Pristine

Chapter 3

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEP!!!

"Uh? Oh, you."

SLAM!

My new alarm clock did its job well, because it woke me up.

I pulled myself out of bed and got dressed in my "first day of school" dress. It was blue with short sleeves and came down to my knees. It had rhinestones on the hem.

I wore diamond earrings and silver flats. No makeup was even needed.

♢♢♢

"Oh, Pristine! You look nice. Now, what do you want for breakfast?" Mellie asked me as I sat down.

"Struedel? That would be quick and yummy."

She busied herself with my breakfast. My lunchbag was off to the side, buldging a bit.

Unbeknowest to me, Mellie had quite the day ahead of her. First, she trekked out into the sprawling fields of wheat that lies behind our mansion, grabbing her scythe that rests by the back door on her way out. A few quick slices later, and she had a good amount of mature wheat stocks cut down. Piling them on a small blanket, she ran her hands through the wheat to release the wheat berries. After gathering the berries into the basket, she retreated to the seperate servant's kitchen.

Once inside the kitchen, Mellie began grinding the collected wheat berries into a fine pulp using a mortar and pestle. From there, she poured the flour into a small wooden bowl. Then she rushed back out, beyond the wheat field, to where the ocean lapped at the shore. Collecting a bucketful of sea water, she came back and boiled it on high for 15 minutes, with a grate over the lid to stop the salt from escaping. With the salt left, she poured the bowl into the bowl of flour.

Next, Mellie collected all the nuts and vegetables she could find in our sprawling food garden, juicing them to make vegetable oil. With that done, she took some of the fermented apple juice she'd been saving in a barrel and poured it in with the vegetable oil. Then she mixed it all together, and finally the dough was ready.

Now it was time for the filling. Mellie found herself back out in the garden of food, picking the ripest, rarest, juiciest apples she could find. While she was out there, she plucked a few grapes and left them lying in the sun, so they would become raisins. Bringing the apples back, she collected some molasses and raw cane along the way. Finally, she ground everything up in that big ol' mortar and pestle, boiling some ingredients in her iron cauldron first. Then she stirred together the cane sugar and molasses, along with some other things, with a long spoon, to make some rum.

Going back out to get the raisins, Mellie grabbed some cinnamon along the way. Finally, she could chop up the apples, combine the wet ingredients with them, and finish grinding the dry ingredients. All she had to do now was pour everything together and stir.

Then she had to roll out the dough, stretching the corners, molding it into the shape she wanted, and pour in the filling.  After that, she closed the shape, and using a rather large cutlass, cut stylish seams in the top. From there, Mellie placed the gloopy mess on a wooden peel and inserted it into the stone oven, letting it bake above the burning coals for an hour. Finally, she pulled it out, seeing as it was golden perfection. 

"Mellie, what's taking so long?"

Once I had eaten, I grabbed my things and hurried outside into the green sports car we owned.

Mellie hopped into the drivers seat, put in the keys and then we were on our way.

"I'm in enrichment classes, right?" I asked nervously.

"Of course you are, Pristine! You're VERY smart, you know," Mellie replied.

I groaned.

For the rest of the ride, I watched my Iphone 6 show me the time.

Bo-ring.

We arrived all too soon, and I didn't want to leave the car.

Mellie looked worried. She was looking at the hundreds of middle-schoolers filing into the modern-looking school.

The roof was solar plates. The doors opened automatically. The walls were a plastic-ey feel.

"You call this a PUBLIC school? Who are you kidding?" I asked Mellie.

"You can, you know, go now," was all she replied.

So I did. Nothing changed, really. I just "followed the flow" of students walking through the automatic doors.

Then I walked to the main office, noticing a few things.

For one thing, there was AC. For another, the walls were seemingly freshly painted. There were LED bulbs in the lights, and there were computers in every room.

"Whoa," was all I could manage.

"Hello!" said the smiling secretary as I walked into the office. "How may I help you?"

"Well, I'm new, and I need my schedule. I also need my locker combo and number. And lunch table assignment. And..." I said, ticking everything off on her fingers.

"Okay, I can tell you everything, but only if you tell me your name," the secretary said, smiling (still). 

I gulped.

"Well, uh, my name is, um, uh..."

"Speak up!"

"My name is Pristine. Pristine Flamoria."

She gasped.

"THE Pristine Flamoria? Daughter of Brooke Flamoria?" she asked, astonished.

"Yup, the one and only," I replied, blushing.

"Well, I'll be! Here you go, hon!" was all she said as she handed me a packet of papers.

There was thankfully a map to show me around, so I found my locker easily. Then I stashed all my things neatly inside and left for homeroom.

I just made it, right before the bell

As I walked in, everyone turned their heads to get a look at the "new kid".

Then a hush fell across the room.