Too good to be true. I was late. All the (decent) people were already inside the classrooms watching the first classes. The stupid me had forgotten the time zones and caught a flight that would not get in time. On the other hand, who would expect that the people would have classes in the very morning they got there? Well, not in vain it was the top of the top Institute of the world.
After I explained my situation to a not so gentle administrator, he led me to the Headmaster's room. Great; not even in my worst childhood days I had gone to the headmaster's room, and what's the first thing I do when I start to study abroad? What a shame. The headmaster was in a meeting with some important diplomats, so I sat in the waiting room, bitting my nails. My luggage had vanished. I was thinking about the most incisive and beseechingly ways to apologize for my fault, when a noise of voices took my concentration. Two boys, maybe twins, ran into the room, and although I shouldn't feel like that, I became very glad that I was not the only late student now. More relaxed, I had decided to make a game with myself and try to guess their nationality, but it got evident in the first words, so [part of] the fun was lost.
-Vee~~ fratello! Our dad is gonna kill us!
In fact, they were speaking Italian and I don't understand it. Nevermind, they told it all with the body language too, and as we Brazilians use this language a lot, I'm able to give you a near translation of the argument.
- It's all your fault, bastard! Shouldn't you stay sleeping for life and we would've gotten here earlier!
- Neee~~ but fratello, we could have gotten here earlier too if you hadn't stopped to talk with those cute girls.
- Cute girls are worthier than this - said the twin with darker hair, determinedly. - And you didn't complain when I stopped, so shut up your mouth now!
The other twin got quiet, seeming grieved. He bit his finger nails just like I had, trying to keep silence, but it was stronger than him.
- Our dad said that if we got expelled from one more school, he would exec...
- I know what our dad said - cut his brother. - Now you better shut up and try not to be expelled. It's not that serious - he added, shrugging, trying to calm down his sibbling and himself. - I bet we were not the only ones that got late - he looked around and saw me. And as I'm a girl, he straigthened his back and smoothed his eyebrows before asking, with strong accent (which I don't know to reproduce in written form, so you better imagine) - Good afternoon, lady. Are you also waiting for the Headmaster?
- Ah... yes - I answered.
- Aren't you afraid? - asked the other boy, cutting his brother. - I am! They say she's a dragon lady.
- Dragon lady? - I repeated, smiling at the expression, as "dragon", in my country, is a slang that means "very ugly woman".
- Yeah, very, very stern. Wild - explained the darker-haired guy.
I sighed. Before I could suffer more with this new information, the door of the headmaster's cabinet was opened and the three of us held our breath. The woman's appearance was of a mix of a smaller Margaret Thatcher, Miss Meany and a Tooth Fairy. Both the Italians started to tremble from the top of their heads to their tiptoes, and it wasn't very different with me. She adressed in a pure English, with as much perfection as only a foreigner would care about. She scolded us, in the most polite and yet most fierce way, words like "irresponsibility", "punctuality", "hooliganism" piercing my years. A dot was put to her speach with the younger Italian brother hugged her knees, imploring for her please please per favore not to tell their father, or they'd be fried in boiling oil. Geez, poor guys. For me it just meant to lose the scholarship. The lady had to give him a cup of tea and, a bit ill at ease, sent us kindly to have a lunch, for it was about time. This cheered up the crying boy immediately.
- And can we have pastaaaa~~~? - he shouted, delightful.
When the three of us left the room, each of them hanging in one of my arms and talking as if there wouldn't be a tomorrow, I was perfectly sure that I was the only one that remembered a single word of the Headmaster's scolding.