HAVEN BLACK - complete

THE EXPERIENCE

Chapter 7 – THE EXPERIENCE

The principal's office was on the second floor of the School's main building and it looked down upon the front entrance through a single, floor to ceiling height windows that were separated by a excessive number of sashes. Large leafed tropical looking plants sat in the corners on either side of the window and in the opposing rear corners of the room were an American flag, which hung off a brass pole, and the school flag which hung of a chrome pole. Vertically mounted wood paneled walls gave the appearance of prison-like bars but the room had a presidential feel, which was not surprising given Mrs Aiken's military prowess.

A large dark brown antique desk stood a couple of yards from the towering window and it's surface was precisely organised with a computer screen perfectly square on in one corner, and a neatly stacked pile of papers on the other. A high-back, expensive looking leather chair separated the desk and the window and two green colored fabric chairs faced the window on the other side of the desk... in a confrontational way.

"Please have a seat Jacob..." the principal said in a somewhat relaxed tone from behind her behemoth of a desk.

Please have a seat.

"...and close the door behind you."

I closed the door gently behind me and as I waited for further instructions from Mrs Aiken, I saw another student sitting in one of the chairs...a girl. Her long ash blonde hair shimmered with streaks of light as it flowed weightlessly over the back of the chair. She turned her head slowly to look at me, the 'trouble maker', and my perceived world gradually became motionless.

"You will be serving detention in here, folding the school newsletters, as the machine has broken down and we're..." The principal's voice slowed and faded away to a distant silence. The walls of the office silently broke away from their foundations and accelerated away into a blank infinity, as did the now static Mrs Aiken and her desk. The floor dissipated underneath my feet into a wispy fog and I felt the gravity lift off my body. A blissful booming yet calming unworldly sound omitted from all around the existing black space, and it resonated inside me as I felt for the first time in my life that I was connected to something internally prodigious yet externally universal. Radiating warmth emitted from a beam of intense star-white light that originated from a point in the vast distance and illuminated the girl that sat in the chair who hadn't moved an inch; Her brilliant blue topaz eyes sparkled wildly at me with pure grace as I felt my heart beat slowing down, almost to a stop...

"Jacob..." was said slowly from a voice that came from an undetectable place that surrounded me; but the girls lips hadn't moved.

A loud and sharp clamp sound rippled through the blank space and the girl's image wavered with slight distortion and my heart starting beating faster now, my weight returning to my feet.

"Jacob..." the voice said again, but louder and more clear than before. Another clamping sound erupted and the blank space suddenly repopulated with worldly mass as the paneled walls of the principal's office snapped back into place with the sound of a zip that echoed quietly for a split second.

"JACOB!" Mrs Aiken yelled from behind her desk where she was now standing hunched over with her fists flat on the desktop.

"I'm sorry Mrs Aiken," I replied hastily, feeling foolish and stunned from the experience.

Mrs Aiken sat back down on the chair, her face now a bright glowing shade of red.

"As I was saying Jacob before I lost your attention..." she said hotly"...You will be serving detention in here folding the school newsletters, as the machine is broken. And after you have finished that, there are more brochures for the school play that also need folding. That should keep you busy... but if you finish that I'll find something else for you to do. Now, station yourself over there!" She ordered pointing to a small desk in the corner which sat half hidden under one of the leaves of the tropical plant. "...Oh and I was going to say Jacob, 'don't mind our new student here', but I won't as I see she has already made an impression on you. Her name is Jill."

"Hi Jacob, nice to meet you," Jill's voice sang divinely to my ears.

Smiling overly wide, I wanted to say hi back but I couldn't; I was frozen with disbelief from what I had just experienced and was thunderstruck by her exquisiteness.

"Err, hi, Jill," I managed to squeak out.

She softly smiled back at me in acknowledgement as I started to trail off again into Neverland.

Mrs Aiken interrupted sharply"Now! Jacob!".

Tearing my eyes away from the beauty in the chair, I walked with a tiny bounce in my step to the small wooden desk which was barely big enough to fit the receded chair that was underneath it. There was a large pile of paper stacked neatly on the desk and as I pulled the green chair out and sat down I couldn't help myself; I took a sneaky peak at Jill from across room, but instead got Mrs Aiken's stare back at me, who was making sure that I had started my tasks of punishment.

Thoughts rushed through my head as I started folding the brochures.

Who was that girl?

Well, I know here name, but where did she come from?

Why did she have such a strange effect on me?

Did she also experience what I had just experienced?

Overhearing Jill and the principal discuss class clashes and what extra-curricular activities are on offer at Jackson Valley High, my mind drifted off once more dwelling on what just happened until a sentence abruptly pulled me out from my pit of thoughts...

"Thank you very much Mrs Aiken, you were very helpful and I'm very excited to start tomorrow."

"No, no, thank you Jill for being an absolute pleasure to take on the orientation of the school, you know I do a quite a few of them and they do get tiresome, but like I said, you were a complete pleasure and I really do hope that you find that Jackson Valley High has plenty of offers for you." Mrs Aiken's reply was unusually friendly...almost compliant.

I turned around snapping out of my haze of thoughts to see the back of Jill who was now walking towards the door; She glanced back at me and cheekily whispered "See you tomorrow, Jacob..."

Her lips moved subtly, just enough so that only I could only hear her; but then as she continued to amble out of the room, I clumsily blurted out.

"Yeah, see you!" I said in an ill-attempted coolness.

"Jacob, get back to it!" Mrs Aiken snapped at me.