Getting Out of the Car ((Open to all))

“We’re here.” The deep voice that had remained silent for the whole ride to the school finally spoke up and woke Ara from her empty gaze. She glanced at her watch to see how long it had taken. According to Italy’s time, it had taken at least half a day. Of course, she had no clue where exactly they were as the location was undisclosed and the staff member was still being incredibly secretive about the place. All she knew was that she was a long way from home….or her previous home, rather. Truth be told, she could hardly think of the base in Italy as home; they had only settled in for a few months before the letter came up.

At that point, the sheet of paper was a tad crumpled as it had stayed in Ara’s hand the whole time. It had gone through her moments of stress and her moments of relaxation, and in the end came out with little creases across the words. She had read and re-read the letter as she tried to grasp the idea that she could finally be sedentary. She no longer had to drag a tutor along and she could still study music. The staff member had permitted her to bring her violin with her on the condition that she leave all the other instruments at home; she had chosen the violin based on the fact that it was the easiest to carry around and the most temperamental.

In her bag were enough clothes to last between wash days. She had no clue what the schedule was like at the school, but as there were no uniform, she knew that she would have to pack extras just in case. Then there were all the other supplies she felt were necessary that the school would find as extraneous. In other words, Ara packed like it was going to be another move.

But looking at the building that was looming over her, she knew that this was not just another move. There was something odd about the school and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. But education was education and it hardly looked like a Swiss boarding school, so Ara was up to it. Only the uneasy feeling of not knowing what was going to happen kept gnawing at her. Holding on to her bag as tightly as possible and clutching the violin case, she walked into what must be the front office. Nothing else could have appeared so official and friendly at the same time. She looked around to see if the staff member could help her out a little, but he had already disappeared.

“Hello?” Ara called out in a shaky voice. It was like a horror film in the making. All Ara needed was a little more terror and she would be in the right place. What was this school? Why was she there? As doubts began to gnaw at her, she stood still in the middle of the room, hoping that someone would come by and help her out. Was it really supposed to be this empty? Was there some magical form of entrance that she needed to make? Because all she knew about the school was that it was for the performing arts and that was the reason why she accepted the space.

Man, what a boring day today was turning out to be. Lucien had managed to get himself in trouble, as always. Well, he couldn't help it that a teacher and some douche in his class had annoyed him, could he? No, he couldn't. So he'd only gone and done what any other sane and smart person would have done, and got himself some sweet revenge. Of course, his revenge had been a bit harsh... maybe he had gone too far.

You see, Lucien had had to put up with remarks from some kid in one of his classes, and the teacher always seemed to be on this kid's side. It didn't help that it was one of the classes Lucien found extremely boring: English. He'd lived his whole life speaking, reading and writing it. He didn't really need to learn it, did he? Anyways, this kid had gone too far, calling Lucien a freak. If only he'd known how right he was. And this teacher wasn't exactly very nice with Lucien, either. He didn't seem to understand that as an Immortal, Lucien had all the time in the world to learn English. Literally. He'd been on Lucien's back about homework everyday, and it seemed the human male had a thing against Lucien, just because of what he was. He'd called Lucien a freak too, while he'd stayed behind after class to get grilled by the teacher.

Now, Lucien wasn't a snitch. If he had a problem, he'd sort it out himself. How did he do that? Well, he'd managed to sneak into the teacher's room and steal a pair of his (used) boxers. Used was better than clean for this revenge.

He'd took the boxers and snuck into his classmate's room, dumping the boxers on the floor and telling one of the senior staff members he suspected said teacher of paedophilia. Of course, they'd searched all the rooms and found the boxers. The teacher had been sacked, and the kid took to counselling, to get over the 'tragedy and abuse' that he had not, in fact, suffered. Of course, in the end Lucien had been found out. But because of the reputation from the rumours, the teacher hadn't been given his job back, and Lucien, been what he was, didn't get expelled. If he did, he could have caused worldwide trouble, so it was safer for them to keep him at the school. So he'd been dumped on reception duty for a month. A month! And most days, no one even came in.

So Lucien had started bringing his guitar with him. Music was his best subject here, and really the only one he was interested in. The guitar wasn't exactly his, but he'd had it with him since his first music lesson here. He had an acoustic one and an electric one, and today he had brought the electric one with him. He'd attempted to learn 'Sweet Child o' Mine' by Guns 'n' Roses before he got bored. He really like the song, and while he might have a natural talent with guitars, it was still a hard song to get right. So he'd got up and gone to the loo, which he'd been needing for a while but had held it in.

As het let out the sweet relief of his bladder, Lucien spread his wings. It felt good to have them out for a bit, though it was unconfortable bringing them out of his back. Unfortunately, he had to put them back in before he left the loo, which was just as uncomfortable. He couldn't exactly walk around the school with them out, not with all the humans around, could he? With Lucien not been the thickest of people, he'd began putting slits in the back of his t-shirts, so he could let his wings out without ripping every t-shirt to shreds. Otherwise, he'd be losing a t-shirt a day, nearly. Why was this? Well, when everyone was asleep, Lucien took the oppurtunity to jump out of his dorm window and fly around for half an hour or so before going to sleep. He was getting better day by day, and soon, flying would be second nature to him. It helped that he was Immortal and no longer scared of heights.

Leaving the toilets, Lucien went back to the reception room and noticed someone in there. Having a sixth sense like all other supernatural entities here, Lucien could tell she was human. He was able to tell non-humans apart from others. Well, non-human wasn't exactly right... anyone with a supernatural ability stoof out to him, while regular humans seemed to just feel... stiff and boring to him. It was hard to explain, really. It was like when you got a feeling in your stomach that something wasn't right, though this was a feeling in his head, saying that someone wasn't a regular human.

The human lass had long, darkish hair, green eyes, and light seemed to reflect off her lips a little, giving away the fact that she used either lip gloss, lip balm or moisturised them. Lucien had to admit, she wasn't bad looking, but at the moment, he had his eyes on the redheads he'd bumped into on his first day here. Lucien did seem to have a thing for redheads, and as neither were exactly normal, he found the two really interesting too, which seemed to grab his attention even more than their hair colour.

"Hi there." Lucien said, managing to sound bored. It wasn't really difficult, seeing as he was. He'd only been stuck on reception duty for a week so far, and already he was almost falling asleep. And he was falling behind in his music class too! "Welcome to Masquerade. I'm Lucien, I'll be the one to show you round today. Before we go anywhere, could I ask about your eating preferences? Are you a vegetarian or a vegan?"

The speech sounded rehearsed as well as bored, which it was. Unlike Ari, the useless lass that had showed him around on his first day (who also happened to be a non-human), he read the file of who was coming in, day by day. The lass here was called Anaeira, an unusual name. Then again, Lucien wasn't exactly a normal name either... He wondered what she'd be like. He couldn't judge her because she was human, because he had been himself, before he'd been killed and found out he was an Immortal.

“Hi there.” A male voice, monotonous at that, brought Ara’s attention to a teen boy who was walking towards her. Was he supposed to help introduce her to the school? Or was he just another student who was walking along the halls and noticed that she was just standing there. He didn’t look very official with the guitar case with him, but it was a school for the performing arts; what else was she supposed to suspect? Once he began his welcome message, it was clear that he was not only supposed to help her, he had to help her. Ara had studied enough languages to know that the bored tone was universal. Even the words sounded practiced and overused.

“Neither,” she responded to the eating preferences question. She had been raised to eat protein from animal products and that soy and all that other “junk” would do nothing for her. “But if those are the only two dining options, I’ll gladly take vegetarian.” Ara didn’t want to sound particularly rude and figured it would just be best to “go with the flow”. If there was something she didn’t like or understand, she could just suck it up. After all, it was an education.

“Ehm, I’m just curious but…what is this school? I mean, I understand that performing arts are the main focus here, but…other than that, there wasn’t much information based off of the letter and what was said.” As Ara looked down at her clenched fist, she realized that she had been gripping the letter tightly as she mentioned it. Was she really that confused that she would involuntarily hold on to the letter tighter than she needed to? She looked up at the boy who was supposed to help her out.

For some reason, the school was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. First, the imposing building sent chills down Ara’s backside, chills that did not cease as she walked inside. Then the only person she had met who was affiliated with the school besides the staff member was a teenage boy who looked like he was being punished greeting people. Not to mention that there was something extremely odd about the boy. Ara was never much of a people person, but she did pay attention to details and details such as the fact that the boy’s irises were most peculiar struck her.

Of course, eye colour should not have been a factor that caused her to doubt her surroundings, but it was definitely stirring more questions in her mind, questions that she could easily do without. Was starting a new school always supposed to be this confusing and so…nerve-wracking? Ara never really had the opportunity to start a new school on her own will; she had always relied on her tutor before. To make matters worse, it almost felt like there was no turning back at that point, that she was going to have to stay. Well, might as well make do with what I have.

“I’m Ara,” she offered a hand to the boy, wondering if he was amicable enough to handle a handshake. She wasn’t sure if he knew what her name was (most people never bothered), and even if he did, she wanted to establish the fact that she wanted to be called Ara, not Anaeira. Her blasted mother had no idea what she was doing when she gave her that name, and that was Ara’s way of making up for it. It was the only good thing about starting new; she could be Ara to the world and the world wouldn’t care.

"The only two dining options? God, no, they're not!" Lucien said, a bit of emotion finally making it's way into his voice. In this case, the emotion was horror. "I mean, if they were, a lot of the people who are here wouldn't be. I don't think I could live without bacon... It's just a question we have to ask people when they arrive. Some have... unusual food preferrences. We have people here from all over the world, no matter what they eat. Well, unless they're cannibals.... Talent is talent at the end of the day, and if you're here, you must be very talented in whatever art you do. I'm a musician, myself, but we have actors, dancers, painters, the lot here."

Lucien listened as the girl asked about the school. He agreed that the letter didn't give them much information, though you quickly got used to the school. The only thing that bugged him was that it didn't say where they were. It could be anywhere in the world, for all he knew.

"Well, we're a school mostly focused on the aspect of the performing arts. You'll learn instruments, acting, different ways of painting, and even martial arts. But because at the end of the day, it's still a school, you also have your regular lessons, like maths, english and science. You'l quickly get used to the way tings are run here - it's quite an open minded school, and while it must teach conventional lessons too, the Arts take preference. Which, to be honest with you, is a damn good thing. This is my type of school - I couldn't stand doing regular lessons all day. At least here, you get the chance to enjoy yourself."

Lucien took the girl's hand and shook it warmly. Luckily for him, he wasn't a vampire, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to shake her hand without giving himself away due to the coldness of his skin. Though his skin tended to border on the other side of the temperature scale, a little warmer than usual, though not by too much.

"Nice to meet you, Ana. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here. It's not a bad school, actually. But... it's massive, so you might get lost." Reaching onto the desk in front of them both, Lucien rummaged through a pile of things until he found the maps. Grabbing one, Lucien handed it to Ana. "There's a map here that shows you where the important things are. In your free periods and on the weekends, you're free to explore the school, or leave the grounds to go to the cinema or the mall. You can go to the woods too, but after a certain distance in, it's out of bounds. Not to stop people running away, but because it's dangerous. There are animals there that will eat you, like in any other wood. I think I heard about a pack of rabid wolves or something on the others side of the fence bordering it off..."

The rabid wolves thing was, of course, pure rubbish. But it was dangerous, and there were animals that would eat you. It was bordered off from the regular humans, but any supernatural entity was able to go through. Sometimes, they had to, such as a werewolf on a full moon, or a hungry vampire that needed to go hunting. Lucien sometimes went to practice with his abilities over the elements and fly for a while.

"The eating area is open all day, so whenever you get hungry and you're not in class, you can go in to get something to eat. The gym is free to go to, and has state of the art equipment. We even have an Olympic sized swimming pool, as well as an area for the martial arts. You get to choose your dorm room and if you have a room mate, though once more people start arriving, you might get dumped with one. The school might be massive, but I don't think it's big enough for a few thousand people to have their own room."

And there the speech was done. Lucien hadn't stuck to what he'd been told to say totally, because he liked to add in his own thoughts on things, so people could make their own thoughts. Plus, some of the things here were cool. Lucien liked the swimming pool, and the food here was amazing. The woods was a standard warning, but non-humans, or humans with abilities, were given a different speech. This was just to let them know to keep on the down low about what they were and so they knew what was really on the other side of the border in the woods.

Lucien had also been trying to figure this girl out. He noticed the case she had on her, so he took that as a sign that she, too, was a musician. And that she preffered to be called Ana than her full name, which meant that maybe she wasn't too keen on it. Other than that, he couldn't really read her. Maybe Lucien was going to have to spend some time around regular people after all.

Ara couldn’t help smiling while she listened to Lucien correct his words. It was comforting to know that they didn’t just cater to those who didn’t enjoy animal products, but hearing the boy explain what he really meant was more interesting than the fact that the school was lenient with their students and their eating habits. And then, the next thing she knew, he had gone off onto about how talent tied into the whole situation. At least he’s more animated than his initial introduction.

Her ears perked up when Lucien mentioned instruments, the main reason why she had attended the school. Of course, it then quickly followed with other types of arts classes along with the standard maths, English, science, and the whatnot. So a performing arts school was just a regular old school…with a concentration on the arts. The boy didn’t seem to mind it; in fact, he sounded quite enthusiastic about the school. If only Ara was so sure that she would feel the same way. At least she knew one person who was passionate about music as well…or gave off that appearance.

Holding back a laugh, Ara shook Lucien’s hand with the same enthusiasm as he initiated. She wasn’t sure if it was because he had misheard her or he just assumed that because the first three letters of her name began with “A-n-a”, but hearing him not say her name was perhaps the funniest thing that could happen. She didn’t bother correcting him either, figuring that either one day he would find out that she preferred to be called “Ara” and not “Ana” or that she would become fed up with the constant “Ana”s that just did not fit. There was no point; it was a simple mistake that would eventually be corrected.

She reached for a piece of paper that was later introduced as a map. It looked rather complicated and Ara was sure that she would probably end up lost during her time at the school. Most of the buildings were marked, but then there was also the route to what must have been the local town. Ara tried to look for the boundary mark before realizing that it was just a bunch of dotted lines closing in on the main campus. That’s extremely forceful, Ara commented but she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to push things on her first day there.

Meanwhile, she was just letting the words flow into her head and counted on them to remain there until she needed to pick through her brain. However, when she could no longer hear the words, she looked up at Lucien, wondering what had made him pause like that. When he continued on as if nothing happened, Ara looked back at the map. How was she supposed to walk around without looking like an idiot with a map in her face? The place was expansive. The little tidbit about the out-of-class aspects of school also was much appreciated. Of course, Ara had no clue who she would room with now that she had the option to choose a roommate; she would worry about being placed with someone else when the time came. And the swimming pool was enticing as well. The family had always stayed in a place close to the water and while it was not natural water, it would still have to do. All those swimming lessons her father made her take would finally pay off.

Ara nodded her head as she realized that that was it. “Alright. So…what is the schedule at the school? Is there a specific time for certain classes? And more importantly, where am I supposed to go now?”

Lucien could tell that Ana was trying to hold back laughing. He wondered why, because he didn't think he'd said anything funny. His mind went back a minute, the conversation going through his head again. And that's when his mind caught up with his mouth, in a sense of speaking.

Oooohhh... He thought to himself, feeling a bit of a fool now. He didn't know how he'd got Ara mixed up with Ana, because they didn't really sound anything alike.

Lucien had also learnt a handshake could tell you a bit about a person. Whether it was loose, firm, too hard or sweaty, it told you little bits. Ara's handshake was firm and proper. This seemed to fit in with the military history she had. That had been in the file too. It also seemed that Ara had travelled a lot of the world with her father, something Lucien envied. He'd love to see the world. Lucky for him, he had forever to do it.

"Oh, the schedule!" Lucien said as Ara asked about it. "Hang on a sec, it's here somewhere."

Lucien rummaged through the pile of papers again, finally finding the elusive piece of paper. He took a quick glance at it, wondering if Ara was in any of his classes. Unfortunately he didn't get a good look at it as he handed it over. Ah well, he'd just find out in his classes if she was in them. And if he decided to turn up to them... the only lessons he'd never miss would be music, history (surprisingly) and PE or martial arts. He enjoyed those, but the others were boring. Still, he couldn't get into much more bother here. He didn't want to be stuck on reception duty forever. Which was, unfortunately, a possibility for him. Well, if he didn't decide to run away from the school, that is. But for now, it was ok here, so he'd stay for a couple of years and finish his education before going off and.. well, doing whatever he wanted.

"There ya go. Sorry about that, I must be still half asleep. You have no idea how boring reception duty is. All your classes and times to be there are on your schedule. As for now, where do you want to go? I'm meant to show you around, so it's your choice where we go."

((Sorry about the name mix up... it's all the A's XD There's Ari, Ama (Olivia on this site) and Ara, and I guess it was confusion and that's why I typed Ana XD))

When Ara felt the schedule in her hands, the first thing she did was read through the paper as quickly as possible. With the tutor, it was usually more of those “Well, this is the optimal time to learn this so we’ll do that now.” Strict time schedule was not something she was used to in terms of education. However, she had more than enough of her share of time schedules when her father actually put his mind to it. Even the “fun outings” ran on a schedule like clockwork. They were supposed to meet at this certain place exactly at noon. Then they would be allowed to roam another part of town until precisely 1415. At least the schedule for the school was much more AM/PM-friendly.

So all she really had to do was learn how to adapt to living and learning through a schedule. Not something she was used to it, but it was simple enough to learn. After picking up on the fact that her day was sectioned off into different times, Ara examined what courses she would be taking and when she would be taking them. Her day began with a regular course, mathematics. Maths was never her strong suit, but she supposed she wouldn’t have minded beginning the day with that. Anything was better than history. She was disheartened that there was no foreign language class on her schedule; she wondered if there even was one. Most schools that she went to for one day per week required at least one foreign language. She supposed she would just have to learn it on her own time and manner.

Then there were those more crafty classes that most people associated with art. Ara was never good at being creative with material objects, and drama was always out of the question. Acting was always difficult when she lived under her father’s rigid eye. The only way she managed to “express herself” was when she performed but that was with music, not words. And of course…there was music. She was enrolled in two separate classes on different days: music theory and violin practice. Of course, she would have preferred if she could have more lessons than just that and with other instruments but it was better than nothing. Plus Lucien mentioned something about free time. What better way of practicing than by one’s self?

Again, Lucien’s words were just flowing on their own with Ara half-mindedly paying attention to them. She was sure what he was saying was mildly important, but at that point, her priority was on understanding her schedule. It was a nifty thing, including times that she was expected to wake up and when the meals would be served and times when lights would be called out. At least there was some structure to the school.

“Where to go? Ah….perhaps the dormitories? It would be kind of nice to know where I will be sleeping and studying during the week.” Of course, Ara was lying through her teeth. While she was sure the dormitories was probably the first place she should visit, the first place she wanted to visit was the music rooms. She wanted to see what it would be like to practice in there. Were the rooms small? Did they create that echo effect? Or were they more expansive, allowing the music to flow to far corners of the room? Then of course, what instruments did they have to offer? While Ara had brought her own violin which she was probably expected to train in, she was excited at the prospect of being able to play other instruments at Masquerade. The only problem was…did they even offer instruments for practice? Or were the students expected to bring their own?

She looked up at Lucien and smiled, showing that she appreciated him for doing all of this…even if it was because he had been placed on “receptionist duty”.