Meet Katie, also known as Goldilocks. Coming from a not so rich family, she was forced into thievery by her father. She's a teen who is ashamed of her past and wishes to forget about it. Katie thought her life couldn't get anymore confusing, that is...
I thankfully managed to get back to sleep, but I'm not entirely sure how much rest I got. It was hard to keep track of the time with no clock on board the ship. I finally awoke to feel the sun's heat on the surface of my cheek; sitting in the same spot for an extended amount of time really does gives you aches and pains all over. As I got up to stretch, I saw other students who were already wide awake, chatting with one another.
School hadn't even started yet, and people were already making friends, and here I was, alone with no one to bond with. I then spotted a slim man in a brown waistcoat coming down the stairs holding a clipboard in his hands. He let out a loud whistle which caused everyone to turn and face him.
"Attention students," He said in an overbearing voice. "We'll be arriving in five minutes. Please gather all your belongings together and be ready to disembark."
Everyone then began following his instructions, and I also did the same. There was a little struggle to get everyone up onto the deck, but it managed to get done. I squeezed through the crowd of people to get to the edge of the boat, and way off in the distance was an island with a massive building nested on it.
"Woah, it looks way grander than I had imagined." I thought.
When the boat, at last, made it to the school's docking area, we all disembarked in a single file and were greeted by three people wearing smartly dressed robes. One of them was a chubby looking man with the oddest-looking bowl cut hairstyle I'd ever seen on a person. I'm glad I didn't say my thoughts out loud, as he introduced himself as the headmaster of the school. That would be the absolute worst thing to do. We were all then lead towards the school, and once everyone got through the gates, we were directed to the boarding home just five minutes away from the main school grounds.
To my absolute delight, I learned that we would all have our own rooms, which put me at ease knowing I wouldn't have to see anyone in their underwear, or worse. The induction process was the longest thing I've ever had to go through; getting my timetable, collecting my new uniform, sitting through a dull welcome assembly... It was kind of exciting, but at the same time, nerve-racking. I had never been used to this type of thing before, and I hoped that I would gradually get used to it. It was a few hours later that I managed to get back to my room so that I could unpack and organise everything.
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The best thing about it was that it had a rounded window with a cosy ledged seating area, and believe me, I spent lots of time there gazing out of the window and reflecting on life. Anyways, after thirty minutes, everything was arranged and in its place. I plopped down onto my bed, before falling back and letting out an exhausting sigh. I reached over to my framed portrait of Daniel, mum and I. I gazed at it for a while, and my mind drifted, thinking about them. A knock on my door brought me out of thought, and I raised myself up to see who it was.
"Come in," I called out.
The door opened, a girl with short red hair popped her head around the doorway. She had thick-rimmed glasses, and she was holding what appeared to be a magic book.
"Hi," she smiled. " Sorry, I... I hope I didn't interrupt you or anything."
"No, not at all," I said, walking over to her. " I just finished unpacking my stuff."
"Oh good, I just wanted to introduce myself since my room is next door to yours."
I nodded and smiled back at her.
"Really? That's really nice of you. I'm Katie, by the way.
"I'm Isabel," she gestured to herself.
We talked for a bit, and I found out that we were going to be in the same maths class. I found this extremely handy as I needed to catch up with a lot before the next lesson. You see, I had arrived at Worcestershire Academy a few weeks into my sophomore year of the autumn term. So I, along with a few other students, needed to catch up on loads of work, not to mention having to learn the ins and outs of the school.
As I hadn't met anyone else besides Isabel, she asked if I wanted to sit with her and her friends the next day during breakfast.
"I'd love to," I answered. "It would be great to make some friends around here."
"I'll see you down in the dining hall tomorrow. Remember, breakfast is at 7:45 am." She gave me a wave before leaving my room. A warm smile grew across my face. Now that I was going to be making some friends, I guessed that being at boarding school wasn't going to be as bad as I'd imagined.
Well, little did I know that school life had a lot in store for me.
