a lengthy winter

welcome

Charlotte could not think of a worse way to spend her winter break. As she laid in the back of her parents car trying to rack up ideas, they lamely tried to reassure her.

"Charlotte, it's just two weeks."

"I'm sure there will be at least one other girl!"

"We wish it wasn't this way aswell, honey."

Charlotte's parents were sending her off to an all boy's christian private boarding school for the duration of her winter break. Despite the all boy's part, she was also Jewish. She lamely fiddled with her Star of David necklace as she wondered if she would even be celebrating Chanukah this year. The medieval esque building came into view from the backseat window, and Charlotte propped her head up with her hand to get a better look. It was beautiful, there was no lie in that. But her admiration quickly diminished as she moved her gaze to the posse of boys filing out of the Church. 

"Ugh." She groaned. Most of the boys looked mean and stuck up, their noses pushed so high up into the air they seemed to resemble a talented seal. Her father turned around and tried to flash her a reassuring smile but the gesture was meaningless to her. This will go down as the worst winter break. While her parents get to vacation in Italy, she's stuck with some prepubescent boys all because her father is a respected alumni of the school and they didn't know where else to stash her off.

"Alright honey, let's go." Her mother said as she opened Charlotte's door.

 "You owe me for the rest of my life." She muttered as she straightened out her white skirt. Her father rushed to the trunk to pull out her abundance of pink luggage. Charlotte was a stereotypical girl. Her long blonde hair reached her mid back and her dark blue eyes fluttered from the cold. She wore skirts and dresses despite the weather, as the idea of a woman wearing pants hadn't been pushed to the forefront of societal structures yet.

"You must be the Thompson's. Welcome. It's great to see you again Peter." A man with a strange lazy eye stepped up to the grumpy family, shaking Charlotte's fathers hand. The two men engaged in conversation for a while before the man, Mr Hunham, turned his attention to Charlotte.

"We're about to get settled, I advise you to follow me."

"I'm sure you don't want to be here just as much as me. But we'll make the most of it, no?" He said to the girl as they reached the building. She didn't bother making a fuss out of her goodbyes, at the moment she hated her parents.

"Yeah. Whatever." She rolled her eyes and brushed her hair out of her face. As Mr Hunham finally came to a stop in a medieval looking room, she saw a measly group of boys sitting on the couch infront of her. Their eyes widened, surprised at the sight of a girl. She didn't bother sitting with them and let herself lean against a pool table behind her. One of them cleared their throat, with the intention of saying something, but the elderly man beat him to it. While Mr Hunham started off with some stupid speech that Charlotte tuned out, she twirled a strand of her hair with her finger and stared off into the snowy wonderland outside. From where she stood she could see the soft white blanket cover most of their campus. While she already garnered hate for this place, it was nice to be somewhere so beautiful. The sound of the door opening jolted her out of her thoughts, though. 

"Mr Tully, what happened to St Kitts?" She turned her attention to a lanky brunette boy standing at the doorway. He had a defeated, almost devastated look on his face and barely had the time to acknowledge the girl before he stood next to her at the pool table.

"Something came up." He grumbled, looking at his feet. 

"As I was saying before I was interrupted, we will be following the normal hours of study within the school day. I know some of you will benefit from this." Charlotte scoffed, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by the man. "And, the school has shut off the heat in the dormitories, so we will be bunking in the infirmary!" 

"What? What about me sir?" Charlotte huffed, crossing her arms in defiance. Now the mysterious brunette besides her takes in her presence. His eyebrows quickly knitted together as a confused look flashed across his face.

"Ahem. Uh, I suppose we will let you have your own room, Ms Thompson." She rolled her eyes but was nonetheless relieved for the accommodation. It was then that the brown haired boy to her right nudged her arm. He knelt down to whisper in her ear while still having his eyes trained on Mr Hunham.

"Hey, who the fuck are you?" She resisted rolling her eyes once again.

"Charlotte. And yourself?"

"Angus. No, I mean, why are you here?"

"My parents had no where else to throw me to the side, I suppose." She scoffed, laced with a bit of a laugh. The face Angus pulled in response seemed to elicit that he too had been stashed away, maybe a little more last minute than she.

"Well, I'd watch out for this lot. They're nothing short of charming." A small smile crept up on the girls flushed face, surveying the room. There were two younger boys, whom she didn't see much of a problem with. Next to the young, two boys that were around her age slumped against the couch with equally as disappointed faces. A loud clap jolted the pair and they straightened up quickly.

"Off we go!" The teacher led the shuffling group of teenagers out of the space, to where they'd be stuck for what will be the weirdest few weeks of their lives.