The Curiosity of The Enigmatic

If you’ve ever thought you were confused try putting yourself in my shoes. I’ve only recently found out I have the power to turn invisible, I’m now attending an ultra-secretive school for those similarly endowed with a power they need to learn to control, I’m stuck with two strange roommates who might have something to do with the murder or disappearance of their past bully, Glenn, not that I’d blame them, and I’ve just been saved from a vine (yes, a vine! Laugh if you want to) called Walter by a teleporter who knows my secret and also works for the slime ball Spy Master. But the plant only meant me no harm and it was as if it was waiting for someone to come and fetch me. Was it the greenhouse’s built-in security system?

Whatever it was it was protecting something in that greenhouse from people like Horrible Glorrible Glenn or maybe since Glenn had disappeared it was one of many strange creature things on guard against her return lest she use people again with her body control power.

Anyhow, I didn’t have time to worry about it; teleporter boy Xiao (insert snicker here at his name) had abandoned me as soon as we left the greenhouse and I had no idea where my next class was. Besides that, we had been dismissed from Botany early and there was no around I could ask. The rest of the Botany students had done their weird panther stunts and disappeared from sight. They really were a weird bunch and I wondered if my other classes would be nearly as entertaining.

The greenhouse seemed to be on the perimeters of the main campus and past it lay what I could only assume to be sport fields. I fished my schedule out of my satchel and saw I had

English next. Something normal at last. But I had to find the class before I could start rejoicing.

I walked back towards the direction of the dorms hoping I’d be able to find my way to the secretary’s office or whatever she was, who had helped me with my schedule. Maybe she could tell me where my English class was. The dorms formed a disproportionate hexagon around the courtyard, a very large area of grass with benches scattered here and there beneath the numerous trees. I sighed, wishing that my part of the room looked out on the courtyard and not out onto the alleyway. I went to sit on one of the benches and began flipping through the thick pile of rules I had received last night.

“When will I have time to read through all of this?!” I muttered angrily. A hand landed on my shoulder and I screamed dropping the rules onto the dewy grass.

A face was shoved up into mine.

“Oh, it’s the new senior!” the girl said. My hand fluttered away from my heart and I looked up at Yuan Chan, AKA ninja girl. She was dressed in a pair of slimming black pants, a black turtle neck and had a black beret sitting lopsidedly on her head.

“Hello,” I said. “You nearly gave me a heart attack dude!” I pretended to pout as I collected my rule sheets. She bent down to help me and gestured with her free hand, making a flapping motion.

“Sorry, sorry, I thought you were a first year bunking! But even if you are bunking you’re a senior and you’re not under my jurisdiction.”

I puffed out my cheeks and blushed. “I’m not bunking! We were let out of Botany early; you can go ask!”

Yuan laughed. “I believe you, don’t get so offended!” She grinned and handed me the last of the sheets and I tried to stuff them back into my folder.

“Do you have time now?” I asked, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

“Sure. I’m not on patrol at the moment and I have off in between first and third period,” she said, adjusting the badge pinned to her beret which I could only assume must be a prefect badge. It was in the shape of a silver shield and had a sword embossed onto its surface.

“Umm…Could I hold you to last night’s promise and have you show me around for a while?” I asked boldly wondering where I got the courage from. But Yuan looked really nice and she was friendly. She wasn’t scary like almost everyone else in this place.

She gave a huge grin and saluted me. “Welcome to Miss Chan’s famous school tour! Feel free to take pictures and a tip will be appreciated!” She whipped around and started marching. “This way please!”

She led me in a semi-circle, showing me all of the dorms and who they housed. “I’m over there,” she said pointing at a building that looked newer than its Victorian looking cousins.

“The original building was accidentally burnt down by a first year who couldn’t control her power yet. I’m a second year now but we were moved to this building because the second year girls were too large of a group.”

“So there are first to fifth years right?” I mused trying to work out how old she was. “How exactly does that work?”

“Yup! First years are usually fourteen to fifteen year olds, the age at which most of us come into our powers. Fifth years are the last group, the one that starts their first year of University or the ones who simply decide to take advanced lessons in their major. They’re usually nineteen year olds. You won’t see them much as there are so few of them and because they have a specialised dorm away from the rest.” She spun around and sighed dramatically.

“They have their own rooms!”

So she’s a second year which makes her sixteen, which means…

“Do you know Eric? Annoying blonde guy, yea high?” I asked hovering my hand somewhere above my head.

“Oh, sort of but he’s in the year above me. He’s a third year. Oh! I understand why you looked so confused!” She clapped her hands together as if she just had an epiphany. “You must think since he’s sixteen he’s second year! Second year is like grade eleven in normal schools and he’s probably still going to turn seventeen this year. I’ve only recently turned sixteen, my birthday’s early in the year.”

I was still confused. Why couldn’t they just call them grade nine, grade ten, etcetera? “So first years are basically in the fourteen to fifteen age group, second years in the fifteen to sixteen group and so forth? And I’m called a senior because I’m almost finished with the normal curriculum?”

“Precisely,” she nodded sagely. “You’ll get used to it quickly enough, so don’t stress about the details.”

“But I’m in my senior year and probably even second years like you are way ahead of me,” I moaned as we came to a stop in front of the assembly/food hall.

Yuan suddenly turned serious. “That’s true. It’s strange that your power developed so late yet they’re placing you with everyone else in your age group for some reason even though you’ll be eating their dust before the day is over.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” I muttered then ran my fingers through my higgledy-piggedly fringe. “Well, I think it’s probably about time to go look for my class. Thanks for the tour, if I hadn’t talked so much we might’ve actually done some real touring. Oh, wait! Can you help me find my next class? It’s English and I have no idea where it is so it’ll probably take a while to find it on my own but if you’re busy it’s fine, just point me in the right direction…”

“Have no fear,” she said winking like a character out of a bad cartoon. “When Yuan is near!”

And with that she grabbed my arm and began pulling me out of the courtyard and into an alleyway that cut through to the campus. Since I had only seen the buildings we encountered now from afar I felt my mouth pop open in surprise. There were dozens of buildings sprawling somewhat elegantly across bright green lawns interconnected by little red brick pathways. As we got nearer I marvelled at the size of some of the buildings and wondered what they housed for surely not all of these were classrooms, there were simply not enough students to even fill up the dining hall let alone these monoliths looming up before me.

“Stop gawking,” Yuan said in a mock stern voice. “You can see them properly later, right now we have to get you to class, English was it?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, English, that’s right,” I told her as I slowly came back to earth. Something like a church bell started to ring out four heavy counts. When it ended students began streaming out from seemingly all around me and I stuck as close to Yuan as possible without touching her. She led me to a building smaller than it’s neighbours and ushered me up a flight of crooked stairs.

“This is one of the oldest buildings on campus, built just before the First World War broke out back in the early twentieth century,” my guide chattered amiably on in front of me as I listened with half an ear. The staircase seemed to spiral upwards and we passed a few doors on stone landings and at last we came out on a wooden landing which stretched out into a broad corridor. Yuan led me to an open doorway nearby and waved cheerfully.

“Well, this is as far as I go. I personally don’t have English so I don’t know where exactly the fourth year class is,” she turned to go and yelled back. “Just ask around!”

I waved feebly at her as her black bob disappeared out of sight. I took a deep breath and peeked inside the room I was closest to. A teacher was writing out, “LS English” in white chalk onto a big olive drawing board, those old fashioned ones. The classroom in fact looked very old fashioned with wooden desks lined up in neat rows in front of an even larger desk that I presumed was the teacher. The teacher fitted in easily with her surroundings.

She was a tallish elderly lady with graying hair pulled up into a stiff bun and a pair of square glasses perched upon her rigid Roman nose. There was no else in the class yet but she turned around and noticed me skulking in the doorway.

“Do come in. I take it you’re our new senior, Miss…?” her clipped tones suggested she wanted an answer. NOW.

“Miss…Miss Davids,” I half whispered. “This is the LS English Fourth year class right?”

“Correct. I am pleased with your punctuality; most fourth years think they can start to be laid back and arrive late. Take one of the forms on my desk and fill it out please and complete the short questions on the back while everyone arrives and gets settled.” I snatched a seat near the windows in the back looking out on a now empty walkway and calming my thoughts began filling out the sheet. The front was for administration reasons it seemed and also asked for my previous English marks and what books I had studied so far. The back had a few simple enough grammar questions and the like. I was still trying to remember what a comma splice was when I heard a cacophony of voices, laughing and talking and shouting. I looked up as they came into view and bled into the classroom. The teacher stood in front of the blackboard, drumming her nails on the desk in front of her. I instinctively covered my ears as she opened her mouth and

BOOMED!

There was no better word for it. The words burst out of her mouth like bombs and everyone in the class besides me cried out and sank to the floor pressing hands feebly to ears.

I could dimly make out real words amongst the chaos, “LATE! HOW DARE YOU COME LATE TO MY CLASS?! THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE! I WILL NEVER ALLOW THIS AGAIN DO YOU HEAR ME?!” I’m sure they understood loud and clear.

Despite my shock I was awed. What an impressive power! I thought as I gingerly took my fingers out of my ears and winced slightly as my hearing was a bit fuzzy after her explosion.

“Now, I have a strict set of rules all of you must adhere to at all times,” she said, in her normal clipped tone. The class looked up at her stunned. “Number one: do not be late to my class. Number two: you will address me as ma’am or Mrs van de Linde, no teach, prof, or first name basis here; I am no liberal hipster teacher who wants to be friends with her pupils. Number 3: I expect the utmost respect and authority from all of you while you are in my class. Number four: you will greet me properly at the start of each class and only be seated when I say so. Now, please be seated class,”

People moved sluggishly to their seats, their faces saying more than words ever could. A girl came to sit in front of me and when I sneaked a peek at her face I caught her staring at me as well.

“Symphony!” I breathed out wondering what it was about her impassive calm face that put me so on edge. She gave me an ever so slight smile and passed a hastily scribbled note to me as the teacher began to hand out forms like mine.

‘How did you know to block your ears?’

I smothered a laugh thinking how an something annoying in the past had actually become helpful now. I wrote down, ‘I used to have a teacher almost just like her who also had an impressive set of lungs so I knew the signs. :)‘

Symphony read it silently and her lips quirked upwards before she turned her attention back to the teacher. I stared for a few moments at the back of her head wondering what Horrible Glenn had done to mute this girl. It must’ve been…horrible. Now I was dead curious about this missing mind reader and I knew this curiosity would only get me into more trouble.