The Hidden School

Chapter 2

I woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and the sunlight streaming through my windows. I smiled and felt like I could achieve anything in this moment. The memories from yesterday flooded my mind and I began crying. Today is the day that changes everything for me. I also have to leave my mom, I thought to myself. I was going to miss my mom more than I thought I would. Is my mom crying? Did she cry last night like I did?, I wondered. I got up and went to my mom's room. I opened her door slowly and quietly. I looked at her and she was still asleep. I got in bed and laid beside her. She turned over and her eyes were red. She had been crying. She hugged me and we laid there crying. It was going to be hard on both of us. After my dad and siblings left, it had been my mom and I. We had gotten to choose, and I chose my mom. "Mom, I love you and I'm going to miss you a lot." She hugged me closer,"You came in here in the morning when you were little. We would snuggle together. You are a sweet and kind person, Adririan. Don't let anyone tell you different. Don't let anyone make your heart stone. I love you bunches and I'm going to miss you. I know you're growing up and doing something you want to do. Never let anyone tear you down." We laid there, enjoying this time together before I had to leave. "I'm going to make me a bowl of cereal. Do you want to have breakfast with me, mom?" She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Of course. I love spending time with you, honey." We got up and went to go make us bowls of cereal. We sat down and ate. After we got done, we washed the bowls and spoons. I needed to pack, but before I did that I had to shower. I gathered everything I needed for the shower and chose what I would wear with deliberate consideration. I went to the bathroom, showered and brushed my teeth and hair. I put on deodorant and put on my outfit. A green dress with leggings underneath. I looked at myself in the mirror. "I am beautiful. I am smart. I am amazing. I am brave. I got this. I am going to go to the Academy and learn. I will choose what I want to do. It's okay if I don't know what I want to do. I am protected and loved." I breathed in and breathed out. "Now it's time to pack my stuff." I grinned at my reflection, gathered the things I brought into the bathroom and went to my room. When I got in my room, I couldn't help but look around and remember everything I did in here. I can make new memories at the Academy. This chapter is coming to a close and a new one is beginning. There are going to be new friends to be made and good times to be had. I grabbed my black and white polka dotted suitcases and put them on the bed. I gathered all my clothes, toiletries, books and sentimental items and packed them in their suitcases. The toiletries went into the smallest bag. My clothes went into the two big ones. My sentimental items and books went into the medium one. "Are you ready to get going? The Academy is in Zundumunz, so it's going to be about an eight hour drive." I jumped a little when my mom spoke. She startled me. "My stuff is packed, I just need to put it in your truck. Then I'll come back in to grab my pillow and print out the email from the Academy." She helped me carry out my suitcases, and when we got outside it was humid and felt like we were swimming in it. We loaded it in her truck and she got in to start her truck. She wanted the cold air on. She handed me the house key and told me to lock up after I was done inside. I went in the house to my room, started the computer and waited for it to come to life. When it came alive I logged in to the computer and logged on to my email to print the email out from the Academy. I noticed I had a new email from someone named Misty Lyons. I opened the email I got from the Academy yesterday and printed it out. While it printed, I clicked on the email from Misty Lyons. She was going to be my mentor if I needed anything, but for the most part I would do stuff on my own. She was also a teacher who taught the basics. She just wanted to introduce herself and say she was excited to meet me. I smiled, Everything is looking bright in my future. I logged off the computer and turned it off, grabbed the printed email and my pillow. I was about to leave when I saw the letter my mom wrote for me last night. I walked over and grabbed it then left, locking the house behind me. I walked over to the truck, opened the back passenger door and put my pillow in. I closed it and got in the front passenger seat. The cold air felt so cool, especially after walking the short amount of time. While I had been inside the house, it had gotten hotter, more humid and stickier. I closed the door and my mom put in the Academy's address. We backed down the driveway and headed to Zundumunz, towards my future. "Honey, can you read the email you got from the Academy? I know you said you got accepted, but I forgot to ask you what it all said." I looked over at her and smiled. I looked down at the email," Dear Adririan, We are happy to announce that you have been accepted here at the New Moon Academy. We expect to see you tomorrow. Sorry it's such short notice, but the new school year is about to start. We have your schedule made up for you. You'll be learning the basics and history at first. You'll also learn the history of the New Moon Academy. We hope you'll have fun, and do the work that's necessary. When you get here we'll explain a bit about the Academy and the events we have throughout the year. We even have events when school is out. Have a safe trip. Blessed be, New Moon Academy." She smiled, "Oh okay. That's good that they have events you can attend. You can make some new friends and have fun. You also get to learn some new things too." I smiled and nodded as I looked out the window. Trees and houses were fading into the distance as we slowly got closer to the Academy. We stopped at a restaurant and ate lunch before heading to the Academy again. The sun had gotten high in the sky and began to lower when we saw a sign that said: Zundumunz 50 miles
I began to feel excited, anxious and sad. Excited because I knew that this was a new chapter in my life. Anxious because I didn't know what to expect when we got there. Sad because I would watch my mom leave back to Beybrook. As we got closer, I began to notice that the trees were appearing more frequently. We had passed plains and hilly areas to get here and there weren't many trees. Now this area was populated with them. Spruce and firs were all along the highway. Did they build the highway through a forest? I sat up in my seat in excitement at seeing the forest on both sides. "It's so pretty, mom. Look at the trees and the forest. Can you imagine living in the forest? This one specifically." She turned down the radio,"Yes. It's really beautiful and I can imagine it. I've always wanted to do it." I looked over at my mom and grinned at her before looking out the window again. The closer we got, the higher in elevation we went. We were ten minutes away from the Academy when the sun was setting and turning the sky red and purple. We both gasped in awe at the sight. The paved road we had turned onto when we exited the highway, had turned into gravel and was turning into a dirt road the closer we got. Minutes later we arrived at the gate that lead to the Academy. We began to wonder and worry about what to do since the gate was closed, but it swung open inwards. We looked at each other before she drove into a much denser forest that surrounded the Academy. She drove slower up to the Academy because of the winding road. The headlights lit up the road and trees. The dirt road turned into a paved road and it connected to the parking lot. There were different types of vehicles in different colors scattered across the parking lot. The Academy loomed ahead of us and we both stared in awe at the building. It was big enough to house 20 students and the windows were lit up giving off a certain homey warmth. I couldn't see much of the Academy but could see someone standing on the porch in the light given off by the porch light. We pulled up to an empty parking spot and parked. As soon as we had parked, the person on the porch came walking to us. We got out of the truck and waited for the person to meet us. It was an older woman, kinda tall and lanky. "Hello, welcome to the New Moon Academy. Which one of you is Adririan Ovett?" She had a smooth, velvety voice that drew you in. "Uh, I am. Sorry we're late. We came all the way from Beybrook. And I had to pack most of my stuff. I couldn't bring my furniture." She looked at me, grinned and chuckled. "It's okay. I understand. I'm Misty Lyons, I'll be one of your teachers and I'll also be your mentor while you're here. We have furniture in your room ready for you, so there was no need to bring your own. I hope you didn't run into any trouble along the way. Grab what you brought and follow me. I'll show you where your room is. Tomorrow you'll have a full tour of the Academy." I could feel the anxiety leave my body and I could feel myself becoming more at peace now that I had met my mentor, Misty Lyons. I grabbed my suitcases, my pillow and the letter my mom wrote before I closed the truck door and followed her up the steps. My mom came along with us just to make sure I would be okay. We walked up the steps onto the porch, and walked inside the Academy. The entryway was warm and inviting. There were chairs, tables, plants and a few students hanging out chatting. The chatting had gone quiet as we walked further in and everyone was staring at me. I began to feel nervous and anxious. I wonder if I'll make any friends or if it'll be like school again. One of the students came up to me and smiled. "Hey, welcome to the Academy. I'm Sabel Faney. I'm also a mentee of Misty. In fact, we all are. We were just waiting on you to show up so you could have a tour, but that'll have to wait till tomorrow. I'm from Castow and it took me at least ten hours to make it here, so don't feel bad. You're from Beybrook, right? I have family there that I visit. I actually visited them about a month ago." She laughs and waves before going back to the group of people. They start chatting again and wave at us as we pass by. I waved back smiling and feeling happy. Maybe it won't be like school. Maybe I'll have friends who like the same things I do. My mom smiled at me. We stopped in front of the stairs but further on was a darkened hallway. "Up these stairs are where all of the bedrooms are. Down this hallway, which you'll see tomorrow, is where all the classrooms are. Okay, let's go up these stairs and show you to you're room. Welcome again to the New Moon Academy." She lead us up the stairs to a door. She opened the door and there were rooms after rooms. "How many students can be in the Academy when school starts?" Misty looked at me before replying, "Anywhere from sixteen to twenty students. There are a few teachers that stay here but most of us go home after school ends for the day." We continued walking all the way down the hallway to a door that was last on the left hand side. Misty pulled out a key, unlocked the door and handed me the key. "This is where you'll be sleeping. There's a pull out couch for your mom to stay the night so she doesn't have to drive back tonight. Go ahead and get settled in. Tomorrow is a big day. I'll also bring you two dinner." She smiled and waved before walking back the way we came from. "Ready to see inside the room, mom? I'm excited." My mom nodded while trying to stifle a yawn. I grinned and opened the door. My breath had gotten stuck in my throat as I looked at the room. There was a desk with a laptop on it, there was a beautiful dark green couch, a giant closet for my clothes, a bedside table, a dark coffee table and a queen size bed with forest green bed sheets. "Damn! That's a really nice room. Holy hell Adririan. The rug is green too. The floors are hardwood. Come in and put your stuff up." I started breathing again looked at my mom before I came in the room and closed the door. I put all my stuff on the bed and began to put things up where I wanted them to go. Halfway through unpacking my things, Misty knocked on the door. My mom got up and opened the door and took the food and put it on the coffee table. She thanked Misty for the food and closed the door. "Adririan, it smells amazing. I wonder what's under the lids," she pulled the lid off of one of them," Oh my god! It's hamburgers and fries. Look they even have mayo." I looked over at my mom who had a big grin on her face. I grinned at her before deciding to eat with my mom. I grabbed the other one and took off the lid. A hamburger and fries with ketchup and mayo. How.. how did she know that's what we wanted to eat tonight? My mom and I had discussed about going to dinner in town in Zundumunz to get burgers and fries. I sat down and we began to eat. My mom began making noises at how good it was and my mouth began watering even more. After we finished eating, we noticed that we were almost stuffed. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. I got up to open the door and saw Misty with two plates. I looked confused because Misty laughed before saying," It's dessert. After you're done eating it just put all the plates outside your room and I'll come back to get them. Have a good night you two." I grabbed the plates before I closed the door. I turned to look at my mom and raised the plates up a bit. "Dessert?" We laughed and I set them down on the coffee table. I lifted the lids off of the plates and saw a plate of tiramisu and a plate of bread pudding. Misty had brought my mom the tiramisu and brought me the bread pudding. I sat down and we ate our desserts in silence and blissfully. After we got done eating, we cleaned up and put the plates and lids outside the door. I looked over at my mom as I began to put the rest of my things up. She was dozing off. "Mom, go ahead and go to bed. If you need a blanket you can get the top one off and use it tonight." She opened her eyes and grabbed the blanket and went to bed. I finished unpacking my things and sat down on the bed and had a few minutes to myself. The peace and quiet were exactly what I needed right then. I sighed and got up to look out of the window up at the night sky. The moon was bright, big and beautiful. The stars looked like diamonds that had been scattered across a black fabric. I couldn't believe just how beautiful it looked. It was late but I was wired with excitement for tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day I would have a tour of the Academy and meet some of my classmates. I grinned but headed towards my door and locked it. I turned off the lights and laid down in the bed. I could hear my mom gently snoring and I smiled a smile that was genuinely full of happiness and joy. I turned over onto my side and tried to fall asleep. It took me a while but I fell asleep. The dream started off normal, my classmates and I were having fun and laughing before the vehicles began exploding. Black smoke filled the sky and the flames roared to life devouring what they could. We had all dropped to the ground in fear and looked around. A dark figure came from where the explosion happened. "This school is full of the devil and devil worshippers! It must be destroyed along with all of you! No one will leave here alive!" The dark figure pulled out an automatic gun and fired at students. I sat straight up in bed, looking around. It slowly sank in that it was just a dream and it was morning.