TEMPORARY

a c a d i a

24th, September 2020 9:00
in the morning

I felt like my life was on autopilot and that I had no control. Each movement I made felt robotic and prepared in advance.

The future seemed so volatile and forever changing, which was something I was trying to accept. We can't predict anything in this life.

The eyes looking outside the window watching the trees passing by did not feel like my own and in the middle of my chest was an endless pit of dread that I was purposely choosing to ignore.

"Miss Benioff we've arrived"

I looked away from the window and allowed myself to focus on the enormous building standing tall in the middle of the woods. I was not entirely sure if I had made the right decision, but it was too late to go back now. Late not because of the time I spent traveling from New York to Switzerland, but for the simple reason of not wanting to bother my mother, who already felt like I was complicated to deal with.

I didn't think about myself as someone who's complicated, but I knew the people I used to surround myself with were not the most patient and caring, which made me hide my feelings most of the time. I didn't particularly like to self-diagnose as depressed but for the past year, all I felt had been sadness.

The tree leaves crushed under my feet signaling the arrival of fall, my favorite season. One of my past times of choice was walking around Central Park while leaves fell around me making way for new ones that would eventually grow when spring arrived.

"Welcome to Acadia Boarding School, I'm Principal Kristin Simmons and we hope you feel welcome here..." Zoning out wasn't ideal when you're meeting the woman whose job is to make sure everything works perfectly around here but I couldn't avoid looking at every detail around us.

"We rarely get new students after the year starts so I'm warning you now that the other students might have questions regarding that, but don't worry they will probably just look and not ask you directly. But everyone is usually nice so you'll fit in quickly"

Fitting in was not really something I was expecting to do, I just wanted to finish my last year of high school successfully and peacefully.

"Thank you, Principal Simmons," I said when we arrived at the front of a wooden white door decorated with fancy gold details, and lettering. The letters spelled my first and last name, above them were the name Ava Heister and the number 60. By the left side of the handle was what looked to be a card scanner.

"This is where you will be living for the next 8 months and in that folder, you will be able to find your schedule, a map of the school that you probably won't need after today. Your schedule and map are also on the school app but that's also explained in the folder. Even though the school is big, it's extremely easy to navigate and you will feel right at home. I will be sending someone in about 30 minutes to give you a tour. This is your card and you will need it for identification purposes but also for everything you might need like going to the library or the cafeteria, opening your locker, and entering classrooms so please try to keep it with you and keep it safe. " She kept explaining other details while simultaneously opening the door.

"So make yourself at home and you can start unpacking if you want" I thanked her and she left.

The dorm room did not look like a normal room but a small apartment. By the entrance was a small light wash wooden table with a bowl sitting on top with nothing inside. It looked like something that could be used to place keys but was full of caramel hard candy. The floor was made of wood and the walls were white, which made sense since anyone would be free to decorate them the way they wanted without the décor looking bad. Ahead I could see two twin XL-sized beds on opposite sides of the room, with two big white dressers and a small bedside table. The room was so incredibly big that under the window in the back of the room were two desks, one for each occupant. On the wall right next to the entrance was a small and unnoticeable kitchenette that looked like a normal dresser, but that was perfect for small apartments, with a round wooden table next to it. There was still a door left to open in the room that I assumed to be the bathroom.