Surprises and Secerts

Part 1: Chapter 1: Let the New World Begin

This place, I don't understand it. How does someone capture a bunch of the best and most skilled people in the world and then force them into one place? A giant building, full of things to do and dorms for each of us, I'd compare it to a college but there's not a classroom insight. I don't understand how they did it, but it doesn't matter, I'm here now and I better get used to it. The most skilled in any field, all of us given labels, for me, Pirate Captain. But the list is long and wide. President, drummer, blacksmith, author, artist, leader, commander, singer, king, businessman, shopkeeper, merchant, soldier, athlete, historian, cop, doctor, dancer, and detective. 20 of us including myself, titles range from the common to the powerful. But I noticed a lack of a certain type, the improper, like myself. Even if outside of this place I can rule the oceans here I have no power. People seem to fear me at every turn and the President, King, and Leader have already taken assertive control over this place. Their reassurance and coolheadedness seem to make people trust them, which makes sense but they won't be getting that from me. Earlier today there was a group introduction, my mind blanks on a lot of the names since I don't care, but I can at least remember a few. The king is named Landon, the president was named Leo, and the leader was named Kyle. As well as the names of the doctor and cop, which are Dr. Angelina and Connor. The king, president, and leader also appeared to be the oldest three here, makes sense they would come into power so quickly. I then was forced to introduce myself, Romana Turner, or at least that's what I told them. Leo made a face upon hearing my name, nothing new, most people haven't heard a name like that before. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they had seen my name in some report about my pirating, what do I know? Landon, Leo, and Kyle laid down the rules pretty quickly, but it was nothing I hadn't expected, nothing different from normal life, though everyone would meet in the mornings and at night to as they put it "better keep track of every individual" but they looked at me when it was said so I knew what they meant.
Seems some of us arrived here before the others as Connor guided those who like me, didn't know the location well. He seemed uptight and just for the record I can tell you neither of us is a fan of the other. The tour was split into a couple of groups, the rest of mine had the author, the artist, the merchant, and the shopkeeper. All of them seemed older than me, except for the artist who appeared to be about my age. But of course, I didn't talk to any of them. They did all do something strange, they didn't seem scared of me, they were willing to make eye contact and even smile at me but of course, I could tell none of them wanted to try and hold a conversation with me, not like I wanted to talk either. Eventually, the tour ended with us in a hallway full of rooms. Each room had a name on the door so I entered the one with my name on it. A dorm, not a typical dorm though, clearly whoever set this place up had more information on us than I thought, my room was set up just the way it would be on my ship. Large windows with curtains on the back wall a hammock, since I prefer to use that over a bed, some simple decoration, and a piece of furniture with three drawers stacked on top of each other. I checked the drawers the bottom one had extra clothes, the middle one was empty, except for a key. The key went to the top drawer which had a lock on it, upon opening the drawer I could tell why, my weapons were kept in there, a pistol and knife. I closed and locked the drawer and slipped the key into my pocket. Just in the nick of time too as I heard a knock on the door, I didn't wanna answer it so I didn't bother even attempting to open it up, but soon enough the door opened on its own. Leo stood in the doorway with a key, seems he has a key to all the dorms, I wonder if Landon and Kyle have their own as well. He walked in without me saying anything and glanced around, clearly found my room strange but it's about what I would expect from him. He eventually focused his attention back on me and reminded me of all the basic rules.
I looked him dead in the eyes and asked him, "Are you telling everyone this or just me?"
He stopped talking after that and left, it's fine I already knew the answer even before I asked it, it was written all over his face, his dislike for me, he looked down on me, saw me as a force that needed to be controlled. With my reputation on the seas, I can't say I'm surprised by it. I closed and locked the door behind him, I listened for a moment, only to realize it was completely silent most people had gone to bed already so I hit the hay myself. I fell asleep pretty easily which is odd considering I usually stay up into the late hours of the night but I guess after today it makes sense.
I woke up pretty early in the morning, the clock hanging on my wall said 5 am typical stuff for me. I glanced at the locked drawer and then left my room, the school was still very quiet, I have to assume no one else is awake yet so I roamed the halls until I found a sunroom at the end of the school, I went inside knowing it was still early enough for me to watch the sunrise, but as I took I seat I noticed I wasn't alone. The artist from yesterday was laying on the ground with a sketchbook tossed next to her. It was the first time I was able to get a good look at her since yesterday. She wore a white dress that stopped just above her knees, it was covered in paint. Her hair was blond and in two braids, I wonder if she did that herself. She had freckles all over her but mostly on her face. She was sleeping in here on the floor, I have to imagine she came in here at some point last night and fell asleep without realizing it. I turned my attention away from her and back towards the sunrise, I'm used to starting my day watching them, it's nice to do something normal in a not-so-normal situation, the only difference is that the sun is rising overland instead of shining against the ocean water. A while later the artist started to stir and she noticed me almost as soon as she opened her eyes. Her eyes, were an amber color, almost like they were glowing, it suited her well even though I barely know anything about her. She let herself wake up and then gave me a gentle smile, the same ones she would give during the tour yesterday.
She spoke, "I must have fallen asleep here last night, sounds like me", turns out I was right. "Your Romana, right? I remember you from the introductions yesterday, a pirate captain" She seemed so calm about that last part, most people wouldn't with my reputation.
I nodded and she didn't even seem to mind my lack of a response, she just gathered all of her stuff and placed it on the table before sitting in a different chair in the room.
Even with my silence, she continued to talk, "Just in case you forgot, I'm Alice. An artist, but I guess the sketchpad and my dress being covered in paint gave that away"
I nodded again before speaking, "Ya, I came in here once I woke up and found you on the ground"
She smiled at hearing my voice, "Well thank you for not waking me up, that's very nice of you. Especially since we're supposed to sleep in the rooms this place gave us"
I had forgotten about that, although it wasn't an official rule, Leo, Landon, and Kyle strongly recommended that we sleep in our rooms and only in our rooms. But I don't expect to obey that for very long especially after finding this sunroom.
Alice spoke up again, "Isn't it weird how everyone seems to judge you based on your reputation but in reality, they know nothing about you, I mean I don't even know how old you are or where you are from"
I sat and thought about what she just said, Alice is right though, no one knows me but everyone thinks they do. I wouldn't say everyone actually, because based on the way she said that she doesn't think that way.
"I'm 16 and from New Zealand" I answered, she didn't ask a question it just seemed like it made sense.
"Oh wow, I'm not far off. I'm 17 and from Australia"
So she was older than me she sure didn't seem like it though, she was shorter than me and had a more childish tone to her but I guess the age gap isn't all that big. If she's from Australia she's definitely heard of me and my ship, the ports there are so close that I tend to ambush them and the ships traveling out of it more than any other place. Our conversation continued, even though it was very one-sided with my habit of talking very little when not being a captain. She didn't seem to mind though and just continued to let me get to know her and asked me questions, simple ones that didn't take much effort to answer but I think she did that on purpose.
After a while Alice glanced at the clock, "It's 7:30 already, were supposed to meet in the cafeteria in the mornings at 8 so it's probably a good idea to get going"
She gathered all her stuff and stood up. I was expecting her to leave but instead, she stood in the doorway and motioned for me to come and follow her, I did, she walked to the cafeteria with me trailing behind. When I entered I was surprised to see that we weren't even the first ones there despite being early, though it was Leo and Landon so I can't say that part was a shocker. Oddly enough Kyle wasn't with them or even in the room, maybe he's not as formal as I gave him credit for. I sat down only for my theory to be immediately proved wrong as Kyle comes out of the kitchen, holding three mugs which he gives to both Landon and Leo before having one himself. Even though I was sitting at the back of the room and as far away from them as possible Alice still choose to sit with me. As the time inched closer to 8 more people started to pour in, everyone sat at different tables, mostly small groups but it is only the second day so it makes sense no one has gotten to know each other yet. I assumed that I and Alice would be sitting alone, that was until the author walked over and sat down right next to Alice, seemingly without giving a care in the world that I was there.