First Impression I

Chapter One- Thornwell Academy for the Gifted

"Thornwell Academy?" I stared at the letter incredulously.

I reread it. Once. Twice. Thrice.

I screamed.

"Mother, I'm so going to Thornwell!"

*

And so, I ended up in front of the humongous iron gates of the academy. My jaw dropped as I stared. The gates were ornately wrought from black iron. Sharp, menacing thorn-like spikes perched on top. In the middle of the gate was the academy crest. All in all, the gate was intimidating. Lord knows what would be behind such scary gates. I shuddered.

Just then, the gate opened, effectively snapping me out from my reverie. I snapped my mouth shut. A beautiful girl stood waiting for me. Straight blond hair framed her heart-shaped face. Her eyes were a clear crystal blue. She looked like a Barbie doll. However, unlike the Barbie dolls and their human counterparts, her eyes were bright and intelligent.

"Hello," She chirped as I walked up to her and shook her hand.

"You must be Eleanore. Spelled with an 'e'. How unique. I like it." She smiled hugely. I returned the smile. She was so bubbly and cheerful. It was difficult to not like her. I opened my mouth to ask for her name but before I could say a single word, she had continued talking.

"It's so nice to finally meet you. Everyone has been talking about you. Not many people get accepted in the last years of middle school, you know. Half of us were accepted in elementary school. The rest came in the beginning ofmiddle school. There hasn't been such a late acceptance for nearly a decade so you're the topic of the whole school. By that, I mean all of the elementary, middle and high school," She said everything in one breath and I marvelled at the size of her lungs. "They say that you are very smart. And pretty too." She paused here as she appraised me.

I smiled politely. She was judging me. Seeing if I was pretty or noteworthy. This happened all the time. It was human nature to judge by outward appearances. But that didn't mean that I liked it.

I was never pretty. Hell, even my best friend during 4th grade said that I was ugly. But that's another story for another time. Anyway, conclusion: I absolutely hated being judged by my appearance.

"By the way, I'm Angelina," the girl said, dragging me back to planet Earth.

"Nice to finally know your name, Angelina," I smiled back. She was nice. Nicer than those Barbies that I know, at least.

"Well, we'd better get going. I have to give you a tour of this school by 5 p.m. and this place is like HUGE! Even I get lost here sometimes," she said, throwing up her hands in annoyance.

I smiled grimly. I had a bad sense of direction and my map-reading skills were hopefully sufficient to help me survive here.

We walked through the double oak doors and I found myself in the foyer of the main building. My recently reattached jaw promptly dropped again. It was grand. The foyer consisted of a wide hallway. A marble staircase led to a higher landing where the stairs diverged to the sides. Intricate tapestries adorned the walls. Above us, a crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling. It was gorgeous, breathtaking, splendid... I could go on forever but the painting on the staircase landing chased all thoughts out of my mind.

The painting depicted a beautiful young couple in each other's arms. They both had black hair and striking stunning features.

"That's the portrait of the founders of our school." Angelina kindly explained, seeing my open mouth.

"It's beautiful," I gasped, mesmerized.

"Wait here, I have to go into the office to get your map and all," she said before disappearing behind a glass double door.

I wandered up the grand staircase, transfixed by the portrait. It was so real. I felt like I was seeing the couple, the founders of this brilliant school right before my eyes. They looked so real. The artist had captured their faces perfectly. And the way they were staring into each other's eyes. So full of love and-

"CRASH!" An unknown humongous hard thing slammed into me, knocking the breath out of my lungs. I tumbled down the steps, hitting my head and various limbs on the way. It hurt. A LOT. My ears were buzzing and my body ached.

"Hey, look where you're going," a voice snapped. It was low so it probably belonged to a boy. I looked up annoyed; he was the one who knocked me down. I was minding my own business when this boy comes running smack into me. Oh... A really handsome boy.

He had a firm and rather square jaw. Full lips. A strong straight nose. Jet-black hair that framed his eyes. Oh his eyes. They were black. Like dark swirling pools that threatened to suck you in. My heart skipped a beat or two, or even three as I stared.

My eyes zoomed out to examine him clearly. He was wearing the school uniform. Dark blue pants and a white shirt with two buttons stylishly undone. A tie that hung loosely and a blazer with the school crest emblazoned on it. I could see that he was very tall and not to mention well built. The shirt and blazer didn't really hide that fact. No, instead, it seemed to emphasise that.

He was good-looking. Really, really-

I shook my head, clearing my fuzzy brain. Oh my goodness, I am starting to sound like one of those teenage romance novels. But it was true, he was undeniably handsome and I could quite forgive the girls who drooled over him. Not that I would join their ranks, of course. Still, I wasn't going to let him chastise me when it was clearly his fault.

"Excuse me?" I picked myself off the floor, trying to sound indignant. It did not help that he looked like Prince Charming in my fantasies. Or one of the versions anyway. "You were the one who ran or rather slammed into me. And I was the one who fell down the stairs because of that. So shouldn't you be the one to watch where you're going?"

"You're new here, aren't you?" he said, sneering down at me, plastering a bored face on.

"So what if I am?" I stiffened. He was cocky.

"So you don't know who I am?"

I stared at him. This was getting ridiculously cliché. First, I miraculously get accepted into this oh-so-wonderful academy. Next, I bump into this incredibly handsome guy. Then, I find out he's the king of the school with hoards of fan girls but he's actually has a really sad past. It screams CLICHÉ. I snorted.

"The ultimate Prince Charming of the school. The guy every girl wants to date, the guy every guy wants to be..." I rattled off from some novel I had read. God, this was distracting. He was handsome. So infuriatingly so.

The boy's eyes widened before slipping back into his bored face again. "Good one," he smirked. "So do the girls you mentioned include you?"

I raised my eyebrows as high as they could possibly go. Seriously, he was cocky. Scratch that, he was obnoxious. "Well, you aren't the only 'Prince' in this school, are you? So I think I shall go for one of your friends. Care to introduce me?" I replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He chuckled and descended the steps. "I see. If you can actually catch their attention," he smirked, again. Being insulting here, isn't he. Two can play at a game.

I sighed, smiling sweetly, "I would gladly eat my words if all your friends are such gentlemen that do not apologize when they knock a new girl who's shorter than them down a flight of stairs five metres high and instead expect an apology from said girl."

"Feisty, aren't we. As much as said girl is interesting, I unfortunately have better things to attend to and thus, regrettably have to take my leave. Adieu. I hope we meet again," he smirked for the third time, saturating his tone with as much sarcasm as I had, before mocking a bow and sauntered away in one of the many corridors leading off the foyer.

Cocky idiot. He never did apologize. Who cares? I decided against climbing the stairs again. It was too risky. Instead I walked over to admire the tapestries. But my mind kept flashing back to his perfect face. He was handsome, impossibly so. And his attitude was, uh, interesting. Oh boy, this was going to be fun. I so looked forward to meeting him again. Note the sarcasm.