Queen's College

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I fidgeted uneasily as I gripped the sides of my seat. Kaleb, beside me, chuckled at my fearful expression. He looked at ease as he gazed outside the window. The plane went through some turbulence as I felt the aircraft dip south. I gritted my teeth. I hated flying!

Three days ago, my brother and I had found out that we were staying in Australia permanently and then got ‘enrolled’ into a boarding school without our consent in Queensland, the Sunshine State. We had also found out that my stupid-ass father was seeing another woman behind Mom’s back and that they were in the middle of filing a divorce. Two days ago, we had moved into Dad’s new house in Melbourne while Mom flew to Brisbane; and yesterday, Kaleb and I had both our uniforms shipped to us and all the commodities that we owned back in our bedroom and around our LA house. We had quickly unpacked and stocked everything, and then packed what we needed for a whole term of school.

And today? Well, today we were about to touch down in Brisbane Airport, ready to be set foot on Queen’s College. We had at least two or three more days before the actual school started so we could walk around campus, shift everything into place and see Mom who had bought a house just in the town outside the school boundaries.

I suppose everything had turned out alright so far. Except for the fact that our family was breaking up. I clamped my eyes shut as the plane started its descent onto the runway. Bumpy vibrations shook throughout the plane. I grasped the armrest in terror.

Once we were off the plane and safely into the interior of the airport, we looked around and saw a few men who looked like chauffeurs holding up a piece of cardboard with an individual’s last name on it.

Dad did mention that there would be someone to pick us up from here…

“There, Tara!” I heard Kaleb yell. Sure enough, an elderly guy in a grey coat was holding a sign with our last name on it.

I grabbed my suitcases, one in each hand, and followed my brother. The man was quite pleasant and didn’t speak much. Kaleb helped him with putting our suitcases in the trunk. We travelled in a small black car with the Queen’s College logo on the side of it. Though our chauffeur guy didn’t talk much and was a bit old, it was clear he had excellent taste in music.

*****

We stood at the tall iron gates of the College’s rear entrance and saw many students sitting on the freshly mown lawn, talking with their friends. The gate opened and my brother walked in, with me close on his heels. A guy in the College uniform – a white long-sleeved shirt tucked under a grey vest striped with blue and green and greyish-black trouser pants – standing near us came over and greeted us.

“Hey, I’m Aaron Mitchells.” He said with a smile as he lent his hand out to shake my brother’s. “You guys are the newcomers, yeah?” He shook my hand and I was suddenly admiring how green his eyes looked. I had never met a person with such green eyes before.

I bit my lip, smiling and nodded. “I’m Kaleb Lacington and this here is my twin sister, Tara.” Kaleb replied.

Aaron smiled in confusion. “Really? You guys don't even look like twins." He pointed out. I chuckled.

"That's because we're not identical."

Kaleb had chocolaty brown eyes with straight dark brown hair that was just a little bit long and swept over his eyes. His skin was just a tad lighter than mine while I had wavy blonde hair with mesmerizing blue eyes – I know, but for some reason my favourite bit about myself have always been my eyes.

A sort of awkward silence came between us and after a few seconds, Aaron clapped his hands and regained his enthusiastic smile and demeanour. “Well, if you’ll come with me, we’ll go through reception, pick up your timetables and forms and I’ll show you to your dorms.”