There's half an hour before I have to go downstairs for the welcome speech and dinner. I've finished unpacking and decide to try out the window benches by sitting down and staring out to the view. My room looks out onto the beautiful gardens at the rear of the school; large stretched-out lawns with a grand fountain in the middle, a fire pit off to one side, a greenhouse on the other, and many flower beds and benches. This is definitely where I'm going to be spending most of my time, I decide.
The door gets pushed open again, and Asher walks in, but this time with a girl, who I assume is Saffi. She's petite with long, dark brown curls and dark brown eyes. She catches my eye and smiles,"Miyah?"
"Yeah, Saffi?"
"Yep! So nice to meet you, and I think you've already met Asher..." she smiles and nudges Asher's arm gently. "I'm glad you've unpacked. I actually came to see if you wanted to explore with us? I think we've got like twenty-five minutes before dinner." She checks her watch and then looks back up to me anticipating my answer.
"Oh, that would be great," I sigh a sigh of relief internally. My roommate and her assumed boyfriend seem lovely, and I can get to know the building a little better with them.
So the three of us walk around the building, pointing out the lecture theatres we'll be in, homerooms, kitchens, the dining hall and toilets before Saffi stops in her tracks, "Ugh, I totally forgot I said I'd help Aimee and Professor Mason stock up the supply closet! Are you alright to show Miyah the library, Asher? I think it's that way" she pointed down the long corridor that seemed to go on forever.
"Yeah, that's fine; you go help,"
"Thank you, see you both at dinner," and she runs the opposite way down the corridor, leaving me alone again with Asher.
"I'm so happy that there's a library," I say, eager to strike up a conversation as we start walking back down the corridor.
Asher turns his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "Oh? Big reader?"
I nod enthusiastically. "Definitely. I can't imagine a life without books I think the window benches in our room will be a perfect spot to read. I've always wanted one."
Asher's eyes light up with genuine interest. "You're in for a treat then. Those window benches are a bookworm's paradise. Autumn and Winter are the best, blankets and hot chocolate on one of those things, and you'll never want to move."
"Sounds like you've done this before," I tease.
He doesn't look the slightest bit fazed as he answers, "Yeah, I had one in my room at my last school. I'd spend hours sitting there."
"Right, so you really have done this before,"
He rubs the back of his neck, looks at the floor and chuckles. "Yeah lots of practice. I like to read too... Basically, all my free time I spend reading."
We come to a halt outside some grand double doors, and Asher grips the grand brass handles, ready to pull them open. "You ready?" He looks at me with excitement.
"Heck yeah, open the door already."
He pulls open the door and holds it open for me to walk inside. It turns out that I was, in fact, not ready. I'm breath taken. The library is enormous and filled from top to bottom with shelves full of every genre of book you could ever imagine, and has one of those ladders with wheels you'd only ever seen in a Disney movie to help reach them. The floor has a white carpet like our bedroom, and armchairs and sofas are scattered around as places to read or study. The room is lit by warm yellow lamps on side tables, but there's also a huge chandelier-like light fixture on the ceiling with fake but very realistic-looking candles which even flickered to give the effect. Against the wall on the right-hand side stands a beautiful fireplace with a gentle fire glowing inside and around it are more armchairs and sofas facing inwards towards a coffee table, white marble with brass legs.
"Am I dreaming...?" I say dazedly, turning around and around, "in my high school, all they had were a couple of spineless books and old metal chairs."
Bowing his head he replies, "I'm glad you like it; the aim is to please." Which makes me giggle.
I want to stay and spend hours in this glorious room, but Asher tugs my arm away. "The welcome speech is in five minutes; we'd better go." I don't budge, so he has to pull a little bit harder. "We can come back tomorrow, I promise." He smiles at my persistence and I have to give in and follow him out.
The dinner hall is nearly full by the time we arrive. It isn't as impressive as the library but still grand. It has the same grey stone walls, but there are oak wood floors, tables and benches stretched from one end to the other.
Asher leads me through the masses of students until we get to a table near the back. Saffi's already there, but with her, a load of people I need to be introduced to.
Asher brings his head down to mine and whispers, "Saf's really good at making friends with people quickly. They're always the best people too." I nod at his words but still feel incredibly nervous, I'm not so good at meeting new people so I am very happy Lorrie is.
She raises her voice and gestures her arm in a swoop across the table. "Hey everyone, this is Miyah and this is Asher," she points to us as she says our names and then carries on, "Miyah, Asher, this is everyone."
Asher winks at me and sits down on the bench. I follow his lead and sit down between him and Saffi, and she's kind enough to introduce me to everyone at the table, "Aimee, Beth, Jamie, Holly, Connor, Nick, Josh, Caleb and Will," she points to each person as she says their name. They all look friendly enough; I can tell Saffi's already become good friends with Jamie but I'm glad for a larger group of girls it will be easier to blend in this way. The boys look friendly, too; I think Asher's close friends with Nick by the way that they're laughing and using their forks as catapults to launch peas at Connor down the other end of the table, who looks a bit clueless and has no idea where the flying peas are coming from. I don't know if they've met before, it certainly looks like they have or if they've just bonded over this pea incident but it was cute to watch the way they laughed with each other.
*
After dinner and a few words about safety regulations from the dean, the students are allowed to go down into the town nearest the school, about a ten-minute walk away. We take this opportunity, and I walk the whole way with Saffi and Jamie.
"So, are you and Asher together?" I ask Saffi.
"Oh no, no, no, we're just really good friends; he was my first and only friend when I was at the previous boarding school. I introduced him to Spring Hill near the end of year twelve and he loved the idea so we came here together as well." she looks at me and then adds, "but seriously we're just good mates, nothing has been or will be romantic with us, so you can take him if you want; he's all yours," she smiles and pushes me teasingly.
I roll my eyes. "Oh, no, I'm not even thinking about that yet, he seems lovely, but I only met him a few hours ago. I prefer to get to know my men a little better before dating them."
"Oh girl, give it a few more days trust me. With his eyes and your bone structure I give it a week." Jamie says,
"A week?! It takes me a week to form a sentence let alone get together with a guy!"
Saffi stops in front of Jamie and me, "Girls, girls, calm down, or I'll have to let Asher know that he causes arguments amongst the ladies!"
"Ugh don't give him that satisfaction, it'll go straight to his head and blow up his ego even more," Jamie rolls her eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"I believe you're thinking of Nick, Jam, not Asher..."
Jamie pauses for a second, "yep you're totally right I can't believe I got them mixed up that easily..."
This teasing and joking carries on the whole walk. I can't believe I've made such good friends already.
We reach the town not long after the debate, and it's beautiful, especially in early autumn, with the sun having just set, meaning the street lamps are beginning to light up, and the shops have lit their displays in the front windows. I guess the perfect word to describe it is 'quaint,' a very traditional English town.
"Well, I need to grab some toothpaste; I forgot mine," admits Jamie.
"Of course you did..." Saffi moans, "come on then... Miyah you coming?"
I had stopped walking to stare at a sign which I can't quite read from where I'm stood.
"I'll catch you guys up in a minute," I say, "just want to look at something over here a sec."
It's a dusty, faded sign I notice as I walk up to it, which is probably why it's so hard to read. When I do make out what it says I read 'Second-Hand Books'.
Unfortunately, it looks like it's closed for the night, but I want to peek inside the window anyway. The window is dusty and murky, just like the sign, but inside it's like a tiny, old version of the library back at the school, with shelves on every wall and books crammed onto every shelf.
"Uh oh... did the library not satisfy you?" Comes a voice from behind me, making me jump for the second time that day. I turn around and Asher is standing behind me once again.
"You really have to stop doing that," I say, giving him an annoyed glare and peering back into the murky glass, "it definitely did do the job, but something about second-hand books has always fascinated me,"
"You know I would never have picked you for that type," he walks over to join me but looks at me instead of into the window,
"What type? To like books? What's wrong with liking books?" I ask, trying not to make eye contact.
"Well, no..." I can hear the discomfort in his voice. "I didn't mean it like that. I-"
"I get what you mean, but sometimes you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover." I turn to look at him, and it's my turn to wink and see him blush uncomfortably. I walk away, leaving him at the window, and rejoin Saffi and Jamie, smiling to myself.