Amy Flemming | Moves to Hemmingway Boarding School

Twenty

It is Monday morning and we are all standing on the court yard, waiting for the teachers and the other people that came to volunteer to come along with us. "Make pairs of two." Mr. Rutherford says as he arrives. Valerie and I get together.  Our other classmates arrive and Mr. Rutherford starts to count the students as Mrs. Wilson checks our names off her list to see if we are all there. "Looks like everybody is here so let's go." 

After half an hour of driving, Mr. Rutherford stands up. He turns on the microphone to talk. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." Elijah groans. "We have a full week of no school and we still have to hear his good morning speeches." Mrs. Wilson gives him a light frown to tell him to be quiet. "We will be driving to the place where we will be staying. It is an hour away from here. 

Elijah and Mason were the ones that brought a whole lot of candy. "I feel sick." Valerie says as she pops a few more mini Snickers into her mouth. "No seriously. You almost ate that whole bag." Mrs. Wilson begins to keep everyone quiet when a song comes on the radio that everybody seems to know from the top of their heads. I feel a little bad for the bus driver.  

* * * 

"Fresh air!" Chester yells out when we have stepped out of the bus. I agree with him since the bus ride was long. He takes my hand and smiles. "We have arrived in the gorgeous grounds of Louilane." (A.N: made up town which is located an hour away from Meadowwick)

"The place where we will be staying is almost an hour away from here." Mrs. Wilson says as she looks on the map she is holding. "Unfortunantely, the bus is not able to ride us to our location so we will set this trip further with walking." Mr. Rutherford tells us. Ethan looks at the brochure and it tells him that the place is in the middle of the woods."Do we really have to walk through the woods that are all muddy and wet?" Heather asks him looking down at her clean wedges. "Yes, you do." He says and we get our luggage out of the trunk. The bus driver wishes us a safe trip and then drives off. "May I guide?" Mason asks him enthusiastically. Mr. Rutherford hesitates a bit but lets him. "You young kids need to learn that these days instead of using google maps on your mobile phones so yes you may." Heather does not trust him to guide us. "Have a little faith in your housemate. Heather. It has never done somebody harm." Mrs. Wilson tells her.

It is a little cold since it is windy and it is raining a bit. "Are we almost there? My feet are hurting a bit." Valerie asks the volunteers who are walking beside us. "I do not know to be honest. I always thought it was the other way." The girl says. 

Chester takes my hand as he walks behind us with Ethan on his side. I look back and smile at him. "This is not how I remember the way to the location, Fredrick." Mrs. Wilson mentions as the man turns right. "I don't understand this anymore." Mason says frustrated.  "That is because you are holding the map upside down!" Elijah says as he checks the map that he is holding. "Mason, hand that map over." Mr. Rutherford tells him clearly irritated. "Who lets a student guide the way anyway? We could have been there already!" Heather frowns. "Have a little faith. It has never done somebody harm. It harmed my feat." She mutters .

"Straight forward." Mr. Rutherford says as he guides the way this time . I hope we are walking the right way since my feet are hurting as well. "Come on. Almost there." Valerie frowns. "They said that same thing an hour ago." Heather frowns as she closes the buttons of her coat since it is getting colder. 

We see to big gates coming to our view. A beautiful pretty big mansion comes to our views. Light brown brick walls and big black balconies in front of large windows with silky curtains draped in front of them. A big fountain is standing in the middle of the court with clear water sprinkling out of the sprinklers of the fountain. 

Yeah, that was not quite what it looked like.

It is a mansion but has pretty dark bricked walls that surround the mansion. A fountain was not there but big flower hold very pretty colorful Dahlia's. The flowers make the whole abandoned place a lot more colourful and makes it look like somebody actually owns this place and lives here. 

 "Here we are class." Mr. Rutherford says. "Remember, you have rules at home and you are required to follow them here as well. "We will stay here a week so make it a good one. This house is owned by people who rent it for these kind of camps so take care of it like you do with Hemmingway Boarding School." Mrs. Wilson takes out the keys of the house and opens up the doors. It does have a very pretty interior. It is so different than our own house but it still looks nice. The interior has an older vibe. 

"Okay, you have an hour to pick rooms and pack out your stuff." Mrs. Wilson claps in her hands and with that we get upstairs. Things like:

"Move your things."

"Hey! We wanted that room!"

"Can I sleep by the window?" 

Are heard while we choose the rooms. We eventually got the last option but it is a pretty room. Valerie opens the closet and we put our things inside of it. "You brought so much clothing." I say as Valerie opens her bags. "You can never be more prepared." She has a point there. 

Flashback to the previous night: 

Chester walks in my room. Valerie is in the shower as I am packing the last few things for our trip. "Hey." He says after kissing my cheek. "Do you have everything with you?" He asks me. "I think so." I answer him. "Mosquito cream?" I shake my head. "Do you think that is necessary?" He shrugs his shoulders not knowing the answer to what I asked. "Sun cream?" He asks very seriously. "It not summer anymore. Chester." I tell him and he nods. "Have you got those -" I interrupt him. "Chester, are you okay?" Chester chuckles. "Are you a little nervous?" His hand goes through his hair. "I guess so."  I smile and give him a kiss. 

End of flashback

I smile and finish unpacking my stuff. "The hour is over. Meet up downstairs." Mrs. Wilson announces from down the stairs.

"Let's eat and then discuss the plans for this day." Mr. Rutherford says as the voulenteers arrive downstairs with us.