The gentle breeze coursing through the window brushed my senses. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find myself in what looked like a clinic. An elegant ceiling light with tulip-shaped glass shades illuminated the room. The baby-blue damask wallpaper really made the place look like a Victorian manor.
. . . Wait, this wasn't a dream? I quickly sat up and was nearly blinded by the sunshine pouring into the room. The birds of the morning chirped with more glee than ever—which was the complete opposite of my situation! Kylie was probably worried sick about me. By now, she had probably contacted my parents, Aunt Christie, and maybe even the police!
This was bad.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake!" a motherly voice cooed.
A little old lady with sagging cheeks and wrinkled wings was sitting at my bedside in a pink rococo chair. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't a dream. The nurse was dressed exactly like my fairy godmother.
"The boys must have taken quite a shock when they saw you!" she teeheed as she reached for a teapot. "I hope they weren't lewd in your presence. I know their mothers, you know. Care for a cup of tea? Or do you need something with a little more kick to it?"
I gasped in horror. "I'm underage!"
"Oh, I meant chili peppers, dear. What kind of lady do you think I am?"
Chili pepper tea? These people were crazy. Finally, I mustered up enough courage to ask, "Where am I?"
"The infirmary, dear. But don't worry, I kicked the dogs out first. Huehue! They all insisted on carrying you here together."
Dogs . . .? I could vaguely remember a boy on all fours who appeared to be playing "fetch."
"No, where am I?"
"Oh, you mean here?" She extended her arms theatrically. "Well, pardon me, I thought you knew. Welcome to Specter High, where all your dreams come true!"
Dreams come true? "But I didn't wish upon star!"
"Oh, that's a funny one! Huehue. I must tell it to my dear old husband. He's writing a book, you know, on human humor. It's quite hilarious."
I didn't think it was that funny myself . . . but I decided not to insult her. A headache started to form, so I clutched my forehead. "No—this has to be some kind of mistake. I was supposed to go to Frostlake High, but this cranky woman in a Vegas tank top picked me up in a gypsy bus."
"Oh, you mean Madame Sherrie?" she tweeted as she poured black tea into a pink cup. "She's actually quite a dear. She's helped my dear Reginald with his book many times. Her sense of humor is quite bawdy if I do say so myself. Huehue!"
. . . I didn't even want to know. Clearly, this lady was too air-headed to answer any of my questions. "Is there anyone else I can talk to? Like a headmaster?"
"Oh, dear. Where are my manners? Yes, Headmaster Lupus has been waiting eagerly to speak with you. The students should be in their dorms, so why don't I take you to see him myself?"
Lupus? What kind of name was that? Nevertheless, I reluctantly nodded and followed her out of the clinic. She led me down a corridor with walls of lavender damask and mahogany paneling. An exotic crimson runner carpeted the hardwood flood. This place looked like an all-girls finishing school from the 1800s.
"This is a school?" I muttered.
"Upon my word, I thought you knew. Or do you just make it a habit of getting on strange buses?"
Why was she avoiding the question? Hopefully, this Lupus guy would give me answers. At the end of the hallway was a burnished door that matched the rich shade of the half-paneled walls. The nurse opened the door for me, and I entered the office to find a walnut desk with intricate legs and elegant trim. A burly man with . . . brown dog ears and fur on his face was sitting in a kingly chair.
He shoveled his furry hand into a ziplocked bag of what looked like dog treats and garbled the goods. Crumbs and bacon bits fell across the keyboard of his ancient dinosaur. He was too invested in his computer to even notice us.
"Mr. Lupus, the young lady has awakened and would like to speak with you," the nurse cooed.
"Mm. Hold on." He licked his furry fingers with his sloppy tongue and typed something on his keyboard. His claws were so long that he typed on the computer like a receptionist at a nail salon. "I gotta finish this last thing."
For the next ten seconds, he muttered under his breath through a mouthful of kibble. "Sorry, babe. Gotta go. Meet me at the usual under the next full moon. Just don't tell my wife."
I raised an eyebrow, but he stood up and approached me before I could question it any further. The guy was so hairy that he almost looked like a lion. And of course, he also had a tail, but he was furrier than the rest of them.
"Oh, you must be the new girl." He grinned, revealing his sharp canines, and shook my hand with his strong, fuzzy one. "I'm sure you found it shocking when you showed up. Unless you intentionally decided to enroll as the only human girl in a paranormal school."
"Paranormal school? What?" I sneered.
"Oh, I thought you knew."
Obviously, this guy had delusions of grandeur. "I was supposed to go to Frostlake High. But your weird bus driver picked me up in a gypsy bus. I've never even heard about this school!" I finally snapped.
"But didn't you code 54321 when you took your assessments?"
"No, I coded 54322!" Wait . . . oh, no. Did I code in the wrong school? Was that the reason I was here in this loony place? This couldn't have been happening. Then that probably meant that Frostlake High never even received my admission! I thought my aunt cleared up the paperwork, but I should've known not to rely on her for anything. She was the queen of absent-mindedness.
And apparently, I was the princess. This was just terrible.
Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. "Hold on, I've got my acceptance letter right here!" I dug through my purse and pulled out an envelope. "See? It says here that—" But to my horror, the letterhead clearly stated "Specter High: School for the Gifted."
How could I have been so dumb?! I just saw the word "gifted" and got so excited that I didn't even bother reading the rest! Finally, I couldn't help it. At that moment, I burst into tears.
"Oh, no! It's alright, honey," the nurse soothed. "We'll get'cha home. And I'm sure the school you wanted will understand."
I sniffled and rubbed my eyes. Yeah, that'll look great. Going to school late because I'm too illiterate to read the stupid letter. And now, I was stuck in a school full of a bunch of dogs, goats, and fairies.
. . . Wait. Wasn't I the one obsessed with werewolves and mythical creatures in the first place? But these boys didn't act like the ones in the books! These were literal dogs. I mean, the headmaster looked like a dollar store version of the Wolfman! Besides, I never expected to meet a werewolf in real life. So, no one could blame me for being shocked anyway.
. . . But then again, I was probably the only teenage girl on earth who had the opportunity to go to "paranormal school"—whatever that meant. And that fairy guy with the leprechaun shirt did seem nice. So . . . maybe in a way, this was fate. Maybe this was the school I was destined to attend!
Once I took a step back, my curiosity got the best of me. How could I leave this place and go to a normal school now? I needed to know more about these people—or fairytale creatures—so I wiped my eyes and looked up at Headmaster Lupus.
"If it's okay, I'd like to stay. I'm already here, and my friend's not too far anyway."
"Are you sure? Then do you mind signing this waiver if—? Well, it's written there." He slid out a drawer from his desk and presented a piece of paper to me with fine print.
"And if I don't sign it?" I challenged.
"Well, then I guess we'll have no choice but to call your parents and have them pick you up."
I had never picked up a pen so fast, so I quickly signed my name in cursive. I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste! There were cute werewolf boys that I needed to meet!
"Very good. Welcome to Specter High," he declared with a wide grin.
I smiled. Kylie would just have to wait for a little longer. If the same thing happened to her, I knew she'd do the same.
"So, are you a werewolf, too?" I asked, hoping that wasn't offensive.
"I prefer lycan. But it's the same thing."
"Were you genetically modified in a lab?" I bubbled, overflowing with questions.
The nurse nearly choked on laughter, but she quickly composed herself.
"Unfortunately, I was born this way. There's actually very few of us, but lycans from all across the country come here to get an education, along with others. But since you clearly didn't read that waiver . . . I must insist that at least you guard our secret from mankind."
A new sense of adventure brewed within me. I was at a school full of people from the fairytales I read as a kid. I used to dream about this kind of thing happening! My life just became a lot more exciting!
Glee radiated from every inch of my soul, and I couldn't help but bounce up and down. "This is so cool! Where do the werewolves hang out?"
He chuckled deeply. "Well, right now, they're getting ready for class. But since you're the first human who's ever come to this school, I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends." He then headed toward the door. "Anyway, you should gather your supplies. Here is your schedule. Mrs. Bluebell—the nurse—will show you to your belongings." He took a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to me.
According to the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, it was 6:00 AM. Homeroom was at seven-thirty. And then my first class was Paranormal History at eight. That gave me an hour and a half to prepare myself for my first day at Specter High.
For the time being, Mrs. Bluebell returned my luggage to me and showed me to the girls' locker room so I could change and freshen up. She explained that after school was over, the headmaster would sort out my living situation. I wondered who my dormmate would be. Ooh! What if she was a fairy with pixie magic? That would be sweet.
For today, I decided to wear a black-and-white polka dot skirt and a pink cardigan tied with a dark satin ribbon. Lastly, I snapped my trusty puppy barrette into the side of my hair. Hopefully, the paranormal boys would think that I looked cute today.
Now, it was my time to leave the normal world and enter the mythical one. With my pastel pink backpack, I left the locker room and followed Mrs. Bluebell. She led me through corridor after corridor until we entered a beautiful main chamber with a sweeping staircase chiseled from ebony. Werewolves, fairies, and satyrs loitered on the stairsteps and in front of their lockers, just chatting like everyday teenagers.
"Now, let me show you to your locker, dear." The nurse tottered to the other side of the room. The lavender walls were lined with lockers carved out of rustic oak that looked antique. There was even a dazzling chandelier that dangled from the ceiling. The glamour of it all probably gave me a starry-eyed look on my face.
She whispered my locker combination, but before leaving, she added one last thing. "Now, if you need anything, you can talk to me. I know all their mamas, so I'll set 'em straight," the frail lady reassured with confidence. "Even though some of them are locked in towers, I got ways to get through any locked door. Huehue!"
. . . Towers?! Was she kidding? Was that a fairy joke or something?
"Wait, their moms are locked in towers?"
"Oh, you know how the cold ones are. Some of them still believe they're living in the Renaissance."
Cold ones? Before I could question it, she was already gone. This place really was strange. However, I opened my open to look inside, and the musty smell of wood pleased my senses. But soon, a freaky goat boy in suspenders approached me and closed my locker.
"So, who you goin' with to the Buckwheat—Mye-e-e-uh!"
Suddenly, he bleated so loud that I jumped. What the heck?!
"Koff! Koff!" He fisted his chest. "Sorry. I'm not used to talkin' to girls. I mean, human girls. Ugh, great, I sound like a dweeb. So, anyway, Buckwheat Ball?"
"I have no idea what that is."
"Yeah, well, we have it around Halloween, but by the time you meet all the popular guys, I know I won't stand a chance. So, just remember I asked you first." He then winked.
I never realized how unattractive a half-goat half-guy would be in real life.
"Dude, she doesn't wanna go with you!" an aggressive goat boy with ram horns and a football jersey bellowed deeply. "C'mon, boys! This scrub's tryna undercut us!"
Before I knew it, dust flew everywhere as a stampede of goat jocks charged the satyr in suspenders. Other kids (literally) bleated in terror, and some even fell to the ground in a state of paralysis with their hooves sticking up.
What was happening?! I didn't have time to question it because I had to retreat from the crossfire. All I knew was that humanoid goats were ramming each other with their horns and kicking violently. It was like a scene from Animal Planet! And to make matters worse, the fairies pulled out their smartphones and recorded the fight.
Where was the headmaster?! Someone was going to get killed! But it wasn't going to be me, so I took off in the direction of class—wherever that may be. One thing that hadn't changed about supernatural school was that I still had no idea where to go. And I really didn't want to risk my life by asking someone to help me.
Wait, maybe that jolly fairy boy could help me out! Herb was his name, right? He seemed pretty nice. But then again, I had no idea where he could be.
Thankfully, I caught a glimpse of two twinkling blue wings. A tan, moisturized fairy guy with fluffy blonde locks was taking a selfie. Just like the cover of a romance novel, his white shirt revealed his unusually shiny chest, so this guy was probably a walking dress code violation. But anyway, maybe he knew where to find Herb, so I hurried to his side.
"Uh, excuse me?" I cut in.
He ran a hand through his glowing hair and looked me in the eyes with pouty lips. I was pretty sure he was wearing lip gloss. With glitter.
"Do you know where I can find—?"
I couldn't finish the sentence before a high-pitched voice shrilled into my eardrums.
"Get away from him, skank!"
I turned around and found a group of winged girls who appeared to be hiding behind a curtain all this time. They all glared at me with hateful scowls and pursed lips. Sadly, they were wearing less makeup than the boy beside me.
"Lance von Fae doesn't speak to yucky humans like you!"
The girls—which I assumed were some in sort of cult—flittered toward me and shoved me away from their idol. The queen bee had eyelashes so long that she could probably cause a whirlwind with one blink. Her pink hair was styled into an updo braided with twigs and yellow dandelions.
"If you even think about talking to him again, you'll regret it," she huffed. "Only girls from Lance's Fanclub can talk to him. And we certainly don't affiliate with humans."
"Sorry, girls. But even a human can't resist all this. So, don't give her too much grief," the jerk egged on while flexing his muscles that also sparkled with glitter.
The girls swooned in unison. Ugh. They reeked of desperation! I was just trying to get a little help, but clearly, the fairies were just as pathetic as the goat people. Anger seethed within my veins, so I just ignored them and walked away with clenched fists.
Maybe coming here was a mistake. Ugh. I just needed to get through the first school day. And then maybe, I'd be able to blend in a little. But then again, I was a human. So, that probably wasn't possible anyway.
Either way, I was still determined to get to class on time.