Every time you make a move

Shades of Green-Pt.1

Headfort School, Kells, Co.Meath, Ireland, the day before...

"And here are our languages classrooms," Mr Dermot Toole turned a corner as he lead Monica onto a long, narrow corridor with a few doors into them, explaining further in his posh Irish accent, "Unlike most state primary schools here we teach Ancient Greek, as well as Latin and the primary Romance languages"

"Excellent..." Monica peered through the internal windows and into the empty classrooms as she passed by.

"Well, that's upstairs of the east wing," Mr Toole rubbed his hands together, "Onto downstairs next"

"Come along, you two" Monica called the twins over.

Johnny and Roshni looked over from their spot at the tall windows and rushed back to her side as the headmaster led the three of them to a dark-looking stairwell. During most of the tour Monica had been glancing over to them, trying to read their faces for some form of approval after their initial disagreement at the idea of boarding school. But for now, they were both understandably curious towards their new surroundings and had eagerly been lingering up ahead of both the adults.

Due to the lack of students and staff who were at home for the Easter holidays, the emptiness of the building made it harder for Monica to believe that Headfort was a boarding school. The house itself was breathtakingly beautiful, as were the grounds and playing fields that were surrounded by tall, lush trees. And with the 18th century grandeur within the architecture, interior design, and the front garden's layout there was no way that Johnny and Roshni were going to get homesick anytime soon, for everything had a Garden Lodge flair to it.

"That has to be the fanciest assembly hall if I ever saw one!" Monica thought the moment they were shown it only twenty minutes earlier, envisioning its mint green baroque panels lined with white rococo, adorned with gold-framed oil portraits, and the rows upon rows of gold chairs with red velvet lined up on the polished wooden floor.

"You know, Miss Brannigan," Mr Toole began as they tread down each step, "We have a bursary scheme which may be of interest to you. It's for financially struggling parents and families who cannot afford to pay the annual tuition fee of 15,000 Irish punts, if you need"

"Why do you say that?" Monica furrowed her brows.

"Our school has a middle-class image, if you please," Mr Toole paused to take his tortoiseshell glasses off the bridge of his nose and polish them with the folded napkin in the top pocket of his herringbone tweed jacket, "most of our children come from privileged families who might have a limited understanding of the world around them. Ergo, we would like to diversify our student body and welcome children from all social classes and international backgrounds so that they can learn from one another."

They had reached the bottom step when Monica asked him, confused as to why what he was telling her was relevant, "But what makes you say it to me in particular?"

"Well, forgive me but you came here alone," he answered bashfully, putting his glasses back on, "I assumed that you were a single parent. It's hard to tell with divorce rates going so high nowadays, unfortunately"

Now Monica no longer felt perplexed, if not slightly judged at the same time.

"Does he even have any idea who their father is?!"

After all, this was also the first time that she had been immersed in an Anglo-Irish situation where everything, even the staff and students no doubt, were made up of old money. Johnny and Roshni, on the other hand, were brought up in a world that was built on new money:

"Oh, thank you for telling me about it but it won't be necessary. Their father is currently away for work, and he wants to pay the fees," Monica uttered, then raised her voice when she heard two pairs of footsteps scurrying away, "Johnny! Roshni! Don't run!"