Chapter 5 #2
The car crept slowly up the driveway, a long gravel road bordered by ancient leafy trees.
Beyond the trees, wide-open fields stretched into the distance, and the lush greenness was accentuated by white and yellow flowers scattered among the grass.
For a prison, this place sure was beautiful.
It was hard to believe there was a school hidden somewhere amid the pristine scene—let alone a school I would be attending.
When the line of trees broke up ahead and I finally caught sight of my destination, my eyes widened with disbelief.
Just this morning, I’d thought Matthew’s house was the most impressive building I’d ever seen, but the school was so large and spectacular it made his place look like a shanty.
The building sprawled wide in both directions, and its front featured gorgeous sandstone columns and tall windows reaching up several stories high.
There were probably castles in Europe less impressive than Weybridge Academy.
The car stopped at the base of a grand entrance staircase that led to the school’s front doors.
A woman was waiting at the foot of the stairs, and she started making her way to the car as we came to a stop.
Given her pantsuit and slick bun, I guessed she was my welcoming committee.
I jumped from the car before the driver had a chance to grab my door, and I tried to brush my hair with my fingers as the woman approached.
I really should have spent more than five minutes on my appearance this morning.
“Isobel,” the woman said. She held out a hand toward me, and as I took it, she gave a firm shake. “I’m Vice Principal Langley. Welcome to Weybridge Academy.”
“Oh, um, thank you.”
“We are so looking forward to having you here with us this year.”
I nodded, unsure what to say. Did she greet every student this way? Surely, this was below her pay grade.
She waved her hand, beckoning to someone, and a girl came to join us.
She must have been standing with the vice principal when I’d pulled up, but I hadn’t even noticed her.
She was dressed casually like me and looked to be about my age.
She had gorgeous long hair that was a deep shade of reddish-brown, like fresh autumn leaves, while her sweet face and big doe eyes gave her a look of innocence.
“This is Cressida Farley, your roommate,” the vice principal said.
“Hi, you can call me Cress or Cressie. I’ll only answer to Cressida if you’re my mother or a teacher.” She shot Vice Principal Langley a cheeky smile as the words practically bubbled from her mouth. She seemed like the kind of person who was always brimming with enthusiasm.
Before I could answer, Cress closed the distance between us and gathered me in a warm hug. I was taken by surprise, but the hug was exactly what I needed after the last twenty-four hours. It was over before I could really react though.
“It’s so great to meet you,” Cress said, taking a step back.
The vice principal gave her a soft smile. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Cress had most of the teachers here wrapped around her little finger. It was hard not to immediately like her.
“Cressida will take you to your room and help show you around the school,” Langley said. “If there’s anything else you need, my door is always open.”
She searched my gaze until I nodded, and satisfied, she turned and made her way back up the steps to the building behind her.
“Phew, thank Beyoncé that’s over.” Cress rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s get you to our room.” She grabbed hold of my hand and started pulling me up the stairs, following after Langley.
“I just need to grab my bags …”
She waved a hand at me though. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Someone will take them for you.”
I glanced over at the car and saw she was right. A man was collecting my bags and placing them on a trolley. Under normal circumstances, I might have worried about losing sight of them, but given that none of my actual belongings were packed inside those bags, I realized I didn’t particularly care.
Cress barreled up the stairs, dragging me with her. Her enthusiastic personality seemed to extend to everything, including the way she walked. “Just a warning, I can be a little full on,” she warned. “But you can always let me know when I’m being too much, and I’ll try my best to tone it down.”
I smiled at her assessment of herself. “I can handle full on.” I kind of liked her buoyant personality.
It was refreshing to be around after spending the summer being ignored by the girls I used to think were my friends.
I tended to buzz at a much lower frequency than Cress, but perhaps I needed someone like this in my life.
“Good.” She grinned back at me. “Because I think I drove my last roomie a little crazy.”
“Well, that’s always something to look forward to.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I think we’ll get along just fine.”
I smiled at her, but as soon as she looked away, my face fell.
I wasn’t sure if I was ready to let someone else into my life.
Was I ready to risk another friendship after being so badly burned by everyone back home?
Cress didn’t seem like someone who was going to give me too much choice in the matter though.
I’d known her all of two minutes, and already her infectious personality was burrowing into my heart.
We entered the building through a pair of solid wooden doors.
They were thick and heavy and groaned loudly as Cress used both hands to push them open.
I almost offered to give her a hand because it seemed like a two-woman job, but I was surprised by the slight girl’s strength.
She quickly got them open and set off into the entrance foyer.
I stopped just inside the door though and gaped up at the wide-open space within. The school looked ancient from the outside, and I’d expected the inside to resemble a dingy old castle, but internally, everything was modern and elegant.
The entrance was light and bright, and everything was white with gorgeous black accents.
My eyes were naturally drawn to the sweeping staircase, which was the central focus of the foyer.
It curved up in a large spiral all the way to the highest level of the building, and as my eyes lifted upward, I could see huge skylights covered the ceiling allowing the morning sunlight to stream in from overhead.
The school was beautiful, but its extravagance only reminded me just how out of place I was.
I would never fit in among such opulence.
It took me a moment to realize Cress had continued walking, and I hurried to keep up.
There were a few other students crossing the foyer who I had to dodge around to catch up with her, and I could feel their curious gazes on me as I passed.
It’s like they could immediately tell I was an outsider.
My outfit wasn’t too different from Cress’s, but perhaps, despite my expensive clothes, they could still smell the poor on me.
Cress was already speaking when I fell into step with her. It seemed she’d gone straight into tour guide mode.
“So, this is Esher Hall,” she said, fanning a hand at her surrounds. “It’s the school’s main building where all our classes and meals are held. There’s a resident ghost haunting the place, so if a door ever closes for absolutely no reason, that’d be Not-So-Moaning-Myrtle.”
I struggled not to smile. “Not-So-Moaning-Myrtle?”
“Well, no one’s ever heard her. She’s a stealth ghost, you see?”
“Okay, beware the stealth ghost, noted.”
She winked at me and laughed before she continued on with her not-so-conventional school tour.
She showed me the bathroom with the best lighting for makeup, a janitor’s closet with a minibar containing all the best snacks, and her favorite window from which to watch the boys practicing rugby shirtless after school.
These were just the highlights from the first floor as we passed through the building.
“The girls’ and boys’ dormitories are in the two buildings behind Esher,” Cress said as we made our way outside.
“You should be grateful you’re a girl. They renovated Lauder Hall over the summer, and our new rooms are to die for.
The boys’ dorms aren’t bad, but they’re all going to be so jealous when they see what ours look like this year. ”
We’d arrived at a large square that separated Esher from two identical buildings on the opposite side.
High hedges bordered the area, and a footpath meandered through manicured gardens.
A tiered fountain sat in the center of the square with three stone cherubs taking flight at the top of it.
The sun’s light shimmered through the water that cascaded from the cherub’s horns, and the soothing sound of the trickling fountain mixed with the laughter of a group of students sitting around the edge of it.
It was surprisingly peaceful out here, and for the first time since I’d entered through Weybridge’s imposing gates, the tense feeling that had been gripping my chest eased a little.
“Home sweet home,” Cress said, gesturing at the building to the left of us. It was like a miniature version of the castle she’d just taken me through, and I found it impossible to believe I’d be living there. It all felt ridiculous for a girl who normally lived in an apartment above a café.
“So, where are you from?” she asked as we started across the courtyard to our dorm.
“A town called Rapid Bay.” I managed to pull my attention from the gorgeous building and turned to Cress. “It’s a tourist town by the sea, but it’s pretty tiny, so you’ve probably never heard of it.”
“You’re right, I haven’t,” she said with a shrug. “I’m from New York, but my parents are based in Paris at the moment.”