The Animal Inside

Chapter Four: Friends

“Here is your timetable, a map, and the key to your dorm room,” the receptionist said. She had been explaining to me how everything worked, but I had zoned out.

“Thanks,” I muttered in reply, and set off to find my room.

From what I did learn from the receptionist, boys and girls slept in different dorms. There were either 2 or 3 people per room, and you could style the room however you want.

I walked up to the triple story building with ‘femina’ on the front. I had also learnt from the receptionist that most of the names of buildings at the Academia were in Latin. Femina meant female. What was it with this place and Latin? I walked through the double doors into the common room. It was old, much like the outside of the building, but elegant. White tiles covered the floor, and golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with crystal-like droplets hanging from the main gold frame. The walls were a beige colour, and covered with all sorts of patterns and pictures. There was a large notice board on one wall. There was a lounge area off to my left, with large, plush, white couches and a flat screen TV. There was some soap opera on, and several girls were sitting around it, laughing and watching with great interest.

There was a desk straight in front of me, just before the elevator and stairs. There was a plaque on the front of the desk that said ‘Head of House’. Sitting at desk was a middle aged woman, with black hair. As I approached, she didn’t stop typing on her laptop with her fake nails. I cleared my throat, and she looked up.

“How can I help you?” she asked in a bored tone.

“I’m Kefira. I’m new,” I said.

“Oh, hold on.” She said, and started typing on her laptop again. “Ah, here you are. Sorry about that. I’m Candace Ellwood; I’m your dorm mother. Your room is up on the third floor. Room 17.”

I headed towards the elevator, and hit the button to take me to the third floor. When I arrived on my floor, I went down the hall until I reached a door marked ‘17’. On the door was a collection of origami flowers. I took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. The door opened, and a girl faced me. She had fiery red hair that was cut short, pixie style and her brown eyes were friendly. She was a couple of inches smaller than me and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a flower design on it. She smiled.

“Hi,” she said, her voice full of energy. “You must be my new roommate. Your stuff arrived ages ago. I put it down by your bed. Come in, come in.” She ushered me inside, and shut the door.

The room contained two beds, one on each side of the room. One side of the room was covered in ivy. I’m not kidding. Ivy was literally growing up her walls, as well as some small flowers growing in amongst the green leaves. There was also a desk on each side, and her desk was covered with different plants, as well as a couple of small piles of paper. My side of the room was plain and simple. The walls were bare. Just some plain bedding and my suitcase was waiting on my bed. Both sides also had a wardrobe each. There was a large bay window along the biggest wall, and there was a door that must have led off to the bathroom just beside the wardrobe on my side of the room. The room itself was quite big, bigger than any room I had seen in any house. It was plenty big for the two of us.

“Where are my manners? I’m Gaia.” Gaia held out her hand and I shook it.

“Kefira,” I replied.

“Wow. Your name is pretty.”

“Thanks. Yours is too.”

“Thanks.” She sat down on her bed. “What’s your Power? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Um... I have animalistic abilities, or something like that.” I said.

“Cool. That’s really rare. I’m just a boring earth elemental. I control earth and plants and stuff.” Gaia said.