Neenah Fynn: and the Dawn of Summer

by CN Thornton

  "Yes, I know, amazing isn't it?" Asherah glowed. "And this is just the foyer. Shall we continue on with the tour?"

  And we did. Asherah gave us a quick tour of the house, spending five to ten seconds in each room. In that short amount of time, I learned that the bottom floor contained a large dining area with a massive table that looked large enough to fit everybody in Tamarack House, plus a massive kitchen, a common room, a library/study area, a laundry room and the prefects' rooms.

  Both the second and third floors had a large bathroom and twelve bedrooms. The second floor belonged to the females, the third floor the males.

  When we made it to the second floor, we stopped in the middle of the hallway.

  "The right side of the hallway holds students in years one and two, the left side three and four," Asherah began. "Each room has six beds. That is six heads per room. Yes, if you did the math right, a full house is one hundred and forty-four heads."

  A girl near the front raised her hand.

  "Yes?" Asherah answered.

  "So, one hundred and forty-four people fit in the dining room downstairs?"

  "Yes, but we hardly use it. Basically, it is nothing more than a prop."

  "Why is it there if we don't use it?"

  "On the weekends, the main dining hall is closed. So anything we eat is cooked in this house," Asherah explained.

  Asherah went over a few standard house rules—like no males in our rooms, no males on our floors, quiet time at nine and lights out at ten. After she told us about the bulletin board in the common room and how we had to check it every morning for important notices, she set us free to find our rooms.

  Each bedroom had a plaque outside the door and each plaque had six names. At the very end of the hall, I finally found mine. With it were five others—Saveraeh, Quinn, Florence, Aeronica and Gabriella.

  When I entered the room, I froze for a brief second to take it all in. It was like living in a mystical forest. The carpets were a mix of daisies and clovers, the walls a beautifully colored wood with various carvings, and the ceiling had a thick branch running across it.

  Even the four-post canopy beds were magnificent. The posts were long, thin trees made from young Douglas firs, and the frame and head board consisted of twisted and warped branches that knotted here and there, giving off a whimsical feel. The canopy curtains were pieced together by several vines of white hanging wisteria.

  It was perfection.

  I found my luggage sitting at the end of the only unclaimed canopy bed that sat next to the farthest one from the door.

  The bed on my right was occupied by a girl with long brown hair. She had her back to me, so I couldn't see her face, but she wore a jumper dress with a floral design. Her name was Florence Fontana—I could tell because it was embroidered on one of her luggage bags.

  The bed on my left had been taken by a girl who immediately introduced herself as Quinn Nightingale. Her face was pretty in that simple, down-to-earth way. She wore her brown hair pulled back in a loose updo that collaborated perfectly with her outfit—a white bohemian-styled dress that flowed to her knees, with braided sandals on her feet. They didn't have soles, from what I could see, so it seemed like she wasn't wearing anything on her feet at all.

  After a short conversation with her as we unpacked our clothes and personal belongings, I managed to find out her father was a faerie who had fallen in love with a hippie woman. She explained her parents' relationship as one of those perfect love stories where they were basically meant for each other.

  Just hearing about it made me jealous and sad. But I quickly shoved the little green monster away and forced a smile on my face.

  I had just finished putting my clothes away in the drawers under my bed when a girl named Lyric entered the room. She told us the house was having a meeting downstairs in the common room and our presence was required.

  I walked with Quinn and Florence downstairs to the common room. It was massive, with all the walls made up of glass—basically a giant sun room.

  Just like the main area of the house, the floor was moss. The chairs were nothing more than oversized toadstools and the couches at the windows were carved from logs. Flowers sprouted here and there, with butterflies fluttering about.

  The three of us sat together in the back corner of the room and waited for everyone else to join us. Even when one hundred and forty-four people had gathered, there was still a decent amount of room.

  "Okay, listen up!" Caledon said as he moved to stand at the front of the room with Asherah at his side. "Today is Sunday, meaning tomorrow is Monday. Can anyone tell me what happens Monday?"

  I looked around the room. Some people looked bored and unimpressed, some looked confused and curious, and the rest looked like they were uncertain about whether or not they should say anything.

  Then a girl spoke up. "Welcome Back Party."

  "YES!" Caledon shouted, pointing at her with much enthusiasm. "Yes, the Welcome Back Party! And guess which house will be kicking it off tomorrow night?"

  "What is the Welcome Back Party?" I whispered to Quinn. She shrugged her shoulders. I then looked to Florence, who shook her head.

  The majority of the people in the room erupted into cheers. Going on and on about how we were going to blow the roof off this party. When it finally quieted down, Asherah stepped forward and spoke.

  "We have twenty-eight hours to come up with a party theme and pull it together. We need ideas, my fellow Tamaracks."

  After a bit more chatter, I learned that the Welcome Back parties were basically meant to showcase the skills of the students in the higher grades. They would be graded on how things were pulled together and constructed by harnessing their skills.

  "So," Caledon began. "Like we do every year, I would like you to pair up into groups and each construct an idea. The winning group gets a prize."

  The girl I recognized as Aeronica raised her hand to ask what the prize was. After he explained that it was to be excused from the entire week of classes—which was, as he put it, just a preview of the year's coursework—the room began to buzz like a busy bee colony waking after a long winter.

  "Hey, Neenah." It was Silas again. He took a seat on a toadstool across from me.

  "Hi, Silas."

  "Um, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to collaborate together."

  I looked from Quinn to Florence, then back to Silas, and said, "Actually, I was grouping up with my roommates." I bit my lip.

  "Oh, um. I understand." He forced a smile.

  "Neenah, we don't mind letting him in our group." Quinn replied. She leaned in and whispered into my ear, low enough that only I could hear her, "He is cute." She wiggled her eyebrows at me and then leaned away.

  "Oh, and you have thirty minutes before I want those ideas." Caledon shouted over his shoulder to the room as he and Asherah left.

  Silas's forehead creased as he said, "I wonder where they are going?"

  I shrugged my shoulders while Quinn and Florence glanced at each other and giggled. After a few more minutes of this behavior, the four of us moved to a more peaceful place to begin working. Outside in the backyard.

  Our backyard had a massive pond, twenty yards long and ten wide. A walkway made of grass sat on top of the pond, reaching from one end to the other. Here and there it branched off with little swirls, some of them containing circular gardens filled with flowers. The spot we chose for our refuge was one of the larger circles that branched off to the left of the walkway, a sunken-in sitting area that looked like it could comfortably fit eight. At least twenty pillows decorated it with canary yellows, blues and floral patterns.

  "So, ideas. I am determined to win this week off class," Silas said. He sat between me and Florence with his legs crossed and his hands resting behind his head.

  "Okay, so the rules are we have to use our Element. Earth. Plants... What kind of party can we throw with plants?" I began.

  "Faerie forest!" Quinn chimed. Florence made a raspberry sound as she
gave a thumbs-down. "Yeah, boring. Sorry."

  "Whatever it is, we need to have a decent menu. Nothing says 'good party' like great food!" Silas chimed in.

  I flipped open my sketch book, which I'd brought outside with us, and wrote "Good food" at the top left of the paper.

  "Okay, I know this is a long shot, but remember that story Mom used to read us all the time when we were kids?" Quinn said to Florence.

  I set my pen down and looked between them, confused. "Wait, you are siblings?" I glanced between them again and noticed similarities in their appearance—their hair color, facial features, eye color and height were all near identical.

  Florence and Quinn looked at each other and then back at me before laughing. It was clear they were amused.

  "It's the last name that throws people off," Florence began. "I have our mother's surname. I was born before my parents married and she wanted me to have her name."

  "Then they got married a week later and got pregnant with me," Quinn added.

  I brought my hand to my forehead as I laughed, amused by their life story.

  "Wow... All I can say is... wow," Silas said.

  "Okay, okay. We are running low on time. If we want to win this, we have to give it our all. Flo, Quinn, your idea please?" I rushed out.

  Florence continued about the story called Alice in Wonderland. The main idea being the crazy wonderland. After a bit of discussion on how to incorporate it into a party, we came up with a Wonderland Theme Park idea.

  Inspired by the oversized toadstools in the common room, we decided to use oversized plants for the entire architecture of the theme park. I sketched up a few blueprints of our idea, then flipped to a new page so we could begin working on the menu.

  When we finished, we headed back to the house—just in time, as Caledon and Asherah called attention to the room. I quickly ran our papers up to the front and then rejoined Florence, Quinn and Silas near the back of the room.

  Everyone around us chattered cheerfully while Asherah and Caledon went through the papers. After ten minutes, they announced that they had made a decision.

  "All of your ideas were wonderful, but I have to say that—" He paused to look down at the papers in his hand. "By a landslide, the Wonderland Theme Park." He held up the papers I recognized as ours. "Now if only the creators had written down their names, we would know who they are."

  Silas nodded at me, so I rose to my feet and moved to the front of the room.

  "You drew this?" Caledon asked, showing me the blueprints I had drawn.

  I nodded and said, "Yes. But I didn't do it on my own." I gestured to the back of the common room where my group sat. "The Wonderland theme was Florence and Quinn's. And the food choices were Silas. I just drew it and constructed the overall details," I explained in a small voice.

  "Well, thank you—all four of you." He inclined his head to me and then to each of my friends. "As promised, you are excused from your classes for the week."

  "Just don't forget your duties. Tomorrow, all four of you are required to be downstairs at 8am to begin work on your idea. Get with Asherah and Lyric after this meeting is dismissed."

  "As for the rest of you, tomorrow at the party you will present yourselves with mannerly conduct." Asherah glanced around the room expectantly, a smile remaining on her face the entire time. "We are Tamarack House, the first house to ever exist at Endeavour Academy. Being here is an honor. Stay out of trouble."

  I slipped to the back of the room and rejoined my friends. Tomorrow we would set up for our party, and then for the rest of the week we would explore the campus and see what we could get into.

  ***

  After our prefects released us, I excused myself from my friends and went upstairs for some alone time. When I entered my room, it felt surprisingly empty.

  It was two o'clock in the afternoon, meaning there were three hours until dinner time. That gave me time to change into something a little more comfortable and read.

  Our room was located just above the common room, so we had a balcony with a patio table and chairs. It was the ideal reading spot for me, as it overlooked our peaceful estate and was mostly private—only my roommates and guests could access it.

  I searched through my dresser for something suitable to wear, wanting to fit in with my friends. They all wore cool-looking clothes while I had on jeans and a plain old t-shirt. I looked boring. But I managed to find a periwinkle-blue sun dress that was decent enough.

  I was straightening out my dress when Quinn walked in. She smiled and said, "Nice dress."

  I responded with a simple, "Thank you."

  She then proceeded to tell me that all first-year females were wanted downstairs in Prefect Asherah's bedroom. And so we went.

  Asherah's bedroom was massive. It was the same size as ours, but with only one full-sized bed instead of six. She also had a decent-sized sitting area with several bookshelves, and a study area complete with an office desk, filing cabinet and separate computer desk, an en-suite bathroom and a full-sized armoire with a matching vanity set.

  Her entire room was more elegant without a doubt. The bookshelves and end tables were made with finer woods and the walls upholstered with a beautiful champagne silk. Ivory curtains framed her large bay windows and several murals hung on the walls.

  I had barely taken in the room when the large stained-glass doors opened and in walked several women in formal attire. They looked like they had just come from a meeting, only I was pretty sure they hadn't.

  "You, you, you, you and you!" a lady with stern features snapped as she pointed at five of us. She had a foreign accent that was hard to place. "Line up here!" She snapped her fingers impatiently.

  I was one of the five she pointed to, so I moved quickly to the spot she had indicated. Instantaneously, I was bounded on by two women who began removing my clothes until I was standing in nothing but my plain white undergarments. Then they measured my body at different angles with a measuring tape. Once they were finished, I was helped into a premade uniform.

  First came the blouse, a long-sleeved button down made from high-quality silk in a crisp white. After they fixed the buttons, they hemmed it to fit me. Next was a pleated a-line dress, also white, which fell to just above my knees. This too was made of silk, only it had several more layers to give it a bit of thickness and a slight flare. When the dress fit to their liking, they gave me a pair of knee-length stockings that matched the color of my uniform. Then my feet were measured, and I was given a pair of white dress shoes before they waved me away.

  Before I left the room, the stern-faced lady—Madam Beechwood from her name tag—gave me a white tote-like bag and a paper that talked about the proper care for my uniform, how to wear it, what not to wear with it and what uniforms should be worn where.

  Apparently, my measurements were going to be used to make not only the four remaining sets of my standard uniform—like the one I was currently wearing—but also my Elemental Physical Education uniform.

  When I was officially released, I went straight to my room and put my paper away in the top drawer of my dresser before turning my attention to the bag Madam Beechwood had given me. I took a seat on the edge of my bed and released the drawstrings that held the bag closed. When I reached my hand in, my fingers came in contact with the same material—if not softer—that my uniform was made from. After I took it out of the bag, I held it out in front of me. It took me a few moments to realize it was a cape, only instead of white it was our house color, green.

  I didn't waste any time putting it on. Once it was fastened into place, I let out a breath of relief. I was in my uniform and ready for whatever came next. In my case, it was dinner. Two and a half hours had passed since the moment I had first entered my dormitory. Not only was I hungry, I was also eager to see my friends again.

  I turned out the bedroom light and made my way downstairs to the common room. It was the only place I could think of that Silas might go. I glanced around the seemingly empty room before
my eyes fell on his figure, sitting in solitude at the window seat near the front of the room. His back was to me as I approached. He seemed to be looking out the window, but when I was close enough I could see he was staring at a monarch butterfly that had landed on his hand.

  I smiled as I watched him watching the butterfly. "Hey," I said, gaining his attention.

  He quickly stood and turned around, causing the butterfly to take flight. His bright blue-green eyes searched my face, a crooked smile turning up the corners of his mouth. Then his eyes locked on mine, causing my stomach to flutter.

  "I wondered when you'd get done with the seamstress. I thought for a moment you were at the back of the line." He took a step back and his eyes swooped from my head to my toes. "Nice look by the way, white-walker," he added in a smug voice.

  Both Silas and I were white-walkers—so we both would spend four years stuck wearing white uniforms with green capes.

  I grinned and ran my fingers through my long, platinum-blond hair. "Actually, I was one of the first. And thank Gaea because I wanted to get it done and over with."

  "Ah, you missed me, eh?"

  Maybe. I blushed. "I was hungry." That technically wasn't a lie. It was a half-truth.

  "No worries, we can head down to dinner now. We can even sit together if you like."

  I felt my face get even warmer. I shook my long hair, hoping it would fall around my face to shield the evidence. It was the only inconspicuous thing I could do to hide the neon sign of my flushed cheeks.

  "Ok. Let's go eat," I rushed out, desperate to keep my face hidden from him. I turned quickly on my heel and headed for the door, not bothering to wait for Silas. The few seconds I had to myself I hoped would give my cheeks time to lighten.

  As we stepped outside, Silas began a conversation on class schedules, wondering how many classes we would have together and whether we would have to take all the Elemental Focus classes or just the one.

  I didn't bother opening my mouth to contribute, just nodded and said things like "yep," "of course," and "totally" when it felt appropriate. It wasn't that I didn't care what he had to say, but more that I didn't know what to say myself.