Thanks reviewers and all who read the story. A tip of my hat to Popular Galinda for the hugs and cookies (they were delicious!) lol. Happy reading to all!

Chapter Five

I slowly opened the door, the smell of fresh air and flowers reaching me first. They touched my face, and gently pulled me into the large open room. On my right was a huge four poster bed, with white translucent hangings and a cream colored bedspread stitched all over with tiny green ivy, twirling around the cloth. Across from it was a large bureau, made from the same wood as the door. Farther down from was a large open doorway akin to the ones I had seen downstairs. But none of this could compare to what lay directly ahead of me. A window, twice my height and as wide as it was tall was situated across from the door. I walked towards it. It looks large enough to let the whole sun in! I thought. Looking through the glass I could see a decent sized pond down below, with willow trees planted next to it. From behind I heard Jonathan set my luggage down.

"The view is amazing." I said, turning towards him, I felt as if I could stare out that window all day and never get bored with it.

"It faces out to the east," Mr. Farrow said, conversationally. "Mr. Thompson insisted you have a window that looked out in that direction."

I looked back out the window again and grinned. Early on in our correspondence Alexander and I had discussed our favorite things and I had stated firmly that sunrises had always been better than sunsets.

"How is there a difference?" He'd asked, and I could almost hear the laughter in his question.

"There is a big difference." I'd stated, pretending to act horrified that he didn't notice the distinction.

"What is it then?"

"There's too much color in a sunset." I said bluntly.

"How can there possibly be too much color?" He asked, bemusedly.

"Believe me, there is. You know those Lisa Frank pictures with the dolphins and puppy dogs?"

"Yeah."

"Just like that, too much color."

"You realize you're comparing one of nature's greatest beauties to pictures of puppies and dolphins?"

"Hey, if the shoe fits..." I retorted.

"So why are sunrises better? They have color in them too." He argued good-naturedly.

"Yes, but they have just the right amount," I had explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "All those whites, and blues. It's so crisp and fresh looking. "

"Ha, I'll have to remember that." He'd said thoughtfully, and I guess he had. It was nice to know that he'd kept such a trivial thing about me in mind and I became all the more anxious to see him face to face.

"Dinner," Jonathan said, quickly bringing me back to the present. "Is served at seven, shall I call you down to the dining hall then?"

"Oh you don't have to do that." I said quickly. I wasn't used to being waited on so much; it was a little overwhelming.

"It's no trouble." He said, kindly. Suddenly I was tired of all this courtesy, I was a polite person by nature but I began to feel as if I was under a microscope, my every move being scrutinized for its civility. I just wanted to lie down and not have to worry about how polite or impolite I was acting.

"No, that's all right. Dinner's at seven?"

Jonathan nodded.

"I have an alarm on my cell; I'll set it to wake me up."

"I'll leave you to get settled then." He said, before walking to the door and silently closing it behind him.

I looked around my room again, and let out a little giggle of delight, everything was so big! As I turned in a small circle my eyes landed on the open doorway I had noticed earlier and I walked over to it. Inside was a study, I grinned. I have my own study. I instantly felt completely content as I looked around, for the perimeter was covered with shelves crammed from floor to ceiling with hundreds of books. Old leather books and new hardcover ones sat side by side in rows, waiting for the chance to be pulled down and read. I had always liked books and there seemed enough here to last me for years.

The carpet had ended at the doorway and hardwood floor with beautiful overlapping rugs now lay under my feet. Large cozy armchairs were scattered about the room with a few facing in front of a small fireplace. Roses and ivy, similar to the design I had seen wrought on the iron gates outside, had been carved into the marble so that it seemed like they were growing across the mantle and weaving their way down the sides. I wanted to examine the books and maybe pull a few down to place at my bedside for later, but a sudden wave of fatigue overwhelmed me and I knew I needed to rest quickly before I collapsed right then and there. I moved to go back to the bed, but then stopped. That bed was much too nice, and I was much too grungy to ruin it by laying down on its sheets as I was. I looked around confusedly; if my room had its own study it certainly had its own bathroom. But there were no signs of any other doors in my room besides the wardrobe and I highly doubted that that would lead me to a lavatory; Narnia, maybe, but not a bathroom. But where else could it be? Maybe I was wrong and I didn't have one after all, but there was sure to be one at least on this floor somewhere.

As I turned to leave the study I noticed one of the bookshelves to the left of the fireplace seemed to stick out more than the others. I crossed over to it and saw what looked like a crack of light emanating from behind it. No, this wasn't a secret doorway. That would be too far reaching, even for this house. But my hands gripped the side of the shelving anyway and pulled. The bookshelf came out further, but wouldn't open like a door. I bit my lip for a moment; thinking, then put both my hands flat out on the side and pushed, causing it to slide away smoothly to rest directly in front of the bookshelf it had, a moment ago been beside. I laughed out loud it was a secret passageway to a bathroom. I shook my head, still trying to absorb it. I took off my clothes as I went inside and climbed into the shower. This was just too cool.

Afterwards I slipped into some clean clothes, the jeans and cotton of my shirt feeling as soft and luxurious as satin compared to my grimy, slept in ones. I sat down on the bed, bouncing a litte while I turned my phone's alarm on. I wanted to read, explore the house and sleep all at once. But since I wasn't skilled enough to do all of them I decided the third one needed to be done first if I wanted to do the former two activities properly. It was about 3:30 so if I took a short nap now I would have time for a little reading before I had to go downstairs for…

The alarm rang, and I slowly opened my eyes. Looking down I could see that I was still holding my phone as it flashed and beeped. I sat up, bewildered, and looked out the window as I rubbed my eyes. The sun was gone and stars twinkled back at me from the sky. I crossed over to the bureau; looking into the mirror I quickly disentangled some of the more obvious knots my hair had tied itself into and then walked out into the hallway.