Chapter 3 – Brave new Girl

I know, I know, the title isn’t great, but I couldn’t think of a better one. Hi, new chapter, haven’t put one up in a while, but if you are reading, please, write to tell me every single mistake I’ve made. Please. It isn’t review mongering – I need crit. I want to be a better writer. I really do.

This chapter…is a lot longer than the Others! That’s all I can say…the second half was hard to write as its all exposition, but I promise the next chapter should be at least amusing!

Again, thanks for reading. Please enjoy my merge offering!

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Sally’s eyes snapped open like a baby doll’s and immediately sat up. She knew that she didn’t know this room, but for some reason she didn’t panic. The room was cream coloured, no sharp edges at all and it seemed to glow with optimism. Golden light streamed in, lighting up the room, making Sally blink and cover her face with her arm as she pushed the warm Ivory quilt away and got out of bed. She walked along the room, practically crawling along the walls, stumbling along, trying to find and exit, another room, anything!

Feeling her way along blindly she came across a door, slightly raised from the wall. She pulled at it with all her weight, opening the door and falling backwards. Sally hit the carpeted floor with a bump, then pushed her hair out of her eyes to see what she had found. The door swung for a second and she saw…an empty wardrobe. She looked again at the hanging hangers, knocking together plastically and noted that it wasn’t entirely empty. She looked down and saw a single hanging Jacket, twisting from the shaken frame. Sally took off her nightdress, sliding down her body into a crumpled heap on the floor. In nothing but a thin vest and pants she stepped out of the gown like a Snake out of an old skin and went over to the draws next to the Wardrobe. She found a grey tracksuit there, neatly folded, a logo on the front left breast of the top she pulled out. She stared at it blankly for a moment, looking at the embroidered circle with a shooting star in the middle. Why didn’t she recognise it? She desperately looked for clues…where was she? Why was she here, not home? It wasn’t as if she’d have preferred to have been home but…

The words “Education Transendia” were sewn on underneath the emblem. What did it mean? There wasn’t even a motto, just the words “Education Transendia”, as if it meant something on its own. She slipped it on over her head, snuggled into the fleecy lining and shivered. Listening to the rumble of the air ducts she started to wonder where the hell she was. Listening to the sigh of the heating she began to wonder where home was. Feeling unexpectedly calm considering the circumstances she looked in the draw below, found a pair of navy blue combat trousers, slipped them on and headed for the door. It took five large, purposeful strides to reach the door, putting her hand on the cold handle before he noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned back to the wardrobe and saw a pair of forlorn looking boots sitting in the darker corner of the wardrobe. Looking down at her bare, overgrown feet, she decided that it might be a good idea. She grabbed the surprisingly clean and un-dusty boots with vigour, collapsing onto the bed to carefully pull them on, tightening the laces with all her strength.

She ran across the room, seized the door handle, forced it open and slammed the door behind her as if she were trying to keep something side the room. She stared at the hundreds of doors down the corridors, like the combs inside a bee hive, and ran. She ran as far as she could, she ran as fast as she could, running from the doors that looked at her, stared at her, demanded that she knew, knew where she was, who she was, where she was going. As she kept heading forward she kept asking herself, where was she going? Where was she going? But she didn’t care. She had to escape it. She had to escape the doors. All white, all blank, all staring, nothing on them apart from a tiny lock, a door handle and a number.

She kept wondering where she was going, but she kept the thought down with her one intention – to find someone. She couldn’t remember much, just a face, just a name. Blue hair, blue flags, blue murder, dark blue car, blue blood. Blue flags, blur hair. Blur hair, flag. Flagge.

She turned an empty corridor, squeaks from her brand new soles echoing like the souls of those killed in a genocide. She turned, scared, and bumped into someone.

She staggered for half a second, and looked up at the quickly turning figure.

Dryden looked at the girl oddly, and realised she must be new. He smiled, swishing his shoulder-length black hair out of his face.

“Hey” he said, unimpressively.

Sally stood silent for a moment, mouth moving but no words coming out. She tried to scream, but couldn’t. She panicked, and realised that she had to breathe. “W-where am I?” she asked.

“You’re in a corridor. What’s your name?” he asked.

“I-i-i-I’m Sally.” she said, because this was all she knew.

“Which class are you in?”

“Class 2” she said, a little shocked because she swore she didn’t know this.

“Same as me.” He smiled, “It’s…eight thirty nine. We’d better get a move on, don’t want to be late for philosophy.”

“Where am I?” sally interjected.

“Um…school?” he suggested.

“No, I mean…who’re you? What’s this school? How did I get here?”

Dryden sighed. “You must be that kid Fyo was talking about. I’ll take you to Nathan.”

Sally, for some reason felt relieved. The boy held out his arm, which she took gladly. As they walked along she said, “What did you say your name was again?”

“Didn’t.” he replied, “It’s Dryden, by the way.”

“Like the playwrite?” she asked.

“Like the poet.” He corrected her.

Sally watched the school, mouth open, as Dryden walked unconcerned down the corridor. All the pupils wore the jackets she’d seen in her wardrobe, kaki in colour and closely fitted, buttons up the right side as opposed to up the middle. Most wore them loosely, with white vests underneath, a few had customised them with badges and ribbons, colouring the outfit with bright strips of cloth. Some of the pupils had almost completely disregarded the idea of uniform with their jackets while others wore them with lazy panache. All of them wore their hair in ways that she knew that her old school would never have allowed. Boys with waist-long hair walked past, girls with bald heads, dredlocks, perms, afro’s, weird and wonderful dyes – she swore she saw someone with at least eight colours in their hair walk past – all walking along, unconcerned, not bothering to look at each other as if………as if this were normal. As if this is the way it had always been.

Although all she’d thought she’d seen was white, grey and green, she felt as if she’d seen all the colours in the world moving in and out of each other, wishing Dryden a good morning.

“Dryden, who’s that sweet sunshine on your arm?” asked a boy with a chestnut brown Mohican.

“This is Sally.” Dryden replied, “I found her wandering the corridors looking lost and alone. Is this the one you were telling us about yesterday?”

The boy with the Mohican stared at her for a second.

“Believe it or not, it is. She looks different in uniform.”

“Who ’re you?” asked Sally weakly.

The boy laughed. “Me? My given’s Fyodor, but people call me Fyo. I guess you’re looking for Nathan.”

“I think I’m looking for Mr Flagge.” Sally said uncertainly.

Fyodor laughed raucously and said, “That’s so sweet, nobody calls him that. I suppose you probably are looking for him.”

Sally didn’t know to be honest, but nodded in the hope that they’d show her where to go. He dug her fingernails into the warm green canvas and hung to Dryden desperately. He didn’t even look at her, turning to talk to Fyodor, making a joke she didn’t understand before they laughed at each other. Sally felt as if her stomach was about to shiver to death.

“Hey, Kid” Fyodor snapped at her. Sally looked at him, head snapping up. “Excited?”

“No, “ she whispered, “Not really.

Fyodor looked a little taken aback, but then he seemed to realise something. “It musta been that accident that’s taken it outta you. Not that the P.E teacher will give you any break for that, she’s a bitch, but, yeah, once you’ve sorted your head out you’ll like it here. Hell, you have to be right for this place just to be asked, let alone get this far. It’s more excusive than Oxbridge.”

Sally, lost in her confusion, was trying to figure out what Fyodor had meant when they heard a very calm and terrifying voice say, “Ah, Fyodor, I’ve been looking for you…”

Fyodor, his eyes suddenly wide in horror turned around, and with a nervous laugh said, “Nathaaaan! I haven’t been avoiding you like the plague………”

Sally knew that voice. She turned as Dryden turned and saw him for what seemed like the first time. The first time she’d seen him he’d been blurred and indistinct, but now, now she could see with sharp clarity. Nathan towered over the three of them, tall and thin like a wire, but built like a tank. He was no man of unnecessary muscle – he was streamlined like a torpedo so that every part of him was used fully. He had kindly eyes, one of the first things she noticed about him, so much so that the only thing one could fear about him was possibly the information he was about to impart to Fyodor.

“I hear you haven’t given in your report on “The social and cultural aspects of atheism in twentieth century Britain” yet. I hope that this is simply because you keep forgetting to give in your completed work.”

Fyodor looked for an exit, but in finding none scratched the back of his neck and said, “Well, um, yeah. Forgetful me.”

“If I don’t have it on my desk by tomorrow I will be forced to place the matter in Elspeth’s hands.” Nathan said, particularly calmly, “ And I don’t really want to do that, but it has been outstanding since last term.”

“I don’t want you to do that to me” exclaimed Fyodor in response, “Look, you’ll get it and it will be outstanding in the other way. As in Good. I might even get a C on this one!”

Nathan smiled truthfully and replied affectionately, “Fyodor, you are possibly the best liar I know, but I do want that essay, okay? There’s some good books in the Theology section of the Library and I know for certain that there’s at least three still in there. You can probably get something done in the Lunch-hour.”

“Nathan, I have actually done it!” Fyodor protested weakly.

“Well, get it to me as soon as possible.” Nathan nodded at him, and turned his attention to Sally. “Dryden, looking after the new girl?”

“I was showing her to your office.” Dryden said coldly.

“Well, you better both come in.” replied Nathan, opening the door to his office. “I’m sure Sally could do with an explanation and I hope you don’t mind if I ask you just to keep an eye on her for the first few days, just so she knows where she’s going and so forth.”

“It’d be a pleasure.” Replied Dryden, as they walked in.

Sally started to remember this room from the night before. It was a smoky brown and red colour and smelt of the dark red leather chairs and the glue of the seemingly hundreds of books which lined at least two walls of the room. There were two large, sunny windows which didn’t have curtains, but gun metal grey blinds, which right now had been pulled up to allow cold white daylight into the room. Sally felt herself involuntarily blink, raising her arm to cover here eyes as the two men found their places. She felt like someone who’d just wondered off the street into a West-end play, and, for inexplicable reasons, was supposed to know the script. Sally, in her ignorance, moved shyly as she looked for the seat she’d used the night before. She found it next to Dryden’s own chair, and slumped down in it, leaning back, neck arched forward.

Nathan began in a very un-adult manner. He was straight to the point – “How’re you settling in?”

Sally didn’t answer for a moment, and thought about the question. Then, quietly she asked, “Where am I?”

Nathan stared at her for barely a second. ”Ah, I see. This complicates things.” He put his head on one hand and thought for a second. Sally shifted uncomfortably whilst Dryden watched on, a little embarrassed. He wasn’t sure whether he should leave or keep watching as the girl’s world started to implode upon itself. Dryden decided that it would be rude to move and would try not to listen to the worst bits.

Nathan raised his head and said, “Sally, can you tell me………what do you remember? I mean about your life before you arrive here”

Sally strained to remember anything, faced with what seemed like a field of bones without a war. Then she felt forced back by a dark blue light. “I remember pain, lots of pain. Then I remember sitting in here.” She stopped for a second, clutching at any passing thought to help her. There was something, something to do with a person standing shouting, but then it was lost again in a split second, replaced with nothing – she saw a few ghosts of a memory, but every time she reached to embrace it, it faded past her, disappearing, leaving her with a chill down her spine. “Then………nothing else. Nothing.”

“Do you remember your old school?” asked Nathan kindly.

“No.” replied Sally. She knew she’d been to a school before, she knew it but couldn’t visualise anything about it, could remember a feeling, a name, not even a buiding.

“Your parents?” Nathan asked. Sally said nothing. She watched Dryden stir uncomfortably, as if he had suddenly felt something move within him. However, it had disappeared in a flash. Sally sighed and said, “no.”

“But you know what parents are?”

“Yes, they’re the people that gave birth to you, right?”

“Near enough.” Replied Nathan, “I have to check. You seem to know what things are, but you can’t remember anythingIt’s very interesting, just as they said it would be.” He pondered this for a second, then almost as if he were answering something he asked, “ Would you like some tea?” Nathan intimated at a kettle sitting on the sideboard.

“No thank you.” She answered politely.

“Dryden?”

“Err………black please.” He said curtly, as if he’d been ripped from a thought.

Nathan stood up and switched the kettle on. He turned to face the two them, leaning on the sideboard and said, “Sally, could you please write down your name for me on that piece of paper on my desk?”

“Sure………” Sally felt unsure about this, but taking a blank piece of paper and searching for a pen, before Dryden gave her his pen with uncommon gentleness, she held the pen in between three fingers and tilting her head to an angle followed the curve of the “S” on the paper. Enjoying the movement she followed the rotund “a”, the highs and lows of the repeated “L”’s, like two mountains and the path of the “y”. The followed the path and came to a dead end.

She only knew her first name.

She panicked and tried to remember, but every time she tried to think she came up against a wall of black. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Tears formed in her eyes. She let out a sob.

Nathan, how had been busy with the tea put Dryden’s cup on his desk and went to comfort her.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, soothingly.

“I………I………Don’t remember my last name.” She said, voice cracked with tears.

“shh………don’t cry, it doesn’t matter………I just wanted to know how much you remembered about your past life………shhh………don’t get worked up about it, it’s a silly little thing. You’ll laugh about this tomorrow.” He squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, which made her tears stop, but not before the last ones dropped down her face. “now, “ he said, smiling sympathetically at her, “You have a chance lots of other people will never have. Why don’t you give yourself a new surname?”

Sally looked into his blue eyes and sincere face, wiping her face with her sleeve. She looked at that face below the nest of sky blue hair and the Italian suit, which seemed to conflict in ideology, and felt a sudden rush of defiance. She didn’t know exactly it was defying, but she knew that it was defiance. She felt herself ignore the part of her that told her to keep her head down, try to find out where she was, try to escape and felt herself thinking that she didn’t care who her old self was. If she’d forgotten her, then she couldn’t have been all that great.

Sally wanted a new name. She knew instinctively that she didn’t want her old life. As she tried to think back to it all she felt was frustration, frustration and a sense of despair. She didn’t want that. She wanted to feel hope, even if it meant giving up everything she’d known up until then. She was floating on a sea of possibilities, and she wanted a new anchor, not an old one which kept her in despair.

“I would………can I?”

“Sure. Who do you want to be?”

“I don’t know………” said Sally, feeling foolish.

Dryden coughed politely. “Sally, can I suggest a name?”

“Sure.” She replied.

“I don’t know you, but you seem pretty cool. How about Bellamy?”

“After the singer in Muse?” asked Nathan, “are you really sure?”

“Mr Flagge, “said Sally, “Can I choose later?”

“Of course, it’s a big decision.” He said.

Dryden, for the first time, took a sip of tea.

“Mr Flagge, what accident was I in?”

Nathan visibly shuddered as he sat back down. He stopped and said, “I’m sorry Sally, but I don’t know. You just came from the medical department and sent here. Unfortunately I am not deemed worthy of knowing such things.”

Sally knew he was lying, but didn’t press it. She had a more important question. “Do you know when I’ll get my memory back?”

“Sorry Sally, I don’t know. I’m not a psychologist, I just teach Theology. The doctors I spoke to said it might be a week, it might even be a year, they didn’t really know. But they did say the best thing you could do would be to follow a normal routine. They said that settling in here would help you, give you some stability. Once you have that, you can choose who you want to be.”

Sally blinked. Nathan didn’t seem to want to talk about it. She, still unsure of herself didn’t want to either. She looked around, trying to work out what she wanted to ask next before she said, “Mr Flagge………” she sighed. “No one’s going to yell at me are they? I don’t know anything.”

“No Sally, if they expected you to know it they wouldn’t have to teach you it.” He said, “now, both of you, off to lessons. You have Philosophy next, I believe.”

Dryden blinked at Nathan and said, “Yes we do. I think we should go, or Dante will kill us.”

“Well, I don’t want to see two pupils dead before lunch” laughed Nathan, “Now, off with the two of you.” Sally and Nathan stood up simultaneously and were about to leave when Nathan shouted, “Sally…”

Sally spun around, her hair flying in a graceful fan. She looked at the man, blue eyes, blue hair, suit and tie, like a grown up punk, sitting at the desk watching her. “Feel free to talk to me. I am the headmaster here, but I am a friend as well, I hope. I’ll call for you later if you would like.”

“Thank you Mr Flagge.” She said, smiling ambiguously. Dryden held the door open for her and she walked through. She closed it behind her, walking out of the office into the bright light of the hall.

“Now, to philosophy!” said Dryden dramatically, “Before Dante gets there.”

“Who’s Dante?” she asked.

“Philo’ teacher, “explained Dryden, “and trust me, I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of him.”

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Ah, I have plans for this lot………I hope it won’t be too obvious what is going to happen. The next chapter should be better, if shorter, and I hope you’ll like the characters I’ll be introducing through the story. If so, tell me why, if not, also tell me why and if you think I should rectify it. However, Nathan will be a bit ambiguous until the end – he’s nice, but………well, tell me if I’m right.

Ta for reading.

Xandra the Blue.