by Slick, Tabi
“Hey,” Lee said, "let’s get to the auditorium.”
“Hi!” Kia smiled, bouncing beside me, “I’m Kia, Izzy’s new roommate.”
“You new here?” Lee asked.
“I just transferred from Florida!” Kia replied.
“I’m Lee,” he added, "welcome to the Academy.”
“Thanks!” She said, "And you must be Kain?”
“Yeah,” my brother replied.
“Nice to meet you all!” She cheered.
After the introductions we all headed towards the auditorium that was already filling up with other students. The auditorium was huge and very nice, to say the least. It looked like it was some sort of opera house! The seats were made out of fine, maroon velvet that matched the stage’s curtain. It had dark wood floors and everything was accented by silver frames and edges. It was utterly and inexplicably gorgeous.
Once it seemed that everyone had found their seats the lights dimmed and a small band began to play some sort of Mozart piece. When they were finished the curtains opened, revealing several important looking people. One I recognized as Principle Chomsky, but I had no idea who the others were.
“Welcome,” Ms. Chomsky began, her face barely shifting into a smile, “I would like to take this time to welcome once again all of you who are returning to the Academy.”
She paused only for a moment, gazing out at all of us staring right back at her.
“And for those,” she continued, “who are just starting their first term here I wish you all the very best. Our school believes in hard work, discipline, and we pride ourselves in providing our students with an educational stimulus that which can only be provided by immersing oneself into learning…”
She droned on and on as if we were all interested in what she was saying. I looked towards the others and almost laughed as a boy nodded to sleep, his head just inches away from resting on Kain’s shoulder. Kain nudged the guy away who sat up with a start.
“Is this woman boring or what?” I gasped.
“I wonder if we actually have to be here,” Kia said, mostly to herself.
The microphone suddenly squawked, making me cover my ears for a moment. I looked up at the speaker, who wore an exasperated expression. I hoped that she was almost finished.
“We have many wonderful teachers,” the lady continued, as if nothing had happened, “to my right, Steven Raper and Kevin Johnson head up the Math department. Sheldon Webber and Sheldon White cover our History department…”
“Hey, Lee,” I whispered, “is it like this every year?”
“Every single year,” he replied, rolling his eyes, “I’ve basically memorized her entire speech backwards and forwards.”
“I look forward to it,” I laughed.
He laughed, too, playfully elbowing me in the shoulder.
I turned back towards the stage and suddenly noticed a tall, slight man with thinning white hair and pallid skin that clung to his skull as if it was about to fall off. It was actually scary how skinny he was, but that was not what had caught my attention.
What I couldn’t stop looking at were his eyes! It didn’t look like they had any color, just glassy whiteness staring blankly into…nothingness. Was he alive? His head seemed to be too small for his body. Even though his body was not even that big to begin with, only sickeningly skinny and tall. But what made him look even stranger was the fact that he had an abnormally long neck that seemed better suited for a Giraffe.
“Who is that?” I asked Lee, pointing towards the guy.
“Yeah, I know,” he shrugged, as if he felt the same way, “scary, right?”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“That’s Professor Valkyrien,” he informed, “he’s been here forever, and I mean forever.”
“He’s like a skeleton,” I commented, “how can you stand taking classes with him?”
“Eh it’s not too bad. Maybe we’ll both have the same class with him this year,” he winked.
I just laughed, not really wanting to be in the same room as that scary old man.
The whole thing was finally over and as we made our way towards the exit, I noticed how diverse all the students were. Some had to have come from all over the world and that was impressive for a school all the way in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma. We followed Lee out of the auditorium and a couple of guys came over to join us. I gaped in astonishment as they got closer. Though they looked like high-schoolers, they were both well over six feet tall!
“What’s up, Lee?” The taller of the two greeted, bringing his fist up and giving Lee a friendly punch in the shoulder.
“Oh hey, how’s it going, guys?” Lee replied.
“Not too bad,” the taller one replied, “looks like there’s a lot of new people.”
“Yeah,“ the shorter one agreed, glancing at me and winking.
“Oh yeah,” Lee said, turning to us, “this is Kain⎼”
“‘sup,” the shorter one waved.
“I’m Duran Black,” the taller one said, shaking Kain’s hand before turning to me, “and who might this fineness be?”
“Cool it pal,” Lee laughed.
“I’m just saying, bro,” he shrugged.
“I’m Izzy,” I smiled.
“This is Laurent,” Lee introduced, indicating to the taller of the two, “and his younger brother Duran. They’re two of our best players.”
“You guys play basketball?” Kain asked.
“Man, we own that court,” Duran answered.
“But Lee’s our best point guard,” Laurent added, “do you play?”
“Yeah,” he replied, “not really on a team, though.”
“Any particular position?” Duran asked.
“I can play most positions,” Kain shrugged, “mostly I play shooting guard”
Their conversation became less interesting so Kia and I left them to it.
“Do they have a map for this place?” Kia asked, “It looks like it could be easy to get lost around here.”
“I know,” I agreed, “and it takes forever to get here from the main road.”
“Seriously,” she laughed.
“Did you see that teacher?” I asked.
“You mean the one that looks like he’s half dead?” She grimaced, “Yep, I saw. Totally creepy!”
“I know!” I said, “I wonder why they’d even hire anyone that looked like that.”
Kia just shrugged, neither of us wanting to picture the guy’s horrifying eyes.
“Let’s go back to the dorms,” she suggested, “maybe they’ve got the sign-up sheet for the auditions posted.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” I agreed, heading towards the path leading towards the dorms.
We entered the dorm’s foyer to be greeted by a bunch of swarming girls around a white folding table.
“So, would that be the sign up sheet?” I asked.
Kia just shrugged as we walked forward.
“Hey,” Kia waived to a nearby girl, “is this where we sign up for the drama club auditions?”
“Yeah,” the girl smiled, brushing her wavy blonde hair off her shoulder, “you girls trying out?”
“Yes,” I replied, “I’m Izzy and this is Kia.”
“Great!” She exclaimed, “I’m Leslie Cabrera, president of the club.”
“So, how does this all work?” Kia asked, “I mean, this is my first boarding school experience and I really don’t know what to expect.”
“You‘ll get used to it,” Leslie smiled, “anyways, you better sign up before all the spots get filled!”
“Yeah, well nice to meet you,” I replied.
We quickly signed up and then headed back to our dorm room. Kia immediately went and connected her iPod to the stereo, turning on the usual K-pop. I went to my bed and pulled out my laptop. I checked my email, deleting all the junk mail, and replied to all the emails from my friends back home letting them know I had gotten to the Academy just fine. Soon I fell into a dreamless sleep and be awoke to a new day. What it would brin
g I had no idea.
Chapter 3: Smile Like You Mean It
It was Wednesday morning and the first day of class at the Academy. I woke up early, straightened my hair as usual, and quickly dressed in a cute, fitted blue top and some white jeans. It was going to be an exciting day because auditions began that afternoon! I would finally be able to show off my skills and I was definitely sure that I would make it. I then made sure my school bag was ready with everything I needed for the day.
“Class starts at seven, right?” Kia asked, interrupting my thoughts as she came into the room.
“Yeah,” I answered, “who do you have first?”
“English with Morgan O’Connor,” she replied, putting on an orange shirt and some dark jeans with matching converse, “which is great because she’s also the director of the drama club!”
“Awesome!” I replied, “that’s who I have, too.”
“Come on,” Kia said, grabbing her backpack, “let’s go.”
I picked up my book bag and followed her out the door. We rushed through the dorms and headed down the path towards the main buildings. We entered the large school, which was filled with other rushing students.
The first hall was filled with lockers, but since we didn’t have our books yet we just went straight to our class, which was on the second floor. We filed into the classroom with the rest of the students and I immediately spotted Lee. I smiled as I weaved my way towards him and took the desk beside him.
“Fancy meeting you here," I said, flashing my most dazzling smile.
“Hey!” He said, turning in his desk, “You in this class, too?”
“Yep,” I nodded.
Just then Kain entered, a headphone stuck in one ear. He looked like he was in one of his “brooding” moods, which probably meant that he was listening to the Rx Bandits again.
I really didn’t think that that band was very good for him to listen to. I couldn’t even understand them at all! Their lyrics made no sense and they banged around on drums with trumpets in the background trying to be “oh so cool” when really they just…weren’t! But I wouldn’t dare say that to Kain’s face, he’d go off on a tangent.
“Izzy,” he nodded his greeting.
“Hey, Kain,” Lee said, motioning for him to sit next to us, “thought anymore about joining the basketball team? Training starts in a couple of weeks.”
“Yeah, I don’t know man,” Kain replied.
“Just think about it,” Lee suggested, “we’re gonna shoot some hoops during last period, if you sign your name up you don’t have to register for another extracurricular.”
“Really,” Kain said, sounding more interested, “I just might have to do that. Having Ms. Chomsky sign me up for choir just doesn’t sound like fun.”
Just then Kia finally found a seat behind me. I wasn’t surprised at all that it was right next to Kain.
“Hey, Kain," she smiled.
“Hey," he replied.
“Class!” Ms. O’Connor said, calling the class to order, “Let’s begin. I’m Morgan O’Connor, call me Ms. Morgan. Please don’t use any smart-alecky nicknames you might come up with. I like my class to be casual, but come on this is a classroom and I’m still your teacher.”
Ms. Morgan narrowed her eyes at some of the students and then smiled.
“Okay,” she began, “now enough of that and welcome to English class, sophomores.”
The class was soon over and so I was off to art class, which consisted of Ms. Cotillard bragging about her accomplishments at some school in France and all of the exhibits she had been involved in over there. Hopefully it would get more interesting once we actually started painting.
Hopefully.
After Art I headed to the dreaded biology class taught by Professor Valkyrien, who was totally creepy. I made my way towards the last door on the third floor and braced myself for the unexpected.
I entered the classroom and spotted Kain seated way in the back. I headed towards the back row and took the seat next to him, putting my stuff on the ground.
“Good call on the back,” I said.
“Yep,” he muttered, earphone still glued to his ear.
“Oh come on!” I said, punching his arm, “tell me you’re not in your brooding, I don’t want to be around people ‘cause life sucks’ mood?”
He just looked at me, raising his eyebrow. Obviously he didn’t think my sarcastic comment was very funny. I shrugged and took the textbook that was being passed back to me.
“Thanks,” I nodded to the blonde girl in front of me, “Oh, hey! You’re Leslie, right?”
“Yeah, hey!” She smiled, “and you’re...Lizzy?”
Kain smirked and I glared at him.
“Izzy,” I corrected.
“Oh,” she replied, looking a bit awkward before changing the subject, “so you’re gonna be at the auditions, right?”
“Yes, I’ll be there!” I said, “Can’t wait.”
“Exciting,” she smiled, turning back towards the front as class started.
Professor Valkyrien glided his way to the front of the classroom, his white skin and thinning hair providing a sickening contrast to the black chalkboard behind him. I swore I saw his head bobble on his overly stretched neck.
“Veelcome to…” his high pitched voice made me jump in my seat, “b-b-beeologee.”
Oh⎼my⎼god, I thought.
The teacher outstretched his hands as if to pull as all into an abnormally awkward and crowded hug. I shivered.
He continued to stare at us and a rather uncomfortable silence spread across the classroom. A foot tapped on the wood flooring and fingers drummed impatiently on a desk.
Was that? Did I just hear the f bomb blaring from Kain’s music?
I turned in my seat to glare at Kain, shaking my head incredulously.
“Turn that OFF!” I hissed, “The entire class can hear it.”
“The teacher’s not even doing anything,” he rolled his eyes, “accept showing us how apparently insane he is.”
“I don’t care,” I replied, “turn it off.”
He shrugged and turned the music down.
“You’re really irritating when you’re moody,” I whispered.
“And you’re really bossy when you’re⎼” he began, “oh wait, no, that’s all the time!”
“You’re so PMSy,” I laughed, “come on please smile for once! It’s not that bad, I mean we’re at a new school and we’ve already made new friends!”
“Turn your b-b-books to page vone-fourty-thwee,” the high pitched squeal announced, causing me to jump again.
“Whatever," Kain said, rolling his eyes again.
I made a face and one side of his face ever so slightly turned upward into a crooked smile.
“You heard what he said, sis,” Kain shrugged, “turn to page vone-fourty-thwee.”
I laughed as I opened my book. Kain did have some issues. But then again, we both did. We both got angry, although it was harder for people to get on my bad side than it was for him. I would get terrible headaches and my whole body would get seriously hot and my hands would get uncomfortably red. Like they were on fire. But for Kain it was moodiness, which happened quite frequently, and he needed to focus his anger on a sport or by going to the gym. I was glad that he was considering going to shoot some hoops with the guys, hoping that Lee would have a positive influence on him.
The rest of class consisted of the professor talking about some sort of cell and then marveling at some squirrel that leapt past the window. I realized then that he reminded me of a turtle, with his very long neck, who got distracted by every little insignificant thing. Finally, the class ended and it was lunch time. I found Kia and we walked together to the cafeteria.
“So, history wasn’t so bad,” Kia was saying, “but it is history. Trust me, if it wasn’t for the fact that the teacher is completely hysterical than it would be so boring.”
“Who teaches it?” I asked.
“Mr. Sheldon Webber,” s
he replied, “the head coach for the basketball team.”
“I got stuck with professor Valkyrien in biology today,” I sighed.
“Hah!” Kia laughed, “How’s he?”
“Crazy,” I smirked, “but anyways, real classes are over. Now we just have tryouts.”
“I know, I’ve been thinking about it all day,” Kia smiled.
“Me too,” I agreed, “and I know exactly what part I’m going to recite.”
We then entered the café and my eyes widened. One side of the cafeteria was a completely glass wall which looked out to the forest. The walls were made out of maroon bricks, accented by the gray tiled floor and black tables. The café had a tall ceiling with chandeliers hanging from chains, providing just the right amount of light. But all of this paled in comparison to the aroma of the food.
“Wow,” Kia gasped.
“Wow is right!” I laughed, "What is this place? Because this cannot be a real cafeteria.”
“Tell me about it," Kia replied, still awestruck.
We made our way through the food line, filling our plates with all the amazing food we could eat.
“I’m totally going to gain a million pounds!” Kia complained.
“Whatever,” I said, “look at the sign! Besides the meat, everything is vegan.”
“And the best part about it is,“ a familiar voice said, “it all tastes good.”
We both turned to find Duran coming up with his tray to join us in our search to find a table.
“Come on, sit over here with the crew,” he invited.
“Hey, guys,” I said, as we approached the table.
Lee was in the middle of eating a huge piece of chicken and Laurent had a similar pile on his plate, preparing to devour it all no doubt. Kain was seated next to Laurent, ignoring his food and intently reading his old copy of The Great Gatsby. Kia and I followed Duran’s lead and took a seat at the table and as I did I noticed another boy at the table. He had dark brown curls with complementing olive toned skin. He looked up when we joined them and caught my glance. I quickly looked away as my eyes started to tear up. I didn’t know what it was, but the moment that I looked into his piercing green eyes I felt a burning sensation. It was like a wave of fire was causing the blood inside my body to overheat. Was I getting sick? It probably was just culture shock.
