At First Sight

Four

I was surprised that they weren't heavy and even more surprised at my modern interior of the building. I was ready for stone archways and portraits covering the walls, maybe a medieval gadget or two.

But there was wooden floors, and that must be the gym to the right with the plastic of a track just visible from the cracked door. The walls were beige and had a painted red stripe lining the wall above the wood paneling that continues wherever there weren't lockers. Which were huge by the way.

They were a nice burgundy color but they towered over me, clearly accommodating for tall kids and at 5'8" I thought I'd be included in 'tall kids' but these lockers make me feel like a gnome.

I looked to my left and saw a box of floor to ceiling windows with a clear glass door, 'front office' was printed in gold lettering on it and I headed in.

The receptionist behind the desk was pretty, she looked to only be thirty or so and wore a stylish plaid dress that one would call light academia.

"Hi, I'm a new student and I'm here to check in." I said when she looked up with a smile.

"Hi there, okay and your name?" She respond in a cheery tone.

"Vivian Clark." I said.

I watched her face shift to one of surprise and when she looked back at me she really looked at my face before schooling her features and smiling at me. I heard her typing and wondered what all that was before I heard her respond.

"Just a moment, I have to get Mrs. Hedrick I'll be right back." She said with a smile. I just nodded with a smile of my own.

She walked to the back offices and I looked around the trophy cases and an older picture of the school before I heard the shuffling of feet behind me.

I turned to see the receptionist and an older woman who looked a lot like Mark, she had the same dark chocolate hair and emerald eyes but her face was more round.

"Nice to meet you Vivian Clark I'm Mrs. Hedrick, my cousin has told me a lot about you." she said with a smile.

"Oh it's nice to meet you Mrs. Hedrick, uhm who's your cousin?" I asked confused.

"Oh I thought you knew, my cousin is Mark Phillips and his wife Emily." She responded.

"Ahhhh okay that makes sense, sorry they didn't tell me they were related to the principle." I replied.

"I bet they wouldn't, they don't like to flaunt connections like that. I figured they'd tell you since your attending the academy and with my niece soon! And it's headmaster here dear but I don't mind too much, teachers and students might correct you though." She said lightly.

"Oh okay, my bad! I've never been to a fancy school like this, or academy I mean." I stumbled through feeling silly.

"Don't worry about it, alright then! I wanted to come introduce myself and let you know you can always come to me with anything, I've asked my nephew Ashton to lead your orientation so he should be here any minute to show you around the grounds and escort you to the auditorium for a quick PowerPoint." Mrs. Hedrick said with a warm smile.

"Thank you very much, I appreciate your help and it's so nice to meet you." I said as I shook her hand.

I sat on the little couch in the office and waited a couple minutes before a tall lanky boy barreled into the front office, making the receptionist look up and shake her head before continuing her work.

They boy looked around frantically before his eyes landed on me and he gave me a nervous smile.

With his mop of light brown hair and emerald eyes, I knew this was Emily's son Ashton. He had a splattering of freckles on his face and an endearing dimple when he smiled, wow what a cutie.