Across 300 Years, I Love You

Lost

2 January 1995

[Elizabeth's POV]

"We are now at the school foyer. Year 1 girls, please alight at the porch and follow the prefects to the school hall. Year 2 to 6, please wait for Year 1 to alight first." the bus conductor announced with a microphone.

I took another glance at my watch. 7.45 am. School assembly is supposed to start at 8 am. I have 15 minutes to get to the school hall. The school premise is huge. It is probably nearly as large as my entire neighbourhood as I took in a quick glance at my surroundings. There is a section for the primary school students and another section for the high school students. Every flower and grass looks perfectly manicured and every inch, nook and cranny is spotless.

Lucky for me, the bus stopped us in front of the nearest flight of stairs that lead directly to the hall. The prefect that showed us the way told us that there are 4 other stairs that we can use to get to the hall and pointed out the rough locations to where they are.

"Our principal is Sister Angeli De Medici. Year 1 will assemble at the back of the hall. The prefects will hold up a card indicating your class. You need to find the class you belong to and line up in pairs." the prefect continued her briefing.

At the end of the stairs, I was greeted with a magnificent sight. The ceiling is extremely tall. Perhaps 3 to 4 storey tall in comparison to the apartment block that I am staying in.

We are at the left side gate and across us to the opposite is the right side gate and there is a much larger and grandiose black cast iron main gate with arrow spears at the top. The school crest and motto is casted in pure gold and there are 1 at each side gate and the main gate holds 1 on the left and right side of the gate. The perfectly white marble columns are intricately crafted according to Corinthian designs to hold the cast iron gates.

No matter which direction I turned my head to, I felt overpowered by what my senses could take. It is exactly like how story books that I read in Pearson's would describe heaven to be like, except, the archangels here are crafted in white marble statues. 7 archangels, to be exact, strategically placed, leading up to the huge grand marble stairs with red carpet in the middle. It feels like an entrance to heaven, that God would meet us at the top of the stairs.

I looked around to see that no one else seems to be in as much shock as I am. Quickly, I worked to regain my composure.

The assembly hall on the other hand felt extremely scholarly. It is built in dark brown oak wood with carvings that resembled universities of the 1800s. A light casky woody scent lingered in the air as the stage, ceiling, floor and furniture are all made of oak.

"Here it is, please do join your respective class" the prefect stopped us upon reaching the top of the marble staircase.

1 Allamanda, 1 Bougainvillea, 1 Carnation, 1 Daisy, 1 Episcia, 1 Frangipani, 1 Gardenia, 1 Hibiscus.

I read all the placards quietly.

"Oh no!" At that moment, I have no idea which class I belong to. Everyone seems to know where they belong. Mom and dad had never mentioned anything about that to me, nor, was I given any documents to read. In Pearson's, there is only 1 class per level, so it is not hard to figure out where to go. I had failed to consider the possibility that at St. Antonio's, things would be so different.

"Maybe I should look for a payphone" I muttered to myself. "I need to call home to ask."

Taking another quick glance at my watch, it is less than 5 minutes to the start of the assembly.

"Oh no no no!" I facepalmed.

"Ok, calm down, Elizabeth." I took a deep breath. I looked through all the placards again. This time, the word Gardenia stood out to me.