A City Among The Stars

Chapter One

      It was the last month of school. I was excited. The number one reason; it was my birthday. June 28th, the last day of school. I was also excited for school to end because then I will finally be able to fly home.The last reason of my joy was that it was final project time. Instead of taking final exams, we have an entire month to make a project that demonstrates our knowledge of the entire year. If you get at least five things from each unit you are almost guaranteed a C+ to B-, that is if all the information is accurate and neat. If you incorporate ten or more, it's a B+ to A+. Don't get me wrong, coming up with a project is very difficult. Getting an A+ is darn near impossible.

      All the students at Red Rose Academy are geniuses. We have been hand picked as the smartest kids of our generation. There are students of all ages, from ten to eighteen, doing all sorts of different grades. I myself am sixteen, most kids my age would be in grade eleven, but I'm already at a university level. Even at my young age I am the top student in all my classes. Red Rose Acadamy's students are also not normal, if you exclude our above average IQ's. Every student attending the academy have mental issues. Issues such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder, paranoia, multiple personalities, dyslexia. The Red Rose Academy works to help these young, troubled geniuses. I myself have anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder.

      I was already awake by the time my alarm clock rang. It's shrill scream forcing my hand into action to shut it off. A smile was on my face as I slid my legs off the bed. A soft missile from the bunk above me smacked into my face, only causing my smile to widen.

      "Go back to sleep you freak. Why do you have to wake up so damn early?" My roommate, Rose Pullman, screeched at me, her voice croaking from sleep.

      I chuckled, "you can go back to sleep if you want to, puella. I am going to get up. You may want to cover your eyes, Rose, I'm turning on the light."

      Already at the light, I gave Rose a few seconds to prepare herself. Time up, I flicked on the light, receiving a groan and another missile from Rose.

      Moving over to my dresser I rummaged through my clothes to find what I was looking for, plain blue jeans and white tank top. I spun around to see Rose sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

      "What time is it anyways?" She asked, pausing to yawn. "Oh God! It's five thirty! You see this! Five thirty! You really are crazy, Carter."

      Rolling my eyes I shot back over my shoulder, "not crazy. Just prepared. You know what I always say, better early than late!"

      Just before I closed the bathroom door, I saw Rose scowling at me in the mirror.

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      Arm in arm and bags on our shoulders, Rose and I skipped to the mess hall. The entire way she complained about 7 o'clock being to early for breakfast.

      "Lighten up, Rose. It's not that early. Besides, you know the saying, the early bird catches the worm!"

      She jabbed her elbow into my side, a mischievous grin on her face, "I'm not an early bird. Plus worms are gross!"

      I rolled my eyes as Rose and I stepped into the noisy mess hall. There were kids everywhere as we pushed through the crowd to the cafeteria line. There wasn't much of a wait. We stood in silence as the ladies behind the counter gave us our food, then weaved our way to a table where our group of friends sat.

      As soon as we sat down, everyone circled around Rose and I and started to talk, mainly to Rose; who expertly paid attention to each and every word said. I don't know how she does it. To me it sounds like a dull roar. Absentmindedly, I picked at my food as I thought about what I was going to do for my Greek mythology project.