Hanging on for dear life as the taxi screeches through the city, I try not to shriek whenever it pulls into traffic, no one seems to care about the traffic lights, or cones.
"Hey! Watch it, asshole!" The driver shouts, even though he was the one about to rear end that jeep, so many horns honking, the streets all seem to look the same, and stretch for kilometres, but maybe that's just me in my delirious, jetlagged state. On the other side of the spectrum, Levi seems to be having the time of his life, talking and laughing with the standoffish taxi driver, but then again, I haven't seen anyone Levi couldn't charm, plus he slept on the plane.
Dad looks just as regretful as I do, gritting his teeth and clinging onto the dashboard. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if we were actually in New York, the city, not the state, which we are in, this is confusing.
Eventually, we make it out of the city and into relative country, it would be an understatement to say I'm relived to be out of the thick of it. Levi is asleep again, resting his cheek on his palm, that's gonna be red when he wakes, I stare at him freely without fear of being caught, he looks so peaceful, and so much less annoying, actually, his breathing is kind of annoying. Dad's on the phone, I have no idea when and how he got an American simcard, so I eavesdrop, he's talking to the moving company, about our furniture and stuff, apparently they are already at the house and are angry because they want to leave our stuff there, and obviously Dad is upset because people will steal our things, he tells them to wait 20 minutes. Only 20? I start to panic, I'm not ready yet, I can't do this. I scratch my fingernails up and down the seat subconsciously, being so caught up in my anxiety. Levi rolls over next to me, squints at my hand, and presses his on top of it, to stop the scraping, before going back to sleep. I wait a minute, then hold his hand, he doesn't even realise how much that reassured me. I smile quietly before leaning back myself.
"May, May." I shoot upright, having barely dozed off in the first place, I look over, dazed, to Dad, he looks so ridiculously happy, and for a moment I'm confused, then I see it, the gigantic Victorian building looming over us, and I involuntarily gasp, then notice I'm still holding Levi's hand, I quickly snatch it away, and he begins to wake from the movement, "What's happening?" He murmurs.
"We're here." I whisper, not taking my eyes off the palace, which is what it looks like, and what I'll call it, I've decided.
He sits up eager to see the supposedly amazing school which Dad refused to show us, I can see why, he watches our reactions, the biggest grin on his face.
"Woah." Levi's jaw drops, having the same reaction as me, and he's right to do so, this is possibly the most elaborate school I have ever seen in my life, scratch that, just structure in general.
"It's all a bit excessive, isn't it?" He says finally, after we reach the gates.
"Vidre is the finest learning institution with only the highest security precautions.." Dad recites, before Levi cuts him off, "Yeah, yeah, but it's still just a school."
Boy, he could not be more wrong.
Once we made it through, the assistant principal comes out to meet us, she waits by the front steps, which I think are made of marble, wearing a crisp, expensive looking skirt suit in white and royal blue, and it looks like it would be worth more than Dad's life insurance.
"Welcome." She says pleasantly, lacing her fingers in front of her. "Shall I give you the tour?" She flashes a smile so white she looks like she could be a real-estate agent. My Dad grins back, temporarily caught off guard, I cough.
"Oh right, uh, no. I actually have to go deal with the moving guys, right now or they'll dump our stuff. Would you mind setting the kids up though?" She nods sweetly.
"Of course, you have a nice day Mr. Parker, I'll debrief you tomorrow." He nods, reassured, and gets back in the cab. She waves them off, smile still plastered on her face. As soon as the car disappears, it drops and she turns to us. Looking us up and down she wrinkles her nose in distaste, suddenly I feel self-conscious, and cross my arms defensively across my chest,
"Well, this certainly will not do, let's get you some uniforms." She turns away and Levi bites his lip, seeing the hilarity of it all, but she's right, we are dressed rather shabbily. I glare shamefully at my beat up converse.
"Come on! Oh, I'm Ms. Roux." She calls back, as if we're puppies. Levi shrugs and follows, he's right, we don't really have a choice, I can't ruin this for Dad. She leads us inside, I try not to look too much in awe as we follow her through the elaborate corridors, her heels clip-clacking echo throughout, I lag a little behind, staring up at the skylights, the whole ceiling is a sky light, with vines crawling around the edges, the windows, large and rounded, everything so clean. I run my hand across the ledge, not sticky at all, they've got some dedicated cleaners here. All the while she is talking, I realise what she says is important, so I listen,
"And, no asking for autographs or pictures under any circumstances, this school is founded on the promise of privacy." Is she serious? Why would I want autographs of random rich kids?
"Please follow all rules, especially curfews, we have a reputation as the safest school in the country, let's keep it that way, can't have any abductions can we?" She continues, and I struggle to keep up with her pace, Levi nods along, seeming to take her seriously, but I know better.
"Wear your uniform proudly, keep it regulation, failure to comply will result in detention." She turns a corner and leads us outside, I spot four security cameras on first glance, they follow us.
"These are the dormitories, due to you attending here on full scholarship, as a condition of your father's contract, you will be living here." She walks us across the grounds and stops at a massive white block, weeping willows shadow the pebbled path, leading up to lion statues guarding mahogany double doors with brass handles, and ivy climbing the timber steps, winding around the veranda, which stretched around the whole place as far as I could see, and up the windows.
"But I thought we would be staying with Dad, and attending during the day." I say as politely as I can muster. She turns her icy gaze on me, like I was something on the bottom of her shoe, and I instantly shrivel.
"No, scholarship students are required to board." She looks at me as if she is only just realising I was there, and I was either an idiot, or a small child. Levi looks just as confused. She checks her watch,
"Well, I'll leave you two to get settled, see me tomorrow for uniforms, schedules, and your assigned rooms." She glances at our clothes once more before starting off. Levi stares in disbelief,
"What do you mean? Dad's coming back isn't he?" It's getting dark, and the willows shiver with an evening breeze. Ms. Roux turns back and squints,
"I suppose so, but you may have to find your way back yourself, I'm rather busy with a school term starting and all." She doesn't have time for us, and rightly so, it must be a busy time of year.
She turns and marches off, and I scrabble after her, boy, can that woman power walk.
We make it back to the gates before she calls out,
"Oh, before I forget, we have a welcoming gala tomorrow night, be there and be on your best behaviour, we will be having some rather esteemed guests." And with that she disappears into the night.
Our haze of confusion is dispersed by some loud honking.
"Oi! Kids!" I whip around, seeing dad, I bolt to the car, he must of gotten a rental, I slam the door after me, can't get out of this hell hole fast enough, I'm ready to tell him to step on it, when he turns to smile at us,
"How'd you like it?" And he looks so happy, and so... present. More than he's been in a long time, I can't ruin this for him. So I force a smile,
"It's so amazing, we're gonna have so much fun, aren't we Levi?" Levi frowns at me, not buying it, he does back me up though,
"Yeah, awesome." and he gives a grin that I can only guess is ten times less fake than mine, Dad seems reassured, and pulls out of the driveway.
As we speed away, the twilight envelopes us, and I can only imagine the ridiculous things that happen in this place.
YOU ARE READING
Welcome To The Circus (COMPLETE)
Teen Fiction"Welcome to the circus, are you a spectator, or a lion?" When Maggie Parker is offered a place at Vidre Grammar, located in New York, a school for the children of high society's rich and powerful elite with the security to match, she sees it as a ch...
