Academy for the Strange

Chapter 2: First Day

            The sound of shuffling paper and whispers filled the classroom. Fiona murmured thanks when the stack was handed to her by the boy in front of her, grabbed a sheet and passed the rest behind her. She glanced over the paper.

            They’d been given a list of plays they’d be reading, Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, along with three books, 1984, Brave New World, and Handmaid’s Tale, that they were to choose one from. Fiona looked over at Meredith who met her gaze and smiled. “We have good books this year.”

            Fiona shrugged. “I haven’t read any of them.”

            “Oh! They’re all really good. 1984 is probably my favourite of the three.”

            When Fiona only stared at her, Meredith blushed. “I really like reading and ever since we read The Chrysalids in grade nine, I’ve been into Dystopian. I don’t get to do a lot of reading at home, except when I visit my mom, so I read all I can from the library here.”

            Fiona flashed her a smile. “Then I’ll take your advice and choose 1984 when we get the chance.”

            Meredith flushed again but grinned. Fiona hid a smile. Meredith’s face showed her emotions as clearly as a traffic light, and though she seemed a little shy, she was definitely a nice person.

            Fiona skimmed the rest of the page, mostly describing the essays they’d have to write, the tests, and what the final exam would be on. All in all, pretty standard stuff. When she finished, Fiona looked around the room again. From the wandering gazes she saw, half the class was finished reading the outline over as well.

            She let her eyes wander, briefly meeting the stare of a black haired boy at the back of the room before moving on to watch a blonde girl make notes on the outline. Or doodle. It was hard to see what exactly she was doing from where Fiona sat.

            Mr. Hastings cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the whole class. “You should all be done or finishing up, so I’m going to explain our little contest. I’m going to write a letter on the board and in pairs, you are going to come up with as many words that start with that letter as you can in five minutes. The pair who comes up with the most wins a prize. I’ll give you a minute to find a partner.”

            Meredith was already looking at Fiona when she turned to her. Fiona smiled. “Let’s win.”

            Her roommate flushed a little but nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

            They both opened to a new page in their respective notebooks as Mr. Hastings clapped his hands. “You should all be in pairs now,” he called, before turning around and grabbing a piece of chalk and beginning to draw. “The letter is Q. Go!”

            Fiona’s hand flowed across her page as she wrote down Quarter, Quench, Quiet, Quite, Quit, and Quilt. She glanced briefly at Meredith, whose hand was a jiggling blur as it raced across her paper, before turning her attention back to pummelling her brain for Q words.

            When Mr. Hastings finally called time, Fiona didn’t quite have twenty-five words. “Check with your partner and add your lists together. No doubles! You’ve got another five minutes to get your totals.”

            Fiona barely had to look at Meredith’s sheet to know she had way more words. “I can check them over,” her roommate offered. Fiona shrugged and handed over her page, reading Meredith’s over her shoulder.

            She shook her head. There were words on Meredith’s list she hadn’t ever seen before. What on earth was a quorum? Or a quark? She’d been pretty pleased with coming up with quaff and quagmire, but it seemed like Meredith was miles ahead of her.