Fire And Ice

“Noelle... Hello, I’m talking to you.” my stepfather sounded out annoyedly from the front of the driver’s seat.

“Yeah?” I muttered, crossing my arms across my chest.

“As I was saying,” he continued, rolling his hazel-colored eyes, “Don’t mess this up. We paid a lot of money for you to be here. Remember that you are a living representation of us. Only the most elite get into this boarding school, for heaven's sake, even royal children are sent to be schooled here. So be on your best behavior. Got it?”

Wow, thanks for the pep talk James.

“Yeah, I think I've got it,” I said with a tight-lipped smile as I got out of the car with my bags. I slammed the car door and he sped off. I turned around and saw a tall, neatly dressed woman walking toward me. Her powder blue dress complimented her straight brown hair as it bobbed against her rigid shoulders.

“Hello, you must be Miss Evans. I am Mrs. Middleton, the headmistress,” she said, holding her hand out. “Yes, ma’am. Nice to meet you” I said politely, taking her hand in a tight shake. She led me inside the ornate building to her office. “Please, take a seat. This won’t take long,” she said gesturing to the chair in front of her as I sat down in the soft, brown chair.

“Welcome to Walmsley Academy. I just wanted to let you know that you’ll be sharing your dorm with a Miss Hill," she said, looking through yellow files on her desk before adding, "I’ve already had your bags taken upstairs, to where you’ll be staying. Here’s the code of conduct and keys,” she said while sliding a thick, red book and a pair of silver keys toward me.

“Thank you,” I said, clutching them in my hands. I glanced at the key chain. Dorm 376. “Which floor is it on?” I asked. “The fourth. Study hard and don’t get into any trouble.” I walked out into the empty hallway. I plugged in my black earphones and started making my way towards the long staircase.

Suddenly I felt a tap on my shoulder and pulled out one of my earphones. “Hey. You seem lost, I’m Cooper.” A deep voice sounded out behind me and I turned around. “Hi, yeah I’m Noelle. Just got here.” I said. His crystal eyes glowed in the florescent lighting, as he said, “You need any help?”

“No, but thank you. Just getting to my dorm, but I’ll see you around?” I said while slowly walking away. I looked around and turned back at him. "Actually... Do you mind pointing me in some direction towards the fourth floor?" I asked. He chuckled, "Yeah, the stairs are right around that corner." He raised his hand and pointed to a faraway part of the hallway.

"Thanks, see you around, for real this time," I said with a slight grin. “Yeah sure, see you around,” he said and turned around.

The trip up those stairs was no joke. I kissed the flat, tiled ground of the fourth floor as I arrived. “Ew, what are you doing?” Someone said in front of me. “Well, you can clearly see what I’m doing, so why bother asking,” I remarked, getting up from the crouching position I was in.

I looked at the small figure in front of me. She had light brown skin adorned with freckles. Her curly hair was black, pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head.

“Oh, so you’re the newbie. The name’s Nayla. Come now, let me show you to our room,” she said and started walking along the corridor. I tripped as I was standing and stumbled after her.

"Here we go," she said as she opened the tall oak door. There was a small opening leading to three wooden doors. “So, this is my room, yours is next door. I organized the whole place so one less thing to worry about for you.”

She opened her black bedroom door and threw herself onto her wide bed. The wall on side of the room with her bed was littered with 5 Seconds of Summer posters and pictures of her family and friends.

“Just put your stuff in your room,” her voice muffled through her big pillow as she snuggled up against it. Her phone vibrated against her nightstand and she picked it up. She disappeared behind the bathroom door, chatter and laughter soon followed.

A soft knock sounded out in the empty room and I made my way to the door. Behind it was two tall lads one of whom, asked me, “Hi, is Nayla here?”

“Uh, yes she’s just taking a phone call in the bathroom,” I replied and pointed towards the bathroom door. “So rude of me to not introduce myself, I’m Sam. Anderson,” he said and raised his hand as if he wanted a handshake. I obliged, he flipped my hand and kissed it. “Nice to meet you. Noe.” I said back.

“My quiet friend here is Daniel,” Sam said and pointed to the tall figure behind him. He wore a black sweater and a pair of dark grey sweatpants. As my gaze returned to his face, my eyes met his. A crooked smirk came across his face.

His green eyes held mine for what felt like forever. All I could feel was the heat of his eyes. All I could hear was my shallow breaths leaving my body and my racing pulse.

The bathroom door creaked open and my head snapped towards it. “Ah, there’s my sarcasm-filled jellybean,” he kissed her softly and added, “How's my princess doing?” A gentle smile came across her face. This was the first smile I had seen from her and it made her face light up.

“I’m fine, babe. Let’s go get some lunch, I’m hungry,” Nayla said as she walked towards the door. She opened it, the boys walked through and she followed. She peeked her curly-haired head back and asked, “You coming?”