Chapter 1

"Mila, It's time to get up, you need to get down here and have something to eat, we have a long drive ahead of us, and you need to make sure you have packed everything you need, oh and you need to load all of our phone numbers onto your phone so that you can call us in an emergency or for any other reason, any reason at all, you need to make sure you have all of our numbers on speed dial'' my mother was shouting over the racket of pots clanging and dishes clashing, I could already hear her voice breaking as she was calling up to me. This would be the first time in my twelve years that I would be spending more than a single weekend away from my family, away from her, and even on those weekends away she would get all teary eyed, and work herself up into a flat panic! I can only imagine what an entire school term is going to do to her emotional and mental state.

I groaned as I sat up and blindly felt my way to the door frame and flicked on the light switch. I hated the winter; it was by far the worst season ever, created only to suck the joy out of life in my opinion. The icy cold air that almost clawed at the breath in your lungs, the frozen toilet seats that threatened to leave you sitting there for longer than necessary, the late dark mornings that turned into early dark evenings, the constant smell of burning wood, the brown lifeless trees, shrubs and grass, there was honestly nothing I enjoyed about Winter.

I grabbed my glasses off the night stand and made my way downstairs to the deliciously inviting smell of bacon and eggs in the kitchen, "wow mom, what happened to the usual porridge for breakfast" I asked as I walked in, ''Mila baby, good morning'' my mother replied while trying to figure out which of the six knobs on the oven actually turned it off again. ''Today is a special day, today my baby is going to high school, if there is any day that deserves a big cooked breakfast meal it would be this one, I am so proud of you sweetheart, and I am going to miss you so much" was all she managed to croak out. I just smiled and said thank you, and although I was not even remotely hungry, I quickly swallowed down my breakfast and warm milk and made my way back upstairs to shower.

The drive felt as though it was taking forever! And I couldn't help but notice a lump starting to form in my own throat as the realization set in that I was indeed going to be extremely far away from my family, from my mom.

The car stopped suddenly at a rather rackety looking gate which was attached to an equally tattered looking fence, we were surrounded by tall trees that covered mostly any other views there may have been, and which were also surprisingly green and lively for this time of year, I put my earphones back in assuming that we were still a whiles drive away from our destination, but only a few hundred meters later the car jerked to a stop again and my mother opened her door, giving me a little nudge to do the same.

I stretched my arms and legs as I climbed out the car only noticing once my eyes reopened that we were parked on a small dirt road surrounded on either side by sunflowers for as far as I could see, but there were no buildings in site, I looked blankly at my mother who then pointed to a small wooden sign behind the car which read,

'Whimsy High School - Collection Zone"

I glanced back at my mother slightly confused and a little more than annoyed, 'what does that even mean, I thought we were here? Mom, aren't you going to come with me, maybe walk me in and see my dorm room, or help me unpack?'' my mother smiled and gave me that look she gets when she is both amused and feeling sorry for me at the same time, "Mila my baby, everything is going to be okay, you will see, the school is not much further than here and soon the other pupils will be arriving, I never told you this before, but I also went to Whimsy High, so did your grandmother, this school has been here for over four hundred years. You will find that it will be an amazing adventure and I have never been more proud of you for being accepted here, you know that they do not make their pupil selections lightly, you must be very special to be able to attend this school and I have always known that you, my baby, were something extraordinary." I stared blankly at my mother for a few minutes, not quite knowing how to respond to what she said, and I was about to say that I think she needs to take her blood pressure tablets, but just as I opened my mouth a car pulled onto the road behind us, and another, and then another and soon there were around twenty cars all parked beside us and I decided to rather keep my thoughts to myself for the moment.

"Mila you're here!!!" is all I heard a split second before I felt myself almost knocked off my feet and then two long arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders, "Parker! Thank heavens you are here, I almost thought my mother had lost her mind! Did your parents say anything to you about this school? It all seems a little bit weird to me, but I don't know, I have never been to a boarding school, so I'm not entirely sure how it's all supposed to go down." ''Not much at all really'' Parker said as she looked around to take in the surroundings. "My father said that he came to this school twenty odd years ago, and that it was going to be an amazing adventure, but that's about it." That's strange I thought to myself… my mother said the exact same thing.

"Okay Mila, it's time for me to get going if I want to get back home again before nightfall, I have an early start in the office tomorrow morning, I would stay here all day if I could, heck I would stay here all term, but unfortunately the cases don't stop pouring in just because I'm not there" my mom was saying through a brightly flushed face as she tried to hold back her tears. I gave her a hug and repeated her own words back to her, that everything was going to be okay. "I love you mom! And I will message you every chance I get, please get home safely and give my love to dad" and with that, I watched in silence as my mother drove off, a lone tear escaping my eye as I turned to find Parker.