in Windsor, then.' He smiled and walked to the door. Turning around he flashed another smile at Ms Hencher before turning the shiny brass doorknob. The four, still slightly stunned by everything going on didn't move until Charlie gave them a light shove.
'So, first of all, I hope you make it in Windsor.' Charlie said.
'Make it?' Wes asked warily.
'You see, Windsor is a lot to get used to, so most transfers don't last very long in there. Now it's a habit for Hencher to put everyone in Windsor first to figure out if they're going to be any trouble or if they would suit better in any of the other houses.' Charlie explained, following Mr Woodward out the door of the administrations building. 'So basically, half of Windsor is the girl's side and the other is the boys' side. The rule is just that a member of the opposite sex must not be on your side of the dorm by 11 o clock, an hour after curfew. Curfew is just when you have to be done with everything, going to the library, picking up art supplies, etcetera, and be back in the dorm. There's a main shower on every floor on both sides, but your own toilet in your room. Talia you won't until a new transfer comes in. David and Wes -may I call you Wes?- you're sharing a three-room with Blaine. You can do whatever you want to decorate it, just don't damage anything. Or at least beyond a weeks' repair work. My room number is 63. If you have any problems just come by.' Charlie finished as they reached the three story brown brick building. A gold plaque on the door said 'Windsor House' in capitals. A blue flag with the Windsor coat of arms, a cobalt blue shield with a yellow cross on it. Mr Woodward opened the door and immediately, screaming, laughter and odd things rushed out, at the end of all that, an explosion sounded. None of the four transfers flinched. The middle of the building was hollow, the common room sort of like a courtyard in the middle of it. From the upper floors, you could look down into the common room.
'You'll find your keys inside your room. I'll bring you to it.' Charlie said, walking swiftly to the left side of the common room. Everyone looked up and said 'hey, Charlie,' before returning to whatever they were doing. One boy wearing lab goggles rushed in and someone tossed him a fire extinguisher.
'That was Yoonsung. Science geek.' Charlie explained. They walked up to the second floor in the girl's dorm. As they walked down to room 34, the doors of girl's rooms opened and they all smiled to greet the Head Prefect.
'Hey, Charlie.' They all said, batting their eyes and flipping their hair. Talia fought the urge to roll her eyes. Then, they came to room 34. The door of the room opposite, room 35, and two girls stood in the doorway.
'Hey, Rita.' Charlie smiled at one of the girls. Rita had an extremely curly bob hair cut which had blue streaks in it, contrasting with the platinum blonde. She wore black horn rimmed glasses that didn't have lenses. The girl next to her had shoulder length mouse brown hair, a school girl fringe and striking light hazel eyes.
'Hey, Charlie.' Rita smiled, a much more wholesome, platonic smirk than the coy smirk the rest of the girls had been wearing. Rita was quite petite, at five feet three inches compared to Talia who was six inches taller. Rita looked up to Talia, who was standing awkwardly in front of her door, holding the strap of her messenger bag for something to do.
'You must be Talia. Why don't you come by after you put down your stuff?' Rita said, winking. Talia blinked, taken aback by her friendliness. She had expected that her only friends for the first few weeks would be her pen and notebook.
'Sure.' Talia said, smiling awkwardly.
'You three stay out here.' Charlie said to the Blaine, Wes and David. He opened the door to Talia's room. Talia walked in after him. She gasped as she saw the grand dorm room. Despite the dorm's allegiance to the color blue, the walls in here had been painted maroon with gold trimming and furniture. The floors were made of light mahogany boards. The room was symmetrical; the two beds were on raised platforms that housed a desk, large cork board and bookshelf. Next to it was the bed with a large window in the middle. On the desk on the left side of the room was a key.
'On your desk is the key.' Charlie said. 'Oh by the way. Trust Rita. She's the one to go to if you don't want to talk to a boy. Really. She won't go Regina George on you.' He smiled. He lingered a moment longer than was necessary or appropriate. Charlie left the room to take the other three to their dorms. Talia put down her bag on her desk and sat down on her bed. She looked around the room, soaking everything in. She sighed to herself. Welcome home. She thought. She scolded herself for thinking about the reason she was even here in the middle of Ohio.
You are Talia Reagan. You can be yourself here. No one knows anything about you, your parents, your family or what you are capable of. Just remember the story and be yourself.