Ace of Minds

03: The First Day

This chapter would be edited by angelhair16 and Random_Afterthoughts

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After the long walk, Irene met several people, including her roommates. There were seven of them and they all seemed nice, though she wasn't sure if it was because they knew her father or they just were. Her bunkmate, Jeanette, was a year younger than Irene. She was blond and a little slow on things.

Forget that Cecil ever mentioned that Jeanette was nice and quiet. That girl was Cecil 2.0.

There were three Unknowns in her room: Kathryn Broom, Diane Zinger, and Irene. To her relief, only one girl snored, Elba Peter. Her bed was at the other end of the room, far away from Irene's. The key keeper, who kept the room key at all times, was Irene's least favorite roommate. Her name was Ruby Harkin and she was tall, beefy, and scary. From their first handshake, she could feel the hatred pouring out of Harkin's soul. The way she hissed 'Elswood' as if it was venom on her tongue ... yep, not her favorite roommate.

The clothes Elswood had bought for Irene was enough for her to wear for the entire semester, since she was going to wear uniforms anyway. The styles weren't weird like she had assumed and most of them were long-sleeved. Irene loved long-sleeved shirts. She wondered if Elswood had been keeping tabs on her. But the thought vanished as soon as she tried the clothes on. All of them were too big for her. There was one sweater that practically drowned her.

From her tour, she had learned that there was a laundry room on the fourth floor. It was the busiest at weekends.

Everything had gone pretty well until she heard Harkin yelling at the top of her lungs the next morning. Her voice was louder than Irene's alarm clock. It was a good thing Irene got the lower bunk or she would have dove head-first onto the floor. She pulled the thin, white blanket up and covered her face.

"Wake up! Everyone up! Get up now or I'll lock you in!" threatened Harkin. Although Irene couldn't see her, she could hear the sound of the dangling keys.

Irene gave up sleeping when she heard another voice which belonged to her bunkmate. The girl tapped her shoulder lightly. "Hey, wake up. You wouldn't want to be late on your first day. Come on," she said in a hush.

"Hmm," groaned Irene with a blanket still covering her face.

"Wake up, Newbie!" That was Harkin, her voice sounded like the Hulk when he turned green—hard to miss. "Do you think just because you're Elswood's daughter you can wake up anytime you please? The answer is no!"

It was official. Ruby Harkin hated Julius Elswood and every one of his kin.

With a low groan, Irene lifted up the blanket. She went to the cupboard beside her bed that she shared with Jeanette. They had agreed that the upper section would be Jeanette's while the lower one would be Irene's.

There weren't many things in Irene's section, only her uniform, books, a pair of black cute flats from Elswood, high socks, and clothes Elswood had bought for her. She didn't want to stress about how Elswood managed to buy her underwear. Jeanette's side was all yellow: yellow dolls, yellow bandanas, and even more yellow clothes. She might as well have lemons there.

There was only one clock in the room, but Irene suspected that Ruby Harkin might have one of her own. The hour hand was on the number six while the longer one hovered somewhere between five and six. It was freaking half past six.

Usually, her maids woke her up at seven. Even then, she still used the five minutes excuse.

"Where are we going?" she asked Broom, whose bed was next to hers and Jeanette's.