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Chapter One - Part Two

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Jack

I watch them run. They race across the lawn, quickly dissapearing in the thick trees. I wait for them to run back, but they don't.

I look back up at the windows, and see a tall boy wearing an old-fashioned suit and top hat. I want to laugh, but he seems to notice me staring and glares, daring me to even try.

The front door opens again, and the girl who was shoved comes out.

"You must be Jackson Overland," she says. "Norman and Coraline are already inside," she gestures towards the door. I had completely forgotten about the two.

"The name's Jack. Yours?" I ask, sticking my hand out to shake. She seems reluctant to, but mutters something to herself before taking a deep breath and taking it, her sleeve covering her hand. I'm not sure if I should laugh or be insulted.

"I'm Elsa Solberg. I do the new-student orientations." She smiles again. Her pale blond hair is flawlessly wound in a tight bun, her makeup perfect, and like the other girls, she's chosen to wear the skirt. I can see teal gloves under the sleeves of her sweater. She looks like she could be going to a dinner party.

I glance down at the envelopes in his hand. "So you're the Elsa I'm supposed to give these to?"

"Yep," she takes them from me. "Your school records."

There's an awkward silence.

"What's up with them?" I finally ask, talking about the runner girls. I look behind me, but they haven't returned.

Elsa's eyebrows knit together. There's a moment of silence between us, and I can tell she's trying to come up with an answer. "I think they're just running," she finally says. "I couldn't really say why."

She links her arm with mine and begins to lead me down the hallways, Norman and Coraline trailing behind us. She smells good – like vanilla.

I look around, amazed. The interior doesn't match the exterior, at all. It's all modern; you wouldn't think you were in a castle if you hadn't seen the outside for yourself. The walls are painted in steel blue and charcoal grey – clearly because of the school's colours. The designers seem to have thought ahead and all the corners are rounded. The floors, furniture, and decorations, however, are all white, an unwise decision when there are kids involved. Somehow, they all still remain unstained. Jack notices golden suns about the size of his hand painted here and there. It seems a student was trying to bring some warm colours into the mix.

My mind snaps back to reality, and I ask, "Who are Bunny and Flynn?"

Her shoulders tense, but she tries to relax herself once more. "What do you mean?"

Elsa is not good at lying.

"Bunny and Flynn," I repeat. "The runner girl said not to listen to them."

Elsa stops and puts her hands on her hips, turning towards me. A small, regal smile makes its way onto her face, and her laugh almost sounds real. Almost. "Well, that's about what I would expect from the two of them. Jackson-"

"It's Jack, not Jackson," I interrupt, and she sighs before continuing.

"Jack, I think you'll find that this school has troublemakers, just like any other school. They're trying to scare you. I mean, what do you expect from two people who are so blatantly breaking the rules?"

I begin to walk again and nod slowly. Her answer makes sense. What kind of name is Bunny, anyway?

Wait a minute.

"'Breaking the rules'?" I ask, looking back at the main entrance. "How are they breaking the rules?"

Elsa opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out. My stomach drops as she stammers; whatever's going on doesn't seem right.

"No one is supposed to talk to new students before they've had orientation," she says quickly. "It's just one of the rules."

I stand in front of her and stare. She doesn't seem to believe what she's saying herself. "That doesn't make any sense. You're not really Elsa, are you?"

Her smile appears once more. "No, I'm definitely Elsa, and I'm definitely here to help you guys with orientation. That's my job."

"Your job?"

"We all have jobs here," she says. "We do our part to help out, because we all rely on each other. We're in this school so far away from everyone else – it's like our own little society."

"So I'll have a job?" There was nothing on the website about that.

"Of course. We all have jobs."

"Can you take me to talk to the principal?" The school website had mentioned student leadership opportunities, but I'm sick of having the student body president – or whatever Elsa is – give me a pep talk.

"Well," she begins, and I suppress the urge to groan. "Why don't we go to my office and do the orientation first. I'm sure that will answer some of your questions."

"Listen, I know how a school works. Can we just go to the principal and do the real stuff?"

"The orientation is the real stuff." Elsa says. She continues walking, beckoning me, but I stay in my spot.

"I want to see the principal first."

Her face bursts into a smile, which is as fake as it is big. "You are so decisive, I think that's terrific." She starts walking again, stopping a few doors down, and she opens it.

"What?" I walk towards her. She's adamant on me having that orientation, it almost seems like she's trying to keep me away from the principal.

"I'm just saying we could use someone like you at our school," She looks behind us. "And I'm sure we could use kids like Norman and Coraline, too." I had forgotten about the two, again. They're both giving us looks and keeping their distance, and I find myself laughing.

"How old are you, Elsa?" I ask as I turn to her.

"Sixteen, almost seventeen," She answers. "My birthday's at the end of September."

Her smile is plastered on her face like a tour guide. That's what she is: a tour guide, all smiles and scripts.

"No offense, but can you tell me where the real Elsa is?"

"What do you mean?" She lets her hand slip off the door, and it swings shut.

"I mean I don't believe a word you said."

"I'm the real Elsa," she says, concern growing in her eyes.

"You're not, and you're not even a good liar. You said that your birthday is coming up at the end of September. It's October 3rd."

She opens her mouth, but doesn't say anything.

"So," I continue, "enough of the crap." I grab the door handle, but it's locked.

"I am Elsa," she says, folding her arms across her chest, her shoulders tense.

"Why's the door locked?"

"I am Elsa," she repeats.

"I don't care," I say. "I want to see the principal."

She turns to look at me, her eyes fierce. "I am Elsa Solberg. And I am telling the truth."

"I don't care who you are. I want to see the principal."

Her smile disappears, replaced by a grim stare. "We don't have one."

She must anticipate my confusion, and continues before I can even register this new information.

"We don't have a principal," she says. "We don't have teachers, and we don't have counselors. That's why I do the orientations."

"There's no – I mean, you don't have…"

She tries to put her smile back on, but it's weak and forced. "This school is different from other schools."

"So who teaches the classes?"

"We do," she says. "The students. We get lesson plans."

"I don't believe it," I shake my head. "That doesn't explain your birthday. Why did you lie about that?"

Her shoulders relax visibly, and she doesn't seem to have a problem answering this question. "It's not a lie. I know it seems weird, and it'll be easier to understand when we go through the full orientation. But…" She pauses, thinking over her words. "We don't have any calendars."

"You're kidding." I almost laugh at the ridiculous situation.

"I most certainly am not."

"Can't you just look on your computers or something? Don't tell me you don't have computers."

"We do have computers. In fact, you get your very own laptop. Unfortunatly, they don't have the date on them."

"But can't you just email someone? Get on the internet?"

Her eyebrows furrow. "Our computers don't get on the internet."

"Well, didn't your family call you on your birthday?"

"No phones, either."

"Let me get this straight. There are no adults in the school. And we can't talk to anyone on the outside."

She nods her head in embarrassed agreement.

I gesture towards the front of the school. "She said we can't get out of here. Is that true, too?"

She hesitates before answering, "Yes."

This could all still be a joke. It had to be a joke.

"Why did my grandpa send me here? I shouldn't have agreed to this." I groan in frustration, my fingers combing through my white hair.

"That depends on how you look at it," she says. Her voice is warm and happy, yet detached and distant, like she isn't really directing her words at me. Another script. "There are some great people at this school. We learn a lot of interesting things, and it can really be a lot of fun."

I bet.

"What's the point of this place, then? Is it for screwed-up kids?"

Elsa laughs. "No, it's just a school. We go to class and have dances and play sports." She gives me a mischievous grin. "You're not screwed up, are you?"

I step away from her, my confusion quickly turning into anger. "Why are you calm about this? How long has it been since anyone here has talked to anyone-" I gesture vaguely at the world beyond the forest. "Out there?"

Elsa stares at the empty hallway. "I've been here for about a year," she says quietly. "I don't miss it. Like I said, things are good here."

"Do people graduate?"

"Not yet," Elsa says. "But I don't think anyone is old enough." She takes my arm again and turns me toward the door. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." I plainly say. "Happy birthday, by the way. You're seventeen, too."

Elsa laughs and steps towards the door. It unlocks with a buzz, and she pulls it open. "I like you, Jack. You'll do well here."

_._._._

A/N: So I've just come back from trying to deal with the Tumblr mobile app. I am in a foul mood and need sleep and there will likely be swearing ahead. Or not. I just want to get this posted.

I am not happy with this. It's still pretty close to the original, but fuck it. This is fanfiction. There's worse stuff out there and I'm not claiming this as my own, so woo! This only has a few of my own words. I thik it's just the description of the inside of the school.

I haven't finished writing the next part, so it may not be for a little while, what with the actual writing, the proofreading, and basically a rewrite as I try to come up with something that is my own work.

And I'm sorry if Norman and Coraline seem like they're there for the sake of being there right now, but I did list Norman as a main character, didn't I?

Oh, and apparently I can't fucking count. I said there are 25 Originals, but now I only count 23 (I think. I can't remember exactly. The point is is that it's not fucking 25) and I said before that Norman can see a few ghosts (I did say that in his character thing, right?), so I'm changing it to... 33. This is subject to change seeing as I'm pissed off and half-asleep. Which is strange actually seeing as I've actually been getting sleep with winter break. I think I slept in 'till 12:40 today... It's only 12:25 right now...

Anyways, I got more voters for Hiccstrid VS Merricup, but I'm kinda suspicious since I got like 5 from guests in a very short period of time. I got one more vote for Merricup now. Because of this, those 4 (I just checked) Hiccstrid votes are only going to count as one. I'm sorry if those were other voters, but I don't think it would be fair for someone to be able to anonymously vote and thus be able to vote multiple times. I honestly thought people wouldn't do this, but it seems they have. To solve the problem, I have just made a poll and it's up on my profile. I won't be accepting votes via reviews anymore. It's not an either/or thing, I've added other options as well. The previous votes will still count.

If you want my personal opinion, I prefer Hiccstrid over Merricup. Mainly because I think Merida would be independant and not be interested in dating, in her teen years at least.

Hiccstrid VS Merricup

Both tied with 3. I think. I know they're tied...

And when a chapter is posted in parts, I will include the statistics in the last part.