The Dursley's adopted son

Chapter 13

In case you didn't read the last author's note, Smeltings is not a boarding school in this book. Ok you may continue reading.

I hated being the new kid. Though I was used to it, being the new kid still sucked. You had to introduce yourself, you had to sit alone and you have no idea what the schools dynamic is. Who is the school bully? Who is the most popular person? Who shouldn't you associate yourself with? When your the new kid, you never know. You have to deal with all the stares, all the crowds and all the courses without anyone to help you. It didn't help that Smeltings had the worst uniform ever.

I usually never talk to anyone on my first day at school, I just sit back and observe how people act around each other. This gives me a good umbrella of understanding about the social pyramid of a new school. From the moment I entered Smeltings' fancy double doors in my new orange knickerbockers, however, I could tell something was different.

Naturally, I had to show up late, so all the students were already in class. The halls were frighteningly clean, with gray, polished floors so spotless they reflected my nervous face. There was plenty of natural lighting, which came from the many windows and the huge, domed sunroof.

As I glanced at my surroundings, I saw a sign pointing towards the left. The sign read 'office'. I turned towards the left, and immediately saw the office, if it could be called that. After walking through double doors, a stopped to take it in. The floors in the office were carpeted, with a short beige carpet. Books shelves lined the back wall, from floor to ceiling. Even though I didn't personally enjoy reading, it was impressive. In front of the book selves, there was a row of desks, each with its own personality. One was freakishly neat, while the one next to it was un unbelievable mess. At the end of the row, there was a desk with nearly 12 potted plants on it. At least three of the desks were completely empty.

My favorite desk, however, was organized in such a way that I was sure only the person who owned the desk knew what was going on. It also had a seemingly vacant fish tank, with only pebbles on the bottom, and a mini-castle. Something about the tank seemed off, so I approached the desk, and peered into the fishtank. As my eyes skimmed over the water, there was a flurry of movement, an explosion of colour and hundreds of tiny unintelligible voices burst into my head. As the movement slowed down, I got a good look at the creature. Well, creatures. I had never seen fish like them before, but my gut told me they were Rainbow Neon Tetra. Most of them were blue and orange, though there were some oddballs, with yellow, red and purple colouring.

The voices had calmed down enough for me to understand, but it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before. All the fish were basically just screaming 'Lord Perseus'. I had long stopped wondering why they referred to me like that, and I had learned the hard way that asking them did not help. I remember the time I told Olivia I could speak to fish, she freaked out. I had always thought it was normal, but apparently I was wrong.

I smiled at the fish and greeted them, as it was the polite thing to do, but just as I was finishing saying hello, I heard the double doors open. The Neon Tetra zoomed back into the castle, leaving me awkwardly standing by the desk. I turned around, and saw a sharply dressed woman. She had a kind face, but strict eyes. When she saw me, she smiled. The smile looked genuine yet unfamiliar on her face. I smiled back at her, but I'm pretty sure it looked more like a grimace. She moved behind her desk, which happened to be the one I was stand at, and introduced herself,

"Hello, I am June Englegrass," Her voice was stern, with an underlying tone of happiness. At least one of us was happy to be here. She continued,

"but you may call me Miss Englegrass. I am the vice principal here at Smeltings. I deal with the students, while Mr. Xavier, our principal, deals with the administration of the school. You will never see him unless you are being very severely punished. You must be Perseus Jackson, our new student." I nodded while trying to process all the information,