Chapter
Twenty One
The first day of school
Or
Emily gets in trouble
At 7:30 on the morning of the 14th, Emily awoke. She wasn't used to getting up this early, and she struggled to get out of the bed. Still not fully awake, Emily had trouble putting on her school clothes. She wasn't even done pulling the dress over her head when Rose spoke. "Oh Emily, I don't know what to do about you. Here, let me help you before you fall down." Emily stood still and Rose finished. "Do we wear boots?" She asked. "No, those are for when we go on outings. We wear these." Rose replied pointing to her Mary Jane shoes. Emily shrugged and slipped them on; securing the straps. A knock on the door was heard. Allison, still in a state of undress, walked over to the door. When she opened it; a monitress was seen standing on the other side. "Is Emily Langdon in here?" she asked. Emily nodded. "Come with me. Ms. Allen needs to speak with you in her study." Emily walked over to the door and stood next to the monitress. After they closed the door, the monitress spoke; "Ms. Allen needs you to visit her in the study. She didn't say why." Emily could only guess why she needed to see her: her medication. Emily also made sure that her school uniform was presentable. She felt the back of her head and noticed something was missing: her hair ribbon.
A few minutes later, both the monitress and Emily were in Ms. Allen's study. "Good to see you Emily. I think you know why I sent for you?" Emily gave Ms. Allen eye contact. "Yes. I think it's because of my medicine." Ms. Allen nodded and handed Emily a small cup of water and two of the white pills. "What happens if you don't take this medicine Emily?" She asked. Emily began; "What happens is, I become unruly. I do not wish to become like that. Some here will have you believe that I wish to become unruly." Ms. Allen looked confused. "Who is it that thinks a beautiful child like yourself to become unruly?" Emily casually answered; "Oh, my sister Rose does. She hates me. I just know she does." Ms. Allen made a face. "Oh, don't tell anyone; but Rose can be plagued with problems. She gets too cocky in her work. Her mistress last year nearly wore herself out just sending her to me. If she bothers you, tell Miss Bowes or myself." With this, Emily arose from the sofa and walked towards the door. As she was about to walk out; Ms. Allen spoke again; "Emily, make sure you wear your hair ribbon. Do not let me see you without it again; or you will lose a mark." Emily understood and walked out of the room. Breakfast was about to be served and Emily knew she couldn't miss it or else she'd get into trouble. That was the last thing she wanted.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. None of the girls talked. Emily decided to speak up "Good morning everyone." She said in a gentle tone. Rose shot her a look of horror. Miss Bowes quietly said to Emily; "We don't talk at breakfast. The girls need to think about the day at hand. For that, Miss Emily I deduct one order mark." Emily slumped down into her chair; her lips seemed to make a pouty face. The food was served. Emily took one look at it and immediately refused to eat it. "Oatmeal. I absolutely detest oatmeal. I will not eat this." She thought to herself. Suddenly, she heard the voice of Miss Bowes. "Miss Emily, you need to start eating. School begins at 9 sharp." Emily took the spoon and began eating, albeit very slowly. Finally, after some time she was done. The girls were escorted from the dining room into the playroom, where their books were stored. Emily looked down at her pinny; at home she wore pinafores, but those had polka dots on them. This pinafore however, was all white. "White and bland. The school would kill me if I decorated it. Ms. Allen would write a letter to mama telling her that I needed to go back to Vermont; for this school was too much for me." The girl thought to herself. As they gathered their books and other belongings; another girl bumped into Emily. "Watch where you're going pig!" the girl said to her. This girl looked like her room mate Mildred, but she had a different attitude. This girl was Millicent King.
Now, Millicent King was by definition an identical twin much like Rose and Emily. Millicent however had a short temper, and one had to walk eggshells around her. She wasn't tall, nor was she short; she was in the middle. She was a tad pudgy, and her face had freckles. Her hair was black, much like her sister's. Millicent detested proper behavior and was always looking for mischief; that is when she wasn't experiencing bouts of sadness. To us, Millicent would be bi-polar. Some days, she was happy and would trouble no one. Other days however, she was a terror. Miss Bowes had had enough of her during the 1906-1907 term, and she was nearly expelled; her father was the city's D.A. or District Attorney and he pulled some strings. She was kept in school and stayed in the form. Now, Rose's relationship with Millicent was turbulent. When she was in the Third, Millicent threw ink all over Rose's pinafore. Rose cried about it for several hours, so much so that she had to be sent to her room. The reason? Millicent told her that she would be expelled for having ink on her pristine white pinafore. Millicent had also claimed to hear voices. Why Ms. Allen never considered telling the girl's father about this, never crossed the minds of the administration. If you called her "Millie", she'd stare you down with her beady little blue eyes. If someone called her by her sisters name, they'd either get kicked, or punched. All of this however, took place while the teachers weren't looking. And that bothered Rose.
The girls made their way into the classroom. The desks were bolted to the floor, and were slanted slightly. The benches that the girls sat upon were mid height to the floor. The seating however, was chosen by Miss Bowes. "In the front row will be: Rose Bukater, Emily Langdon, Allison Coburn, and Millicent King. The second row will be: Mildred King, Susan Hawkes, Sasha Britton, and Jessica Plimpton." Miss Bowes called out. Emily took her seat and got her copy book. "Our first lesson today, will be physical geography." She said. The class let out a collective groan. "Miss Langdon. Can you tell me about the Peter River? Where is its source? More importantly, can you tell me where does it end? Where is its mouth?" Miss Bowes asked. Emily swallowed hard. Suddenly, she remembered. "Miss Bowes, the Peter River begins in the Shropshire town of Landgrove. The Peter River ends in Peter City; where we are." "Very good Emily! You're the first to get that question." Miss Bowes said in encouragement. "Now, can someone tell me some tributaries of the Peter River? Ah, Rose Bukater; you will answer this question." Rose thought for a moment, then suddenly panicked. "The Schuylkill, The Frost, The Loopstra; The Meramec, The Waifer, and The Rose?" Rose began to wince. Miss Bowes immediately went to work criticizing the child's list.
"Rose, the Schuylkill is in Pittsylvania. It is not a tributary of the Peter. The others, however are tributaries. I will not deduct points from you." Miss Bowes said. Rose began to cower. She knew the rivers and lakes. "Class, let's go over the lakes of Creedonia. The first letters in their names spell out a word. That word is QUETZAL. What does the 'Q' stand for Rose?" "Quannapowwit" The 'U' Emily?" "Underhill." "The 'E' Allison?" "Emilie" "The 'T' Millicent?" "Taylorson." "The 'Z' Mildred?" "Zane." "The 'A' Susan?" "Allorton." "And finally, the 'L' Sasha?" "Lackland."
Miss Bowes was quite happy that the girls knew the lakes. She had feared that none of them would have been able to memorize the names. "Good girls. This concludes our geography lesson for today. Remember; dinner is at 11:30, after our mathematics lesson." Math. Oh how Rose detested the subject. She had never been good at math. Not being good at math worried her parents; when her mother was in school, it was a subject she excelled at. Her father on the other hand, could do complex problems at age eight. Mathematics came and went. Rose got more problems wrong than she had hoped for. She felt humiliated, and this feeling was reinforced when Millicent laughed at her. As the dinner bell rang and the girls got up from their seats. Millicent shoved into Emily when Miss Bowes wasn't watching. "Why are you always in my way stupid girl?" She snorted. All Emily could do was silently sulk. That was always something she was able to master. So far, Emily didn't like boarding school at all. "The girls are snotty, and I don't like that." She thought to herself. As they walked to the dining room, Emily wanted to cry. She looked at Rose and then looked away. She was losing faith in her sister, but most of all, she was losing faith in a friend.