Academy
Chapter Two
Violet orbs turned back to look out of the window, watching as the last of the densely packed trees zoomed past the window.
"Wow!" Gasping, he pressed up against the window, taking it all in with wide eyes.
Healthy, emerald fields surrounded by dark, dense, knarled, ancient trees. A large, crystal clear, sparking lake dazzled in the chilly, watery afternoon sky.
The most prominent feature, though, barely visible on the horizon, was what had caught his eye. A breathtaking, massive old Victorian building-more of a mansion, really. Weathered brick, lead pained windows, beautiful carvings. Statues dotted sporadically both outside the building and throughout the extensive grounds, from angels depicted in stone to chiselled, smooth marble carvings of commanders on horseback, gleaming in the weak sunlight despite their age.
The lawns were, from what he could see, perfectly kept, cut neatly, short and even, each tree, bush and plant pruned and maintained to perfection. A winding, stone pathway led up to large, light, clean stone steps and massive oak doors.
"The brochure really had nothing on this." Eyes sparkling with awe, the nervousness glinting in their depths subsiding slightly, bleeding slightly as excitement shone in its place. With a great deal of effort, he restrained himself from, once again, pressing close to the window. He wanted to take it all in at once, not wanting to wait another moment longer, not wanting to miss a thing.
A deep, rattling chuckle echoed through the vehicle. Sheepishly, he moved away from the peeling plastic coated glass, shifting on the worn, faded seat. Glancing down self-consciously, he twirled one of the studs between his fingers.
"Nervous, kid?" The same rough, well used voice asked. "Why the sudden change of heart? You were bouncing all over the place, oh, will 'bout an hour ago."
Duo glanced up with a faint smile and a nervous laugh. He looked down the long, linoleum lined isle, long hardened and dirty gum, empty bottles and sweet wrappers strewn around the cramped, overused space.
Meeting the drivers eye in the mirror, he twirled the small silver stud one final time before pocketing the handful, slipping his mobile into his waistcoat pocket.
"Yea, well, a four-fuck, almost five" he glanced down at his out of date, cracked digital watch face "hour bus drive will do that to a guy."
"What was that?" The bus driver called back, running a meaty hand through greying, thinning hair.
"I said-" Duo raised his voice "Ah, hold on."
One hand grabbing a battered black leather duffle bag, the other a large, worn holdall, he moved unsteadily up the isle, towards the front end of the bus. He stumbled as the floor shuddered and jumped, due to the age of the engine, rather than the quality of the surprisingly well-kept country road leading up to the Academy.
After all, the board of governors wouldn't want any of the Academy's precious students complaining to Mummy and Daddy that the wheels of their nice, shiny limo, Mercedes or Porsche had been damaged on the grounds, lest said Mummy and Daddy not make that rather generous donation to the school next term (that was, as an unwritten rule, more of a necessity for all of those not there on scholarships.)
Slinging his bag over the chipped turquoise rails, he gently set them down in the small storage area, before turning his attention back to the driver. He leant back against the railing, hands looking around the cool metal, more for balance than anything else, as the bus continued down the final stretch.
"The Academy-it's a lot further out than I thought" He repeated, unable to help himself as his gaze was drawn back out of the window.
"That it is" The driver responded. "An' only two busses a week out of this far. Not enough demand for more."
"What?" Duo jerked around to face the driver. "Only two?" Elegant eyebrows drew together in a frown. That...Could be a problem, come half term, holidays-hell, that changed his plans for weekends already.
"That's right. You're lucky to have caught this one-I should have left half an hour earlier than I did, but Sue brought in a couple of dozen home made bagels, and, you know...Anyway, you would have been stuck in town till Friday mornin' at the earliest-assuming, that is, that ol' Betsy" He patted the wheel affectionately "Don't have no more mechanical problems before then. She's the only one in the fleet that they'll spare to do the route past the Academy, as we get half a dozen passangers on a good week on this route-and most of those just want to take the scenic route to the shop in the next town over." He explained.
Duo paled at the implications. If he had missed that bus by just another minute, he would have been stranded in town for the first week of his first term. There was no way he could have afforded a taxi ride that far out, and it wasn't exactly the type of area where you could hitch a ride to. Few people, save students and staff, took the route to the isolated, elite Academy, situated upon acres upon acres of private land, and it was highly unlikely that they would be willing to give him a ride.
By then, they may have cancelled his scholarship. At that point, all that mattered was keeping his place in the elite Academy. 'I wont let you down...' He thought to himself, unconsciously allowing his fingers to clutch the silver pendant and chain hanging from his neck.
"Well, I wont lie to you. You sure as heck aren't going to fit in down there with those rich, snotty brats." The driver began giving his opinion, regardless of if it was wanted or not. "If you want my advise, I'd say keep your head down, your mouth shut, and have as little contact with them as possible. Too good for them, if you ask me. Anyone who can pass those ridiculous entry exams is too smart by far to be in this place. It'll tear you apart if you let it-they'll tear you apart." His voice faltered.
Duo looked closely at the man, giving him his full attention.
"You...You don't let them, you hear me? They need to know that us folks not born with a silver spoon up our arses into a platinum crib are still worth something, are still as good as-no, better, than they are."
Duo nodded, wordlessly promising the man that he would try his best.
He had heard of what had happened, previous years. Out of a potential five scholarship places per year, on average only one to two were granted each year, many years, none being granted at all. Out of those one or two lucky individuals, less than a handful in the last decade had stuck it out. One of the two scholarship students, a sixteen year old girl in her first year, the previous year, had suddenly withdrawn from the Academy after a rather glazed over 'incident' that had resulted in a good month of hospitalization, followed by a further three of physiotherapy. Yet another reason to add to the growing list of why he shouldn't attend...
"Right, kid, this is as far as I go." He announced, drawing Duo out of his musings.
Blinking, he glanced out of the window once more. They were still a good mile or two from the actual building itself.
"Oh-ah, okay then" He was a little confused, as he couldn't see a bus stop in sight. He wasn't looking forward to the unexpected trek through the grounds up to the Academy. Just the type of first impression he wanted to make as his soon to be peers would drive past him in their various chauffer driven cars. 'At least it will give me time to calm down and to think…I really do need to get rid of some of these nerves before I get there. God knows what type of first impression I'd make otherwise! … Aww, fuck, who am I kidding? I'm fucked either way…'
"Hey!"
Duo dragged his attention back to the amused and anxious looking driver.
"Just breath, kid. You'll be—erm, well, you'll make it." He gave a luke warm grin. "As I was sayin', they had the stop removed-someone" He rolled his eyes "complained about it ruining the views out over the grounds, having a 'common, ugly metal monstrosity' within sight. Bah! Just come down to the bottom of the road between twelve an' two if you need to get back to town, or just away from here. Twice a week remember-Mondays and Fridays."
"Thanks" Duo smiled at him, as he clutched the straps of his holdall in both hands, his duffle already slung over his rumpled cloth-encased back. Shakily, he made his way down the rumbling, shuddering steps of the bus, taking his first steps onto Academy grounds.
He looked around slowly, awe once again returning to violet eyes aged beyond their owners years. 'I made it…I'm here…I'm really here…I have a chance, now…Good grades from here-hell, a pass from this place, and anything-the opportunities that'll open up!'
"Good luck kid! You'll be needin' it"
He jumped at the doors slammed shut behind him, the drivers last words sticking in his mind.
'I know I will…but…It'll all be worth it in the end. It will. It just has to be…'
End of Chapter Two
Authors Notes: I do believe that this is the first time I've had more reviewers on gundamwing universe than on fanfiction dot net :o I would like to apologise for the poor formatting in the previous chapter; I type in word 2008, which doesn't seem to like translating to dot text documents. I will try and get the formatting better for this; unfortunately, this will likely result in double-spacing between paragraphs on fanfiction dot net. Thank you again for the reviews.