Dolosus Astus

Chapter Two

The hallway of the dorm was very stream-lined; the walls were grey, patterned with thin white lines, and the floor was a silky black marble, and all the light-fittings were clear glass. It was very space-age compared the traditional exterior of the building.

  The stout girl must have already gone in, because I was the only one lingering in the hall. I turned to look at the nearest door.

BEDROOMS 001-010

  Well, that was helpful. I pushed the door open anyway, hoping I might meet another student and find out where I was supposed to go.

  Through the door was a corridor, exactly the same decor as the hall. I looked at the door and sighed with relief.

ROOM 001-

PATRICIA ROBERTS & EMILY BELL

  The doors had name plates on! I relaxed, all room-based concerns gone. I continued along until I found it.

ROOM 007- LUCIE SPENCER & ANNABELLA FORBES

  I laughed softly. Room 007. At least there was something to lighten my mood at last. I knocked nervously on the door, and almost instantly it opened. I shot back in surprise.

  The girl who I suspected was Lucie blinked uncertainly at me. She had pale porcelain skin, and inky black hair. Her huge green eyes were heavily outlined in black kohl pencil, and on the side of her hair she had a small skull-patterned bow. She had a wonderfully gothic air about her, which seemed to match the school in a weird way.

  “Um... hey,” she said with a distinct Irish accent. “Annabella?” she questioned uncertainly.

  “Uh... yeah, that’s me.” I said, more shyly than I’d originally intended. “I’m guessing you’re Lucie?”  

  “Yep. Uh... do you wanna come in?”

  She stepped back so I could go into the room. I smiled at her gratefully.

  The room was streamlined again, except everything was black, white, and red. The two beds were covered in cushions that matched the colour scheme, and resting on the bed at the far side of the room was my two sad looking bags.

  “Your bags are already here, and your uniforms’ in the chest of drawers over there,” said Lucie pointing. “Oh, and your time-tables on the bed-side table.” She smiled reassuringly. “You can get changed in the bathroom.”

  She sat down on her bed, stretching out her slender white legs, and for the first time I noticed the uniform.

  She was wearing a deep red blazer, that was perfectly fitted, with gold piping around the edges, and she was wearing a pleated skirt with gold, white and red tartan, which seemed to be a typical uniform for a private school, but underneath the blazer she had a Mighty Boosh t-shirt and she was wearing black converses.

  I took my one of my bags into the bathroom with me as well as the uniform. After I’d thrown most of my clothes around the white marble and chrome bathroom, I settled on a white and grey stripped sleeveless t-shirt, black tights and plain black ballet pumps. I didn’t want to stick out on my first day.

  I walked back into the dorm room, and Lucie smiled. “Like I said, your time-tables on the bed-side table. I think you’re in some of my friend Emmiline’s classes; she’s nice, but a bit dizzy.”

  I gave a shy laugh, then picked up my time-table.

 

Monday   Tuesday    Wednesday   Thursday  Friday

SPORT      MATH        LANGUAGE    CRAFT      MIND

MUSIC      MIND        CRAFT            SPORT      LANGUAGE

CRAFT      LANGUAGE MUSIC           MIND        MATH

MATH     SPORT          MIND             LANGUAGE CRAFT

 

Ok, that was weird. Only five different lessons? And what the hell was “mind” and “craft”?

  Lucie laughed at my face. “Weird, right? Some of the lessons are hard to explain, so it’s probably better to just wait for the professor to explain in the lesson.”

  “Um... yeah,” I said, now getting quite scared.

  Lucie looked at her watch. “Oh, talking of which, we need to go to lessons.... well, now.”

  Well, crap.