Winston Academy Middle School: Year 1

Chapter Three: My Life Got Flipped Upside Down

In no time it became 5.40 p.m.. My roommates and I waited in the hallway. The girls from room 720 and the boys joined us about 10 minutes later.

I paid a lot of attention to what everybody was wearing out of boredom. Willow was wearing another T-shirt and the same jeans. Amethyst wore a blouse and knee- length leggings. Felice wore a T-shirt and slightly baggy pants.

I myself was in a blue T-shirt and knee-length pants. The boys wore similar things to me. Amber and Ruby accidentally wore the same clothing as their sister.

"Gah. Sorry we took so long." Jasmine stumbled out with wet hair, followed by Joan.

"Doesn't matter, come on, let's get a move on." Felice led.

We arrived just in the nick of time. The dining hall, which is humongous, was barely filled. Only 5 out of hundreds of tables were in use, since there were still a few days until term actually starts. According to Willow, who has an elder sister, the bulk of them will come on the second to last day before term starts.

"Willow! Come over here, sit with us!" An older girl called.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I have ten other people with me, we won't fit with you, sis." Willow declined the offer.

"I'm guessing that's your sister, Rowan?"

"Yeah."

We sat down at the largest table we could find. It was a bit of a squeeze, but we made it work.

"You guys get food first, I'll watch the table." Joan offered.

"Okay, but when one of us returns you go." Amber said.

I tell you, the food was amazing. There were so many different options, and I got overwhelmed. I settled for tomato pasta, salad, and a glass of cold tea.

The others were having a hard time choosing too. Eventually everybody got something and started eating.

"Wow. That is a lot of food." Michel commented when Willow brought over her plate.

"What? I couldn't decide what to take!" Willow laughed.

"Yes, that is a LOT of food. Can we have some?" Felice asked.

"Sure. I actually don't know if I can even finish all of that."

Felice pinched a few french fries from Willow's plate. Kaiden took a piece of chicken. Jasmine scooped up a bit of the baked beans. I stole a meatball with gravy, and Ruby snatched one small sausage.

After that, I grabbed some warm brownies and vanilla ice-cream. I slid the large pile of dessert onto the table.

"Guys, grab your dessert here, otherwise you'll get overwhelmed... again." I suggested.

"Good idea."

Despite the large amounts of food we took, they were all gone. I'm not sure where all of that went.

"Check, check..." a middle-aged man took the mic at the front of the hall.

"Attention, to all new students, tonight you will have an one-on-one appointment with the principal himself as part of your school orientation program. Please do NOT sleep before you have had the appointment."

"Wait... the PRINCIPAL?!" Jasmine exclaimed, shook.

"Everybody who enters this school has it. My sister did, and it was fine." Willow reassured.

We returned to our dorms to wait. At about 7.15 p.m., Willow was called. The rest of us told stories about our lives before coming to Winston Academy, which generated a good amount of laughs.

One by one, my roommates left and returned. I was the last one to be called.

Does that means anything?, I wondered.

"Skyler, go to the principal's office. Down a level, corridor on the right, first room with glass doors." Amethyst told me.

In front of the office was a bench, which Michel was sitting on.

"So you're after me?" He asked.

"Yeah. Wonder what this is for?" I gestured at the principal's office door.

Michel didn't answer. Maybe he doesn't know?

"Hey, you're up." A boy I don't recognize told Michel. Michel nodded at me and entered the office. Seeing as though nobody is around, I played with my phone.

About 15 minutes later, Michel opened the door and called me in. He walked out of the office and up the stairs, leaving me with the principal.

"Hello, Skyler." the middle- aged man from before greeted me. So HE's the principal?

"Hello, Mr. uh... ?"

"My name is Professor Kenneth Holland." My principal said.

"Hello, Professor Holland."

"Now, I have to tell you some things. Your family has hidden something away for a long, long time, and you just rediscovered it, in a way."

"I knew it!" I whisper-shouted.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Oh, I knew that. My parents have been talking about a secret all year."

"Yes, Skyler. Your family, the Robinsons, are actually descended from creatures of myth. In fact, everyone here is. I myself am descended from elves."

"I'm what?! We have mythical creature blood in us?"

"Yes. Now, your family, in particular, is a special case. No member of your family has gone to Winston Academy in decades. See, ever since the... let's say accident, that a Robinson did, your family withdrew from this magical world entirely. They pretended to be normal people, afraid and ashamed. But you just blew their secret."

"Okay, okay, I'm understanding this... but how did we not genetically get rid of our mythical ancestry?"

"There are rules to that. The first one is that once mythical blood enters our ancestry, there is no way of cancelling it out. Nobody knows why or how. Second is that everybody descended from mythical creatures give off a magical aura. Creatures of the dark side, like the goblins you killed in your sleep, are attracted to it." Professor Holland continued.

"Third rule is that the more you pay attention to your mythical side, the stronger the aura. Your family was able to pass off as normal humans brcause they ignore and deny their mythical side. Monsters can't detect them because the aura is really weak."

"Does reading myth books count? 'Cause I read a lot of those." I questioned.

"Definitely. And that may just about be why you got attacked."

"By the way, what am I descended from?"

"Werewolf on your dad's side, Sphinx on your mom's."

Well, that explains a lot.