Chapter Text
Ander Easton
August 21st - Move-In Day
I never wanted to go to boarding school.
Who would? When you hear about it in the movies, it sounds like an endless and lonely pit of despair, or a place where all the rich kids go. I wasn’t interested in either of those things.
Sadly, Rory, Farrow, and I didn’t really have a choice. We came from Alaska, the most brain drain state there is. The education system gets continually cut every year, based on the ever-falling prices of oil. And even though we’re in the only gifted program statewide, it really drops off a cliff in high school, leaving us with very few options other than boarding school. We’re very lucky to have gotten into the same school- often, gifted-program friend groups either get broken up by distance or by disagreement heading into high school.
And thank god we stayed together… I guess , I think as I walk to the entrance of the mess hall.
The mess hall is ridiculously huge, and it has to be, I suppose, to fit 500 freshmen. Its real name is “The Carolyn Barker Freshman Dining Hall”, but most students here just refer to it as “mess.” Like all buildings here, they’re unlocked via a thin magnetic disk given out by the school that sits in between your phone case and your phone. They’re about the size of a quarter, and codes for all of your information. That way, students can’t break into other dorms they don’t belong in. In fact, in order to enter another dorm, the student(s) within the dorm have to clear you first.
I press my clear phone case against the receptor on the door, and it swings open. Immediately, I am bombarded by the chatter of five hundred freshmen and the smells of various salads, pizzas, and other dinner choices from the buffet. I was almost expecting the food to be shit quality, but to my surprise, it looks (and smells) rather good.
I step inside, and look around the room. I can’t see Rory nor Farrow, but then again, everyone is clad in the same indigo shirts. To the left is the buffet, and I step in line.
Thankfully, it moves quickly, as most kids haven’t eaten food since the morning. As I reach the entrance, I grab a tray and place an assortment of caesar salad, chicken alfredo, and breadsticks on it. Italian , I think to myself. I’m not angry at it.
I refill my water bottle briefly before standing aimlessly in front of the vast sea of tables. Still no sign of either of them.
“Ander!”
I hear Rory’s voice, but I can’t see her.
“Ander, you dumb shit!”
I turn to my right and see Rory waving at me, sitting beside Elliot. Farrow sits opposite them, scrolling through their phone. Next to Farrow, however, are a boy and a girl I don’t know chatting away. I tilt my head, confused, but walk towards them anyways.
“Finally! Where were you?” Rory asks.
“Looking for you sons of bitches. Why didn’t you text me?”
“We thought you were already here.”
“Ugh.”
The boy and the girl finally notice me, and turn their heads. Rory notices:
“Oh! Sorry, Andie. Ander, this is my roommate Dorothea, and her friend Vaughn.” I look at Vaughn again, and finally it hits me. This was the guy Rory and I were making fun of earlier, when we got off the bus. Funny Rory likes him now, then.
“Oh. Hi! Nice to meet you two.”
I sit down beside Farrow, who barely acknowledges my presence, per usual. They barely even scooch over. Asshole. I look at them, and can see they put on dark eyeliner and eyeshadow since the last time I saw them. I also know that they know it’s very much against the dress code here. They’re probably hoping administrators won’t notice it during initiation.
“So, as we were saying,” Dorothea continues, “What do you think the chances are that we can annoy one of the counselors here into yelling at us?”
“Oh, for sure 100%. Have you met these bitches?” Vaughn responds.
“Um, no. Not everyone here got here on legacy,” Rory teases.
“Legacy?!” I exclaim. EWPS is one of the most popular private schools in the nation, and as such, is extremely stringy with non-merit applications. The probability that Vaughn got in on legacy and with a sports scholarship is infinitesimal.
“Shut up, Rosmarie. I’m not actually on legacy, it’s just my dad gives this school lots of money.” Vaughn glares at Rory.
“Sure, like that’s not the same thing.” Rory bites off a piece of chicken.
“It isn’t, actually. My dad was very clear with me about that when I got in.”
“Oh, and by the way, you can call me Rory. I don’t care.”
“Sure thing.”
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t feeling a little left out by the conversation, but I just let it keep happening. I look over at Farrow briefly, and see they’re on Instagram, scrolling through posts from what I assume are people from East Washington. When they notice I’m looking at them, they glare at me and hide their phone screen. I roll my eyes and focus back in on Rory and Vaughn.
“So, if you’re such a school genius, how does initiation work here?”
“Is there hazing?” Elliot jokes while they pop a piece of salad into their mouth. “Because I’m not coming if there isn’t hazing.”
“There’s no hazing, sadly. Basically it’s just the teachers introducing themselves, and then a brief campus tour.”
“I thought this was the campus?” Elliot asks, confused.
“Nope. There’s two more yards to look at, and countless more lecture halls,” Vaughn replies easily.
“You could’ve just stopped there,” Rory says. “No need to stress me out more.”
“Once you find your classes, it’s really not hard.”
“Easy for you to say, you’ve been here countless times,” Dorothea says.
Vaughn and Dorothea go back and forth a little longer. I don’t care to pay attention. Vaughn seems like the idiot, sporty type, and Dorothea just seems like another one of the popular girls I tried so hard to avoid in middle school. Though, as they chat, I notice Rory spending a bit too much time looking at Dorothea. And it isn’t like she zoned out, either. I tilt my head at Rory, and glare at her. Knock it off , I try to say. Rory glares at me back, and turns to Elliot. I shake my head. Rory and Elliot have been dating for a while now, but Rory’s polyamorous. Almost all of us are queer anyways (obviously excepting me), so nobody cares. But really, couldn’t Rory wait a bit longer before falling for someone?
I finish my food quickly. Didn’t really talk to anyone. God, Rory’s been the social type since forever, but sometimes I feel like she can’t even find time for me. No , I tell myself in my head though, she’s just caught up in this new school stuff. You are too. I shake my head.
“I’m gonna go. Get ready for initiation and everything.” I stand up.
“Already? Andie, you’ve barely been here for fifteen minutes!” Rory responds.
I’m usually fine with it, but something about the way she calls me “Andie” gets on my nerves. I glare at her.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” I shrug.
I grab my tray and leave the table. Farrow glances up at me as I go, and then looks back at their phone. They’ve barely touched their food- I should talk to them about that. Rory seems confused, but everyone else doesn’t seem to pay attention.
I drop my tray off at the front and step outside into the sunset. If we weren’t in the middle of a forest, I’m sure it’d be beautiful. However, given that there are pine trees everywhere, I can’t see anything- only the slowly darkening sky above me. I make my way from the mess (just beyond Main Yard on the opposite side of the gates we entered - in the Humanities Yard) to Hyacinth. I press my phone to the sensor, and let the door open up.
From what I’ve heard, all the dorms seem to look the same. Same lobby in the center, 100s hall on either side. The other halls are named by floor. I run up the flight of stairs - four stories - to the 400s hall. I turn left and make my way to room 402. I take a deep breath and press my phone again to the sensor.
Immediately, I open onto the common room, where I see my roommate Nathan Sheffield hard-core making out with a girl on the couch. I flinch. Why did I have to be paired up with him? Well, I guess it’s not like my other suitemates Martin or Xander are any better. I’m surprised they haven’t seen me yet. I knock on the open door. They separate and Nathan looks at me.
“Ander! Shit, sorry about that.”
“Do you have to do that in the common room?” I ask, disgusted.
Nathan ignores me and turns to the girl. “Sorry, Vanessa, you’re gonna have to go.”
“Next time you want to suck face, don’t do it here please,” I instruct Nathan as he reorganizes the couch pillows.
I hold the door open for Vanessa, and close it after she leaves. I hear the lock click behind me.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I ask Nathan. “God, any RA could’ve walked in here and got you expelled.”
“Ander, people do way worse in these dorms.”
“Not on the first day, you dipshit.”
I put my phone into my pocket and put my backpack down by the door. Nathan goes over to the full-length mirror we set up by the window (currently closed by blinds) and checks his hair.
“Sorry! I saw her and thought she was cute.”
“Ew, you just met her?! Have some respect.”
Nathan tosses one of his curls backwards and steps away from the mirror. God, it’s so obvious he has a perm. I really don’t know what Vanessa saw in him.
“Ander, I don’t need your relationship advice. Doesn’t look like you brought any girls here.”
“Please. It’s a preparatory school. You think there’d be kids lining up to go with me?”
“I don’t know. You’re pretty attractive, so I just thought there’d be more people.” He pauses, and I try to analyze whether or not he’s lying. Strangely, I don’t think he is. “At least tell me you’re looking at someone?”
I sit down on the couch, and put my feet up on the coffee table in front of it. Nathan leans up against the wall. I really don’t know how to answer his question; to be honest, I haven’t been attracted to anyone in a long time. But I can tell he won’t take no for an answer. Although, now that I think about it…
“Well, there is this one girl.”
“Who is she?” I pique his interest. He steps closer towards me. “Tell me! I can help you out if you want.”
“Absolutely not! I do not want nor need your help.”
“Will you at least tell me her name?”
I blurt it out. “Dorothea.” I stutter: “At least, I think her name’s Dorothea.”
Nathan starts laughing out loud. I’m confused. Does he know her? Jesus, what if she was his ex? Is she really dating Vaughn? That can’t be what Rory meant when she said “friends”.
“Dorothea Borello? Oh, you’re screwed. You’re very much screwed.” He goes back to his maniacal laughter.
“What? Why?!” I stand up and shake Nathan’s shoulders. I just said her name to avoid his badgering me, but that didn’t stop anything. Shit.
“Dorothea’s our best friend. Vaughn, Martin, Xander, and I, I mean. We’ve known her forever.”
Oh my God. This day couldn’t get any worse.
“Oh? Is she - dating one of you four?”
“Oh no. We’re friends, but if you ask me -” Nathan lowers his voice and looks around, as if anyone could overhear him in the empty dorm- “Vaughn has the hots for her.”
“Shit!” I exclaim to myself.
“Oh yeah. Vaughn’s not gonna like that.”
“Guess not,” I say. For some reason, it doesn’t bother me that Dorothea’s “taken”, it only bothers me that Vaughn has a crush on her. Maybe I’m already getting protective over her, or something? Either way, I’ll have to find out how Dorothea feels about him.
Good thing I have my idiot roommates here with me.
“Do you know how she feels about him?” I ask. He laughs again.
“She’s one of the most private people I’ve ever met, bro. You’ll either have to ask Vaughn, who won’t know, or Dorothea herself.”
“Shit,” I say again.
“You’ll be fine,” Nathan says, waving off my worry. “Like I said, you’re pretty attractive, and Dorothea’s into your type- tall, easily excited, studious.”
“How’d you know all that about me?” I ask.
He shrugs. “People talk,” he answers. “Plus, you and your friends are loud sometimes.”
I hum- mostly to myself, but also as an acknowledgement of Nathan’s words- and begin to think. Maybe Dorothea wasn’t interested in me automatically, but I’m sure if I spend more time with Rory she’ll be there and notice me. Then we can start hanging out more, eventually just us alone, and I can take her on a date or something. I’m not sure what happens next, though, and before I can wonder further, Nathan’s voice interrupts my train of thought.
“Speaking of your friends, are Rory and Elliot, like- dating, or something? A friend of mine wanted to ask Rory out but wasn’t sure.”
At least he’s… kind of respectful about it? “Yeah, they’re dating,” I say. He nods, and pulls out his phone. I roll my eyes and turn away from Nathan. Do I really like Dorothea? I mean, she’s cute, but am I interested in dating her? Maybe I should try. I am her type, after all. I’m almost never anyone’s type.
Suddenly, the door opens, and I see three people walk in: Martin Watts, Xander Bentner, and - I flinch - Vaughn. They’re all talking super loudly.
“Oh, hey, guys!” Nathan says. “We were just talking about-”
“Rory and Elliot,” I interrupt. Nathan shoots me a look, but I just continue, asking, “Aren’t they a cute couple?” Technically we were talking about them.
Xander visibly droops and Martin asks, “So they’re really dating?”
“Yes,” I say, and the mood shifts. Luckily, it doesn’t have anything to do with me, so I’m able to slip away in the middle of the comforting and bro hugs. Eurgh.
Unfortunately, Vaughn spots me before I can even leave the hallway.
“Hey, Ander!” I freeze. “It is Ander, isn’t it?” His tone doesn’t sound menacing or even offended, so I turn. He’s just standing there, smiling. What the fuck.
“Yeah, it’s Ander,” I say hesitantly. “Can I help you?”
“Nathan just texted me something, and I wanted to ask you if it’s true.”
Shit.
He continues, saying, “It doesn’t actually concern me, and you totally don’t have to tell me anything, but do you have a crush on Dorothea?”
“Uh, yeah,” I admit. “Nathan told me you like her, so if you don’t want me to do anything, I won’t-” I try to finish, but I’m suddenly interrupted by Vaughn, laughing. Which is not what I expected at all.
“He told you- he told you I like her?” Vaughn asks through bursts of laughter.
“Yes… do you- not like her?” I ask hesitantly. He nods.
“Yeah, no, I-” he snorts. “I can’t even imagine- I do not like her like that. We are just friends, period. She doesn’t like people like us, anyways.”
“People like us?”
“Guys- boys,” he clarifies. “She’s gay.”
“Oh,” I say, and I’m again confused about why I’m not sadder about this. Vaughn frowns.
“I’m sorry, bro,” he says, and grasps my shoulder. “I hope you find someone else.” I give him a courtesy smile and slip from under his grasp, shaken. I’m sure it’s just the news that Dorothea would never like me, but a deep-down feeling tells me it’s something else, although I don’t know why.
As I’m walking down the stairs, I check my phone’s time- 6:10. I decide to walk over to Iris, where I’m assuming Rory and Elliot are, if not Dorothea, Farrow, and Willow. I think about sending a text ahead of time, but it doesn’t really matter, so I just tuck my phone into my back pocket. As I make my way through the yard, I notice the people milling about, talking and laughing and having fun, and I’m suddenly hit with a wave of regret. I was a total asshole today at dinner for no reason- even I don’t know why , I think, walking into Iris.
Just before I put my phone up to the sensor, I hesitate. Will Rory be in here? If she is, will she want to talk to me, even?
No, it’ll be okay. She’ll understand.
But what if she doesn’t?
I simply decide to put my phone up to the door and send the request, hoping that Rory will be her kind self. Luckily, it’s approved almost automatically, and the door unlocks. I take a deep breath and walk in.
Rory, Elliot, Farrow, Willow, and- I sigh- Dorothea are all in the common room, sitting on the floor or the couches and talking. Only Rory really notices me walking in, and we lock eyes. Her glance and head tilt says, are you okay? and my responding expression I hope says yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry . She shakes her head and motions for me to sit down, which of course means she forgives me. I exhale a breath I hadn’t noticed I was holding and relax my shoulders.
Really, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but Farrow, Rory, and I can all hold grudges for VERY long amounts of time, and it was a bit of a mess the last time something bad happened. I really do not want to deal with friend drama on the first day.
I spend my time in Rory’s dorm mostly listening to the conversations everyone else is having and observing them. Rory’s got heart eyes for Dorothea (which, now that I know Dorothea’s gay, is kinda cute) but somehow manages to still be totally present with Elliot, which is also adorable. Farrow and Willow sneak glances at each other the whole time- frustrating, yes, but also a little endearing. Dorothea seems to be carrying the conversation, engaging in fun banter with Willow, Rory, and Elliot. I’m not sure exactly what they’re talking about anymore.
Luckily, it doesn’t matter, because our phones all ping with the same message: “It is 6:20 pm. All freshmen, please report to the Main Yard near the administrative building for initiation, which will occur promptly at 6:30. Sophomores and upperclassmen should return to their dorms unless previously specified with a counselor or professor.”
“It’s time!” Rory exclaims, and hops up from her previous seat on the couch. We all stand and leave the room as a group, Rory locking the door behind her. The rest of the students in the hall also got the same message as we did, so they’re slowly making their way outside.
We make it to the Main Yard, where we happen to meet up with Vaughn and my roommates. Unfortunately.
“Hey Ander,” Vaughn casually says, looking at his phone. He pushes his hair from his stupid haircut out of his eyes. Green eyes, I notice for the first time. I realize I forgot to respond to him and say “Oh, hey,” like a total idiot. Great job, Ander. What impression do you want to make here?
Rory elbows me, and I turn around. “Andie, I swear to God, if you were gay, I’d ship you two.”
“Ew, that’s disgusting,” I say quickly. “He’s just like the rest of them, you know that. A complete idiot. And I’m straight, so.”
“I know, it was just a joke,” Rory says, and I realize I took it a bit too seriously.
“Yeah, I know, sorry.” What’s wrong with me today? “I think I’m just a bit stressed about school and initiation.”
“No, I get that. I’m surprised - why hasn’t it started yet?”
“Me too. Isn’t it 6:30?”
Elliot checks their phone. “6:31.”
“Weird.”
“Attention freshman!”
We all cover our ears as Prof. Rodgers bellows into the megaphone once more. The crowd parts and we see her at the front of the field. Farrow rolls their eyes.
“Thank you for coming to tonight’s initiation. We are so glad you all chose to come to East Washington this year. I’d like to introduce you to our dean here, Dean Winchester.”
We look at each other and begin to clap politely. Dean Winchester takes the megaphone from Prof. Rodgers.
“Hello students. I’m so glad to be in front of you all today. When I look out among all of these faces, I don’t see your cities or your states, nor do I see your intelligence level or your grades. I see a field of intelligent minds ready to move on in life! I’m so excited to see all of you on campus. I could say so much more now, but for the time being, I’ll turn it back over to Professor Rodgers.”
A few light claps, but they die out eventually. Farrow feigns vomiting. “Seriously, spare me.”
Rodgers continues. “Great to hear from you, Dean. I’m sure these kids will have much to show you. Now, a brief layout of tonight’s ceremony. You’ll be split up into groups based on your counselor, and will be toured around by some of our seniors. If you have any questions, don’t feel afraid to just ask. At the end, you will all take the school oath and officially become students here at EWPS. Are there any questions?”
No one raises their hand.
“Perfect. In that case, find your counselors. Pacific Northwest with me, Mrs. Rodgers; Southwest with Mr. Quinton; Midwest with Mrs. Williamson; East Coast with Mr. Denton; and Southeast with Mrs. Viotto. If you’re not sure what region your state is in, ask me or a counselor.”
Our group makes it to the front of the stage, with the exception of Vaughn and Dorothea, who go to Mr. Quinton. The crowd thins out to 100 people in our group. When everyone gets to Prof. Rodgers, she turns to us without her infamous megaphone.
“A pleasure to meet you all, we all rode in the same bus this morning. I’d like to hand it over now to our seniors who will be giving you a tour, Jack Bentley and Naomi Williams.”
We look at the two seniors, Jack and Naomi. They nod at us. “A pleasure to meet you all,” Naomi says, then turns to Jack and snickers. “Sorry. It’s great to meet you guys. We’re also from the Northwest, and we’re here to show you around. Jack?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Hi you guys, I’m Jack. Currently as you know, we’re in the Main Yard, at the Weston Administrative Building. You can find the dean and all of your counselors here, if you ever need them. I’m sure you have already been given a tour of the Main Yard, but I’ll give it to you again just in case. Main Yard is reserved for freshman dormitories only, which is why you’ll often hear upperclassmen complain as to its name. Hyacinth, Birch, and Ivy on the left for boys; and Lavender, Iris, and Spruce on the right for girls.
“Sadly, you won’t be spending most of your time here in Main Yard. In fact, hopefully almost none of it! Therefore, we need to show you the way to get to the rest of the school. So, if you’ll come with me, I’m going to take you to the jumping-off point for the rest of the school: Center Field.”
Jack, Naomi, and Prof. Rodgers begin to walk towards the opposite end of Main Yard, and the rest of us follow behind. We see the other groups begin to peel off as well. I turn to Rory.
“This is crazy, isn’t it? To think we’ve been here less than twelve hours.”
“Surprised I haven’t fainted yet, to be honest.”
We reach the gates of Main Yard and walk into the field we were dropped off in by the buses earlier today. “Center Field,” Naomi motions. It’s huge, with paths intercrossing across the grass. There’s even some ATMs and café’s located in the field as well. “You won’t be spending much time here, unless you’re on any of the sports teams. As you can see, we use this area as a field for many sports, and there’s a track here as well.”
I think to myself, Vaughn’ll be here often.
Jack interjects: “I’m sure you all had dinner, so you know where the freshman mess is.” Jack gestures beyond the gates on the opposite side of the field. “That’s our next stop: the Humanities Yard.”
We walk under the gates into the Humanities Yard. Equally as huge as Main Yard, this field has more modern halls, and fewer of them: only one longer one per side instead of three. From Naomi: “To the left: Jensen Hall. To the right: Cormorant Hall. Up ahead is Matthias Hall. All of your social studies, economics, and government classes will be here.” I put a mental pin in that. There’s going to be a lot of memorization today.
“Also in this Yard is the sophomore mess, but you won’t have to worry about that until next year. Come on, we’ll have to go back to Center Field for our next stop, Washburn Yard.”
We enter Washburn Yard. My legs are already tired, but I’m astounded by the view of the brick building up ahead, with two “halls” coming from either side. As if on cue, Jack says: “The huge building is Washburn Library, and you’ll be doing a lot of studying there this year. We have a huge collection, and I can’t wait for you all to check it out.” I turn to Farrow, who’s working very hard to hide their astoundment. Though they might not seem like it, Farrow’s a huge book nerd.
“On the left of the library are the two English halls. There’s another one, Grayson, behind you and to your left. Grayson’s mainly for foreign languages. The ones coming off from the library are Rosary Hall on the left, and Kovos Hall on the right. Behind Washburn, I don’t know if you can see, is Albany Lake. This lake is beautiful around this time of year, and many students love to hang out by it and talk with your friends. We recommend you do the same.” Prof. Rodgers nods their head in approval. “Even further beyond Albany Lake are the upper-class dorms in Second, Third, and Last Yards, but you don’t need to know that now. Now, onto Martin Yard.”
It’s hard to tell where one yard stops and another begins here. Gates are used occasionally, but usually they seem to just be split up by the subject taught in the area. We reach Martin Hall, and again encounter a huge building at the end of the yard.
“That building is the Martin Concert Hall,” Naomi says. “To the left of Martin Yard is Arthur Yard, where you’ll find the two music and fine arts halls: Gerard and Arthur, of course. Arthur Hall is actually right behind the girls’ freshman dorms, to give you a sense of where we are. To the right of us right now is Jericho Hall, which will probably be where your math class will be this year.”
From Jack: “I know you all must be very tired, and we get that. Initiation was a rough day for us too. Don’t worry, we just have one more yard, and this one’s important. If you can all turn around, and head back in the direction of Washburn Yard…”
Cue the groans of 100 tired freshmen.
Once we get to Washburn, Naomi directs us farther into what she tells us is Labelle Yard.
“At the back of Labelle Yard is the Labelle Auditorium, where many school events are held. It’s also where you’ll recite the school oath soon. At the left is Davis Hall, and at the far right is Amity Hall. That curved, modern building to the right? That’s Winston Labs, and it’s where all your science labs will be. The other two buildings are for your textbook science classes, and even engineering, computer science and other math classes! Between Amity Hall and Winston Labs and the Humanities Yard is the East Garden, where our mess halls get their fresh produce, and where you’ll spend a lot of time if you’re taking any nature science classes.”
Naomi exhales. “Whew, we did it gang! I know that’s a lot of information to take in all at once, but I hope you get the gist of it. If you have any questions, remember you can ask anyone here and they’ll give you a valid answer.” At least that’s a little comforting. “Now, I’ll hand it back to Prof. Rodgers, who’ll lead you in the school oath! Have fun this year, and don’t forget to make friends.”
Jack and Naomi snicker as they run away from us. Prof. Rodgers rolls her eyes and turns to us, with megaphone. Rory and I quickly cover our ears, but it’s inevitably too late.
“I hope you enjoyed the tour, students. Now, let’s walk to the right side of Labelle Auditorium, where one of the entrance doors should be open. From there, make your way to the stage. You should be able to find it pretty easily.”
Prof. Rodgers puts down her megaphone, and we all walk confused towards the building. Elliot turns to us.
“So, did any of that make sense to you?”
“Not one bit,” Farrow says.
“Zip,” Rory agrees.
“I got, like, what halls have which subject, but nope, nothing else,” I offer.
“Great. I’m going to be stressing out tonight,” Elliot sighs.
We enter the doors of the Auditorium and begin walking up a slim set of stairs. I’m beginning to feel claustrophobic, but soon we reach the top to what appears to be the backstage area of a theater. I follow the procession onto the stage, and suck in my breath.
The theater is enormous, huge enough to fit over a thousand people. The stage is freshly polished, and squeaks when we step on it. I look around aimlessly as the posse of freshman conglomerate onto the stage. I see the other groups of freshmen we earlier separated from join us onstage. I see the counselors in the front row. Prof. Rodgers pulls out her megaphone-
“ Shit!” We all say with our faces as we rush to cover our ears-
Brrrrmp! Too late. Rory grunts, annoyed.
“Now students, before we can let you go, we must properly initiate you into our school. Mrs. Viotto will be reciting the school oath, and once she stops, your job is to repeat it back to us word for word.”
I think of how strange it is, to have us all line up onstage with no audience to recite an oath, but then again, what about this school isn’t strange?
My thoughts are interjected with Prof. Viotto beginning: “I do promise to uphold the following school code-”
She stops, looks at us, and we repeat.
“To uphold integrity and kindness towards all students and staff-”
We echo back once more.
“To be honest and supportive of all of my peers-”
Echo.
“Till my time at East Washington Preparatory School comes to a close.”
We repeat and look down at Prof. Viotto.
“Congratulations, and welcome to EWPS.” She smiles, and a few of us cheer, having realized what they just accomplished.
Me? My stomach flips. What have I just done?