After the 10-hour flight, Crystal's junior class arrives at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris. Ms. Lane checks the list of students and then leads them to the bus that takes them to the Fleur-de-Lis Resort. This is the resort that the Board of Directors reserved for the students' trip.
Ms. Lane checks the list again as the students board the bus. Kiara internally cringes at her thoroughness, knowing that she will probably have to sneak around Ms. Lane multiple times during the trip. But she can understand her point of view. Ms. Lane is after all the soul responsible for twenty-something teens in a foreign place. If Kiara were in her place, she would act the same way.
The bus rolls to the resorts entrance. The only thing visible is a modern one floor structure with a parking lot in front and the name of the resort on a stylized banner to the side of the road. A bunch of huge trees form a natural barrier behind the building, obstructing the view of the rest of the place. The only thing indicating that there is more of the place than one can see is the security check point and the road that continues through the forest.
They stop in front of the building. It has a pair of stairs leading to a double glass door that allows Kiara to see part of the reception hall. In the roof of the flying roof that covers the stairs there are two flags. One is the French Flag and the other is the flag of the province. Both are at half-staff because of the death of a parliament member, from what Kiara deduces from the news.
Ms. Lane calls everyone's attention from the front of the bus.
"I'm going to check us in." Ms. Lane explains once everyone is silent. "I want you to stay here, inside the bus. I trust that you can follow that simple rule. Yes?"
After the students either nod or speak their confirmation, she continues.
"Good"
The bus driver opens the door. She steps out and heads inside the reception building. Conversations soon resume among the students.
"This is so cool!" Sydney exclaims.
"Yes! Did you hear that we can participate in nocturnal activities after dinner?" Jessy asks marking the page and closing the book she was reading.
"I wonder what we'll do today?" Kiara says.
They brainstorm ideas for a few minutes before their conversation turns to speculating about the students from other schools.
When Ms. Lane returns, they head to Le Printemp, the section reserved for the Wood High Schools. After they pass the security check point, the effect is almost instant. Conversations start to dim as students fall silent and press themselves to the windows trying to see everything at once.
The road divides in two as the trees decrease in number and thickness. To the right, Kiara catches glimpses of a pool, a few tennis courts. That section is called L'Été and is supposed to also have two buildings and a golf field. To the left the sign in the middle of the division points towards the areas called Le Printemp, L'Hiver and L'Automne. The bus turns left and not long after, the road divides again. This time the bus turns right. As they head on, Kiara sees the outdoor facilities more clearly as well as some buildings and townhouses in the distance.
The last intersection comes closer, and they turn right again. Immediately, the road opens in a small neighborhood surrounded by many trees and made up of low buildings no more than 3 stages tall. They are arranged in a U-shape, with an open structure in the middle and another identical but smaller structure closing the U-shape. The bus stops in front of this one.
"Here we are." Ms. Lane says standing up.
She pulls a pile of papers from her bag and places them on one of the seats. Grabbing the one on top, she addresses everyone.
YOU ARE READING
Teen Spy: The Observer
Ficción GeneralA few months ago, Kiara Starling started feeling that someone was following her, watching her. Despite it being downplayed by her family and friends, her intuition is proven right when, on her seventeenth birthday, she is kidnapped, and it leads to...
