Ashley looked at himself in the mirror on the back of the closet door in his new bedroom. He was dressed in the traditional Fielding uniform of dark blue blazer, white shirt, red tie and beige pants. He adjusted his tie and frowned before tying his hair back. He hated the look of himself in a uniform, but he was just going to have to get used to it for the next couple of years. He grabbed his book bag and went downstairs to where Rachel was waiting to take him to school. They both got into the car and drove off.
"I never knew we came from a wealthy family," Ashley said, "Dad never mentioned it before."
"Well, what with your grandfather's drinking and gambling addictions, I don't think your father really wanted to discuss it," Rachel replied, "He put his family in severe trouble. I think he was a little upset at the time that his sister went to Grove Hills but they couldn't afford to send him to a top school."
There was silence for a couple of moments. Rachel turned the radio on to some mainstream pop station. Once the current song finished, Ashley piped up again.
"He's not going to be pushing me here, is he? You know, to make up for the fact that he never got to go?"
"Of course not, Ashley," Rachel said, "We both want you to have the best education possible, and we now have the means to give you that. Fielding is one of the best schools in the country."
"So, I can pretty much expect it to be full of the snobby kids who have never wanted for anything in their lives?"
Rachel sighed. "There will be some children there who think they are... more important than others, certainly. But it's a small price to pay for an education at a place like Fielding. And if you succeed there, you'll have a great chance of going to somewhere like Bromwell or Crestmore when it comes to college application time."
They arrived at the front gates of the main building and Ashley got out of the car. He took the campus map out of his pocket and checked it to find where the reception was. He walked through gates and into the main campus, studying the map as he went. He didn't notice a petite girl with short red hair and glasses walk across his path and inadvertently bumped into her, causing her to stumble. He quickly put his map away when he noticed.
"Oh, sorry, are you alright?" he asked, helping the girl steady herself.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she said, pulling away from him, "Watch where you're going in future, idiot."
With that, she quickly walked away as he watched, dumbfounded.
Ashley was sat in a small office with two other students, one male and one female. The male student was of average height with long black hair, and the female student had long blonde hair and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Into the office walked a 50-something looking gentleman in a grey suit and short, similarly grey hair. He was accompanied by another male student with medium length dark hair.
"Greetings, new students. My name is Mr Knight, and I am the head of student admissions. We aim to provide the highest possible educational standards for our students, and you will find this out in due time. However, the first thing we do for new students is give you a quick tour with a current student to get a feel for the place," the man said, now indicating the student who accompanied him, "This is Thomas Sloane, and he will be your guide for the tour. He is very knowledgeable about Fielding and its history, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Thomas?"
Thomas nodded and opened the door to the office. "OK, let's get this tour started," he said, as he exited the office, the three new students following behind.
Ashley had to admit, Fielding was an interesting place to look at. It was an old school that was founded in the late 1700s, and looked very well maintained. Thomas showed them around the various buildings, including the science building, chapel and dormitories where the boarding students stayed. Ashley was looking around and drifting in and out of paying attention as Thomas went through the history of various buildings.
"...and these large, stone canopies are replicas of the ones that were built when the original Fielding Hall was finished in 1779."
"And the same ones that were used to hang the filthy, unwashed peasants who inadvertently stumbled into the campus," Ashley muttered, not realising he'd actually said it out loud. The other two students gave him a dirty look, while Thomas smirked.
"Of course, the peasant hangings are supposedly an old Fielding legend and not true, but it is admitted that they were sometimes beaten with reeds," Thomas replied. Now it was Ashley's turn to smirk.
With his morning classes done, Ashley made his way to his locker. When he got there, he noticed a slim girl with long black hair stood leaning against it, talking to another girl. He walked up to her.
"Excuse me," he said. The girl looked at him with disdain as she stepped away.
"Thank you," he said as he opened his locker. The girl was still looking at him. "Is there a problem?"
"I recognize you. You're that Winters boy whose parents won the lottery, aren't you?" the girl said.
"So the legends say," Ashley replied as he put his books away and closed his locker.
"They really will let any old riff-raff into this school now, won't they?" she said before walking away with her friend, chuckling.
Ashley stood and watched with a curious expression on his face.
"I wouldn't worry about her too much, she's just got an attitude problem."
Ashley turned to see Thomas stood there with a smile.
"Well, I figured coming in here there'd be a few people who think highly of themselves," Ashley said.
"That's Elaine Swinton. She's attractive, but also full of herself. Her Dad runs a big media conglomerate and she thinks she's a cut above," Thomas explained, "The thing is, there are worse people than her in this school."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Ashley said, "Anyway, it's time for lunch I think, young Thomas."
"Please, just Tom. Even my Mom calls me Tom these days."
"Tom it is, then," Ashley said as the two of them went off to the lunch room.
