Éclair Academy

The next morning a shrill bell awoke me with a start and exclamation of, “I hate school…”
I lever myself up only to witness Jenna getting dressed. I blush and turn away catching the time on her alarm clock at the same time, sitting smugly on her bedside table.

“It’s past breakfast time!” Breakfast started at seven in the morning so that lessons could start at eight. And it was five to eight now.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” I grumbled at Jenna as she plaited her hair elaborately.
Jenna spoke to me in the small mirror above the desk. “I only woke up ten minutes ago, so I haven’t eaten either. Apparently someone, a prefect from the fourth year I was told, was supposed to wake us up earlier on the first day for initiation…”

“Obviously that someone didn’t,” I mumbled slowly getting out of bed. I brightened. “Maybe they accidentally skipped us and we’ve missed it!”

“I highly doubt that,” she said, sticking pins into the complicated mass of neat hair. “What I can’t understand is why my alarm didn’t go off; I’m sure I set it for six am.”

I shuddered as I gathered up clothes to wear. I’d rather be late than have an alarm shrill away near me while it’s barely light outside.

“I’m quickly going to go brush my teeth and stuff,” I mumbled quickly before scampering out of our room. I heard Jenna say something about being late but this was the ideal time to have the bathroom to myself.

I thanked my sisters for years of enforced toilet etiquette and for their constant attention to detail in clothing and makeup. I needed it now if I wanted to avoid suspicion. I had observed them for the past few months and when I remerged from the bathroom I actually smelt like a girl, was dressed in black pants with red pumps (that hurt) and I wore my black leather jacket over a white tank top. Luckily nothing was tight except for the shoes…my poor toes. I would have to wear sneakers tomorrow. My hair was held back with a red Alice-band but that couldn’t hide the fact that my haircut was atrocious…and obviously done by myself.

I was also atrociously late. I smacked my glossed lips, patted my hair and entered our room to collect my satchel and schedule.

Jenna was gone and I felt oddly disappointed that she couldn’t see my makeover. But I quickly stuffed a notepad and pen into my satchel before hurrying out with my schedule in hand.

I had just gone down the stairs, and began to walk towards the quad where the schedule said we’d be divided into classes, when an arm reached out and pulled me behind the cover of a pillar. I prepared myself for combat but before I could do so a hand was clamped over my mouth and Jenna’s eyes peered into mine.

She held her finger to her lips and pointed with the other at what lay to our right.

“We’re late!” I hissed but peeked out to look anyway. “What are you…”

The words died on my lips, for in the quad in front of us surrounded by an idyllic setting of neatly trimmed rose bushes a horrific event was unfolding.

Coated in a thick layer of flower dozens of girls were being marched around in only their underwear while older students jeered and cheered from the balconies above that looked out on the quad.

Whenever a girl lifted her head a voluptuous red head would march over to her and shout in her face to get down and give her fifty. It was a cacophony of sound, utter chaos with a tinge of tyrannical order.

Heart beating rapidly in my chest I ducked out of view and looked at Jenna pointedly clearly asking her what was going on.

She bit her lip and gave a watered down smile before whispering, “I guess they did skip us by mistake.” Something about her body language said she was lying but I couldn’t place my finger on WHAT she was hiding.

“They never said anything about initiation being like this,” I hissed. “They said it would be clean fun. Most of those girls are crying!”

Jenna clapped a warm hand over my mouth and shook her head. “We can’t do anything about it. We have to hide now. But I have no clue as to where; just a few minutes ago a prefect was sent off to look for stragglers.”

A brilliant idea occurred to me and I smiled wickedly. “The Lu Hao Yang Academy of martial and weaponry arts. No one will look for two first year Éclair students there.”