Fairytale High

3. Getting to Know the Enemy

Author's Note: Wait, hold on a second am I actually updating? I know, even I'm surprised. Anyway, guys, I am so sorry but I do have a valid excuse, I promise. This year I made the conscious decision to sit my Leaving Certificate (some extremely important exams) and I didn't have much time to do anything other than pretend to study. But I'm back now (however long that lasts). This is Chapter 3 and I really hope you like it. Thanks again to anyone who reviewed the last chapter and please, feel free to do the same on this one.

"And finally, this is the library."

Uncle Jake had brought us all around the school, inside and out. As huge as I had first presumed the school to be it was nothing compared to how massive it actually was. Behind the initial building, I soon discovered, were more buildings each bigger than the next, several stories high and all were connected by a series of sheltered walkways. From the outside they looked old with their grey stone walls and arched doorways and window frames. Adding to the aging feel was the ivy, creeping up almost every wall.

The buildings formed a giant circle around a stone courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard stood a brilliant brass fountain, featuring a beautiful man and woman, back-to-back, facing in entirely opposite directions. They looked quite happy despite the ridiculous, medieval clothes they were both wearing, the woman in her square-necked bodice and the man in his cropped trousers. Uncle Jake called it the Fountain of Blind Love, because the lovers couldn't see each other but still remained by each other's side, and said that it had been standing in the courtyard since 1884. I personally didn't think it was an appropriate name as neither of them looked blind nor was there any evidence to suggest that they were in love. It seemed more likely that they had, at some stage, gotten glued together and were doomed to look silly for the rest of time. That being said, it was still a beautiful fountain.

At the far end of the courtyard were three archways, each of which led somewhere different.

The one on the left, about two metres in height and made of some sort of black metal I couldn't name, led, essentially, to the forest behind the school. Its gate had to be unlatched and at night it was locked completely. Uncle Jake, oblivious to the mindset of teenagers, insisted that on weekends some students enjoyed nature walks in said forest. There were many strict rules accompanying this however as it was essential that students stuck to the designated path and didn't venture past a certain point.

At two and a half metres high the middle archway was taller and wider than the other two and made of a strong wood, possibly oak. This one had a double wooden gate with polished black handles. The reason it was so much larger, I found out, was because this archway led to all the main sports areas and large groups of students often passed through it at the same time. If you were to go through that gate you would find a small gym, a basketball court, a running track, two tennis courts and a soccer pitch as well as some stands and general spectator areas.

"No football field?" I had asked Uncle Jake, genuinely curious.

"No. Strangely enough the students have never shown much interest in football. I understand it's quite popular in most schools though. It is a bit odd, no?"

"Little bit." I couldn't say it bothered me too much, I had never liked football.

The last archway, the one on the right, was roughly around the same height and width as the first one although it appeared far more delicate. Made of a light metal and painted white gold, its gate was only about a metre high. Flowers grew up the sides and spread over the arch itself. I knew where it led before I was told. The last archway led to the school gardens. Near the size of a large football field, the gardens were beautiful, trees and flowers in every direction. It was like something out of a story. Picnic tables and those swings that look like wooden couches were everywhere to be seen and in one of the far corners was a small rocky water fall that fed into a shallow pond.