Chapter 2: Isa Prep
Samantha POV
Today was absolutely crazy and I'm not exaggerating on the "crazy" part. This was the day Jodie warped all three of us to Denbora - one of the most powerful time magic worlds and the birthplace of a modern time magic society - because she needed to complete an entrance exam to… take a deep breath here… Saint Isadora's Preparatory Academy for Time Magicians. Now THAT is a mouthful! Freddi and I were busy waiting for her in the lobby of Isa Prep, a prep school that breeds the future leaders of the time magic society. Jodie got rejected twice from Isa Prep because they needed "promising, serious" students; she still gets mad when we bring it up.
The lobby was a large, but cozy place with a fireplace, a front desk and a cook and serving staff on the side. We were sitting on these large, roomie sofas watching some melodramatic soap opera on the TV. Freddi was sipping tea, loving every moment in this posh, upper-east-expy of a boarding school. Sitting for long periods of time was never my "cup of tea"... get it?
"How long have we been here?" I asked Freddi. "Jodie said she would be done in thirty minutes."
"You know how thorough these schoolmasters are." Freddi whispered to me. "Maybe they're impressed with Jodie's new development and decided to run more tests."
"Or she got rejected again and she's crying in the girls' bathroom." I giggled/snorted in my hand, while Freddi eyed me disapprovingly. "What? I'm trying to be realistic!"
"Maybe you should try to be a little more supportive of Jodie," Freddi said to me. "You know it's her dream to come to Isa Prep. The Warp Academy views students who go here quite favorably. Did you know that the 98 percent of Isa Prep applicants who applied to The Warp Academy get accepted? And that's just the graduating class!"
"I know it's her lifelong dream, but have you seen the girls who go here?" I said. "Jodie may be a little high-maintenance, and fickle… and she's boy-crazy, but the girls here are horrible! Jodie compared to these girls, she's like an angel!"
Freddi was about to say something until she saw something that caught her eye. Outside the window, a gaggle of schoolgirls were running up to the main entrance with newspapers clutched in their hands. The large wooden door flew open and all of the girls rushed inside, waving the newspapers and screaming at the top of their lungs. The receptionist wasted no time controlling the situation.
"Girls, girls!" she yelled, waving her hands above her head to attract attention. "Please, everyone be QUIET!"
Everyone stopped yelling. The receptionist sighed in relief and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Now," she said firmly. "We're going to talk about this in a civilized, polite way. What's going on?"
Every one of the girls talked at the same time, some yelling and trying to speak over the quieter girl. Eventually, the loud talking grew into hollering and the receptionist was forced to bite down on her fountain pen so she wouldn't lose her mind. Again.
"STOP. YELLING. IN. MY. OFFICE!"
Everyone stopped yelling again. By now, I was interested in what was going on. The girls at Isa Prep always bragged about how important it is to be "calm and collected" in the worst situations… but I guess they don't take it seriously!
"Miss Olga!" one of the girls spoke up. "We want to know if Professor Trigueiro is in!"
"Professor Trigueiro is busy right now. You girls will have to speak with him tomorrow."
"But it's really important that we see him now!" Another girl, with minty-green skin and navy blue, shoulder-length ringlets, pleaded. "We're all begging you!"
"Is it an emergency?" Miss Olga wasn't convinced. "Because if it isn't, you'll get detention for making a scene while the school has guests over."
"Well we wouldn't have caused a scene if it wasn't serious news!" someone yelled from the back of the crowd! "Lacy, give her The Daily Warper!"
The girl with the minty-green skin handed her crumpled edition of The Daily Warper to the receptionist. "Here. Don't say we didn't warn you."
Miss Olga took The Daily Warper and filled through the pages. She stopped at one in particular, after skimming through the page, her eyes widen, her skin paled and she put a hand to her lips in shock. Her other hand let go of The Daily Warper and dropped to her side. She took of her granny glasses and wiped the tears away from her eyes.
"This can't be true." she said, her voice straining with emotions.
"It is… it is!" Some of the girls started to sniffle and others were holding on to each other for support. "We found The Pen… his Pen."
"A graduate of Isa Prep and The Warp Academy? But he's one of the best… the new face of The Warp Academy!"
"What's going on?" Freddi mouthed to me.
A gurgling sob escaped from someone's throat and it only opened a wave of sobs, wails and cries through the crowd. I crawled on my hands and knees and took a copy of The Daily Warper from the ground. Freddi flipped to the page and we both gasped in shock. It was an SOS for help… an SOS from Agent R.
"Camp Avo under attack by The Corruptor, please send medical attention. Agent R is severely injured. Abort the Time Inhibitors. Save Agent A. Or end of world!"
The doors opened again. There stood a well-dressed man in his 60s, with well-oiled grey hair, tan skin, a thin moustache and wide, penetrating hazel eyes. His breath stopped, and only then did I realize who he was. Professor Trigueiro. A legendary Time Agent and the face of time magic academics.
"Rosario… my nephew, severely injured?" he said weakly, and fainted.