“Thank you Mr. Kendrick, I hope that I didn’t ask too much of you,” Mrs. Woodsen sounded slightly nervous as she addressed Kiran, although Talbott was the one who handed her the papers.
“Oh, no. Talbott was able to handle them just fine. I have to expect this sort of thing now that I am Stateside, I suppose. I will grow used to it. This way of life is just very unfamiliar to me,” Kiran smiled generously at Mrs. Woodsen and then turned on his heel to leave.
I was shocked at his arrogance. His behavior made my stomach turn and I forgot all about his good looks. He was a completely despicable person. Who did he think he was talking to a teacher like that? Or talking about us….Americans? The Midwest might be different from jolly old England, but it was just fine for the rest of us, thank you very much. Clearly, he suffered from some sort of deranged class prejudice. My only hope in surviving the day was to manage to avoid him completely.
I searched out Lilly and saw her waiting for me by the door. I rushed over to her, thankful again to be in her calming presence. Her cheeks flushed as she scrunched her hair nervously with one hand.
“How was your One-Act practice?” I asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. I just wanted to forget all about my own hour of hell.
“Oh fine. I mean…. I am not very good at this kind of thing, so I always get nervous, even in practice. I know I’ll just die when we get to the real competition,” she tried to laugh it off, but I could tell that she was seriously unnerved.
“I’m sure you’re great.” I said, trying to encourage her. I actually had no idea what she was like, but any compliment felt good. I hoped that she was great; she deserved to be great.
“Thank you,” she smiled, slightly more confident. “What was your hour like?”
“Ugh…. terrible. I cannot stand those boys!” I vented, a little more frustrated and a little louder than I would have liked. Her eyes dropped to the floor, and her expression became instantly strained.
“Now, now Eden, you promised we would be friends,” Kiran chided me softly. He walked closer toward us, with Talbott following loyally behind. Maybe Talbott was a dog in his former life.
I immediately turned and walked out of the classroom. I had no idea where I was supposed to go next, but that didn’t stop me from a fast escape. Thankfully, Lilly followed speedily behind me, although I could tell she was embarrassed of my behavior.
“Do you know what your next class is?” Lilly asked, a little out of breath from the quickness of my step. I could hear the boys following closely, so I picked up the pace even faster.
“I think French. Is that in this building too?” I needed a direction; I needed to get away from the golden boy and his golden retriever.
“No, it’s not; it’s in the History and Language building across campus. But I can take you, since I have Latin this hour,” I was so grateful for Lilly Mason at that moment I could have just hugged her. I slowed down to a normal walking pace when we reached the marble staircase.
As we descended the steps, Kiran and Talbott took positions on either side of us. I could hear Talbott introduce himself to Lilly; she responded back in a terribly shy and shaky voice. I inwardly winced, imagining all of the horribly rude things Talbott would say to her. But to my surprise, he remained perfectly polite and sounded nearly as nervous as she did. Their voices dropped in volume and I tilted my head to listen in on their conversation.
“Did you say you had French next?” Kiran’s languid accent pulled me out of my eavesdropping; I found myself relaxing a little.
“Um, yes. Why? Don’t tell me you have that next as well?” Was this school playing some kind of sick joke on me?
“Yes, I do, actually. It looks as if we are destined to be together,” his grin was back and I hoped that he was only kidding. I replied with a forced smile of my own.
“Does everyone in our class have French?” I realized that he was new too, but for some reason everyone seemed to know him already.
“No, I don’t think so. I think that French is a last resort for us latecomers. The other language classes must have been filled,” his accent was alluring, and I had to remind myself forcibly what kind of person he really was.
We exited the building and found ourselves in the warm sunshine. I hadn’t realized how damp and chilly the building was, until I could feel the sun on my skin. I breathed in the fresh air. I pulled my thick hair off my neck and let the gentle, but humid wind blow through it.
I closed my eyes, hiding them from brilliant light of the morning sun. Lilly had led us out of the building through what appeared to be a back entrance. We were standing in a courtyard surrounded by identical brick buildings on every side. The beautiful campus felt more worthy of a university atmosphere than a horrible preparatory school.
“There you two are! I have been looking all over for you,” a girl’s smooth, but unfamiliar voice forced me to open my eyes and meet yet another student of Kingsley.
“Hello, Seraphina.” Kiran’s voice was all honey again as he addressed the girl approaching us. She was tall, even taller than I was; probably 5’10. Her long, thick, blonde hair bounced gently as she walked and her clear, unblemished skin almost glistened in the sun light. Her cherry-red lips were pursed and her cobalt blue eyes squinted, making a face that was less than happy. If it weren’t for the expression on her face, she could have been a model walking down the runway.
“Hello,” she said, careful to pronounce each syllable. “What is taking you so long?” she gave a disinterested look in my direction, and without waiting for an answer from Kiran, looked at me and declared, “You’re the girl who fainted.”
“Good memory,” I responded sarcastically. I started to walk away, dragging Lilly with me when Kiran interrupted our getaway.
“These lovely girls were just showing us to our next class,” we stopped moving and turned to look at him. I noticed Lilly’s bee-stung lips formed in the exact “Oh” formation mine were.
“How nice of them,” Seraphina slid her stick thin arm through Kiran’s, suggesting some kind of claim she had on him. For the first time I noticed how similar they looked; they could have almost been twins. Despite my disgust for Kiran, and now, Seraphina, I couldn’t ignore the tightening in my stomach that felt something like jealousy.
Chapter Five
Welcoming all students and guests, the Administration Building sat in the front of hexagonally-shaped Kingsley. But leading out from either side of the building was a stone pathway connecting all six buildings. A large grassed courtyard surrounded a tall, brick, bell tower. The same dark, red brick architectural style dominated the buildings at Kingsley.
The English and Theatrical building was placed on the far northeast side of campus, and the History, Language and Arts building was placed on the southeast side. The walk along the brick path was short; we just had to pass the Gymnasium to get to it.
Green grass, green trees, and flowers still in bloom, embellished the beautiful campus. I would have loved to walk this alone, and take it all in slowly.
Unfortunately, I was not alone. I was forced to walk to French not only with Lilly and Talbott, who couldn’t keep their eyes off each other, but with my new best friends Seraphina and Kiran as well. And to my ultimate disdain, Seraphina could not keep her hands off of Kiran, I realized this shouldn’t bother me, and I hated that it did.
The walk was short however, and soon we had all climbed yet another marble staircase to find ourselves on the second floor of the H and L building. I glanced at Lilly who pointed me in the direction of French.
I entered into another class that had already begun; I was apparently unable to get to class on time today. A young, sophisticated, teacher glanced back from the chalkboard to glare at me. Her short, cropped, black hair was the same color as her short, cropped, black skirt suit. She wore bright, red lipstick and dark-rimmed glasses. She reminded me of something out of a bad adult film.