Privilege

CHAPTER III: The Long Haul

I remember when I was maybe eleven, it was snowing at my school for the first time in what felt like forever, mum and dad insisted I was sent home from school early — they didn't want 'their little girl' to get a cold, it had been a while since they had agreed on anything like that. On the ride back, I recall looking out of the window and watching everyone have a snowball fight, it looked like so much fun (even the teachers got involved). In that moment, I didn't think I could ever feel like more of an outsider, not until I was looking out of the window now.

I was woken from my daze of past memories that I would rather not live again by a banging on the car door. I opened the door and was met with the callous eyes of an older woman, with hazel hair pulled back into a tight bun and a neatly cut fringe to top it off.

"And you are?"

She seemed unhappy with the phrasing of my question and rolled her eyes before saying, "I'm the school's administrator."

"Follow me to my office where you'll get your schedule and your room assignment." Reluctantly, I followed her, admiring the tall daunting structure of the prehistoric building.

-
The woman — who had yet to tell me her name — led me into the building and down a corridor into a large room, with books lining the walls; a desk with piles of paperwork prepared neatly on it and a beautiful arched window, revealing the wonders of the seemingly never ending school grounds.

"Please, take a seat." she insisted, gesturing to a chair on the side of her desk closest to us. She walked around the desk and picked up a few sheets of paper resting on one of the many piles before taking a seat herself. She logged into her computer, humming in an attempt to break the awkward silence. When she had finally found what she needed to, she turned to fully face me and smiled at me as if she knew something that I did not. "So, Miss Aza-"

"Just call me Circe." I replied bluntly.

She smiled again before turning back to her computer and continuing, "Well, Circe it says here that you have never previously been to a boarding school, is this true?"

"Does Juvie count?" I joked.

She looked at me sternly, before speaking in a deadpan voice, "This is nothing to joke about Miss Azad.'

I held me hands up in defence, clearly someone was in a mood.

"Do I have to repeat myself? Or are you going to answer my question?"

I sighed, "I've only ever lived at home."

She nodded, "Well, at this school, we pride ourselves with being as welcoming and helpful as possible especially to new students, we understand that this is a difficult experien-" I zoned out completely as she continued on, clearly reciting something she had said many times before.

I looked to the window, a small garden catching my attention, it was covered in a thin sheet of snow but underneath it you could clearly see the bright colours of flower beds, all suiting the season appropriately. There were pink cornflowers, white Lily of the Valley, violet catmint, and standing out the most were winterberries that reminded me of reefs and Christmas markets.

"Have you got any questions for me?" She interrupted.

"Um, is there any like rules or whatever that I need to know?"

"Oh yes! How could I forget!" She handed me the sheets that she had gotten at the beginning of our conversation. "There is a map of the grounds, your room number, your class timetable and a code of conduct. If you would like to leave now, you might get time to unpack before your roommate gets here."

"R-roommate?" I stuttered. Living in a completely new environment, with brand new people was bad enough but living with one of those strangers, I don't think so. "Are you sure there isn't a single room?"

The woman turned to me and sighed, "We don't have single rooms here."

Well fuck.

"Cool, well I guess I'll go?"

She nodded before turning back to her computer as if I didn't matter.

"I'll make my own way then." I muttered under my breath before getting up and walking out of the room, god, I hope I never have to see that witch again.

As I stepped out of her office, I peered down at the paper on the top of the pile, reading the so called 'Code of Conduct'.

The Innes Institution Code of Conduct:

1. Lights out at 22:00, unless on a Friday, or a Saturday, in which curfew is 22:30, when the gates of the school will be shut.

2. Uniform must be worn at all times, unless in your accommodation or at the weekend

3. Members of the student body are not to be in the dorms of the opposite sex, or in each other common rooms after 21:00.

4. Students should make every effort to attend when required to do so. If a student is going to beunavoidably late/delayed or is ill, they must report the absence as soon as possible to the Administration.

5. The school recognises that personal mobile phones have the potential to be used inappropriately, so do not allow them on school grounds at any time.

I grinned to myself while reading it, as if any of it applied to me, and continued looking through the rest of the pieces of paper. My timetable looked good, English language, Government and Politics, Ethics and Philosophy, Sociology, and French and most of my classes started after ten, which was amazing because lord knows I was not going to cope with early mornings. I went to check my map and room number to figure out where the hell I was supposed to be going but before I could properly look at it, I walked into something hard, and fell straight to the ground.

"Sorry." I grumbled, picking up the paper that I had dropped on the way. I looked up to see who it was that I had bumped into, my eyes rising up until I met his tightly closed lips and cold, hazel eyes. The boy was gorgeous, tall, dark and handsome.

Fuck he was hot.

"Watch where you're going." He stared at me with a hint of a smile, raising his eyebrows, before turning and walking away. Great, glad to know I'm making friends!

I huffed before getting up and taking another look at my map, hoping to get to my room this time.