Chapter 2 of Pippa's Story

author's note: ok, I'm really sorry it took so long to put this up. Well, I had it all ready and typed up about a month ago, and then my Internet started messing up, and THEN my computer started freezing for 5 minutes at a time, with 2 seconds of actual unfrozenness. Don't even know if that's a real word. Lol. So yeah, here's chapter 2. chapt. 3 will hopefully be up soon, as I'm almost done writing it! Oh yeah, and here's a disclaimer: Most everything belongs to the wonderful author Libba Bray. I just sorta did a before her story thing. There are a few characters I have made up, though, like Madame LeCrou. Oh and the maid, Francis. I think that's everyone so far. Ok, back to the story!

~Serena~

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A sudden jolt wakes me with a start. My mother eyes me. "Have a nice nap? We should be there in about 10 minutes. You know, it was really rude of you to fall asleep while I was talking to you. I don't have time to repeat myself, so you'll just have to go on without my advice." She mumbles to herself. "Disgrace herself within the week, mark my words."

I sigh and turn to look out the carriage window at the passing countryside. I suppose it would look very nice normally, but it's pouring rain outside, so that what little I can see is soaked and ugly. Wonderful. I'm already missing my garden at home and the smell of lilacs in my room.

The coachman calls down. "Ma'am! Miss! Look out the window! You can see Spence off in the distance!"

I hurriedly rush to look out the window, cause my head to meet the glass with a loud BANG! I moan and rub my head while my mother rolls her eyes. "Would you please be more careful dear? Now your face will be all black and blue tomorrow. And what will that do to your reputation, hmm?"

"Sorry, mother." This time I'm able to look out the window without hurting any part of me. I see nothing but more trees and grass. "Where is it?"

"Other side, dear." My mother answers. I smile sheepishly at her and look out the window on the other side of the carriage.

Through the rain, I can just barely see the huge building that is to be my new home. It looks pleasant enough. Then I see the hollowed, burnt-out shell of the east wing. They really should keep this place in better condition. I slide my eyes upward and take in the gargoyles. "How very gothic," I murmur.

"Yes, quite. Those hideous gargoyles gave me nightmares when I first came here. And I see they still haven't restored the east wing. I have no idea why, it's just an inconvenience to leave it like that. If they would just restore it, they could have many more students coming here."

I look at her, startled. "You came here?" Although, that does explain a lot.

"Yes, you never knew that? I was sure I had mentioned it sometime. Actually, I was here the year the fire took place. Of course, my parents transferred me to another school immediately after, so I didn't graduate from here. As you know, I graduated from Miss Pennington's. I do have some very odd memories of this place." She pursues her lips.

"You were here then?! Please, tell me what happened with the fire!"

"I really shouldn't. It's not a very nice story. We were told not to gossip about it anyway. Although, it was almost 15 years ago." She says looking for all the world like she wouldn't care if someone told her not to. "Well, why don't I tell you the story when you're a little older? Don't want you having nightmares, now do we? Now, I'm sure some old servant will probably end up telling you about it anyway. Besides, we're here already."

We pull into a driveway and stop in front of the front doors. The coachman opens the door for us, then hops back up to throw down the luggage, completely forgetting to offer us his arm. I'm annoyed, and it appears my mother is also. "There goes his tip," she mutters to herself.

Someone comes barreling out of the front doors and begins directing where my luggage will go. I take her for the housekeeper. She turns to us. "Good afternoon to you. My name is Brigid, and I am the housekeeper here at Spence Academy for Young Ladies." Ha! I was right! "Here, let's go inside before we get soaked or catch a cold."

She leads us indoors and to the parlor. It looks very formal. She motions for us to sit down on the sofa.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what were your names? We have so many students arriving today I can't possibly remember all their names."

My mother answers. "I am Mrs. Cross, and this is my daughter, Pippa. She will be in the 1st year class."

"Ah, the Crosses. You know, you seem very familiar to me, Mrs. Cross. If you don't mind me asking, do you know why this could be?"

"Yes, I went here as a young girl, and I believe that you were a maid at that time. You seem to advance well, Brigid."

"Oh yes, I remember now. You were here when the fire took place, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was."

"Well, it was very nice seeing you again, Mrs. Cross. I hope you enjoy your time here as well, Miss Cross. I'll just go and see if Mrs. Nightwing is ready to receive you yet." She leaves the room, leaving my mother and I alone. Wonderful.

"Pippa?"

"Yes, mother."

"Remember what I told you about your daydreaming. And about always being on you best behavior."

I sigh. "Yes, mother." How many times is she going to repeat this?"

"Now, about your... affliction. If you feel a fit coming on, you must remember to say that you have a headache and leave the room immediately."

"Mother, it's not that easy. I can't—."

"Now, Pippa, you must listen to me, we want you to be marriageable. I will speak to Mrs. Nightwing and Brigid about the matter, just in case something does go wrong."

I sigh again. It's no use arguing with her. She thinks I can control my epilepsy, but really, I can't.

"You really should stop sighing like that, dear. They'll think there's something wrong with you."

`I want to scream at her, "I DO have something wrong with me, mother! Stop trying so hard to hide it! Pretending it doesn't exist! Because it does! And I can take care of myself, I know what to do! Stop telling me what to do!" But of course I don't. I must keep up the image of the perfect daughter, besides all the other images I have to keep up. I wish I could just be myself, and be normal. But of course, that's impossible.

After another minute, Brigid comes back into the room. "Mrs. Nightwing is ready to see you now." We nod and follow her back through the entry way and up the stairs. We stop on the 2nd landing, and Brigid opens the door.

Behind the desk set in the center of the room sits and imposing woman. Her hair has only just begun to gray. She is dressed in a dress that was fashionable 10 years ago. Her name plate reads Mrs. Nightwing, headmistress.

"Ah, Mrs. Cross. How nice to see you again. And this must be your daughter, Miss Pippa Cross. How do you do?" She stands up and shakes both our hands.

"Very well, thank you," says my mother at the same time I mumble back. "How do you do."

Brigid turns to leave while my mother narrows her eyes and Mrs. Nightwing gazes speculatively at me.

"Oh, Brigid." My mother stops her. "I need to speak to both you and Mrs. Nightwing about a very personal matter."

Brigid turns back while Mrs. Nightwing asks, "Yes? What is it?"

My mother takes a deep breath. "Now, this is a secret and must never go beyond you two, alright? My daughter, Pippa, suffers from an affliction of epilepsy." I can hear their collective gasps. "I need you to do everything in your power to keep this secret safe and to help Pippa whenever she has one of her fits. No one else must ever know of this."

Mrs. Nightwing nods. "Yes, we will do whatever we can. And we will not tell anybody else. Correct Brigid?"

Brigid nods. "Yes, ma'am."

My mother looks pleased. "Thank you. That's all I needed."

Brigid nods again and leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. Mrs. Nightwing looks down at a sheet of paper on her desk. "Now, about room placement. You will be rooming with another 1st year student, Felicity Worthington.. Her father is the Admiral Worthington."

Mother gasps. "Why, why that's incredible! Thank you for putting her there! Imagine, my daughter rooming with an Admiral's daughter!"

I'm shocked at her. How could she be so brazen? I almost stare at her open-mouthed, but catch myself just in time. Mrs. Nightwing is shocked also, but she instantly returns to her cool demeanor. "Yes, well, it would appear as though that is the only place she could go, unless she wanted to room with an older student. All the other 1st year students have personally requested their rooming partners or already arrived, except for Miss Cross here and Miss Worthington."

My mother sits beaming, looking as if she wishes one of her gossiping buddies here to see this, just so she can gloat. I know what she is thinking. "Yes, this will much improve her reputation. Imagine it, a merchant's daughter and an Admiral's daughter rooming together! We're so lucky!" It's really quite ridiculous how much she cares about reputations.

Mrs. Nightwing speaks. "Well, I do believe thats everything. You have a few sets of the school uniform hanging in your room. Dinner is in two hours, and vespers is right after that. You may go back down to the parlor and say your goodbyes now." She gets up and opens the door for us, while Brigid rushes another family. My mother lets out a gasp. It's Felicity Worthington, with a traveling companion.

Felicity and I eye each other speculatively. Her hair is a very white blond, which is nearly impossible to do in our English weather. It's been put up into a bun, but not a very severe one, as there are several strands sticking out here and there. She has not one freckle or blemish anywhere that I can see. Of course she has on a very fashionable dress of light blue silk. She must be very rich indeed, to wear that as a traveling suit. I think of what she must be seeing looking at me. Very dark hair in a braid wound into a bun on top of my head. Very pale skin, also with no freckles, but I'm not quite sure if there are blemishes or not. I utter a silent prayer that there are none today. There there are my eyes, they are very unusual. They are a deep violet, although they can shades depending on what I am wearing. And my clothes of course, not very expensive as a light tan wool dress, but just enough to make it known that I am from a well-to-do family.

After a second, she breaks into a huge grin. I smile back at her, at first uncertainly, but my smile grows larger when Felicity winks at me and whispers, "Don't worry, this place won't be a bore any longer now that I'm here." I almost burst out laughing at her audacity, but I manage to hold it in.

Brigid says to Mrs. Nightwing, "This is Miss Felicity Worthington and her traveling companion, Madame LeCreau." Madame LeCreau is very overweight, and it appears she is also French.

Felicity and her companion sweep into the room. Brigid shuts the door behind them, ridding me of Felicity's aura of friendliness. I'm stuck with my mother again. She leads us back down to the Parlor, shutting the door as she leaves.

We sit uncomfortable for a minute, then my mother speaks. "Well I think you'll have a lovely time here at Spence, as I did. I'm sure you'll soon become fast friends with Miss Worthington and the other girl here. You've met most of them before. Try to live up to your name and not damage your reputation, please. Now I fear I've kept the carriage waiting too long. I must leave. Goodbye Pippa." She gives me a pat on the should and I give her a peck on the cheek. Then she gathers her things and is gone. I wave from the window while her carriage pulls away.

Finally, I'm away from my mother and all her admonitions and talk about reputations. I'm so happy I could dance. But at that moment Brigid walks in.

"Oh good, you've said you goodbyes. Now, Francis here will show you to your room." She turns and leaves, revealing a young maid behind her. Francis looks to be about 14 years of age.

"Good afternoon, miss." She curtsies. "Just come with me, now." She leads me back into the entryway. I look up this time and see the snake chandelier. I gasp. Francis glances at me, then looks up as well. "Ah, yes. The chandelier. I'm afraid that's not even the worst of it. Wait until you see the Great Room."

She leads me up the stairs and I look closer at my surroundings. There's the locked the door that leads to the east wing. If I look closely, I can see that it's slightly charred. On the walls are pictures of the past classes. I look for my mother but don't find her classes' portrait. And at the top of the stairs is a huge portrait of another imposing lady. But when I look closely, I can see that her eyes are kind. "Mrs. Eugenia Spence." Francis whispers. "The founder of Spence Academy and it's first headmistress. She died in the fire."

I look at her in surprise. "My mother never told me anyone died in the fire."

"Mrs. Spence wasn't the only one who died in it. There were also two girls who died. But you shouldn't know that. I'm afraid I can't tell you anything more. I'll get into trouble. And so will you, if you start asking questions about it." Well, so much for the servants telling me anything. She quickly leads me to the room I'll be sharing with Felicity. She walks over to the wardrobe and opens the doors. "Here's your uniforms. If you need any help with anything, please call me." She curtsies again and leaves the room. I call out behind her, "Thank you!"

I look around the room. Two beds, with their heads against one wall. Two wardrobes across from them. A basin and a pitcher stand between them. I also see a desk with two chairs against the wall with the door. There a dressing screen against another wall. Then I see the window against the far wall. It's huge! And there's a window seat! I rush to tit and look out at the grounds. I can see a lake, a forest, and the chapel where we must have vespers. Off in the distance, I can also see what looks like a camp.

I turn back to the room. My luggage sits on the floor, along with Felicity's. I guess we shall have to unpack them ourselves. I sigh and set about putting my things away.

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Okay, so what did you think? I think I may have put a little too much of Gemma into Pippa's character, but don't worry, she'll soon be the Pippa everyone loves. Please R&R!

~Serena~