BRISEIS

Tall iron gates that glistened as though they had just been repainted today.

It reminded me of the TV series, Wednesday. This place doesn’t seem like a school. More like a prison?

And why does it look dead from the outside? The gates and walls were all painted in black. Not a single color in sight.

“ Is the owner of the school allergic to bright colors?” I ask curiously. The chauffeur whose name I later found out to be Simeon, chortled briefly as though it was a crime to laugh inside these walls.

He waved at the guards at the gate. All dressed in black too. Perhaps we happened to come by when the school was mourning maybe the death of a professor? And here I was sitting pretty in pink. The outfits I had on belonged to Brie. I wanted to respect her memory and also ask that she guides me throughout my stay here.

Judging from the look of things, I just walked into a dangerous territory. We stopped at the parking lot and two young men came running. They took my bags and led the way.

“ Are you sure we are at the right place?” I ask for the umpteenth time. I mean I did see the school’s name written boldly on a signboard just near the gates but what if we got the wrong school?

He nods in assurance and leads me to the front desk where every student had to sign their names and provide necessary documents. Then it hit me.

The students are also meant to wear black? What the fuck is going on here? I’m not a fan of pink but I’d rather wear it for the rest of the session than to dress in black.

I mean it doesn’t look that bad, at least not like I expected.

Simeon must have read my mind cause he began to speak as I signed on the register that held names of about 200 people in my grade.

“ Don’t worry, you don’t have to wear that. For now, at least. You see in Greenville, colour coding is important. Those in black are the Ds.”

Ds? What does that even mean? But I don’t ask, I just nod and gesture at the group of girls who walked by in blue. “ What about those?”

He passed me my backpack and whispered, “ That’s Amy and her squad. She’s professor Blackwood’s daughter. Orion Blackwood You know him?” Oh, I do. The man who threatened my sister. But I don’t say that out loud. “ He’s the Dean of Student Affairs. You’ll like him, he’s very kind. Well, those are the Ls. Ws in Brown, Vs in Green and Ss in Red.”

I was confused what those alphabets stood for but I remained quiet as the lady at the desk handed me a few handbooks, some keys and a pass.

“ Make sure you read those later. That’s the key to your Dorm room. Your roommates must have resumed. East Wing, 3rd floor, Room 06. The pass is strictly for leaving the school when emergencies come up. I hope you enjoy your stay here at Greenville.”

The polite lady bid us goodbye with a smile on her pretty face.

“ That’s Ashley. She has worked here for 15 years now. She’s a single mom of two and should be 40 years old in two days.”

40?? I turned sharply to catch a glimpse of her. The lady who attended to me looked no more than a day older than 23. Was she aging backwards? What sort of magic is that? She looks so young.

Simeon accompanies me to every office I had to make a stop at and I couldn’t be more grateful. If he hadn’t been here, I’d have lost my way in this massive school. The high school I attended back in Oakhaven was not as big as one of the girls dormitories.

The last two offices I had to visit were that of Ms. Orlando and Professor Blackwood.

Simeon knocked and held out the door for me. My luggage had long been take to my dorm room by the young men who approached us earlier so I didn’t have to drag a couple bags up and down the admission building.

“ Briseis Lockhart. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Orion filled me in about having you join us for the rest of high school year. Please, have your seats,” she beckoned at us and took off her glasses obviously to wipe them clean.

A tall, slender woman with rich brown hair and eyes to match. She was curvy and had freckles on her pretty face. When she smiles, you can see the gap in between her two front teeth. She was in fact nothing like I imagined when I was informed she would be the one in charge of me for the rest of the school year. I had expected her to be..

I don’t know what I expected but the young woman behind the table was not what I expected at all.

“ Nice to meet you too, Ms. Orlando.”

She smiles again, flipping through my records. “ Oh please, you can call me Bernice. I hope to see you around often, Briseis. Here, go through this and report back to me by tomorrow morning. If you have any questions about classes you should take, I’ll help you with that. Why don’t you see Prof. Blackwood and head back to your dorm. I’m sure the girls will be willing to show you around.”

And with that, I and Simeon trooped out of her office after saying our goodbyes and assuring her I’d be back here by tomorrow.

She seems nice. But I can’t say the same for the advanced man in front of me whose eyes seems to be everywhere at the same time.

Professor Blackwood. He looks like a character straight out of one of Brie’s romance books. Boy, he was handsome! And again nothing like the old, potbellied, dwarf professor I had imagined.

Why does everyone in here look so young and beautiful? Even the students. I haven’t seen an ugly person since I stepped foot in here. Is there a secret behind this?

“ Don’t hesitate to stop by my office anytime you need help, Miss Lockhart.” I had lost track of time, I had been drooling over him and didn’t even hear a thing.

But looks can be deceiving. Who would have thought such a person would threaten a student?

“ I’ll keep that in mind. If you don’t mind, please excuse us. It’s been a long day. I need to head back to my dorm and rest,” Well, that was partially true. But I also needed to get away from him. I can’t afford to have a crush on a professor who could have killed my sister.

“ Sure. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay here.”

I lingered around for a few seconds, hoping he would bring up Brie. Although the last name, Lockhart, might not ring a bell, I was certain he would recognize me considering how alike Brie and I looked.

If he knew I was Brie’s sister, he did not say it and I did not say anything either. It’s even better if he and everyone in this school had forgotten about her. It would make my mission here much easier.

Simeon offered to take me to the dorm before leaving. I thanked him countless times for his help today and he waved it off saying it was nothing.

But just before we take a bend, I bump into someone. A male student. One swift look at his uniform trying to figure out what group he belonged to but I hit a dead end. He wasn’t wearing any of the colors Simeon mentioned. He had on a yellow shirt and black trousers to match with a tie.

“ I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming,” I apologized and expected some lashing especially because of the huge glasses I had on. I knew he would say something along the lines of ‘And yet you have on those gigantic glasses. Do those not function too?’

But instead he surprised me by picking up my handbooks and handing them back to me. “ It’s not your fault, I should have watched where I was going. A new student? Nice to meet you, I’m Derek Whitlock.”

“ Briseis Lockhart, a pleasure to meet you.”

He smiled and walked away. Well, the students here do seem friendly. I guess.

“ Bitch, move out of the way. You blind or something?” An angry female student in brown uniform spat angrily as she shoved me out of the way. I’d have fell if Simeon hadn’t caught me on time.

Well I take back what I said about them being friendly.

Her friends, all in brown uniforms giggled and whispered to themselves as they strolled past. They must be the Ws. But why was she so hostile?

“ That’s Imogen Brown, senior year and daughter of Professor Carissa. Her family and a few others built this school. You must avoid her, she has teeth and will bite.”

Good. I’ll only avoid her if she avoids me.

But I nod anyway, “ Sure, thanks for the heads up.”

One more person added to my black list.

Few minutes later, we knock briskly on the door and it’s flung wide open revealing a redhead in black uniform and a nerdy, tanned skin girl in red behind her.

“ You must be Briseis. We’ve been waiting for you. I’m Irene your roommate, and this is Ivy,” she points at the girl behind her. “ Brianna stepped out but she will be back soon. It’s nice to finally meet you, Briseis.”

Without a warning, she draws me into a bear hug almost squeezing my delicate frame. The nerd, I mean Ivy, had to separate her from me whilst chiding her.

“ Not everyone likes to hug, Irene. Argh! You’re unbearable.”

But Irene smiles sweetly and led me in after Simeon left.

And why does she seem more excited about me being here than me myself? Black and brown, they must be Ds and Ss, whatever that means.

“ Uhm, I guess nice to meet you too Irene, you too Ivy.”