Chapter 3
The one thing that Ginger failed to mention on my day of getting to know the school was that we had to get up at 7 am sharp. Breakfast was served at 7:30, and if you weren’t there on time, you didn’t eat until the break after your first class. I learnt that the hard way, having to excuse myself to “get a drink” so I could quickly stuff in some food, unless I wanted the growling of my stomach to bring me even more giggles from the girls and glares from the teachers.
In the classrooms, since all of the teachers were so strict, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. They only really had to whisper to be heard. On several occasions, I found myself comparing English schools to American ones. The major differences were the fact that it was so quiet in the classes here and that they actually learnt things in each class. The last class of the day was sport. I was quite excited for that lesson, since I had always been top of the class in my old school. Honestly, I don’t think any running lessons of games of netball could have prepared me for what the teachers wanted us to go.
First of all, there were the ropes. They were suspended about ten metres in the air, with one to walk on and two more to grab on to. In turn, each girl darted across the ropes to the other side with such ease and grace that I thought it would be easy. Unfortunately I was wrong. When my turn came, I took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the ropes, stepping off the safety of the platform and onto the shaky rope. The second I put my weight on it, it started wobbling back and forth dangerously. I turned to jump off, but a girl was blocking my way, grinning evilly at me.
“Go ahead,” she whispered, which was not comforting in the least. I took another deep breath and a hesitant foot forward, and then running across like I had seen the girls before me do. It was a mistake to overestimate my coordination. By the time I had reached the end, the rope was wobbling so much that I lost my footing on the end platform and flew headfirst into the railing, whacking my bottom lip on it in the process. Luckily for me, Ginger caught me by the arm before I could trip over my own feet and fall down the stairs. I tried to smile at her as a way of thanking her, but my mouth filled with blood from where I had bitten my tongue. I winced. Maybe sport wouldn’t be my star subject after all.
Half an hour and an ice pack later, I was ready to get back into it and prove that I wasn’t completely hopeless. Just my luck, as soon as I told Mrs. Daly that, she informed me that we would be moving on to the next topic. Instead of Yoga, they were doing a special Kung Fu session. I groaned but joined in anyway. The coaches that they had were tough, especially on newcomers. With ever kick I managed to land on them, they managed to get in at least two. Despite my injuries, I felt like I had learned a lot when they finally announced that the session was over.
All I felt like doing was going straight to sleep, but we still had to have a community dinner. On the way there, after a very well earned shower, Ginger decided it was time to let me know who to watch out for, and who to make friends with. “That girl who wouldn’t let you go back onto the edge of the platform, you have got to watch out for her. Her name’s Stella, and she’s top of the class in basically everything, so all of the teachers love her. She basically got in just because her father’s rich and-” she cut herself off, looking at me guiltily. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that, it’s just that, well, she’s one of the bad rich ones. All for looking down on people and pretending she’s so much better than everyone else. You’re not like that.” I nodded, trying not to grin at her rambling.
Before I knew it, we had approached the table of girls, all chatting over their dinner. We grabbed a seat and sat down, waiting for the maids (for lack of a better word) to come and serve us. We had roast chicken, which was nice for the first real meal there. I ate quickly, purposely leaving Ginger behind with the excuse that I was tired. Once out of sight, I ran to our dormitory, surprised that I didn’t get lost halfway there. When I got there, I had a quick look around to check if the coast was clear. Seeing that everyone seemed to still be at dinner, I knelt down and reached under Ginger’s bed, knowing from my experience last night that there was something under there. Something she didn’t want anyone to see.
I felt around for a while, and, my hand coming out bare each time, I decided to grab a torch. Peeking under the bed, I saw a small latch in the floorboards and pulled on it. A small trapdoor opened and I peered inside, seeing a box about the size of an A4 piece of paper. I started to rush then, hearing the unmistakable click of footsteps on the wooden floor. I picked up the box and opened the lid, revealing a single sheet of paper. On the sheet were only a few words: Relentors, June 23rd, Dining Hall, 6 pm.
Relentors. That word buzzed through my mind what seemed like a thousand times. I was suddenly snapped out of my daze when I heard laughing. The girls were going to bed. I heard Ginger’s voice saying goodbye to her friends, and then the footsteps came up behind the door. I panicked, and threw the sheet of paper back into the box and closing her secret latch with a loud, hollow thud. I cringed and scrambled away from the bed, diving onto mine as the door knob started to turn.
Realising it would look suspicious, me, sitting on my bed, in the dark, doing nothing, I lay back down and pretended to be asleep. I knew I was a dreadful actress, in spite of my lessons, so I hoped Ginger wouldn’t pay any attention to me when she entered. I could tell she saw me, because she giggled and told the people outside the door to be quiet. My acting would have been funny under other circumstances, but the sentence that was now running through my head was: The Relentors enter at their own risk.
A/N:
Hey guys. Sorry I couldn't update a bit sooner, but I had gymnastics and parent teacher interviews. (unfortunately). I hope this is long enough for you, but I can't really tell how long it is until I click publish. :) Anyway, hope you enjoy. :D
Oh, and one last thing. The first person to comment (who has actually read the story) will get this chapter dedicated to them. Because i'm too lazy to find someone to dedicate it to myself.
~Ella~
