Chapter 1- You don't always get what you want
Danbury Preparatory School- Westchester, New York
Artemis winced as he stepped out of his Rolls Royce, with comfortably tinted windows, and into the September sunlight. He sighed, seeing the glow radiating off of his abnormally pale skin. He could feel the light fading the coloring of his highly expensive navy blue suit. Ah well, it wasn't as if he didn't have more. Comforted by this thought, he proceeded to march, somewhat confidently, across the front yard of the small campus, unaware of the two hundred plus eyes watching him in disdain. Or perhaps it was the mountain-like manservant trailing behind him that attracted the student body's attention.
Finally noticing the wide-eyed stares, Artemis stopped walking and glared about him, taking in this new environment. It seemed to be a typical school, with teenagers wandering aimlessly in their cliques, or lack-there-of, but he couldn't see anyone fitting the girl's description. Disappointed, he raised an index finger, motioning for Butler to follow him. The manservant nodded and they continued on their way, only stopping for Butler to hold open doors for Artemis.
After winding through numerous empty hallways, they eventually ended up at the main office, where Artemis glared openly at the poor secretary, as Butler tried to get an appointment with the Headmaster.
"I was sent here, by the Fowl's, to escort a Miss Genevieve Brennan back with us to Ireland."
"Right, and I'm the Easter Bunny," the secretary mumbled, before withering under Artemis' gaze.
"I-I'll see what I can do," she stammered, turning shakily back to her computer.
Just then, the doors to the Headmaster's office burst open, revealing a gray haired man with a kind smile.
"Ah, you must be the Fowl's. Please, come in, take a seat," he said in a calm, gentle voice.
Butler nodded, "Actually, I'm a friend. They sent me here to come for Miss Genevieve."
"Yes, of course, but ah… who's this?" he motioned toward Artemis.
"This is their eldest, Artemis. He just came along for the ride."
"That's quite alright, would you both please just wait here. In the mean time, please fill this out."
They each pulled up a vomit green armchair. As Butler burrowed into the paperwork, Artemis gazed out of the window at the pleasing view behind the Headmaster's desk.
"Here is a copy of her files. You'll find her allergies, psychiatric reviews, grades, et cetera."
Artemis held out his hand and the man placed the manila folder into it, rather surprised at the air of authority the young boy seemed to have.
Artemis sighed, opening the file to view the first page. At the top was a school picture, along with basic information about the girl. Her full name was Genevieve Amelia Brennan; she was a few weeks younger than him, causing her to still be thirteen for another week. Her grandparents were her legal guardians, and she was allergic to cats and baby wipes.
On the next page were her report cards from previous years. She seemed to be a good student, with mostly excellent conduct reports and slightly above average grades. According to her schedule on the following page, she was in all honors classes, taking tenth grade math in her freshman year, and was accepted into the school for dance.
Turning to her psychiatric review, Artemis became interested. It stated that she was very quiet and irritable in sessions. She also had quite an attitude and didn't seem to care if she was being overly rude or offending someone. Artemis skipped over the rest, planning to read it later in the privacy of his study. Instead, he turned his attention to the bottom of the page, curious to see if this girl had any real psychiatric faults, just so he knew what he was getting himself into. The headmaster coughed, watching Artemis' eyebrows practically rise to the ceiling.
Dear Lord, the young genius thought, knowing it was unhealthy for such a young girl to have this many problems. Apparently she suffered from depression, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive tendencies, and a possible Borderline Personality. He sighed in dismay.
"So, when do we get to meet her?" Butler asked, placing the paperwork he was quietly filling on the desk before him.
"Right now, I suppose," the Headmaster said, writing something on a post-it note. He handed it to Artemis.
"Would you be so kind as to take this to room 325 and bring Miss Brennan back with you?" the Headmaster asked, picking up the paperwork and beginning to flip through it. "Oh, and could you also escort her back to her rooms she can collect her things? Thank you."
Artemis opened his mouth to reply, but found himself at an alarming loss for words. Instead he nodded and turned to walk out of the office.
He suddenly remembered a phrase he once scoffed at. Shaking his head, he muttered, "You can't always get what you want."