One dreary, miserable day in the unexciting town of Carpell, Terry Mooring was just closing up his barber's shop, ready to turn in for the night. He pulled down the metal shutters and wiped his slightly sore hands on a discarded leaflet before flipping the switch on the neon sign outside his shop. Before locking up, Terry paused to throw the leaflet into the little plastic bin under the desk, half-aware it was an advertisement for Matthew Oak's Gardening Services. That's nothing new as the gardener's rosy-cheeked daughter often came by with her stuffed toy and toothy grin, handing them out to his customers. The thought of the cheerful youngster made Terry smile slightly, but he soon forgot and went back to turning the barber's shop lights off. He then stepped outside and locked the door, careful not to be too rough with the rusty key. Finally he unlocks the door of his slightly muddy red car and climbed in, glancing at the emptying streets of Carpell's town centre. At 7'o'clock on a Tuesday, very little was happening aside from some sort of gathering of middle-aged women on West Street. Terry half hoped for a little excitement, something interesting to break the clockwork-like motion of #life in Carpell, but all remained uniform and quiet. **************** Ten minutes from the barber's shop a young girl with rosy cheeks was getting ready for bed. Her name was Evie. She slipped on her pajamas and slid under her fairy princess duvet. She rolled towards the side of her bed which touched the wall, and closes her eyes. She couldn't seem to relax or get comfortable tonight, and wished that her big sister was there to comfort her and hold her hand until she was fast asleep. But Sapphire was away at boarding school, far, far away from their home in rural Lincolnshire. Her mother peered through the door and saw that Evie had her eyes closed. Assuming that her daughter was fast asleep, she turned and headed downstairs. She intended to fully enjoy the peace and quiet before her husband got home. ****************** Sapphire Oak arrived at Bredlake School as her little sister back at home was finally falling asleep, by which point it's nearly pitch black outside. It was too dark to see properly but she could just about make out a two story Victorian style house. It would look terrifying anywhere else, but it was hard to be scared of any building which had baby blue shutters with hearts carved into them. Sapphire and the other nine new students that walked down the path together were not completely calm though, as for most of them it was their first time at boarding school. The girl next to Sapphire was shaking a little. "Are you okay?" Sapphire whispered to her. "Yes I'm fine, thanks for asking. It's just a little cold." She replied. "How are you?" "A little nervous and partly homesick, but mostly excited. I can't wait to make new friends and I bet the lessons here are much better than they were at my old school." The truth was that she also felt homesick already, but didn't want her new friend to know. "I'm pretty nervous, actually. I kinda want to start over here." "Oh?" This intrigued Sapphire. "I'd prefer not to talk about it. I just did some bad stuff at my old school. I'm Carla, by the way." "I'm Sapphire." The girls probably would've chatted on forever but at that moment a tall, strict-looking woman called for quiet. "Hello, students. I am Miss Armitage, welcome to our society." Society? Sapphire thought. The peculiar wording made it sound more like a club than school. She glanced sideways at Carla, who was wearing a puzzled expression. Miss Armitage cleared her throat as they arrived at the weathered doors. "Please come in." When the doors creaked open, Sapphire and Carla looked at each other and gasped. The foyer was nothing like the old-fashioned architecture of the building itself. The walls were the same shade of blue, but that was where the similarities began and ended. The room was rectangular, with an L-shaped bench along one side and half of another. The bench looked pristine. It was snowy white and cushioned, so it looked very inviting to the tired group coming through the door. In front of it there was a glass coffee table with a pile of books on top, all of which were by popular modern authors. The floor itself was polished oak, and a glance at the office made it obvious that the school was well-funded - it had the newest, flashiest computer out and an intricate metal chair with navy cushions on. The doors to what Sapphire presumed was the rest of the school were automatic and everything was generally hi-tech. Several of the boys were already sprawled across the bench, talking animatedly. The girls had all ended up bunched together in the middle of the room, whispering to each other. "Now this is cool," smiled a girl with dark hair and freckles. Sapphire thought she was called Mia. "Mm. Not as fancy as my old school, but it has a certain charm to it," a tanned girl said. She had quite a posh accent. "Students, please." Miss Armitage was stood by the automatic doors. The children grew rapidly quieter until all was silent in the foyer. "Thank you. Now, as you will grow to understand, this school is different to most. Therefore, we also have slightly different traditions for new students," she turned and pointed towards a rather unremarkable white door which a Sapphire hadn't noticed before. "When your name is called, go into that room. Until then, you may talk amongst yourselves, but please try to keep the noise down as there are lessons just down that corridor. Thank you." And with that, she turned and strode out of the foyer. The noise level in the foyer slowly began to creep up again once Miss Armitage left. Sapphire turned to speak to Carla, but she had wandered over to a tall girl with cropped black hair and they were chatting away. Therefore, Sapphire walked quickly over to the white bench and sat down. She reached for a book off the coffee table and tried to lose herself in a book like she so often did, but not even 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' could take her mind off the fact she was 250 miles from home, scared and utterly alone. " Agreed," Sapphire replied.
