The next day, Griselda, Lyell, and Charlie went to Trillinocway High School to get Charlie registered as a sophomore. That idea was met with much disapproval from the rest of the family, but there was no way that an unendowed and untalented Charlie Bone was entering Bloor’s Academy.
That was not how the Yewbeam family operated.
Charlie, however, wasn’t too much of a genius to begin with, anyway.
As for the school, it was described as a large public high school that had a fairytale-like look to it. There were about 400 students attending, which was more than the number of students who were attending Bloor’s Academy. Overall, the school has a fair reputation, which is starting to change thanks to the culture club.
When he walked into the school, he could feel the eyes of almost 400 students staring at him. Most of the students who attended Trillinocway High all seemed to have known each other since kindergarten and from the looks of things, they weren’t too pleased to know that a newcomer had infiltrated their school.
Just as Charlie was about to find himself as stuck in the mud as he was back in his other high school, a boy rushed towards him, saying, “Are you new here?”
“Depends on how you define the word new,” Charlie replied in kind. “Who are you, anyway?”
“My name is Rolland Blair,” said Rolland, “and I’m kind of the eyes and ears of the school. Where you from?”
“London,” said Charlie reluctantly.
“London?” Rolland repeated.
“London,” said Charlie. “You know, fish and chips, Fleet Street, Globe Theater, Buckingham Palace, Thames, Sherlock Holmes, bad food, sucky weather, Mary fricking Poppins. London.”
“I see,” said Rolland. “Small wonder why you left.”
“Indeed,” said Charlie nonchalantly. To be honest, he was reluctant to leave Amy and Maisie and stay with Lyell, but he knew that he had heard too many horror stories regarding stepparents from one of his former classmates and he knew that most fairy tales didn’t paint stepparents in a positive light. He had to leave before Jillian Pile got on his case regarding Hart.
Charlie changed the subject by saying, “So, you say that you know about everything that goes on here?”
“That I do,” said Rolland. “If you have any questions, then come find me.” He pointed to a door. “This must be your class.”
He left and Charlie found himself reluctantly walking into a small classroom. There were only about 15 people there, not including the teacher. The teacher noticed him and said, “Class, this is Charlie Bone, who recently moved here from London. Charlie, if you would like, please tell us about yourself.”
Charlie sized up his classmates; there seemed to be nothing interesting about them at all, save for a girl who sat in the back of the classroom by the room’s only window. He shook his head, saying, “There really isn’t that much to know about me at all. I moved here from London and that’s all you need to know.”
At once, the entire class protested at that remark, wondering why their newest classmate chose not to introduce himself. It wasn’t like any of them were going to befriend him anyway.
As the teacher sought to restore order to the classroom, Charlie found himself sitting next to the strange girl. She was short, with tan skin and dark brown hair. She said to him, “Why are you sitting here?”
“I don’t want anyone to notice me and get any ideas,” said Charlie.
“Indeed,” said Poppy Whittaker as she glared at him. “I thought that you’d be like everyone else.”
“Why should I be like the other students?” said Charlie. “It was because of that I decided to come here.”
Poppy was about to respond when the glass in the window shattered, with the pieces of the glass hurtling towards Charlie. Thinking quickly, she threw her hands up and forced the glass to fall onto the floor. The other students and the teacher gasped in horror as Poppy sent a silver shock of lightning out the window and saying in a harsh voice, “I see you, Acotosh. Leave that boy alone!”
“Foolish girl,” said a voice made of gravel, “that boy is a child of the Red King, and he is to be sent to Bloor’s Academy, as were you.”
“Never,” Poppy snapped as she pushed the wizard away from the school. “You know not of the wrath you have wrought here. Because of this, my family will have to execute our plans sooner that we had hoped. The Bloor family will pay for that intrusion with their lives.”
Charlie gasped in horror at what he was seeing; a girl he barely knew attempting to defend him against an unseen villain. This was a bit too much for him to deal with. He found himself falling to the floor as a hand reached out to catch him…
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