Saint Palisade's

[ 1 ]

>> 10 months until graduation

TWO boys clad in khaki trousers and sports jackets pushed through the crowd that blocked the train car's doors. The station was bleak, trash strewn about and unhoused people setting up camp towards the wings. One pulled his backpack closer, unfamiliar with the atmosphere. He followed the blond, hoping and praying that the first day of school wouldn't be as disastrous as he'd anticipated. 

The escalator spat them out on a quiet street. The only person in sight was the grandpa who ran the deli sitting outside his shop, cutting an apple with a knife and nothing else. Moss-covered bricks and cracked sidewalks were the only remarkable thing about the area. It was picturesque, but not in an Instagram way, more as something you would find in a remarkable photographer's landscape book. 

They walked. And walked. Past the sleepy city-suburb-downtown-mix, past the café the Silva's owned, to their school, which happened to be an estate converted into a school by a very bored rich man. 

That's usually how most things come about, right?

"Look Atlas, all I'm saying is that you should branch out. Get out of the café a bit, y'know?" Ben pulled his backpack closer again as they walked towards the gates.

"You know I have to be there as much as I can," Atlas answered calmly, "but I'm excited for you to finally go to the same school as me."

They began to walk up a steep hill that led to a gate, which was the only thing separating the mysterious St. Palisade's from the rest of the world.

"I'm nervous, though. I haven't been to a private school before. Is it really like the movies, Atlas? Does someone always come into class from a helicopter? Do they always have really nice classrooms and spiral staircases? Is it like a castle in there?" Ben rambled, hoping that he didn't sound as stupid as he felt.

Atlas laughed a little. "I wish it was like the movies sometimes."

They passed through the ivy-covered iron gates along with a few other schoolmates in groups of twos and threes.

The estate was as grand as ever. A drone shot wouldn't be able to encompass the vastness of the campus. It seemed a bit much for a high school. Ben could already see a garden preceding the main entry, the path made of cobblestone and flanked by seasonal flowers. The custodians must have a hoot when they diabolically plan flowers during allergy season. 

"Do you guys have a haunted basement?!" Ben asked excitedly, following a smiling Atlas into the building.

"That's where we keep the pedo priest." Atlas winked playfully as he swiped his student I.D. and walked into the main office, making sure that Ben was behind him and not drowning in the sea of Louis Vuitton backpacks and ugly Gucci sneakers. "We have to check that I'm still your shadow for today. Come on."

Ben followed him but made sure to take all of the sights in. He smiled as he walked into the floor-to-ceiling bulletproof glass front office. "Hi, good morning, my name is Benjamin Kligg and I'm a new student. I wanted to check that my first-day partner is still the same and that I'm not missing any paperwork." He looked at the secretary with a polite neutral face while she typed things into her computer.

"You're all set in terms of paperwork, Mr. Kligg. As for your tour guide, Mr. Lattner will have to stay back to speak to the bursar. You will be paired with Isaiah. He's over there." The secretary gestured toward a boy in the corner, sitting with his eyes closed, listening to music from his black Beats headphones.

"Mr. White!"

His eyes snapped open and he immediately got to his feet. "Sorry. Commute's killer."

The secretary rolled her eyes. "Mr. Lattner? You may sit here and wait."