Divine Blue [Book One]

Chapter One

A door to the right within the office flew open, and in her periphery, Taylor could see a face poke out in her direction. "Taylor Hamilton!" the face said.

Taylor turned to see a seemingly young man's kind, excited expression. Attached to this face was a tall, slender, well-dressed body, fitting for someone in a position of authority.

"Come on into my office," he told her.

Mrs. Griffin had since stopped feverishly typing and was now facing the man's direction.

"Barb, I will take care of giving Taylor everything she needs," the man said.

Mrs. Griffin never looked back up at Taylor and instead returned to her stack of papers.

Taylor felt she should be more accustomed to being a proverbial fish out of water, but these introductions were always painfully uncomfortable, especially this early in the morning. She smiled and made her way towards the man's office. As she walked through the doorway, she saw a fellow student sitting in one of the two chairs placed in front of his desk.

"Welcome to Aurora High, Taylor," she heard him say behind her as he pushed his office door closed. Taylor stood as he passed around to his side of the desk. "We are so delighted to have you here! I'm Mark Powers, and I'm the principal," he said as he held out his hand for a handshake.

Taylor peered down at the hand that was unapologetically piercing through her personal space. Physical contact was a privilege that was earned, but she digressed. Taylor gave her hand over to him and gently shook.

"Go ahead and sit if you'd like," he said while he took his place in his own chair behind the large, ornate desk. "Sandra came by to see me when she registered you last week. I've had many of my own first days at new schools when I was young, so I thought I could reach out to you and make the transition a little less jarring," he said, chuckling.

Taylor was flattered that Mr. Powers was going out of his way to welcome her into this facet of her new life, but this made it no less overwhelming. There were new people to meet at every turn, and this was part of what made it unsettling. Taylor had learned to be an acquaintance, to forge only shallow friendships with others because at any moment, she could be walking in another direction with little warning. 

As if on cue, Mr. Powers interrupted her thoughts. "That's why I believe in the importance of having a guide of sorts, a peer mentor dedicated to showing you the ropes," he told her. Taylor could now sense the student sitting next to her beaming, eager to fulfill her new role. "Taylor, this is Elizabeth."

"They call me Lizzie," Lizzie exclaimed as she held out her hand. Lizzie was slender with blonde hair and bright green eyes. Her hair was pulled up into a suspiciously stylish, messy bun.

Taylor reluctantly shook Lizzie's hand. "Hi. I'm Taylor," she managed to say. "But you probably already knew that. Sorry," Taylor said as she pulled away.

Lizzie laughed and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, girl! We've all been there."

Mr. Powers grabbed papers from his printer and handed them to Taylor. "I have your class schedule printed up, and Lizzie will be more than happy to show you to each of your classes and get you acquainted with your instructors."

"Thanks," Taylor muttered as she took the papers from Mr. Powers.

"Oh! Before I forget..." Mr. Powers spun in his chair to the credenza behind him and pulled out a slender box. "You'll need a computer. School certainly isn't what it was in my day!" He passed the box over to Taylor.

Fancy. Taylor grabbed the box and stuffed it inside her backpack.

"As I said, we're very excited that you're here with us, and don't hesitate to reach out to me if you run into any snags." Mr. Powers flashed another toothy smile at Taylor as she and Lizzie got up from their seats and walked out of his office.