The bus transported them from Meadow View to the western border of Willow Town; it brought them into a small province named Rumbridge, according to the signs.
Rumbridge mostly consisted of green hills, fields, farmlands, and wide rural streets. The biggest building in the area was The Willow Town Train station. Just beyond the platforms, on the summit of a hill, stood the grounds of Willow Wood Secondary School.
The school grounds were bordered by a white wall, and within the walls were vibrant gardens displaying tulips, daffodils, sunflowers, and more she couldn't possibly identify. There was also a copse of cedars and sycamores, and cutting through those was a pebble trail and a bridge arching over a crisp clear pond.
To the bottom left was a cylindrical building that was probably the PE hall, considering how close it was to the football fields.
Many more small buildings and shacks were dotted around the grounds, but it was in the very centre of it all where unmistakably lay the main hub. It was a colossal grey castle with jutting stone spires, large arched windows, and marble columns.
Their bus wormed its way through the others that'd come from various parts of Willow Town and its outskirts before coming to a stop at the edge of the car park.
Hannah filtered out with her peers and followed them along the central walkway towards the main building. Bronze statues of scholars, athletes, and artists bordered the flagstone pathway, casting down shadows, both literal and metaphorical, upon the students.
It was difficult to hear much else beyond the gushing of the twin fountains, birdsongs, and the steady hum of chatter.
As she made her way, drinking in the wonders one at a time, Hannah soon became aware of something on her peripheries. It was on the far east wall that she spied a narrow, black cast iron gate, and just beyond that lurked a golden retriever.
It was not the mere presence of the animal itself that struck her as unusual, but the fact that its deep black eyes appeared to be staring directly at her, picking her out among a crowd of at least fifty.
Or was that just in her imag-
"Ouch!" someone said.
Hannah knocked directly into another girl, causing her to spill several of her books and a guitar case onto the walkway. "Oh my God," Hannah said, flustered. "I'm so sorry."
The girl, who wore dark eyeshadow and had a purple streak on one side of her bleach blond hair, wrinkled her nose. "Watch it, would you?"
"It was an accident."
"Well, maybe if you tried looking where you were going, you would avoid those."
"I'm really sorry. I'll help you."
"I'm weally sowie. I'll hewp you," someone else said in a very high-pitched exaggeratedly girlish voice. The person who'd said it was a tall boy who was so skinny that his Adam's Apple stuck out like an extra nose. He lingered behind a statue of a bearded man in a robe.
Hannah's eyes widened. She did not sound like that... Did she?
The others on the grass, a girl with spiky hair, a boy with a shaved head and shaved eyebrows, and a girl who had more piercings than she had fingers, all laughed raucously.
The girl with the purple streak in her hair failed to see any humour in the situation. She was glaring. "Reckon you've done enough damage for the day, don't you think?"
Red-faced, Hannah saw no other option but to comply with her wishes. She strolled away from the gang, wondering what on earth their problems were. How could they be so rude to a complete stranger?
Suddenly, remembering about the dog, she whipped her head around.
Sadly, the golden retriever must have found food or a stray cat or the like, because it was nowhere to be seen now.
Sighing, she strode through the enormous doorway, hoping that things would pick up throughout the day.
Inside, the main building was stony and ancient. Between all the mosaics, shields, and sconces, it was hard to distinguish reality from tacky decorations. Other hallways were more modern. Those were quite clearly extensions built onto the original castle, giving it an odd, mismatched quality, like a patchwork cloak.
Hannah navigated the twisting halls as best she could, following the instructions that were on her registration sheet, as well as the signs that were posted at the end of each corridor. Eventually, she found her form class, in the bowels of the structure, like some converted dungeon.
Upon entering the room, she darted through the groups of students gathered together who were catching up after the summer.
She stationed herself at a desk in the middle of the room, but was seated for no less than a minute before a boy with shoulder-length hair and the beginnings of a moustache tapped the wooden tabletop. "You're at my desk, newbie."
"Sorry. I'm so sorry."
Several of his friends had a good chuckle at this.
She retreated to the back of the room where there was a table wedged nearly right into that corner. That at least appeared to be free. It might have been next to a window in a more conventional room, but since they were beneath ground level, there'd be nought to see but dirt and worms if it wasn't a solid wall.
Hannah wouldn't be surprised to learn that this dingy room really had been a dungeon back in the day. She shuddered at the thought, but that was mostly because she was in the corner and she could only imagine what prisoners did in dungeon corners.
As the other Willow Wood pupils chatted, Hannah watched them like someone observing animals at a safari park. That's how she felt, more a distant set of eyes than an active participant.
Their talk was soon interrupted when a squat woman entered the room and called for calm.
The woman, who must've been their form teacher, Miss Duddy, said, "I know you're all still hyped up from the summer, but the horrible reality is here. School is officially back in session."
There were unsatisfied murmurs from the students as they took their seats.
"You think they'd give us a half day to ease us in," one boy said.
"Or at least let us start on a Wednesday so we'd have a shorter week," a girl said.
"I know, I know," Miss Duddy said, waving them down. "But rest assured that this is every bit as painful for me as it is for you. If not more so."
"Doubt it," someone muttered.
"I'm already nursing a terrible migraine, so if you'd please let me get on with the roll as quietly as possible, it'll be best for everyone."
"That's a handy way to explain away the hangover," someone said.
Everyone laughed.
"Now, now, Robert, don't you go about spreading nasty rumours." Miss Duddy redirected her attention to her computer monitor.
As she called out the names of the roll and the students answered, Hannah tried to match each name to a face, but gave up after number eleven. It turned out that thirty pupils were too many to memorise in one sitting. She was too used to knowing everyone's names, having grown up with the same set of classmates in Ballyfield.
Both her and Marie had been sent emails early in the summer, requesting that they state their preferred subjects. The better their grades were for their chosen subjects, the more likely they'd be to be given priority. Essential classes like English and Mathematics were broken up into a three-tiered system of gold, silver, and bronze, which would also be determined by past results.
Hannah was a gold in English but a bronze in Mathematics.
"Anne Chambers," Miss Duddy called.
"Present."
"Nancy Curran."
"Present."
Hannah, noticing that her teacher had completely skipped over the name 'Cole' suddenly became concerned and wondered if she had perhaps wandered into the wrong class. She was not prepared for the humiliation of having to explain herself and attempt to find the correct one. Her breath was building in her chest like a volcano.
"Hannah Shadow," Miss Duddy said eventually.
"I'm here," she blurted out, relieved.
That was much louder than she'd meant to be. Just like with the bus, everyone was staring at her and she suddenly wished that she hadn't removed her beanie upon entering the building, because she'd have liked to pull it down over her face just then.
"Hannah is new to our ranks, so all the usual stuff applies. Just make sure to show her around and make her feel welcome. Yada, yada." She waved her hand airily.
"Uh, Miss Duddy?" Hannah asked, raising her hand.
"Joan-" Miss Duddy said before snapping back to attention, surprised to be halted from continuing with the roll. "Yes, Ms. Shadow?"
"I usually go by Cole."
"What's that?"
"Just that I prefer to go by Hannah Cole, not Hannah Shadow."
Miss Duddy scrutinised the screen. It was a wonder her breath didn't fog it up she was so close. "No, it definitely says Shadow."
"I mean yeah, that's the name on my birth certificate, but I was registered with my mother's maiden name. That's the name I always use." She blushed as she drew more glances. Way to over-share before she even had a casual conversation with anyone. "I thought that they would just transfer it automatically."
Miss Duddy shrugged. "All I can do is go by the names given to me by the system. If you want it changed, you'll have to report it to the office to sort it out."
"I will," she said before melting back into her seat.