Person Behind the mirror

I. St. George's Academy

It was in the winter of 1878, and it was around six in the evening, on a rather cold day in London. I fixed my ruffles and tightened my scarf around my neck. It was a party held by a noble seminary known as St. George Academy. The party venue was a massive hall situated on the bottom floor of an even bigger castle. The castle was so tall that I believed it might as well reach the clouds. However, even with all of this, I must confess, it was quite a boring party. I yawned slightly, only to be lightly slapped on my back by my elder brother, signaling me to stop yawning for it was improper.

"Stop it, Charles," my elder brother, Oliver whispered, "You're embarrassing us."

I frowned and strode away from him. Me and Oliver are here as our parents' representative, originally we were supposed to come along with our parents but they were too busy too spare even six hours for a party. I heavily dislike crowded places, especially those squirming with self-obsessed, narcissistic aristocrats, such as this party. The children present in the party venue were all goody-two shoes, who clutched onto their parents, all the time. But good for me, my dear friends, Florence Williams from Manchester and Julian Campbell from Yorkshire had both been invited to the party. I looked around the hall and noticed their parents talking to each other. I went forward and asked them where Florence and Julian are. "I'm sorry, dear. They're not with me now. I suppose, they are in the back garden." replied Mrs. Williams.

I curtsied and scurried to the back staircase. It was beautifully painted in gold, truly a spectacular sight. However, I didn't have time to sit back and appreciate the beauty of the staircase, for I had to find my friends. Down the staircase, I went, and out the back door.

There I saw a young girl, sitting on a bench. She was about the same age as me, slightly older than thirteen, and had shoulder-length golden hair. Her face was adorned by her beautiful blue eyes and a pale complexion, as a result to her repeated illnesses. She was wearing an ankle-length blue gown, which she obviously had problem moving in. Her legs were covered with light blue satin stockings, and on her feet she wore black stilettoes. It was Florence.

On her opposite sat Julian, who was reading a book written by Guy De Maupassant. On his left hand, he held a cup of warm tea, and on the other, a book. He was of the same age as Florence. He had somewhat-short black hair that was too long to be called short and too short to be called long. He donned a fair complexion, olive green eyes and a constant smirk on his face, as if he was planning an evil strategy to bring down the world. He wore a white shirt, over which he wore a brown coat which was remarkably beautiful and for shoes he had brown boots with black laces.

On the bench where Florence was sitting, sat another girl, a bit younger than us, nine or ten years old at the most or perhaps eleven. She bore a timid expression on her face, and was quite well-dressed just not as much her companions. She had long brown hair that reached her waist, and possessed a tanned complexion, her eyes were grey. She was wearing a rather old brown tunic, underneath which she wore a pale grey shirt and seemed quite fascinated by the vintage and rather expensive white gloves that she was wearing.

"Hello there Florence!" I said, walking towards her bench, "And hello to her companion."

Florence smiled at the young girl sitting beside her, urging her to introduce herself.

The young girl stuttered, "I...um...I'm Laura Allen. Pleas-su-sure to meet you."

But the girl didn't look like she could continue anymore, for some reason; her entire face was redder than the reddest of tomatoes.

Florence sighed and continued on the young Laura's behalf, "This is Laura, she is an orphan. My parents found her at an orphanage and decided to bring her home to keep me company. She often helps the maids with chores around the house, even when she is not asked to do so. She loves being busy all the time, so she just ends up doing a lot of work around the mansion."