Behind The Glass

Chapter 1: Moving In

Hi. My name's Emma Gylnt.

I live in a family of 6, or at least I used to. I was born the eldest in my family. I have three brothers; Aiden, Cody, and Bobby. Aiden loves to build things. One day I bet he will become an architect, or a game developer. Cody doesn't care much for building things, but his imagination is still without bounds! I bet he will be a comedian when he's older, he loves to make people laugh! Bobby is the oddball, a little different than everyone else. He has a huge heart, and loves adventure movies! My mom is real quirky, and loves anything with lots of color and sparkles. My dad works for... well, who everyone works for, really, The Bique Industry. They run our whole island.

Yes, we live on an island. Amazing right? Wrong. I often wonder what the other world is like... If there was one...

Anyway, one day a big bus came to our house. They came to "collect" us kids. This happens to everyone on the island once all the kids in the family are old enough. The bus drove us to the center of the island, where the "Learning Centers" were. The "Learning Centers" are four different colored buildings; blue, green, yellow, and pink. Kids are separated based on gender, personalities, and a whole bunch of other stuff. They gave us sheets to fill out, it was ridiculous and took forever. After you complete all the courses in the Centers, you are automatically applied to a job that suits your skills and personality. I was put in the pink building. I couldn't find any of my brothers in the pink building, so I assumed they were all in different ones. I wasn't sure if the color of the buildings even mattered, or if the inside of them was unique.

The setup of the building was interesting. There were four floors. On the first floor there was the kitchen and lunch hall, a few rooms we weren't allowed in, and a lobby area. The second floor had bedrooms for ages two to twelve. The third was bedrooms for ages thirteen and up, and the fourth floor was for staff members only. Ok, so maybe not that interesting.

At the time, I was fourteen, so I climbed up to the third floor and found my bedroom. It was basically barren, only a bed, a desk with a computer on it, and a dresser. I thought in my head, "Well this has got to change." My suitcase had been brought up already and was sitting outside the door.

"I sure hope nothing got broken..."

I brought my suitcase into my room and closed the door behind me.

"Time to brighten things up a bit."

I opened my suitcase and grabbed my cat poster. The poster had a picture of a cat wearing sunglasses. On it read;
       "When the dogs are away, the cats will play."

  "Heh, ten years and it still cracks me up. Thanks dad."

        I found some tape in the desk and taped the poster above my bed. Then I took out my tie-dyed blanket and laid it on the bed at an angle. I took out some of my stuffed animals and put them on the bed as well. I still remembered all their names; Sunny the cow, Mew the donkey, and Rainbow the octopus.

      "I can't believe that I still even keep you guys..."

     While saying this, I gave them all a big hug.

     "Geez, I'm so lame."

     Next, I grabbed a roll of stickers my mom said I should bring. "To spruce up your things sweetie!," I believe were her words. I was thankful that she made me bring them. I put some cat stickers on the computer and on the dresser.

"I wonder if they will make me scrape these off later... oh well."

I could almost feel the sun going down. Sadly, there were no windows in my room that I could look out of and check the time. I did have a clock though.

"6:34 p.m. Huh. That late already?" I said to myself. I sighed and got back on track with what I was previously doing.

"Hmm... now what?," I said wondering what to put up next. Just as I was about to grab something else from my bag, my door swung open. "Hello dearie," said the shadow looming from the door.

     "Oh, did I startle you darling? I'm sorry, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Olivia Pegins, but the little ones call me Olive. I will be your caretaker for as long as you are here."

    Caretaker huh? I was fourteen, I didn't need a babysitter.

    "Oh hi. I suppose you already know my name then?" I replied.

    "Indeed miss Gylnt. I see you are already customizing your room!"

    "Yup! Just a few knick-knacks to make it feel like home you know?"

    "Yes. Well, our cook, Agatha, is almost done with supper! Would you like to join us?"

    I was pretty hungry, and it was getting late, so I said sure. Olive simply nodded and began her descent down the steps. You would think that with so many stairs, and being the caretaker, she wouldn't be as pudgy as she was. Her walk was more of a waddle to be honest. But it charmed her. She seemed like the aunt who would let you have an extra cookie before bed. I closed my door and put some pillowcases on the pillows. I put all my clothes in their proper spots in the dresser, and then headed downstairs.
     "Time for some grub!" I said to myself.