Emma – First Day
“Aaaaaaa,”
I yawned, stretching my arms and opening the balcony door to sniff in some of
the morning air. If this won’t wake me
up, nothing will… I walked over to the edge and looked down.
“Eeeeeeemmmaaaaaaaa!!” an annoying
call pierced my sleepy eardrums.
Maybe
I was too rash with that ‘nothing will wake me up’ thing… this definitely did
the job. Man…And who on Ear- Oh. Victoria.
“Gooooood mooooorniiiing Eeeemmmmaaaa!” she waved her
arm in the air, looking very energetic and doing sit-ups while waving. This is too much. SHE is too much.
“Ngh… Morning, Vic,” I sighed, mostly for myself,
because Victoria had already run off to do some morning laps around the
grounds. WAY too much. And I went
back inside. It seemed safer that way. Yes. Safer.
“Must… gah… get… aaaah… dressed,” I
mumbled between yawns, trying to make my way to the dresser without bumping
into too many things. OUCH! Damned chair,
when did YOU get here?? … AH, blasted bedpost! OW, stupid dresser. Hey. The
dresser. Hah, finally. And, extremely proud of myself, I started getting
ready for my first day at Hawkshaw.
This
skirt is way too long… I can’t… I WON’T live with that, I thought bitterly,
looking in the mirror. Now where did I
put those damned scissors..?
Ah,
there we go, I smiled at my reflection in the wonderfully big and equally
astonishing mirror. Looks better now.
Except, maybe, for the loose strings
hanging from the bottom edges. And I probably did a poor job cutting it
straight, too. Alas, it was somewhat normal, and I was happy. So, with a
feeling of victory in mind and with the high hopes that nobody would notice my
hand-made-skirt-improvisation, I closed the door behind me and set out for my
first day of ‘special’ school.
“Gud mawrning, Mted,” I greeted the
guardian between yawns. He was, apparently, very sleepy. I wonder if werewolves sleep during the day… Or maybe they don’t sleep
at all. But if they don’t sleep at all, then why is Ted over there looking like
he’s about to collapse and drool all over the floor? Hmm, should I venture out
and ask Victoria about this? While I was unnecessarily pondering upon Ted’s
sleeping habits, he mumbled a “Good morning, Miss,” and held the front door
open for me. This is the first-impression
day, Emma, so you’d better make it good.
One
hour later…
Oh
no. Oh. NO. Where… Where… WHERE ON EARTH IS MY CLASSROOM??? My head almost
imploded, as I was desperately trying to read the directions I was given at the
front desk of the main building. Gah, too
many damned buildings and too many floors and too many classrooms. I do believe
the passing of this little enrollment test would be actually getting to your
classroom, which is impossible. Impossible. Im-
“Is anything amiss? You look a little lost,” a soft
manly voice approached me, its owner giving me a short bow when he got close
enough.
“Yes, yes, everything is
amiss!” I exploded, barely holding my tears of frustration in. “I can’t read
this damned map, and I can’t, therefore, get to my classroom. And it’s my first
day too.” Not to mention it’d be a bad
first impression. Very bad.
“Hah.”
I eyed him with a raised eyebrow. Hah?
“You are most amusing.” Oh, am I now? “You see… you’re holding the map the wrong way.
Haven’t you wondered why the roof is at the bottom of the page? Hmm?” He now
looked at me terribly entertained.
“Well, no.” Not really.
“In any case, this is where you have
to go and this is how you get there,” he said, marking a red cross on the
classroom drawing and tracing little arrows on the hallways. “Run along now,
you’re late,” he smiled, returning the map to me. Is that blood he drew everything in? … Must be my imagination.
“Uhm, thank you,” I shouted after him
since he was already making his way to his own classroom. Or so I thought. He
looked like an upperclassman, with messy red hair and green eyes. The strange
thing about that guy was the fact that there was nothing strange about him. No pointy ears, no wings, no
nothing. Interesting…Maybe he’s like me…
no special abilities whatsoever… I sighed, and looked up at the door
numbered 401. Well, I certainly got here
fast enough. New classroom, here I come! And I opened the classroom door.
… Wh… what on-… Oh my.
The incredibly large classroom was
housing some of the strangest creatures I had ever seen in my entire life. What in God’s name is THAT? Looks like an
ice-cube. WHY do we have an ice-cube in our class? I wonder if it talks. And
I warily approached a free desk, desperately scanning the room in search for
somewhat normal people. Okay, there’s a
boy in the ice-cube. Phew. Might just be an ice Elemental… Oh, and there’s a
girl with parrot wings.
…
Parrot wings?? That’s just wrong.
And there’s a little winged creature
sitting on some books at a front-row desk. Is that a pixie? Oh my… it IS a
pixie. I wonder if people happen to step on her from time to time… Especially
that big fellow over there. He looks like he could easily squish ME into
oblivion, let alone a 10 inch pixie. I
was now right next to my desk of choice, preparing to sit down, when a loud
voice that came right out of nowhere made me freeze in mid-action. I looked
around the room, trying to locate the source.
“That’s my desk!” the voice thundered.
“Uhm, excuse me, but who -no. Where are you?”
“Ahem, down here,” the voice tugged at
the bottom of my skirt. “And why is
your skirt shedding?”
I looked down and saw…
Oh
my God, a dwarf!!!
“Greetings, little one,” I made a small curtsy. “I did
not know it was your desk,” I said, emphasizing the words and raising my voice
a little. I wonder if he can hear me from
way down there.
“I’m not an idiot you know. I understand you even if
you don`t shout,” the angry little man clenched his fists. “And please do step
away from my desk. Your presence dirties it.”
“Hey now-” I was planning on saying
something really, really rude, but an
oh-so-familiar voice interrupted me.
“Our apologies, Craig, but Miss
Sheffield is new here and didn’t know that that was your desk.”
“Victoria!” I exclaimed in a
surprisingly high-pitched tone, covering Craig’s mumbles. Oh no, we’re in the same class.
“No, we’re not, I’m just here to check
on you,” she winked at me and then suddenly sprung towards the door, since it
had clicked open, and someone had entered. I’m
in the same class as the carrot top from before? No way, I thought he would be
at least one year older than me. And did Victoria just read my mind again?
As Carrot Top was making his way through the desks and
towards the front of the class, all of the students took their seats, leaving
me standing and somewhat embarrassed.
“Good morning, everybody,” Carrot Top said picking up
a piece of chalk and starting to write something on the blackboard. “Some of
you might know me from last year, but just in case I shall introduce myself. My
name is,” and he lifted the chalk from the blackboard, allowing us to see his
name written in perfect calligraphy. Dylan
Shangrove? “Dylan Shangrove.” And why
is an upperclassman writing his name on our blackb-
“And I will be your fore master this year,” he
concluded, causing my mouth to fly open with surprise. Impossible. Impossible. He couldn’t be a teacher. I mean, he doesn’t look a day over eighteen.
Imposs-
“Ah, I see we have a new student this year,” he
smiled, raising his eyes from a file on his desk. “I was wondering why you were
still standing, Miss… Miss…” he was now scanning the papers for my name. “Yes,
Miss… Sheffield, is it?”
“Y-yes.”
“I do believe we have met earlier today, Miss
Sheffield,” the professor furrowed his brow, obviously trying to remember. His
countenance then expanded into a large, half-mocking smile, eyes glimmering
with recollection. “You were the girl who was holding the guidance map upside
down, right?” his smile exploded into shards of laughter. Apparently, that
struck him as particularly funny. I, personally, didn`t find any humour in the whole situation.
Neither did my cheeks, which turned into a violent shade of crimson, matching
the professor’s hair. Oh come on, you
didn’t even giggle when you saw me holding that damned map backwards. WHY is it
so cosmically funny NOW??
“Anyway,” he now wiped some tears from
his green eyes, still shaking with laughter, “we must find you a seat.” Anywhere but next to the evil dwarf, please,
please, please…
“I believe there’s a free desk next to the window
there,” he pointed towards a desk decently far away from Craig, the evil
midget. I happily made my way towards the allotted space and took my seat. Just
as Shangrove started to make attendance, the door flew open, making way for-
“Ah, Master Hawkshaw, so kind of you
to join us at last,” the professor mused. “Now do take your seat before I feel
compelled to see to the problem myself,” he added on a very menacing tone. As
soon as I heard the name ‘Hawkshaw’, my head snapped in the direction of the
door and my jaw dropped a second time that morning. Why? Why?? Did I do something wrong, God? Did I? Have I wronged you in
any way? I do NOT deserve this dammit!!!
“Ah, but this is no proper way to welcome one’s
students, Dylan,” Lucas smirked. And yawned. He smawned.
“Ah, but this is no proper way of
greeting one’s professor, Master Hawkshaw. It is either Professor Shangrove or
detention. Make your choice.”
“Well then,” Lucas crossed his arms,
leaning against Craig’s desk and making the little fellow throw him a deadly glare.
“Good morning, Professor Detention. How very strange of you to insist to be
called so, though,” he smiled.
“That’t it! Detention! Today! After
school!” the professor shouted losing his calm, a stray vein twitching at his
temples. Lucas didn’t reply; he just continued smiling at Shangrove, looking
very pleased with himself.
“When will it all end?” Shangrove
sighed, massaging his forehead with one hand while leaning against his desk
with the other. “In any case, detention or not, you must take a seat,
Hawkshaw,” the professor raised his eyes to shoot Lucas a deadly glare. Man, this guy sure gets a lot of deadly
glares per day. It amazes me that he’s still very much alive.
“There’s an open spot next to Miss Sheffield. WHAT?? Please proceed and don’t-just don’t talk to me today,” Shangrove said
while still massaging his forehead. “Understood?”
Lucas nodded and made his way towards
me, a wide smile spread across his face. Are
you testing me, God? I let my head fall on my desk, unwilling to
acknowledge Lucas’s presence. He isn’t
here, I heard the chair screech on the floor. He isn’t here, I heard the chair move back into place. He isn’t here, I heard a hand tap on the
desk next to mine, the tapping becoming gradually louder, matching the
pulsating feeling in my head. The professor started talking about… well…
something concerning grades and other professors and such, but I couldn’t
follow him. All I could hear was that incredibly aggravating tap-tapping sound
generated by the beast next to me. He
isn’t he-
“Pssst.”
I am NOT
hearing anything.
"Pssssst." Nope, it's all in my head.
"PSSSSST!"
"WHAT?"
"Uhm, Miss Sheffield? Is there a problem?"
the professor turned around, his book hanging in mid-air. In mid-air... in MID-AIR?? So he DOES have special abilities after all.
How very disappointing…
“Miss Sheffield?” Shangrove eyed me coolly. “Were you
paying attention whatsoever?”
“Uhm… Yes, yes, of course I was,” I hastily replied,
avoiding to turn my head towards my right, not even by a degree.
“Then please tell the class what we were discussing
earlier.” The floating book snapped itself shut and landed on the professor’s
desk with a thud. All eyes were averted towards me, and I felt blood rushing to
my head, turning everything including my eyeballs in a deep shade of red. I
heard muffled laughter coming from the oh-so-dreaded right side and mentally
condemned Lucas to eternal torment.
“Psssst.” I barely turned my head around, fighting the
compelling urge to shut my eyes. “The Book of Creatures,” Lucas whispered, his
green eyes twinkling with amusement.
I decided to trust him on this one. God help me.
“Of course, Professor. You were
discussing The Book of Creatures, were you not?” I said, desperately hoping
Lucas didn’t decide to have some more fun on my expense by telling me a wrong
name. Shangrove looked terribly surprised for a moment. A rather long moment.
“I don’t know how you pulled this off,
Miss Sheffield, but do try not to space out in class again,” he finally managed
to speak, making the book fly once again from the desk and open in mid-air.
“Now, as I was saying, this book is of great importance to you and you are
strongly advised to buy it, along with-” His voice slowly faded away again, as
my thoughts became more and more confused. Did
that jerk just… help… me? Oh great, just great, now you owe him one, Emma. I
wonder if a ‘thank you’ is in order here…
I wonder how the Devil receives thank-you’s… Oh God, I hope he won’t hit
me. I briefly glanced at him, trying to be as subtle as possible. I failed
miserably, since he noticed my gaze and returned a raised eyebrow-smirk combo. Why, the cocky little bastard! I have to
thank HIM? Forget it…
…
Well, maybe I’ll say a ‘Well, thanks’
after class. I mean it’s only the proper thing to do.
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