A School for the Erratic and Strange

Chapter 5: Setting Off

I entered my apartment on Friday at six pm with a sigh. I had finished my shift at work, and was now done for the week. Tomorrow would have been ballet, had I not told my teacher that I wouldn't be showing up. It would be a catch up day, had I not applied for the magic school. Instead, today was the day I had to leave for the magic world. As a result, tomorrow would be a day of travelling. A day of entering a new world, seeing new sights, and meeting new people.

I went around my apartment as Mei Mei barked excitedly to greet me. I had to make sure everything was packed. "I hope I'm not home too late. If they came to guide me during the day, they might decide I have gone on my own." I murmured worriedly as I collected my things. "No, they likely won't think so. With so many boxes around, they probably wouldn't assume I left. I wouldn't have left my stuff behind if I did." I reasoned as I debated how I was going to transport my things.

I'd rent a truck if I had a drivers license... Maybe I shouldn't have checked the box that said I had means of mundane travel. All I have is the bus and I can't bring my things on there. "Won't it seem odd that my apartment is empty after I died?" I asked Mei Mei. She didn't answer, however. She just groomed herself while sitting by the boxes. "Fair enough." I sighed, as if I had received an answer. "Maybe I should have said I needed possessions provided for me instead... Though, that's a quick recipe for me to become dependent on them. Besides, I don't like the idea of other people deciding what I wear. Though there is a school uniform, I'll have to get used to that. I muttered. Maybe they'd have a magical means of helping me with my things.

"Oh well. Let's let you out in the meantime. I'm sure I'll think of something." I sighed, hooking Mei Mei's leash onto her collar. Before I took her out the door, however, a window in my living room glowed green before opening. A young woman with short blonde hair brushed over to the side climbed into my apartment, wearing a red flannel over a brown dress.

"Well well well. Nice place you got here." She commented in a southern accent before climbing into the room. She wore brown heeled boots and had a violin strapped to her belt. She wore grey feathered earrings and a brown hair clip that kept one side of her hair back while the other nearly covered her face. "You're Fei Ling, aren't you? Sorry I'm late pumpkin, I thought you'd be in the college dormitories. It was quite awkward when I climbed into the fourth dorm on the seventh floor at the girl's dormitories by the college and found two lovely lasses that certainly weren't you. Nothing a good memory spell can't fix, but an embarrassing mistake on my part." The woman explained as she dusted herself off and closed the window.

"Anywho, name's Anne Jenkins. I'm actually from your world, you know. Grew up on a ranch in Texas. Now I help you folk get to the other world. Course, I'm also a teacher. Teach the Bard Program, the Magical Critter class for Standards, Experts, and Hotshots, and the Magical Artifact Class for newbies. I heard you might be taking the Bard Class, so we should see a lot of each other. Specially when you're at the Standard level since learning bout Magical Critters is part of the necromancy program. I also run the ranch on campus if you ever wanna take up critter riding." The woman chattered on.

     "Standard level?" I asked, tilting my head. "Oh, yes. That's the grade level we use. Newbies, Amateurs, Standards, Apprentices, Experts, Masters, Hot Shots, and Legends. Not necessarily always in that order. You start at Newbies, then after a year of lessons you spend your second year as an Amateur, Standard, Hot Shot, or Apprentice. As an Amateur, you usually focus more on classes for whatever specific job you're looking for until you graduate. Then you start that job. That's where people that ain't too good at magic go. As a Standard you usually just take whatever classes you did as Newbie, but they become more advanced every year. When you graduate you can either go into a job you studied for, or you can go on to become an Expert, where you advance further into your field of study. If you graduate that, you can either become a Master, a Teacher at the school, or get a high ranking job somewhere in the magic world. Hot Shots are where you go if you're real good at magic. Kinda like a gifted program. That's where the best or most dangerous people come from. We keep a close eye on 'em, just in case. Hot Shots do tend to go missing or end up as part of a prophecy. That's what the Legend's program is for. Anyone we believe is part of a prophecy gets put in the Legend program, and they are trained to take on their role shall it come to be. Course they can choose to just go about their schooling as usual if they don't want that training." Miss. Jenkins informed me.

     I nodded along, eventually taking a journal and pen out of my backpack so I could write this all down. It was a lot to take in. Miss. Jenkins noticed my frantic note taking, and chuckled as she offered me a reassuring smile. "Don't fret, child. This will all be explained to you again many times as you get your classes in order." She assured me. "I'm not a child. I'm nineteen." I hugged before returning my notebook and pen to my bag. "I'm thirty-two, which makes you a child to me." She retorted with a grin. "Now, you wanting to fly there or take more mundane means? I got good ol flying dust but it ain't for everyone." She asked me as she walked to my front door. "I have a bus pass, but I'm not sure if all my stuff can be carried on a bus." I explained.

     "Oh, no problem. That reminds me, I nearly forgot to give you this." Miss. Jenkins chuckled before handing me a silver bag with a shoulder strap and the school crest. "That's a Portal Bag. Gives you your own pocket dimension. You can fit all your things in there." She explained. "I don't trust that for a minute..." I murmured, looking at the bag sceptically as I accepted it. "Don't worry, it ain't like a black hole or anything." Miss. Jenkins dismissed. "No, it's not that. I have ADHD. I might forget what I have and what I don't if it's all out of sight." I explained. "No worries, they'll be someone to help you sort it all out when we get there." Miss. Jenkins assured me. "Alright." I agreed, taking a deep breath before beginning to pack my things.

     While I packed my things, Miss. Jenkins played with Mei Mei, chuckling as she did. "You can hide this one in a regular bag while we're on the bus. I'll use magic to put her to sleep so she doesn't get caught. Never hide her in your portal bag, though. Never put living things in dimension bags. Quick way to get them killed, and everything else in your bag could get wrecked from it." Miss. Jenkins instructed. I nodded as I packed the last thing, looking nervously at Mei Mei.

     "The sleep spell won't hurt her, will it?" I asked. "No no, of course not. And it ain't a spell kid, just some magic powder." Miss. Jenkins clarified as she took one of many flasks that were tied to her belt. They clanged against each other as she moved. The one she held was a mint green colour with dark blue Zs decorating it. "Here it is. Just a pinch should do. We can take mundane means to my farm house, where all the students in this area stay for the weekend. Then on Monday morning we'll take magical means to the school. Sound good?" Miss. Jenkins chattered as she prepared a pinch of sleep powder.

     I nodded, and she sprinkled the powder over Mei Mei's face. Mei Mei sniffed at the powder, then sneezed, causing Miss. Jenkins to chortle and me to giggle. Mei Mei stumbled forward, then showed us her canines with a large yawn. She slowly fell asleep, and Miss. Jenkins bent down to scoop her up in her arms. "There there, lil pup. Aw, ain't she a sweetheart?" Miss. Jenkins said affectionately. "Mhmm." I hummed in agreement, feeling reassured by how gentle Miss. Jenkins was with Mei Mei. "Now, let's get going. It's already dark out, and we don't wanna run into too much trouble on the way there." Miss. Jenkins urged before heading out of my apartment, gesturing for me to follow.

     I didn't follow right away. I took a moment to study my empty apartment. I've taken the liberty of doing little things here and there over the past couple of days to make my landlord's job easier. Took off stickers I had put on the walls over the years, fixed some of the furniture that I was leaving behind, sanded the scratch marks off the doors, and swept and mopped the floors. I still made sure to leave the place looking lived in. Left some of my things behind so it wouldn't be obvious I packed up and left. I think I did a good job. Now, at long last, it is time to say goodbye to the life I had before...

     I wonder what the new one will be like?