To Seek. To Learn. To Hide. *All Boys School Story*

Chapter 4

Hi it's lovely to meet you all, my name is Emily Grayson...

No that's stupid I may as well say: Hi it's nice to meet you, my name is Emily Grayson I am on the run. I have no teaching qualifications whatsoever but don't worry, I'm sure I am qualified enough to teach your sons who you have all spent an awful lot of money on to buy them the best possible education. Please all take a print out of my real personal details which I made earlier.

Okay this preparing in advance thing isn't working. Honestly does anyone even really listen to these things anyway? Maybe I should just wing it. Looking at my watch I see that is exactly what I'm going to have to do seeing as its 11.55 already and the boys and their families will start arriving any minute now. It will be fine, as long as I remember not to give away any actual personal details and remember my new name then I'll be grand.

I give the place another quick once over as I quickly make my way downstairs. The building was not the oldest boarding house on campus however it was still almost 200 years old, having been built in the early 1800s under the beneficiary of Lord Remsworth, a close friend of King George III. Somehow, probably due to the fact he was permanently deranged (from what I remember of history class) by 1815, Lord Remsworth had convinced the King to pay the majority of the cost to build the house while having his name go unmentioned anywhere in its dedication to the school. The prince regent at the time, who later went on to be King George IV, probably didn't bother arguing as it was a fairly small cost to a monarchy and kept his father somewhat occupied. Either way, because the house was mainly funded by a King the building was quite grand with a domineering yet elegant unusual ebony staircase leading throughout the floors from the entrance hall all the way up to my floor and original ebony window frames throughout. The style of this building was very typical of Georgian architecture other than the unusual staircase: the entrance hall was large with a beautiful fire place and the typically Georgian black and white tile effect marble floor; the windows were all an arched shape; Georgian ceiling features appeared in every room throughout the house; the common room had lost its marble floor in favour of a cream carpet but still retained its two wonderfully carved wooden fireplaces which are currently painted cream with the exception of the ebony accents. A lot of the furnishings were Georgian style as well with the exception of several pieces of furniture in the common room as it was designed to be a more comfortable and relaxed for the place, the boys' bedrooms and the kitchen which of course had all its up-to-date appliances, only the best for pupils of Ashwood College. The dining room for example consisted of entirely original Georgian furniture I had been told by some of the housekeeping staff yesterday as we had scrubbed it clean. That moment was definitely not the highlight of my night. At least we had done a good job as every surface gleamed in the midday sunlight provided by the big windows.

I hurry straight to the kitchen to grab some crisps and some bowls to lay out snacks for the families which I promptly leave on the tables around the entrance hall and dining room before rushing back to try and find some drinks. Thankfully I find the fridge fully stocked as well as the cupboards so I put some champagne on ice and lift out some sparkling grape juice for the boys and parents who may be driving. If only I could find the champagne glasses! The housekeeping staff has basically abandoned me last night and with no other staff working solely on my house I was left to my own devices to try and set things out and figure out where things are, I was going to look around last night but all the cleaning had left me exhausted so all thoughts of that had quickly left my mind. Ha! I grin triumphantly as I lift the glasses from about the tenth cupboard I had checked and place them all on a tray which I promptly carry and leave on the dining room table. Before I go back to the kitchen I prop open the front door to allow families to get in easily then quickly rush to start pouring the champagne and grape juice into glasses before the guests can start arriving, they aren't due until 12.30 and it's only 12.10 but one of the house staff happened to mention that most families arrived early so really I was expecting the first people to arrive any second.