Look Before You Seek

Chapter 2

Kadic boarding school looked drab and boring, but Minnie didn't even seem to notice. It was as though she had tuned out of herself ever since she left for France. It was as though her body had gone to France, but she had left herself in Australia. Nothing seem real, it was like some strange dream that she would never wake up from.

Her parents led her to the front office, where they met the Headmaster of Kadic.

"I'm sure that Minnie will be very happy here," said Mr. Delmas. (In French) "It has the finest educational values in the whole..." Mr. Delmas continued on with his boring speech about Ksdic's fine facilities, whereas Minnie had completely zoned out and was now looking at her shoes with extreme fascination. Her brown curly hair had fallen over her face, so nobody could see the boredom in her eyes. In fact, it seemed as though the Headmaster and her parents had forgotten that she was even there, until her mother said;

"Who will she be roomed with?"

At this remark, Minnie raised her head. Up until now she hadn't thought about who she would be roomed with. She didn't even know that she would be roomed with anybody, for that matter. Minnie started to worry.

What if I'm roomed with somebody who I don't get along with? She thought. What if I have to be roomed with a lot of other girls in one, small room? She thought. What if there is NO room? What if I'm roomed with a boy? DO they even allow that? Surely they wouldn't, would they?Minnie was getting more and more worried by the second.

"She will be roomed with Aelita Stones. I believe you will have the same lessons as her, so she will show you around. Since you are new from Australia, you will attend two extra lessons on French a week. Your room number is 124. You should be alright finding it by yourself." Minnie nodded. "Well, you may say goodbye to your parents here before going to your dormitory. Here is the key. You can start your lessons tomorrow, " he said, handing her a small key with a large key chain, which had the numbers 124 on it. He then turned and left.

"Goodbye dear," said her mother.

"Bye mum," she replied.

"Bye Minnie Min," Said her dad. Minnie Min was her fathers pet name for her.

"Cya dad." She said with a small smile. It was the first time she had smiled since she had come to France. "I'll miss you guys."

Minnie waved as her parents left, then she hurried down the hall to find her room. It took her nearly half an hour to find the section with the door numbers in the 100, but she found her dorm eventually.

The door number was 124. She silently slid her key into the lock and turned it. She opened the door to find the dorm empty of people. In fact, it was pretty empty of things altogether. There were two beds, one with pink covers, and one with white sheets. She assumed that the white bed was hers, so she quickly dumped her bags on it. She then sat down on the bed and took a deep breath, resting for a minute. She checked the time, 2:30 pm. Aelita would still be in lessons. She thought. Well, no point sitting around all day. She thought as she got up to put her clothes away and do up her bed. Good thing I brought my own covers, she thought, as she started re-making her bed.

Minnie had two sets yellow sheets and quilt covers. Her mother had even made her pack her own pillow and quilt. Her mother also told her to wash her quilt once a week, so it had been labeled. Minnie loved the colour yellow. She had yellow everything. Even her favorite cuddly toy (which was a little bear called Sunshine) was yellow. She had many clothes, but, surprisingly, not many of them were yellow. She had once told Kira that it was because "Yellow didn't suit clothes." Yellow is also very hard on the eyes, and some shades of yellow can be quite nauseating. The only yellow clothing that she had was a faded yellow skirt that reached down to her ankles, and a bright yellow and white striped singlet.

Minnie had just been putting away the remainder of her clothes in her cupboard, when she heard voices outside. She could hear the voices moving steadily towards the door, and stopping just outside. She wasn't able to decipher the words of the conversation, but she could hear one of the voices more strongly that the other.

Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Minnie quickly grabbed a book and started reading, perched nervously at the foot of her bed. She was trying to concentrate on her favorite book, 'Inkheart', but was finding it harder than usual, and kept repeating the same line over and over. She was trying to concentrate on her favorite book, 'Inkheart', but was finding it harder than usual, and kept repeating the same line over and over.

To Minnie, it seemed like the voices outside where going to stay just outside forever, and it seemed like Minnie was going to be repeating the same line from her favorite book again and again until she was seventy. But, finally, after what seem like decades to Minnie, but what was in actual fact only five minutes, the door was open.

"Bye Jeremie," Said a soft, quiet voice.

"Goodbye Aelita," Said the voice supposedly belonging to Jeremie.

The girl Minnie assumed to be Aelita turned around with her eyes closed, and leaned on the closed door. Minnie thought that Aelita was quiet a pretty girl, and she seemed kind, but she had the strangest hair Minnie had ever seen. It was pink. At first, Minnie just assumed she had dyed it, even though it seemed kind of a bit over the top to dye her whole head pink, but as she looked closer, she saw that her eyebrows were pink too. Also, the roots of her hair were as pink as the rest of her hair, which was exceptionally strange, because roots usually show th true colour of hair.

Aelita opened her eyes, and took a sharp in-take of breath to see a stranger sitting in her dorm, starting at her with a fascinated expression on her face.

"Who are you?" Aelita asked in a shaky voice. "What are you doing in my room?"

"I'm Minnie," Minnie said. "I'm new here, and Mr. Delmas told me this was my dorm. Are you Aelita?"

"Yes," Aelita replied, looking a bit calmer. "Yes, I'm Aelita. I remember Mr. Delmas telling me about you. Your Minnie, right?"

"Yes. I'm from Australia." Aelita looked shocked.

"From where?" She said,looking flabbergasted.

"From Australia. You know, largest island in the world." Minnie knew that Kadic was a good school, but she was seriously doubting this students intelligence.

"But... But I thought Australia was just a huge desert. I didn't know anyone lived there!"

"People do live there," Minnie assured her. "And it's not all desert."

At this point there is a bit of an awkward silence. I cannot stress how uncomfortable this silence was, as some pain cannot be expressed in words, but have to be experienced to be understood. If you have ever been in a similar situation, I am sure you are familiar with how it may feel.

"So..." Aelita said. "Good book?" She motioned towards 'Inkheart'.

"Yeah, actually, very good. Do you read much?" Minnie asked.

"No, not really," Aelita said. "I'm more into computer stuff."

"Right."

At this point, there is another silence, which is just as awkward as the last. Once again, if you have been in a similar situation, you will know how it feels. This silence didn't last long before Minnie spoke.

"Do you know where the bathroom is?" Minnie asked.

"Yep, it's just down the hall."

"Thanks," Minnie said. Aelita just gave a small smile.

When Minnie returned to her dorm, Aelita was gone.

Please tell me what you think. Any idea's/ advice/ comments/ corrections will be gladly noted and taken into consideration.

Thanx

OcyTaviAh