The academy
We pulled up to the front of the giant house, gravel flying.
"Okay Bella, we're here. This is your new school" My mom smiled.
"But mom, I don't want to go" I whined.
"You have to, darling. Now let's go."
"Fine." I got out the car, and pulled my suitcase out behind me.
We walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Almost instantly, a pale man with long black hair opened the door.
"Hello, is this our new arrival?" He smiled widely.
"Yes, my daughter, Isabella, is due to start at the academy" My traitor of a mom said.
"Come inside Isabella, I am Aro. I'm sorry, but parents aren't allowed to come any further...We try to make our girls more independent."
"Yes, of course" My mother smiled. She hugged me, and I stayed still as stone. "Be good Bella, I'll see you soon"
"Bye" I muttered. She turned around and walked back to the car.
"Now Isabella, come in, come in. The other girls are at dinner, we have some food for you." He stepped backwards, I walked into the house, and the door shut behind me.
"This way, Isabella" He said. I dragged my suitcase along, as I followed him. It was very dark here, and seemingly dusty.
"This is the main house where all our girls stay, in the daytime. From Monday to Friday, you will go to normal lessons in the 'school', which is in the South Wing." It started to get lighter, and I could see more now. It was a very old house, with echoes, but I could hear faint chatter and laughter from above. Aro turned to the left, and started walking up some stairs. I followed behind him as he started speaking again.
"You will be in the Blue house, I trust you've heard?"
"Yes" I mumbled hoarsely.
"Good. There are 5 houses, Blue, Red, Green, Pink and Purple. Do you have your uniform with you? You will also address me as 'Sir'."
"Yes Sir"
"Good" He turned right, and started walking down a hall with 5 doors, in 5 different colours. He stopped at the end of the corridor, next to the blue door, and turned to face me.
"This is your dormitory." He opened the door. "Come in, come in."
I walked through the door uncertainly and he followed behind. The room was all different shades of blue, with giant white stars painted on the walls. There were 10 beds, 5 against one wall, and 5 against another, all neatly made with blue dressers next to them, with 2 small drawers at the top, and 2 big ones underneath with a mirror on top. There were blue padded stools in front of the dressers too.
Aro pointed to the end of the dorm where there was a bed with no duvet or pillows on it. "That is your bed; I shall go get your duvet and a pillow for you. You can unpack while I go get them. Would you like one pillow or two?" He asked.
I swallowed. "One please." I cringed at the sound of my voice.
"Very well." He turned and walked away, and I started towards the bed. I sat on it, and found it was very comfortable. That, I did not expect. I put my suitcase on the bed, and unzipped it. I put my clothes into the drawers neatly, underwear for the first one, the box of uniform in the second, books in the third, and t-shirts and trousers in the fourth. Everything else, like my hairbrush, hairdryer etc on top of it.
When I pulled out the box containing my uniform, which I could not see, I wondered why they would keep what my uniform looks like from me.
I put it in the drawer, and pushed my suitcase under my bed, as Aro came in with a duvet and pillow. I stood up by my chest of drawers as he dumped it on the bed.
"I must leave now, in a minute, a maid will come up with some food, and your timetable." He pointed to a door next to me "In there is the bathroom, by the way. Goodbye Isabella"
"Bye" I managed as he left. When the door shut, I started making my bed. About halfway through it, there was a knock on the door, then it creaked open, and a small tray was pushed in.
I walked over to the door, and looked out, but I couldn't see anyone. Weird. I stepped back and picked up the tray. Chicken soup, a slice of bread and a salad, along with some orange juice.
I took it back to my side of the bed and started eating, I hadn't realized how hungry I was, but the food was gone in no time. I put the tray next to my bed, and pulled a book out of my drawer. Wuthering Heights. I opened the book and lost myself in the world of words...
I'm not sure how long it was, but after a while, some girls came in.
"See, Rose! I told you she'd be there!" One of them squealed, then came bounding up to me. "Hi, I'm Alice. I'm in the bed next to you!"
"Um, hi? I'm Bella" I mumbled, blushing.
But before anyone could say anything else, a bell rang, and everyone rushed to stand next to their beds.
"Bella, stand up" Alice hissed from my left. I stood up quickly, and a tanned woman with brown hair came in.
"Good girls. I heard we have a new arrival; Isabella. Isabella, are you wearing a bra?" The person said.
I gulped, and blushed a bright red. "Yes?"
"Take it off. Alice, explain." She barked.
"At certain times, wearing bras are not permitted around the school, such as evening roll call. Any girl wearing one will get 2 warnings, then the cane" She said tonelessly as I unclipped my bra, and pulled it out through my t-shirt sleeve, then stood there holding it.
"Put. It. Away" She barked again, and I shoved it in my drawer quickly. What kind of place was this?
"Good. Side A will go in the shower first today. Isabella, side A is the wall your bed is pushed up against, therefore you are side A. Side B is the other side"
I nodded weakly.
"Side A, into the showers. Side B, you know what to do."
The girls on my side moved towards the door I was near, and walked in. I followed Alice.
"Alice...don't we need soap or towels?" I asked nervously.
"They're already taken care of." She smiled.
We were in a changing room type area, and I noticed everyone taking off their clothes.
"Alice..." I whispered.
"Just do it...Nobody will judge you, we're all girls here"
Blushing again, I pulled my t-shirt over my head, and folded it, then did the same with my jeans, and panties until they were a neat stack on the bench. We walked round the corner into a...communal shower...
I hate communal showers. I really do.
Alice pressed a button on the wall, and the showers spurted to life. Almost instantly, it was hot, and we all stepped into the area.
They all walked under a showerhead, and I followed suit, noticing there was already soap and shampoo available. I lathered shampoo into my hair and rubbed soap onto my body. The showers got steamy, which helped conceal me and made me a bit more comfortable.
I tried to hurry, but still be thorough. Maybe if I went quickly, I could get back to my clothes and dress while the other girls were still showering.
I was about to slip out when a bell sounded. The water shut off, and the other girls began to file out of the showering area. I stayed at the back of the group.
Two rows of lockers were in the center of the changing area. Each girl went to the far row and opened a locker. They held white, fluffy towels. I took a towel from a locker, wrapped myself in it and went over to get my clothes from the bench like everyone else. I noticed everyone was heading back to the other door instead of changing, so I followed. We passed Side B on the way to the door, and their faces remained blank and emotionless.
This was a really weird school. I'd only been here a few hours, yet...
We walked through the adjoining door. The blue carpet was rough under my feet, and the room was much colder then it was before. I stopped beside my bed, and everyone else continued on to their beds. They picked a fluffy white robe up that was hanging on each bed, and put them on, folded their towels and put them into a basket in the middle of the room. Nervously, I copied, not sure what would happen next.
What happened next was they walked over to the other set of beds, and took hold of one of those little hoovers, those ones in different colours with names. There was a red one called Henry, a yellow one called James, a pink one called Hetty, a green one called Harry and a blue one called Charles.
I got Charles, and dragged him back to my side, and plugged him into the wall, and then everyone turned them on and started hoovering. I hoovered around my bed and dresser, then under it.
Almost simultaneously, everyone switched them off at the same time. We unplugged them, and coiled up the wire inside. I heard the showers switching off in the bathroom, and everyone moved to the cupboard at the other end of the room with the hoovers. I picked mine up and walked over, stashing it on the bottom shelf of the cupboard. I then walked back to my bed as the other girls came out of the shower.
They put the robes on then sat down at the dresser, and plugged in their hairdryers. I noticed everyone on my side were doing it too, so I quickly sat down, and started to dry and brush my hair carefully. When my hair was completely dry, I shut off my dryer, and unplugged it. A few seconds after, everyone else's, who were still drying, stopped.
I noticed everyone had hung up their robe and gotten into bed. No pyjamas? I looked over at the girl on Side B who just stripped off her robe and got into bed. I shrugged and did the same.
The woman from earlier came in, I still didn't know who she was.
"Ladies, stand up!" She barked, and everyone quickly got out of bed. I did the same, as she came down. "Dismissed...except Isabella."
Everyone got back into bed, and she came closer to me.
"Isabella, you must start shaving your body hair from now on. Understand?"
"Yes" I stammered.
"Good. Into bed."
I got into bed quickly, and she marched back up and turned the light off. I quickly fell asleep as my worries all floated away...