When the car pulled to a stop, she noticed a group of students mingling near a gaudy, medieval-styled water fountain. They weren’t smiling. They weren’t laughing. They were barely even talking amongst themselves. All Alex could think was that she would be more likely to make friends with a rock than any of the students scowling in her direction.
Don’t judge by appearances, she told herself. First impressions weren’t always accurate, right? Alex might not like being abandoned at the academy, but she was determined to at least try and make the most of her stay. And that meant keeping an open mind, regardless of the unwelcoming vibes coming from her new classmates.
“I’ll take your bags,” her driver offered, interrupting her thoughts. “You should head into the administration building and speak with the headmaster.”
Alex grabbed the enrolment papers from her bag and handed the rest of her luggage over. She wasn’t an official student yet since her parents hadn’t had the time to properly enrol her before leaving.
“Which way do I go?” she asked the man as he started to walk away with her belongings.
He pointed to the closest building and left her standing on her own while the zombie-like students just stared at her.
Right, let’s get this over with, she thought, gathering her courage. She wasn’t an animal in a zoo, and she didn’t appreciate all the speculative glances directed her way. Nevertheless, she held her head high and headed towards the administration building.
As she walked around the fountain she flicked through her paperwork once more—partly to avoid looking at the creepy gargoyle statues around the water feature, partly to avoid making eye contact with the other students, and partly to make sure everything that needed to be signed was, in fact, signed.
Alex was so distracted by her papers that she barely heard the whispered, “Fish out of water, think we should help her?” and the corresponding, “Absolutely. We wouldn’t want her to choke.”
Before she could properly register the words, something slammed into her, causing her to stagger forward. She managed to regain her balance just in time to avoid a messy fall into the grungy-looking water.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” a girl around Alex’s age said. “I’m so clumsy sometimes.”
“It’s okay,” Alex assured her, straightening up. “No harm done.”
“Brianna! You’re always getting in the way! You almost sent the new girl into the fountain. What kind of a welcome would that have been?” said another girl who stepped up beside them.
“Really, it’s fine,” Alex said again. She didn’t want to cause any problems before school even started. It was bad enough that she was transferring mid semester.
“It’s fine?” the newest girl repeated with a toothy grin. “Hear that, Brianna? She said it’s fine.”
Alex wasn’t sure what to make of their exchange. Their identical beaming smiles put her on edge, so she quickly excused herself. “I have to go and see the headmaster, but I’m sure I’ll see you both around.”
“Oh, allow us to help,” the non-Brianna girl said. “It’s the least we can do. You wouldn’t want to go to the wrong place and cause a—”
Her timing was perfect, really. The moment Alex took her first step forward, Brianna ‘accidentally’ tripped over her own feet again. She bumped hard into Alex who had nothing to hold on to and no room left to find her balance. With her arms cartwheeling uselessly, Alex fell straight into the fountain.
The moment her head broke through the surface of the water, she heard non-Brianna gleefully finish the last word of her sentence.
“—splash.”
The previously quiet courtyard erupted into laughter.
“Welcome to the academy, Newbie.”
Alex scowled at the two girls in front of her as she swiped her sopping hair out of her eyes and pulled herself out of the fountain. She ignored the continuing laughter and marched towards the administration building, determined to put as much distance between her and the uniformed—and mean—zombies as possible.
Barely five minutes had passed since she’d arrived at the academy and already she knew her parents had been wrong. Judging by her classmates’ welcoming committee, there was no way she was going to have an enjoyable time, nor was it likely she’d make any friends. Not a single person had tried to help her out of the fountain—they’d all been too busy laughing at her. That told her all she needed to know. She would just have to grit her teeth and get through the next eight months, and once her parents were back, she would never have to return to the academy again.
She trudged forward with bitter resolve and tried to air out her enrolment papers, but there was nothing she could do since they were just as soaked as she was. At least the ink hadn’t run, that was something.
Alex entered the building and paused when she caught sight of her reflection in a mirror just inside the doorway. Her clothes were stuck to her shivering body, her long dark hair was stringy and wet, and her normally warm brown eyes were darkened by her turbulent emotions.
She shook her head and turned away from her bedraggled appearance. So much for making a good first impression.
Dripping water all the way, Alex headed over to the reception desk.
“Can I help you?” asked the lady seated there, without so much as a glance upwards. It was probably for the best since Alex was leaving a small lake on the pristine floor.
“I’m here to enrol,” Alex said. It didn’t take a genius to hear the misery in her voice.
“Name?” the woman asked.
“Alexandra Jennings.”
“Take a seat, Miss Jennings.”
Alex shuffled over to a line of chairs and sat down with a squelch. She still couldn’t believe what had transpired outside. She wondered if it was too late to try and call her parents one last time—and convince them to find a way to smuggle her away with them—but she knew it was useless. Their plane had probably already taken off; they were likely long gone. She was on her own.
“The headmaster will see you now,” the receptionist said, still not bothering to glance up. “Down the hallway, third door on the right.”
Alex rose from her seat and headed down the brightly lit corridor, soon losing sight of the reception area.
If only things could be different, she thought sadly, knocking on the headmaster’s door. There was no answer, so she tried again, louder. When still no call came to enter, Alex shrugged and turned the handle.
It was dark inside the room. Pitch-black, in fact.
“Hello?” she called out from the doorway. “Is anyone in here?”
Just as she was about to retrace her steps and go back to the reception, the room exploded with light. Alex had to hold her hand up to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. When she was able to lower her arm again, she stared in shock at the sight before her.
“What the…?” she whispered.
I must have hit my head when I fell into the fountain, she reasoned. It was surely the only explanation for the view in front of her.
The doorway opened into a small forest clearing. Sunlight streamed through the canopy of evergreens and their shadows dappled the mottle-coloured forest floor. The surrounding trees continued further than her eyes could see, with no school buildings in sight.