A Regency Catastrophy

Chapter 6

I already knew school was hell. Now I know a regency boarding school for young women was a whole other level of hell. Not that I had to study or work really hard. French, drawing and music were luckily things I was already quite proficient at. You would think that would be sufficient, but oh no. Do you know what are the truly important aspects in the education of a young lady? What do you say? Acquiring knowledge? Stimulating intelligence? Or learning how to run a household? Ha! No, posture is everything. When standing up, sitting down or walking, one should always mind their posture. And if one does not mind their posture, one should be reminded of it. Morning, noon or evening, it doesn't matter.

Okay, perhaps I'm overstating things a bit. The food is quite good, I have my own room although I'm often not allowed to be alone there except to sleep and most teachers are decent even though they watch us like hawks. As a result, privacy is a very, very rare thing here. For me this is absolutely gruesome. The other girls don't seem to mind never being alone. They are probably used to it, seeing that many have 4 or more siblings at home. Like Emily, she has 4 sisters and 1 brother all younger than her. Can you imagine the racket and noise? To be completely honest, I'm also a bit jealous of her. Even though they drive her crazy sometimes, I do believe she has a very warm home with a lot of people she loves and who love her in return.

Not to say I didn't have a warm home of course. Mum and dad love me and would do anything for me, like helping me with homework or driving me to hobbies. But they both worked important fulltime jobs, so I was often on my own. Comparing with Emily's experiences, I will forcefully introduce more quality time when I finally get home. Emily has become a very close friend by the way. It's still strange to me. I only ever had one friend before, and the persistent bullying put a final end to that friendship when I was 14. I understand now why Suzy didn't want to be seen with me anymore. It was simply too risky.

Emily's different though. She doesn't seem to care what the other girls say about me and my weirdness. From the first day on, she took my arm to help me find my way around the school and she never stopped talking to me. I mean that quite literally. She told me one entertaining story after the other, only interrupted by some gossip about the teachers or others girls now and then. I think I surprised her by actually hearing her out instead of trying to interrupt. Most of the time, I like listening to her stories, but right now I'm craving some alone time.

And this is the ideal opportunity. Mrs. Stone has proposed we use the nice weather and beautiful flowers and plants in the school's garden to find some inspiration for drawing. We get a couple of hours before we'll drink tea outside. So that means a couple of hours of unsupervised freedom. I only have to convince Emily to cover for me.

"Come on, hurry up, Katy! We must find a nice place in the shade, before they are all taken." Emily has a mortal fear of darkening her skin even more, since she already has a slightly darker skin tone. With her chestnut brown wavy hair, bright blue eyes and slim figure, she's absolutely beautiful, but still she is very insecure about her skin.

"Actually, Emily, when I arrived here I saw a beautiful oak tree just outside the grounds that I would love to draw. Would you mind if I went to see it on my own?"

"Leave the garden on your own? But why? It's a big risk. Mrs. Stone will have your head if she finds out!"

"To be honest, Emily, I just need some time alone. I'm not used to being around so many people all the time and I just need some peace and quiet."

"Ow. You mean you're sick of my talking all the time. I understand. I know I can be quite annoying sometimes." She looked so dejected I immediately grabbed her arm to clarify the misunderstanding.

"No, Emily, you're not annoying at all. I like having a sociable friend like you who knows what to say and isn't as awkward and quiet as me... To be honest I would like to draw my parents. I have no portraits of them here and I have to do it before I forget exactly what their faces looked like." It wasn't entirely a lie. I had been thinking about it before. Why is everything so complicated that I have to lie to the first true friend I ever had?"

"And to do that, you would like some solitude. I see now. Well, there is a small gate behind the weeping willow over there. It's locked, but if you hurry, you might be able to climb over it before anyone sees you. If anyone asks, I will simply say you went to find something to drink or something like that."

I hugged her close. "Thanks, Emily. You're the best friend a girl could hope for."

"Ok then". Emily seems a bit embarrassed. "Hurry now, and don't stay away for too long."

"I promise I won't!" I run off. Finally, alone again!