Nightingale Academy

If there's one thing that I'm happy about our migration from Florida to New York is my room. The room itself was small. Four plain eggshell white walls pressed together to form a square and sliding doors opened into a shallow closet. But the view! Oh, the view! We were just directly bellow the highest floor of the building. Perhaps if a fire were to start or a plane were to crash into the building, this floor wasn't the safest place to be but if you look outside your window and are able to see what I can see, you'd be pretty happy and nonchalant about safety.

Outside my window I can see the bright city swept under my feet. It glowed with that eerie smog and lights of other buildings flicked on and off. It was truly the city that never sleeps. But that's not what I liked. What really made me as happy as a bubbly two year old was what lied beyond the city. Vast sea. Beautiful, never-ending, vast sea.

“D'you like it?”

I turned around to beam at my mum. She accepted that as my answer and grinned back.

“I know how much you didn't want to move, Lilith. And I know we can't really repay you much in any other way right now but we though you would like the room. We would have given you one of the others but I think you would have enjoyed the view more than the actual room.”

I nodded my head in agreement. She was right. I didn't spend too much time in my room. I used to go outside all the time when I wasn't studying and just roam around to stare at the sky. We had lived by a beach and I would wander down to the ocean and sit in the sand, staring past the horizon.

“We've got something else to discuss, Lilith.”

My mother sat down on my twin-sized bed which had been flown over prior to our move. I raised a brow at my mother's seriousness and sat beside her.

“As you know, your father and I rented a shop further into the city. We're opening the bakery up there and wont be home that much.”

I nodded, wondering if they were going to need my help or if I was free to roam in circles in front of my window.

“And I know that what you really wanted was a good education.”

This is taking a turning point....

“And well, there's this great school just outside of the city. It's private and you get a dorm there. Co-ed but it's said to be one of the finest private schools New York has to offer-”

“Wait,” I finally spoke. I raised my hand as if to catch the words coming out of my mum's mouth. “You're sending me off to a boarding school?”

My mum bit her lips and nodded nervously, gluing her eyes to the floor. I felt my scepticism drain out at the expression on her face and a smile grew on my face. I squealed and jumped on my mum. I was small and her constant working had given her strength enough to hold me up and then some so she had no problem catching me. “I love you!” I squealed in her shoulder.

She laughed, recovering from the surprise attack and held onto me. I finally pulled away long enough for questions to start rotating themselves about my new school in my head. One stuck out the most.

“How did you afford to put me in it?”

My mum chuckled and shook her head. “With your GPA, I could have sent you off to Yale with a full scholarship had I wanted too.”

I giggled at my mum and didn't even bother being modest. I did have a splendid GPA. It was something my parents found no trouble rubbing into my Aunt's face while her grown daughters lived low-class lives, flunked out of high school. Nothing that we purposefully wanted to hurt their feelings with though. It was their own choice to flunk and fail. I, on the other hand, took my education seriously and my parents were proud.

My mum kissed my forehead and announced that the school name was Nightingale Academy and that I would be starting on Tuesday. Glancing at the time on my ipod I realized that it was officially Friday morning.

My dad came in after my mum and slid a box into my room. “Are you...okay with going to the school?” he asked nervously.

I beamed at him and crawled over to the box. It would most likely contain a few books if it was mine. “Yes! Thank you, Bill!” My dad loved names so he made sure I used them. No shortening Lilith to Lily or Felicia to Alicia. Or even Fesha, like I had called my mum back when I was a baby, mumbling out my first words.

My dad grinned back and stepped inside the room to place a kiss on my forehead. “I have to park the car and truck in the parking lot so we don't get towed and then Felicia and I are heading to bed. So enjoy your night and try to get some hours of sleep in.”

I smiled and nodded, not promising anything. “Night, Daddy.”

Bill winked at me before he left. He may not like nicknames but Daddy is one he'll never say no too.

I opened the box and smiled when I found my comforter on top. I took it out and placed it over my bed. Underneath it were a few books and my laptop. I carefully picked it all out of the box and placed the books into my book shelf underneath my window. After aligning them best I could, I picked my laptop up and sat on the bookcase. I opened it up and turned it on. I was planning on searching up this Nightingale Academy and find out anything I can about it. I looked out my window as I waited for my laptop the turn on and sighed again once I looked up to see no stars. Mum said that the school was on the outskirts of the city. Maybe the air is clean enough to see the sky there....

I typed my password in and pressed the enter key, watching the window screen flash a picture of flowery patterns. I clicked onto Mozilla Firefox and googled Nightingale Academy. I smiled to see the first link belonging to the school website.

Nightingale was a private school, only containing 500 students from year K – 12. Clearly, the classes must be very small. The school itself was large. Students had the choice whether they wished to stay in their dorms or travel back home to their parents. On weekends, those who stayed in a dormitory could visit home or the city and return as much as they please. Privileges such as those are limited to younger student and those with disciplinary issues. Headmaster and professors are friendly and well-educated. Overall, parents had rated the school 5 stars and presented very happy reviews.

I smiled as I shut the laptop down and plugged it in to charge. A picture of the school had shown it by the sea. Although misty fog was still surrounding it, as the picture looked be taken around dawn, it was undeniably beautiful.

I took a book out from the bookcase and sat down on my bed. I spent a good two hours reading The Book Thief before I retired it back into my bookshelf. A familiar prickling feeling was felt travelling down my back as I unzipped my duffel bag. I looked around my room to find myself completely alone. I looked behind my back and stared at the window. The prickly feeling dispersed as apartment lights flashed on and off occasionally from the view of my window. The sea stayed calm.

I looked back down at my duffel bag and ignored the feeling of being watched when it came back again by putting my ipod in an ihome. Mozart played quietly so not to wake my parents and I continued what I was doing. I took out my folded clothes and opened the closet and placed them into the shelves. The back of my mind told me that I would just have to pack it all up again when I went to over to the academy but I knew that packing and cleaning were things that I did when I had spare time. And boy did I have spare time. I hung up my jackets and folded my trousers. Once I was done with that I decided I was hungry.

Nothing was in the fridge when I opened it. I would most likely do the grocery shopping with my father tomorrow after we brought the rest of the boxes in. I peeked at the clock above the oven and whimpered when it was only 5 o'clock.

New York was the city that never sleeps and I was hungry. I tiptoed back to my room and grabbed a jacket before slipping it on and grabbing my phone. I pulled out my journal and ripped a page from it, taking a pencil with me. Using the wall as a hard surface, I wrote a quick note to my parents letting them know I was out and buying breakfast in case they woke up before I came back. I folded the paper and tucked it into the door so when they opened it they would see something falling and pick it up.

I dug into my dad's jacket and pulled out his wallet. I took out a twenty and slid it into my pocket before silently shutting the door behind me as I left the apartment. The elevator ride was long and I wondered if sliding down the stair railing would have been faster. I vowed to try it out next time.

I exited the elevator and walked out the front door, feeling myself being watched again. I silently wondered if it was the boy that looked like a man but I pushed the thought away. Most people were still asleep at this time and there was no way that I was being stalked by a 23 year old-looking boy. I stuffed my hands into the my pockets and wished that I had brought my ipod with me. Strolls like this in Florida were filled with music of the night. Strolls in New York City were filled with far-away sounds of traffic and dirty air. I hoped again that the air would be cleaner at the Academy.

Dawn broke through the sky before I could even notice that change and the streets started to light up. Cars started passing me more often and I still felt that prickling feeling. I pushed it away the best that I could and continued walking straight, hoping to find a bagel shop or something.

After half an hour I finally found a small coffee shop and entered it. A boy around my age sat behind the counter, his chin in his hands. He perked up when he saw me and grinned boyishly.

“Good morning. May I help you with anything?”

“Just here to pick some breakfast up....” I squinted up at the board behind him and tried to read the breakfast menu. “Uhm....Can I have four plain bagels? Two with cream cheese, the others with butter and strawberry jam.”

“Right up. Anything else?”

I squinted back at the board and tip toed a bit. 4 foot 10 can be an awful height. “And a medium soy latte, please.” I grinned at the boy and he rung up my order. I sat down as I waited for him to make the bagels for me. I stared out the glass window, watching more and more people walk out of buildings and into others. It must be rush hour because cars were becoming less scarce now.

The boy called over, letting me know my food was ready and I walked over with the twenty dollar bill in hand. I handed it to him and while he was pulling the change out he made small talk.

“Did you recently move here? I've never seen you before. Well, duh, New York is huge but we usually get regulars here and you look like a fresh face.” He smiled charmingly and I chuckled.

“No, you're right. I moved here only a few hours ago from Florida.”

“Oh wow.” His eyes slightly widened as he handed me my receipt and change. “That's a big difference, huh?”

“Yeah,” I replied, stuffing the change back into my pocket. I took the bag down from the counter and took the latte in my other hand. “Huge difference.” And I didn't sound happy about it one bit.

The boy only laughed. “Well my name is Luis and welcome to New York, even if you don't like it much.”
He chuckled and held out his hand for me to shake.

I swapped my coffee with my other hand and took his and shook it over the counter. I smiled politely. “Thanks. I guess I'll see you around.”

He called out his good-bye and I left the coffee shop, making my way back to the apartment swiftly. Not because I still felt eyes on my back and not because I didn't want my coffee and bagels to get cold. Call me superstitious but I walked back home quickly because in three different origins, Luis meant war.