Chapter 5 Thou Shalt Not Panic in Public
Thou Shalt Not Panic in Public
Arwen
Iwatch the council start to file out of the room, but I can’t hear anything. I know there’s sound. I see people talking, papers shuffling, chairs shifting, but all I hear is my pounding pulse.
Am I in shock? I need to think over the facts. My brain needs to catch up with this moment. I’m not getting executed or getting exiled. I’m going to SinVail Academy. SinVail fucking Academy. Internally, I punch my fist in the air in triumph!
But wait… I might still get exiled. Exiled and with no resources thanks to that shriveled up asshole who walks around like he pisses gold.
Fuck. Ok, so I manifest a sin and live or I don’t and die. I guess not much has changed, but I have a year to digest this. A magnificent year at SinVail Academy. I had better make the most of it.
Dean Bellows finishes up her conversation with my faction lead and turns towards me. “It’s time to go.” She says. “Follow me.”
I stand up and turn to follow her out of the room. As I make my way towards the back of the courtroom, I spot a familiar face looking at me with disgust. Atticus. Shit!
He immediately looks away and doesn’t say a word to me as he packs up his briefcase. What is he doing here? How much did he hear?
As if she’s reading my mind, Dean Bellows says, “That’s Atticus Willshire, son of Councilor Willshire. He will be starting at the academy this year as well.” Councilor Willshire? I think to myself. As in Augustus Willshire? The cunt who just signed my death sentence?
Of course. Of course, the universe didn’t send me a tasty man to admire before I die. It sent me a reminder that my doom is imminent.
I can’t believe I wanted to lick his hand. I wish I could go back in time and break his fingers instead.
We exit the room, and I continue to follow Dean Bellows down the hallways leading to the exit.
“So, what happens now?” I ask.
Dean Bellows stops and turns to look at me, assessing me up and down like she’s asking herself if I’m worth that little mess back there.
“Now, you go to the academy and you work your ass off. You attend all your classes, you keep your nose clean, you study hard and do everything in your power to manifest a sin.”
Easier said than done, I think, but nod anyway.
“Of course, Dean Bellows.” I say. “But what happens right now? How am I getting to the academy? I don’t even know where it is. I have no clothes, no supplies...”
“Stop.” Dean Bellows raises her voice, and I’m smart enough to shut my mouth.
“I’m only going to say this once, Miss Davies.
I can appreciate a curious mind but do not have time for unnecessary questions.
You will fly with me back to the academy.
The academy will provide your supplies and clothing.
These are just some of the resources that Councilor Willshire is so insistent that we are wasting.
The academy has a required uniform, but you will be responsible for maintaining your uniform’s cleanliness.
The academy will provide you with room and board.
You will receive food and necessities. I will not lie, Miss Davies, you will be entering the academy with likely far less than others and you will be behind, not only because of your lack of sin but because it is blatantly obvious from your school records that your education was of little importance to your teachers.
It’s going to be a long, hard year, Miss Davies, but I think you and I can both agree that it is better than exile. Yes?”
“Yes,” I squeak out.
“Good. Now, no more questions or speaking until we reach the academy. I have work to do, and this brief excursion of a trial has put me behind.”
Dean Bellows walks away and pulls out her cell phone, and I ensure I move to keep up.
Yikes.
Why did I think I liked this woman? She’s as frigid as a mountaintop and has the empathy of an angry bull.
***
Surely, I’ve seen all of Vail now.
Those terrifying and long helicopter rides have given me a bird's-eye view of our entire great nation. And I think I’ve seen enough. I never expected to leave my city, let alone Wrath.
The black town car that I’m sitting in pulls up to a large brass gate. The dean is sitting next to me, working on her phone. She hasn’t spoken a word to me since the Council offices. I have so many questions, but I will not push my luck.
After a brief stop, our driver pulls through the gates. I look through the window.
All I can see is green, so much green. How is the ground so green here? Where is the academy?
Five minutes later, I see some buildings in the distance. My nose is pasted to the window. The large castle-like building comes into view.
I expected the academy to be grey and drab, but the building in front of me is beautiful, colorful even. The academy sits high on a hill.
The front walls, painted a mustard yellow, climb over six stories and have open arched windows. At each end, rounded towers. Battlements top the high burnt red towers that are spread out behind courtyards with ivy climbing the walls. I’ve never seen a more beautiful building. So much green…
The car stops before a very steep path of stairs that leads to the entry.
“You will get out here,” Dean Bellows says, still looking at her phone. “You will meet me in my office tomorrow morning at 6:30 before breakfast.”
“Ok...” I say cautiously, remembering her comments about talking and questions from before.
I have no idea where her office is, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I step out of the car and start walking up the steep path. My hands are empty, and it feels strange. I’m still in this ridiculous skirt.
I see a girl walking towards me with a smile on her face. Her jeans are ripped at the knees, and her long sleeve shirt has a stretched out neck and frayed sleeves. She looks like a wrath. Her tight brown, shoulder length curls bounce with every step towards me.
“Hi, are you Arwen?” she walks right up to me and stops. She has a genuine smile on her face.
“Yeah, that’s me. Did the Dean send you?”
“The Dean?... erm, no. I received a notification on my phone from the Academy that my roommate would arrive today and that I should meet you outside the entrance. Most of us moved in yesterday and had a tour. I’m guessing they want me to show what you missed.
Where are your bags?” She looks around confused.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” I say with a friendly smile and hold out my hand for a shake. Admitting I brought no belongings will bring up too many questions that I can not answer right now.
“Holly!” she says and shakes my hand, “Holly Summers. They tend to room factions together, but you don’t look like a wrath.” She blatantly stares at my stupid tight skirt. Holly doesn’t beat around the bush. I can live with that.
“Yeah… these aren’t my clothes, but I am from Wrath.”
She looks at me confused and silent, but when I refrain from speaking about it further, she changes the topic.
“Okay… well, let’s head up to the academy towards our room. I can show you some stuff on the way there.”
Holly doesn’t beat around the bush, but she also doesn’t pry. I’m liking this girl more and more.
We continue walking up the steep path, making our way closer to the academy. As we get closer, I see more students out walking around, talking, looking at books and pamphlets in little outdoor seating areas lining the path.
“This is the academy entrance.” She says as we get closer to the large doorway.
The metal gates of the door are open, allowing students to come and go as they please.
“They told us on the tour yesterday that the curfew for freshmen is 11pm. If you need to be out after that time, you will need special permission from the faculty. They will punish anyone caught outside after 11. Apparently, this is for our safety.”
She cocks a brow and rolls her eyes, like she thinks this is the stupidest rule on the planet.
It seems stupid from a Wrath perspective. We have no curfew in Wrath. If you were out and looking for trouble, you’d find it. And you’d best be prepared because no rules were going to save your ass or protect you. I guess the academy takes a different approach to these things.
We walk through the entryway into the front hall. It’s beautiful. Once again, I'm proven wrong in my assumptions.
I expected this academy to be stuffy, like an old library you would find back at the school in Furycliff, but this is nothing like I’ve seen before.
The entry hall is a large square with an inner courtyard open to the bright sun.
A big fountain sits in the middle of the courtyard, with plush grass and immaculate landscaping around it.
Plush benches and seating line the tiled corridors surrounding the courtyard.
“Not what you expected, right?” Holly says with a sly grin, like she didn’t just get here and go through the same emotions yesterday.
We continue through the entry as Holly continues her tour. “The dining hall is right past this, in the center of the academy. Most general classrooms are down this hall on either side, but the sin practice classrooms are down a level.”
“Where are the dorms?” I ask, wanting to bypass the sin topic as quickly as possible.
“Well, wrath dorms are in the northeast wing on the third through the sixth levels. Envy is in the northwest wing, closest to ours. Sloth is in the southwest wing, and Gluttony is in the southeast wing. All of our dorm rooms are similar. Two sharing a room, a hall sharing a bathroom. The wealthy factions fill two of the three towers out back. Supposedly, the Pride and Greed dorm rooms are larger than most of our houses back at Wrath. Lust has dorms similar to ours, but I can understand the reasoning for wanting to put them in their own tower,” she giggles.
“Speaking of…” she says, looking down the hall at a group approaching us. The boy at the front immediately catches my eye.