The Mirror: Elendic Academy

Prologue: The Promise

The sun just started rising when Cecil got his bike from his garage. It was a little chilly, but destined to be a warm day. The clouds were slowly moving to the next town after they dumped buckets of water on this one last night. Dew covered the grass as Cecil passes it, seeing birds pass from tree to tree. They were all singing their morning song merrily.
Cecil was smart and eager to learn. He always loved to find out new things. He was very curious and adventurous. Whenever he was not being home schooled, he was outside looking for new things to do. Cecil's brown hair gleamed in the sunlight along with his hazel eyes. He had freckles over his pale skin on his cheeks and nose. He wore his ripped jeans and old tee shirts most of the time with worn out sneakers.
Cecil was homeschooled because his family was poor. His father used to be a lifeguard until he drowned saving another person. Luckily, the other person didn't die, but it was at a cost. His family started to go into debt from funeral costs. However things were slowly becoming better.
Cecil went by bus stops with kids waiting at them. They seemed very tired and aggravated when Cecil was near. He just ignored them and heading toward Elendic Academy: the school he has always wanted to go to. The school he finally got enough money to attend. Cecil biked over the bridge that connected his town with the school's property. There was a long river in between them, filled with amazing creatures your mind could never even imagine. Then he rode towards the school's front gates.
It was even more magnificent up close. The school towered over everything; it looked like a castle. Its beautiful exterior was complimented by gardens and bushes growing everywhere. He saw a few early kids walking towards the doors to the school and hoped he would too soon. There were windows in random places, having no pattern, vines growing on the sides, and a large balcony at the top of the building. There was a tingly sensation in Cecil's stomach, but it was a good feeling. One that told him he belonged there. It felt like home to him, a home he has not yet been to.
Cecil walked into the school and was welcomed by a smiling student holding a stack of papers in the Great Corridor. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She seemed tired but forced a smile upon her face. The girl wore a light grey sweatshirt and black leggings with boots.
"Hello, and welcome to Elendic Academy! My name is Carmen, and if you have any questions, just ask!" she said with a large smile. It seemed like she rehearsed that line thousands of times. She handed Cecil a flyer from her pile.
"Thanks," he said and handed the flyer back to Carmen. "But I don't think you want to do this job, do you?"
Carmen stopped smiling and let out a gust of air. "Not at all. I was chosen to do this because I was the most approachable and had a lot of free time."
"Then put the papers down and show me where the head advisor's office is. We can hang out afterwards." Cecil held up a few documents, the things he needed signed to get into the school. "These are the only papers we need. Then we can stick together even in school."
Carmen looked at him and then smiled. And this time, it was real. "His office is this way," she said and gestured for him to follow her.
He smiled back. "By the way, my name's Cecil." Then they ran to the office.
The halls were tall and long with portraits of past advisors leading to the office. The walls and floor were made of wood along with most decorations. There were two spiral staircases in the center of each floor. It went all the way up to the attic, with doors to enter each floor. Students already attending the school were walking around, seeing their new classrooms they will be going into when the school year starts, and getting their lockers organized and ready.
"Here it is," Carmen said and pointed to a dark, wooden door. "I'll see you when you get out." She gave him a thumbs up.
Cecil looked at the door and gulped. This was it. The time he finally got what he wanted. And now that his dream is about to come true, he was terrified. Why? He thought to himself. He is just another person. In fact, the last person I need to talk to for me to get into this school. All you have to do is give him your papers and you are in. No audition. No judgement. No failing. And definitely, no getting nervous.
"Are you going to go in or..." Carmen started but got turned down when Cecil gave her a dead eye look.
He took a deep breath and held it while walking into the office. No turning back now.
When Cecil opened the door, he saw an elderly man sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. He was bald, had wrinkles all over his face, had dark brown eyes, and a sly mouth. He was wearing an old polo shirt and worn out jeans. The man was writing on something with a tall black pen and had papers scattered all around his desk. There were bookshelves surrounding the back walls and tables with potion bottles all over it to the right. The left side consisted of piles of papers stacked on top of each other with a filled to the brim garbage can in the corner. Obviously, the head advisor was not the cleanest person.
Cecil cleared his throat loud enough for the man to hear him and notice he is in the room. "Uh, hi. My name is-"
"Yes, I know who you are, Cecil Ganfree," he interrupted and set down his pen to look at him. Then the old man slowly stood up out of his desk chair and Cecil had to lift his head up to see his face. "I," he began overdramatically, "am Head Advisor Kifaway of Elendic Academy, the best school in the universes!" He took a long bow and then sat back in his chair.
"How do you know my name?" Cecil asked.
"I know the name of every person that enters this building!" The head advisor said loudly and slowly. Then he put his voice back to a normal volume. "Plus, the papers in front of you have your name on it in a clear view."
"Of course," Cecil awkwardly laughed. He needed to change the subject quickly so he didn't look stupid. "I, uh, am planning to attend this school in hopes of learning new things," Ceil said, not daring to make eye contact. He placed his papers on the desk in front of the head advisor.
"Well, let's see here," the man said while picking up the documents. His eyes moved from left to right, scanning the sheets. "Yes, yes, all this information is true," Kifaway said, putting down the papers and sliding them back to Cecil, "except one thing."
Cecil started to get worried. He had put everything neat and tidy and in order. He quadruple checked at home that everything was correct and nothing was missing. How could he have missed something? Cecil picked up the papers slowly off of Kifaway's desk. "What's that?" he gulped.
"You actually going here."
This news stunned Cecil. He was so ready to meet the head advisor. He planned every situation that could possibly happen and how he would react. Although, he never thought of this problem.
"W-what," stuttered a shocked Cecil, "do you mean?"
"You're home schooled, right?" the head advisor asked.
Cecil slowly nodded his head.
"And you have no idea how schools work, do you?"
He shook his head in response.
"And you ride that old garbage bike wherever you go, don't you?"
He nodded. That was all he could afford.
"And you don't have much money, do you?"
Cecil shook his head again, clearly missing the point.
"Well, you would make Elendic Academy look weak. You live with a broke family and wear old hand-me-downs, and that would ruin this school's reputation. We need to uphold our looks. Looks that say 'we are classy and intelligent' and broken down bikes don't say that at all. Do you see my point? You just won't fit in."
Cecil was perfectly quiet. He didn't know what to say. He knew he couldn't afford a lot of things like elaborate clothes or new bikes, but it was enough for him. Enough to get him mad.
"Give over! It isn't nice to call people poor and dumb!"
"Hey, I didn't say that," the head advisor tried to slide in but got overpowered by Cecil's voice.
"My family and I do the best we can with what we have to work with, and let me just say, we do an amazing job! It's not my fault that my mother left us, nor was it my father's or my brother's, and we should not be put down in society just because we cannot afford 'classy items' or an 'intelligent education'! We deserve this just as much as any snotty, rich kid ever would! I am supremely ashamed that I ever wanted to attend a high standard school operated by an insolent person!"
Now it was Kifaway's turn to be silent. No one had ever talked back to him in all his years of working at Elendic. It came to him as a shock that anyone ever would. The head advisor became speechless at what he has heard. He was furious, but could not utter a single word he just let the anger build up inside of him and then he slowly let it all go away with a deep breath. "I am going to have to ask you to leave," was all Kifaway could say.
Cecil chuckled at the man's reaction. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Head Advisor Kifaway and I hope for both our sakes that our paths won't ever cross again."
"Likewise," Kifaway agreed tensely and nodded toward the door and Cecil casually walked out of the office.
Cecil speed walked down the hallway, passing Carmen. He just wanted to get out of this building as soon as possible. He wanted to storm out and take a walk in the woods near his house to calm down.
"Hello? Cecil? Where are you going?" Carmen asked, trying to catch up with him in the hallway. "What happened? Hello? Wait up!"
Cecil abruptly stopped in his tracks and Carmen came to face him.
"What happened in there?" she demanded.
"Let's just say, the plans have been altered," Cecil told her, his voice very calm. "I will not be coming back and that is all you need to know."
"What? Why?" Carmen looked very concerned.
Cecil sighed. "I changed my mind. I don't want to go here anymore." He looked her directly in the eyes. "Goodbye, Carmen." Then he walked past her and towards to doors.
He got to his bike and peddled toward the bridge. It started to rain, but Cecil could barely feel it, too busy worrying about the anger inside of him at the moment.
He was so distracted, he didn't see the broken glass on the ground and ran right over it. His bike tire started to go flat and it became hard for Cecil to pedal. When he gave up, he got off of his bike and pushed it to the ground in frustration. It fell into a muddy puddle with a loud thud. Cecil looked back at the school in the distance. It was so small from over there. So small... "I will attend that school," he promised himself. "And I will run it into the ground."

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A/N
So what do ya think so far? I hope this prologue gives you enough interest to keep reading! Please vote and comment! It really helps me! Thank you!