Chapter 5: First Day
1 Disclaimer: Fine, fine. Tamora Pierce owns everything here, except for the characters you don't recognise. OK?
Liana looked around. She was totally unsure of where to go and what to do. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned round and stared at the friendly looking boy behind her. "Hi, I'm Locke. Are you new here?" he asked. Liana nodded dumbly and showed him her paper. He studied it for a while. "Hmmm, room 956, bed 675. Hey, that's right next to mine! Why don't I show you there?" he said, steering Liana down a corridor and turning corners. Liana finally got her voice back.
"Uh… are you a student here? Why don't you have lessons? Where is the mess hall?" Locke was bombarded with quite a lot of questions. He laughed, answering all her questions one by one.
"I am a student here, I don't have lessons today 'cause my teachers let me off for practising well, the mess hall I can show you after you put your bag down, I don't know how long we have to stay here, and no, I don't know who your teachers are. All I can say is that hopefully you don't get Karin teaching you. She is the one with the highest expectations, being the Shang Unicorn, after all. And here we are!" He said, opening a door into a room with a lot of messy beds and one neat one. "The neat bed's yours. Get your bag down and we can go to the mess hall."
Liana opened the locker by the bed, half throwing, half putting her bag inside. Her mind was slightly confused. Karin seemed to be nice, but she did seem a little demanding. And Locke, well, he was… nice. She headed over to him and he led her back through the winding maze of passages to a huge building where many people were sitting and eating. Locke headed to a table filled by some people and sat down, indicating Liana sit down as well.
"Hey, Loc, I see you've got your self into the position of sponsor!" called a girl at the table. "Tell you what, why not introduce the kid to the rest of us?" she asked. Locke smiled.
"Fine, you all. This is Liana, Liana, meet Nisha, Adian, Ziran and me you already know." Locke answered. Liana stared. How did he know her name? Suddenly she realised. He had found out from her slip of paper. As for him being a sponsor, well, he was better than no one. She spent the rest of the day being shown around and getting used to the place. When night came, she felt as if she had been in the school for ages. She sank into her bed, falling asleep without any thoughts of the next day.
1 Disclaimer: Fine, fine. Tamora Pierce owns everything here, except for the characters you don't recognise. OK?
Liana looked around. She was totally unsure of where to go and what to do. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned round and stared at the friendly looking boy behind her. "Hi, I'm Locke. Are you new here?" he asked. Liana nodded dumbly and showed him her paper. He studied it for a while. "Hmmm, room 956, bed 675. Hey, that's right next to mine! Why don't I show you there?" he said, steering Liana down a corridor and turning corners. Liana finally got her voice back.
"Uh… are you a student here? Why don't you have lessons? Where is the mess hall?" Locke was bombarded with quite a lot of questions. He laughed, answering all her questions one by one.
"I am a student here, I don't have lessons today 'cause my teachers let me off for practising well, the mess hall I can show you after you put your bag down, I don't know how long we have to stay here, and no, I don't know who your teachers are. All I can say is that hopefully you don't get Karin teaching you. She is the one with the highest expectations, being the Shang Unicorn, after all. And here we are!" He said, opening a door into a room with a lot of messy beds and one neat one. "The neat bed's yours. Get your bag down and we can go to the mess hall."
Liana opened the locker by the bed, half throwing, half putting her bag inside. Her mind was slightly confused. Karin seemed to be nice, but she did seem a little demanding. And Locke, well, he was… nice. She headed over to him and he led her back through the winding maze of passages to a huge building where many people were sitting and eating. Locke headed to a table filled by some people and sat down, indicating Liana sit down as well.
"Hey, Loc, I see you've got your self into the position of sponsor!" called a girl at the table. "Tell you what, why not introduce the kid to the rest of us?" she asked. Locke smiled.
"Fine, you all. This is Liana, Liana, meet Nisha, Adian, Ziran and me you already know." Locke answered. Liana stared. How did he know her name? Suddenly she realised. He had found out from her slip of paper. As for him being a sponsor, well, he was better than no one. She spent the rest of the day being shown around and getting used to the place. When night came, she felt as if she had been in the school for ages. She sank into her bed, falling asleep without any thoughts of the next day.
