a new home (a rini au)

10 - the grand tour

'Headmistress Greene' the door on the right says, carved out in gold; they're standing in the office, a receptionist busy on the phone. 'Vice Principal Carlton' the other door reads, a few minutes later the receptionist gets off the phone. "Hello how many I help you?"

"Hi I'm Marcus Roberts, this is my daughter Nini"

"Nina Salazar-Roberts?" She flips through her book.

"Yes ma'am" Nini says. The receptionist nods. "Headmistress Greene is in a meeting for the next fifteen minutes, Vice Principal Carlton will see you until then"

"Thanks" mark says quickly as they walk away, making their way to the Vice principal's room. Mark knocks on the door, opening it just a crack. "Ahh Marcus good to see you, please come in." An older voice says. Nini observes him, a polite smile on her face. He's probably around sixty, maybe slightly younger, he's wearing a suit that she can tell has been neatly pressed, he has very little hair on his head and he's not particularly tall.

"You must be Nina"

"Yes sir"

"Please do sit, both of you". The chairs are heavy, smooth wood and rough fabric. His office is carpeted, mostly following the color scheme of brown, and occasional gold. There's a fireplace that's been lit, old pictures of school events and graduations hung pridefully on the walls in a line. He makes small talk with Mark, the usual routine, tells him about the teams he'll be coaching vaguely. Mark gets a phone call and leaves the room.

"So, miss Salazar-Roberts" he turns to Nini now, hands together on his desk. "Oak ridge hall is a prestigious institution and has one of the highest academic standards in the United States, now I understand you may have been top of your class at your old school and your GPA is indefinitely very high, however it is completely possible that you may not find yourself excelling at Oakridge. The classes are more competitive, the stakes are higher, since you are joining in the middle of the term, it is crucial that you do your best to catch up with your classes. Do you understand?" He looks at her, as though he is trying to recognize whether he has fazed her.

She however, does not waver in her confidence. "Understood sir" she nods. "That aside, I must say your record is rather impressive" he looks down at her files "Pinecrest Preparatory is a fine school" he refers to her previous high school.

"Thank you, it is."

They continue for a few minutes, Mark coming back in. After that they make their way to the headmistress's office, it's almost eight twenty by now. "Hello!" She greets them, it feels a lot warmer in her office. She's shuffling around the room, hair in box braids tied into a bun. She has a very kind smile, she's dressed smartly, and quite tall, even more so with the heels she has on. Her office looks slightly more modern, even though it follows the same layout. They sit down at her desk, Nini looks delicately over a picture of a little girl in the small frame on her table.

"Mark it's such a pleasure to have you working here, we're very grateful for the opportunity"

"The pleasure's all mine Michelle, really" he says genuinely, knowing it's a bit crazy to work around his schedule, yet the school adjusted.

"And Nini, it's a pleasure to have you here too, my, your old teachers having been beaming about you. And of course, the school counselor wanted you to know that she's always there if you require her. No need to worry about any medical requirements, it's been authorized by the school board."

"I really appreciate it"

"Also you have been assigned a teacher, just to check in with for the following two weeks, Miss Jennifer, our current drama teacher."