“So, the fence is around the entire school?”
I huffed. “Planning on breaking out already?”
“Quit teasing.” Sabine eyed the landscape that loomed further in the distance. “I don’t want bears or something to sneak in from the woods back there. It’s not like we know where we are way out here.”
“We have secure fences and other surveillance tools around the entire campus,” Mr. Suthering said, matter-of-factly.
Surveillance tools. Like…guards? More eyes watching us. Again, they had to be liberal with security at such a fancy school.
I tuned out Sabine’s questions and the annoying, twangy way she began every single one of them with her drawled out so. Manicured lawns gave way to formal gardens. Shrubs, flowers, and trees all shaped and trimmed almost too perfectly to appear real. Even the vines twisting and snaking around appropriately designed spaces seemed behaved and flourishing. Maybe they fertilized the heck out of the place, but it was baffling and shocking at first to be surrounded by such a green place. Coltin was too hot and dry to ever boast any kind of flora.
Everything was so open and spotless. Birds fluttered their wings in perfectly clear water in old stone birdbaths. Splashes tumbled from waterfalls in ornamental garden ponds. Stepping stones invited us to trek through the mazes of flowers and blossoms.
“So, where is everybody?” Sabine’s question dragged me from zoning out in appreciation of the place.
“You’ll see.”
Mr. Suthering turned his attention to the attendant at the front gate building. Like everything else, it was constructed of stone and just as decorated in an anciently classic taste. Nothing gaudy, but Olde Earth screamed of old money everywhere, even the gatehouse.
“Thank you,” he told the attendant after he handed him a card.
A key card? Would we be issued a card to gain entrance and egress from this palace?
I paid no attention to the older man who waved us on. The black spired gate rolled apart, and we were driven inside. As we circumvented the Main Hall and cruised along the cobblestone drive, we rounded the bulk of the school buildings. Just like Mr. Suthering promised, there were more buildings to the rear. Four houses, each with color-coordinated spires, stood tall and proud. The dormitories. They continued the same elegance and solid presence as the Main Hall and other buildings had, but what stole my attention next were the people.
For as many students as Mr. Suthering had hinted at attending Olde Earth, I still wasn’t prepared. I was looking at more people than all of Coltin’s inhabitants. This wasn’t an isolated and top-secret school. It was a fricking small world.
Guys were playing basketball on several courts. Girls were tanning on chaises, and some were floating on rafts in Olympic-sized pools. Others were biking along trails that spread out from the hub of the campus. Groups were lounging in shady spaces under hundreds-of-year-old trees.
“I imagine most students are enjoying the last day of break. Classes begin tomorrow.”
Most? Had Mr. Suthering said most? This wasn’t even all of the students? Talk about feeling small in a large crowd.
“Wow.”
Now Sabine seemed interested. Of course, her eyes were directed toward the group of shirtless dudes on a sandy space by the pools, a bunch of guys older than us playing football.
Casting my attention in the other direction, out my own window, I spied more landscape. The campus was situated on a hill, but still only halfway up in the terrain, because a larger elevation spread up and further out into the horizon. At one edge, the hint of open water sparkled.
Water. I pulled at my earlobe. Like a pond? A lake? Perhaps I’d be able to avoid it.
“Just…wow.” Sabine tugged down her sunglasses that she had donned once the sun had truly risen. She zeroed in on the group of football players and then the people by the pools. “I am so glad I came along.”
I rolled my eyes, unsurprised at her excitement. Well, let’s just see how long you last here.
“As you can see, there is much to explore. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have much time for acclimating to the campus, but I’m sure you will have plenty of opportunities to familiarize yourself around your studies.” Mr. Suthering smiled as the car came to a stop before the entrance to the centermost building. Squatter and not as ornate, it seemed like a corridor or collecting point between all four houses.
“If you will follow me, please.” He exited and then held the door open for me and Sabine. On the ground after so many hours as a passenger, I stretched out my legs and held in a groan at the tight cramps in my thighs. Damn. It was already into the day, and I hadn’t gone for a run that morning. Well, circumstances and all that. I spun around to spot those trails I saw bikers on and hoped I could take advantage someday.
Sabine swayed in her steps as she followed Mr. Suthering, right back at her need to impress whoever may be watching. We approached a pair of older women seemingly waiting for us before the front doors. I squinted in the bright sunlight to check them out.
On the left was a middle-aged lady with skin as dark as Susan’s and with a few more wrinkles. She lacked a pink pixie cut, her tresses braided and looped into a complex twist atop her kind, smiling face. White teeth gleamed from her wide grin, and she slid the glasses that slipped down her nose back up to shield the brown eyes that twinkled at us. Next to her, the older woman wore the same formal attire of a button-down and beige skirt, but on her feet were flats, not heels, likely to ease the discomfort of standing on pudgy legs. Not heavy, but not slim, she seemed portly and proper. Graying brown hair was pulled into a rigid bun, and she acknowledged us with a curt smile and nod, no warmth enveloping us like her younger coworker.
“Layla, Sabine, I would like to introduce you to your Headmistress Glorian Andeas,” Mr. Suthering began, gesturing to the pale, older woman, “and to your Head Librarian, Ethel Verlene.”
Ethel waved with a little flip up of her hand. Glorian’s face remained stoic yet polite.
“This is Miss Layla Holden,” he said as he gestured to me, “and Miss Sabine Holden. Our newest students for the year.”
Sabine pulled off a curtsy, and by the unchanging set of Glorian’s face, it probably stunk of sarcasm instead of any kind of courtesy.
Or are we supposed to actually curtsy here?
“Very well.” Glorian cleared her throat. “I will leave Mrs. Verlene to present you with a tour of our campus.”
“Oh, just call me Ethel.” She shrugged as she smiled and offered to shake our hands.
“Once you’ve finished with your tours, Mrs. Verlene will show you to your dorm supervisors and help you locate your dorms.” Mr. Suthering stepped closer to Glorian and nodded to the librarian. “Please don’t hesitate to let Mrs. Verlene know of your concerns and questions. Not only is she our excellent resource of help in our libraries, but she is also our resident historian of the Academy.”
Glorian nodded once, and before she and Mr. Suthering moved to leave us, she said, “Ladies, welcome to Olde Earth Academy.”
Chapter Seven
Ethel beamed at us for a moment before she took a deep breath and then, somehow, smiled even brighter. “Well!” A clap. She held her hands together and held them toward us. “Wel-come!”
She was going to be one of those overly enthusiastic kinds of people. Bubbly on steroids. Yet, she hadn’t annoyed me. I smiled right on back. As formal and almost stern as Suthering had been, calculating maybe, this librarian seemed like a breath of fresh air.
“Yeah, hi,” Sabine said.
“Nice to meet you,” I told her.
She jumped in her step without lifting from the ground and proceeded to backpedal toward the building. “We’ve only got today to truly show you campus, so we’ve got plenty of ground to cover. Hope you like walking.” I even chuckled at her wink.
And walk we did. We followed her inside the lobby. “If you’d like to use the restrooms first, you’ll find them right over there to your left. We’re goi
ng to collect another new classmate to join us on the tour. He arrived late last night, and this will be his first day here on campus as well.”
“Alrighty. Back in a sec then.” Sabine led the way to the bathrooms. Once we were in our own stalls, she muttered, “She’s a little overkill, huh?”
Ethel? “Be nice,” I warned. Then again, why waste my breath? Sabine pounced on anyone who didn’t fit within the slim confines of her tastes. Probably because she knew this new classmate joining us was male, she stood at the mirrors and messed with her makeup. I adjusted the straps of my backpack to make it easier for walking and started to exit.
“Wait up. Jesus. Some of us like to look decent. We’ve been cooped in a car for hours.”
Like she needed me to wait for her. If we were back in Coltin, she’d be shoving me away. Maybe the new place threw her off of her hatred for me.
I hope she’s not going to pick on this other new kid. It wouldn’t seem fair if she tried to. We were newbs just the same.
Outside, in the lobby, Ethel waited for us with a guy our age. Students loitered and bustled past them in a buzz of activity, but this newcomer captured my attention. Another first to add to the list. A guy snagging my eye.
“There they are.” She waved us to come close, like a coach calling us for a huddle. “Flynn wasn’t far and decided to come wait for us here. Ladies, this is Flynn Madsen. He’s a freshman just like you.”
Just like me? I doubted it. For one, he was a guy. And he was…too mature. How could he be a freshman? His steady, deep-blue gaze locked on mine, no flinching, no shyness.
“Flynn, meet Sabine and Layla Holden. They’ve just arrived. From Texas. Right, girls?”
“Uh-huh. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Sabine’s reply rolled into a purr, and she held her hand out to him. Was this how it really worked? Was I actually witnessing a human being melting into a puddle?
My sister couldn’t have been more…too much if she tried. With her arm out, her hand waiting for his, she propped the whole right half of her body toward him. Not only that, but she also contorted her stance into something with a cocked hip, so her chest—sorry, her almighty breasts—were pushed up for better viewing. She looked like a mannequin that had been run into too many times with a shopping cart.
I covered my forehead, shielding my eyes. Could she be any more obvious? Any more embarrassing? And she thought I was the joke? Why not rub up against him like a freaking cat while you’re at it? Cover him with your scent, so it’s a clear hands-off signal?
“Right. Nice to meet you too,” he answered while eying her hand like it might be contagious. Perhaps he wasn’t a fan of physical contact. After a moment, he took it and shook it once.
I’d called it right. No way could he be our peer, my age. His voice was way too deep. Too masculine. Very firm and sure.
Back home, teens our age were awkward. Darren had just gotten over the high and low shifts of inflection. The guy who lived three trailers down still sounded like a goat the last time I’d heard him talk. All the boys still stammering and stuttering half the time. Or mumbling.
Flynn? He was like an adult. He even stood like a man, no fidgeting or anything. How could a teenager be so…confident?
“Layla, is it?” He faced me then, and I lowered my hand from my forehead.
I nodded and waved. No need to be so formal and steal a chance to touch him via a handshake.
“Hi.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked to Ethel.
She pulled in another deep breath like it was the fuel she needed to smile hard. “Okie dokie. Shall we start? We’ll have time to chat as we walk.”
“Lead the way,” I suggested.
With admirable efficiency, Ethel took us through the lobby and back outside. Only, she was backward, always facing us. She must have done this numerous times, because she didn’t miss a beat as she pointed to outbuildings and structures, always referring to the correct direction, even though her rights were our lefts. If she was the Academy’s resident historian, it seemed fitting that she’d know the place inside and out.
“Here we have the Main Hall. We’ll take a stroll through and check out the places you’ll be stopping by tomorrow.” She switched to walk forward for a moment until we got there.
“So, where are you from, Flynn?” Sabine asked.
I was impressed she’d held off that long. She had to be dying to get a chance to chat with the new hot guy, and she’d only now had a chance to speak around Ethel’s commentary of the campus.
Wait. Hot guy?
I rolled my eyes to myself as I lingered behind them. When Ethel faced us, we dropped into a triangle. Sabine and Flynn side by side, and me in the back. Guessed that was the formation we’d stick to.
Sure, he was a cute guy. He had to be if Sabine already had her claws out and her voice too sugary. I glanced at him, paying attention to him more fully than I had in the first bit of the tour. Wavy dark brown hair slid back as he turned to face me for a second. His dark blue eyes were narrowed, almost like he’d caught me doing something red-handed.
What was that smirk for? I couldn’t look at him? Sabine had been staring at him like a lovesick dork since we met him. All of twenty-five minutes ago.
He turned back around, and I finished the once-over. Muscles. Tanned skin. Casual stride. But still, I couldn’t dismiss how quickly I wanted to categorize him as a hot guy.
Fine, sue me. I wanted to know where he was from too. He had a hint of an accent, almost like he might be trying to conceal it.
“London.” He smiled too quickly for it to be a sincere gesture.
Sabine gasped. “You’re British?”
“Well, London is in Great Britain…” I muttered it so low I didn’t think she’d hear. But his lips tipped halfway into a real smile, and Sabine stopped walking long enough to basically trip me on the sidewalk.
Brat.
“So, how—”
“Right on in here. Come along!” Ethel’s urging to enter Main Hall nipped Sabine’s info gathering short. She glared at the librarian’s back until Ethel spun around to backpedal again once we were in the vast foyer of the building.
Did they have any buildings without such high ceilings? Dimly lit hallways stretched in all ways, echoing our guide’s voice as she resumed speaking. Not even her heels click-clacking on the marble floor could combat the ricocheting tones bouncing around the space. “Here we have the classrooms you’ll likely report to for your first day tomorrow. Most of the biology lecture rooms are along this corridor here, and…”
As sweet and peppy as Ethel’s voice was, her words droned into a nonstop litany of directions. Brief explanations. Some suggestions. She threw in a few interesting factoids about events that had occurred in the rooms we previewed. It was just all so much to take in. I wouldn’t say I let it go in one ear and out the other, but even with taking notes in my journal as we walked, I simply couldn’t keep up and digest everything she said. It was a damned big campus. After a couple of hours, we had at least walked past most of the rooms and through the buildings we were likely to frequent. Main Hall alone took nearly an hour to get through.
“Trust me, it’s a large place, but it’s not that easy to get lost. In here, at least.” She giggled. “Now in the Main Library…” She shrugged. “Even I get lost in there sometimes.”
Of the tour so far, going through the biggest library was my favorites. Remember the Beast’s library? Walls and walls of books? Triple that. Belle would have fainted at Olde Earth’s cavernous area of tomes. Rooms and hallways of four stories of books. Suthering hadn’t been joking. I wasn’t disappointed in the library, but would it have the kind of stories I liked to read? Time would tell. Another time, not now, because we were on our way to another building.
We were all quietly listening to Ethel for the majority of the time, but we each had our own questions.
Sabine, in the gym: “Do we have co-ed swimming pools for gym class?”
Flynn, in the cafeteri
a: “What time is breakfast served?”
Me, in the medical center: “What if we need hospitalization?”
Ethel didn’t break her stride or judge us at all, answering as we powerwalked.
We eventually made our way closer to the dorms, and Ethel provided instructions I took careful notes of so I wouldn’t forget.
“Once we check into your respective dorms, I’ll hand you over to your house supervisors. Sabine, it looks like you’re assigned to the Blue House, with Bernadette, and Layla, you’re assigned to the Green House with Marcy. Flynn, as you learned last night, you’ll be staying in the Green House as well, under Nick’s supervision.”
“Yes, he showed me to my room last night.” Flynn still tucked his hands into his pockets, maintaining a debonair and laidback posture as he walked. Like he hadn’t a care in the world. Was it an act? Did he think he was better than us all? He was in a brand-new and impressive academy. If this didn’t please him, what would?
“Sweet,” Sabine said.
Sweet, how? How the heck could she know that the Blue House was going to be so great? Or was she just excited that she would be away from me? Probably the latter. Because I couldn’t hide a smile at the news I wouldn’t be sharing a room with her either.
“Now, dorm life can be fun and exciting, but there two rules you should always abide by. First, curfew. Olde Earth has a strict curfew, and while it can change according to schedules and exam times, it is never to be disregarded.”
Sabine grumbled, probably for attention as though she was a hilarious rebel. Flynn kept his focus on Ethel, nonplussed. “How is it enforced?” he asked.
“How do you mean?”
He shrugged, his hands still in his pockets. “Is there a guard?”
“In a way, yes.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her. In a way? Either there was a guard, or there wasn’t.
“Well, there isn’t a staff member waiting at the door. But there is a dog.”
Sabine’s jaw dropped. “A dog? What, some kind of killer attack mutt?”
I sighed at her dramatics. She watched way too much TV. Reality was not all that Animal Planet cracked it up to be.
Secrecy: Olde Earth Academy: Year One Page 6
