I looked away from him as I realized that I wasn’t going to get the answer to my question and I just wanted to leave the room as quickly as I entered it. I felt utterly defeated, tired and deflated.
I nodded my head slowly and said again, “Yes, sir.”
Every single rule that he threw at me after that I just answered in the same way. I didn’t hear any of the rules, I wasn’t interested and bored by that point, I’d find them out at some point. A pang of emptiness from my stomach made me frown again and I started to get frustrated at him. He could have printed out these stupid rules and information about all the things that I could and couldn’t do in the academy.
Then he went on about how I’d been privileged to get entry to the academy at such late notice and how I would reap the benefits of going to such a school. If I only paid attention and let the staff guide me into the excellence, he expected from all of his students.
I knew one thing for sure, I didn’t know Mr. Hawk until now, but I hated him. That vague interest I’d had in him when he first came up to me was now replaced with intense dislike. He’d just ignored my questions, then told me to come to him with my problems. It had been very hard not to roll my eyes at him.
Not like the principal at my old school. He’d been kind and caring. This guy clearly didn’t care and just wanted us all to behave. I think the thing that made it all worse was that he knew I was alone in the world, that I’d only just lost my mom and that I was now an orphan. I knew he knew that because he said it in his long diatribe about how fortunate I was.
Fortunate? Hardly.
The way he said orphan made it sound like I had a disease. One that required me to have some kind of sign on me to make sure people knew I was alone in the world.
´Don’t touch her, she’s an orphan! ´
Warning, warning!
My head was spinning as he said, “Do you understand everything and are you ready to join the academy?”
As if I was stuck in quicksand and the only way to be set free was repeating the same safe words over and over again, I repeated, “Yes, sir.”
He smiled and stood up. I followed, and left his office. At last I could breath and finally eat.
He stood in front of me as I was ready to leave the office and gave me one last reminder. “Remember if there’s anything that you need then don’t hesitate to come and see me.”
This time, I didn’t say a thing, I just left. I couldn’t be bothered. His door may have always been open, but it didn’t have the answers that I needed or, rather, that I wanted.
Chapter Thirteen
“So, you’re Vicki,” said a voice as I swiftly walked out of the principal’s office. I felt singled out, as I everyone knew I was the new girl. But then, I guess they would all know each other and would be aware that I was a stranger. It was a little unbalancing though, when everyone knew who I was, but I didn’t know their names. After my brief encounter with Sarah I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing?
I nodded. Too tired. Hungry and scared to speak.
“No need to be nervous. Mr. Hawk called and said that I should show you your room and class. My name’s Claire Willis and like you, last year I was new too. So, I think that’s the reason he asked me to come and help you find your way around here. But, I bet you are hungry right?”
What gave it away, I wondered?
The big roaring sound that my stomach was making as she spoke.
“Good. Let’s grab a quick lunch before we head to your room. Don’t worry, your things are there.”
Her emerald eyes shone as she spoke and part of me was curious to ask what happened to Sarah? The other part didn’t care. I had been with her long enough to know that I had to stay as far away from her as possible.
“Sarah…”
Before I could even explain she laughed, “I know. That’s why Mr. Hawk called me.”
“How come you don’t call him Principal Hawk?”
“Ah, cause his doors always open.”
We both giggled at her revelation. It wasn’t so bad, after all. I’d been here a couple of hours and I managed to alienate the academy bully, irritate the principal and make a friend. I would say that I hadn’t done as badly as I’d thought I would do.
My eyes glanced up and down the antique hallway. One minute we would see students like Sarah and the next nothing. I was about to ask if the teachers wore uniforms too, but before I could ask, we reached the one place that I’d been to get to.
The cafeteria.
It was filled with kids busy chatting and eating their food. I could smell macaroni and cheese, chicken, pie and that was enough for my stomach to start roaring and for my legs to pick up the pace.
“What’s your poison?”
“You’re kidding me, right?” I stared at her, surprised at the question. “Food!”
“Ok,” she laughed as she started to head to the front of the empty line. I wondered for a split second if the food would be as good as it smelled but as my eyes fixated on it, I wondered if it would be as good as it looked in front of me.
It looked really good.
No, good wasn’t a way to describe what was in front of me. Good was probably a McDonalds, even though Teresa disagrees and constantly says that it’s all about the food at her favorite Chinese restaurant. Maybe she was right, but I would never let her know to her face. The burgers in front of me, made any burgers I’d seen before look as if they were part of the Weight Watchers menu, which I’d tried once and lasted three days.
“Is this an academy or heaven?”
I smiled at Claire.
“You’re my type of girl. Not afraid to say what’s on your mind.”
With her permission my hand extended to take a burger and fries along with some macaroni and cheese. The rest of what happened next was a blur until we sat opposite each other with a glass of water and my plate full, ready to be consumed. Then I smiled before I decided that the burger would be the first item I tackled. I had a bite, closed my eyes as the flavors of the cheese, pickles, onions and even the lettuce filled my senses. Damn, I hate salad - but not today! I didn’t know what was happening around me, but I also didn’t care.
Claire could have gone to the moon and back as I ate. It almost felt like this was my first meal in weeks. Well, it was in a few hours and I ate regularly, a bit too regularly according to Aunt Rose. But right now, it felt as if this meal tasted heavenly. I’d been told that was what hunger did, it made food taste even better because you hadn’t eaten for so long.
I was tired, but as I took another bite, the hunger started to ease. Yeah, I’d slept on the plane, but I hadn’t slept good last night. I’d been too busy worrying about this place and all my fears so far had come true, but as the hamburger disappeared before my eyes, one of my current needs had been satisfied. I wondered if the great food was enough to make me change my mind about this place.
“Girl, slow down. You’re going to give yourself indigestion. We’ve got around an hour for you to finish eating, for me to show you to your room, put on your uniform and get to your first class.”
“So how much eating time, do I have?” I noticed at that precise moment that her plate was empty and that she was watching me. This was the first time that I’d taken more than a second to study her. She was pretty. Not the ‘oh she has long dark hair and green eyes pretty, she’s the girl next door’ kid of pretty either. Nope, she was the cover of Vogue magazine pretty and for a split second, I remembered thinking the same thing about Sarah. If the girls were all this good looking, then what the heck about the guys? I avoided the ones that stared at me as I headed to Mr. Hawk’s office, but now, I wished that I’d had a peak. All of a sudden, I felt like the ugly duckling, not only on the outside for my looks but inside too, because I was an orphan.