Paige woke abruptly the next morning by a loud and terrifyingly horn-like sound. She scampered out of bed quickly, hoping she wasn't in trouble.
But it was only the one and only Miss Snow, second head of Hidden Hollow. She was a young lady, about in her twenties or thirties, but not yet married. Paige thought she was very pretty with her long blonde hair and sparkling sky-blue eyes.
“Okay girls,” she said in her intelligent-sounding voice. “You must get dressed in you cloaks and then come report back to me.”
All of the girls rushed to the bathrooms. Paige took her own sweet time, waiting quietly in the long line to the bathrooms while others girls talked and chatted. Finally it was her turn for a bathroom. She quickly slipped out her pajamas and tugged on the long silky robe that she had brought along.
Paige dashed back to Miss Snow. She smiled sweetly at Paige, leaning in closer to her height. “Name?” she asked.
Paige shuddered. She was nervous to talk to any of the teachers. Finally she could utter a word. “I-I'm Paige. Paige Morne.”
Miss Snow nodded and flipped a few pages of her clipboard. “Aha!” she said. “Your first class will be Transforming 3, which is also your homeroom, with me in room 107. See you there, Paige!” Before Paige could ask any questions, the teacher was already in a deep conversation with another girl.
Paige shrugged and sighed. She gathered up her books and walked to room 107. Once again, she never looked even oncer at the paintings. She just couldn't.
Soon Paige found the door labeled Room # 106. She took five more steps and found room 107. She took one step into the large classroom. The only people in there were two boys shooting paper airplanes at the ceiling.
Paige calmly sat down at a desk in the middle, close to the window. She could see the birds fluttering by and the clouds slowly rolling along.
While Paige wondered who would be in her class, Ian stepped into room 107. Paige swiveled around and saw him sit right next to her. It was if he hadn't noticed her sitting there. She knew she wasn't going to be popular. It was like she was invisible.
Finally he spotted her dreamily staring out of the window. He took a breath and said casually, “Hey Paige,”
Paige spun around quickly. She smiled, embarrassed. “Hi,” she said gingerly.
Ian nodded. “Yeah, so, do you like it here?”
“Kind of. Those paintings in the hall freak me out.”
Ian chuckled. “Now that I think about it, they are kinda freaky.”
Just then Miss Snow burst through the door. Tons of students trailed behind her. Paige and Ian both stopped talking as Miss Snow called the class to order.
“Hello class,” she started. “I am Miss Snow, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of the year.”
And that was when wizard school officially started for Paige.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After Paige's first few classes, she found the cafeteria for lunch. She looked around and went in the lunch line. She got her food and sat down at the nearest table. She glanced a her springy spaghetti covered with chunky meat sauce. She twirled her fork around, mixing it up. She didn't notice Ian sneak up behind her.
“Hey, are you going to eat that?” he asked, eying the noodles.
Paige looked up. “Oh hey Ian,” She slid her tray to Ian, who scooped the messy spaghetti onto his tray. He slid it back to her. “So, what classes have you been taking?” she asked, regretting herself.
“The usual.” But he never said what classes.
Then the five-minute-before-class-starts bell rang. Paige chucked her garbage in the trash and followed Ian to their next class.
Right as they sat down, the grumpy teacher Mr. Yelou was about to start the lesson. “You're late!” he snapped.
“No we're not” protested Ian.
Mr. Yelou angrily slapped a ruler on his desk, which snapped in half. Pieces flew everywhere. Paige winced, thinking he might whip one of the students with the ruler.
“Do not be late for for class again,” he looked darkly at Ian and Paige. “Or else.”
Paige didn't like Mr. Yelou at all. He was a nasty man.
When she tried to give him flowers to brighten up the room, he threw them away in the garbage without even caring about how Paige had saved up her extra cash to buy them.
It was obvious that she had not gotten a good start with Mr. Yelou.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
On the day before Halloween, Miss Snow's class was learning how to transform into certain animals like mice, cats, and birds. This was easy for Paige, but for Ian and most of the other classmates, this was really hard. Like poor Claudia Andrews. She tried to turn into a cat but transformed into an elephant. She had to be taken care of very quickly.
Fifteen minutes before class was out, Ian passed a note to Paige. Paige smiled. Ian was pretty much her friend now. He passed her a note everyday in class, and receiving one now definitely wasn't peculiar. She opened it up and read it. It said:
Meet me at the edge of the break field. I have
to talk to you in private.
Paige looked at him sympathetically. She scribbled down her message and crumpled up the paper and threw it at him. He read it and looked at her annoyingly. Paige shrugged and then they both ignored each other for the rest of class.
Paige ran to the break field. The break field was a place where students could walk around, talk and chat, and play football and soccer. It was Paige's favorite thing about Hidden Hollow, besides meeting Ian.
She ran to the edge of the field. Ian stood there, checking his watch. He gave her a dirty look. “Where were you?” he snarled in a loud whisper.
Paige took one step back, afraid Ian might pounce on her. “Sorry! Jeez, what's your problem?”
“No! It's just that.... well.....”
Paige put her hands on her hips. “Come on. Spit it out.”
Ian sighed. “I have to show you something,” He led Paige to the end of the break field, where the Forbidden Forest lay.
“Oh no,” Paige said, shaking her head.
Ian nodded. “Oh yes.” And he led her into the dark and dreary forest.
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