First Year Entrance 2020-2021

Interacting @Atlas Rey

When the new girl got into the boat and introduced herself, Vivian turned to her--
'I'm Vivi,' she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and showing off her perfect smile. 'Atlas is such a lit name! Gosh, this has been a rough day. Jeez.' She definitely needed someone to rant to. 'I literally was like, oh, I'll get my nails done for the first day, just to show how down I was for this whole boarding school life--' Actually, not really, she'd just wanted to get her nails done. 'And then it turns out this school is not long-nail compatible; I mean, I get it, you know, they want to have the fun boat thing going on, and that's fun and fresh, but not so much when the boats are, like--I don't know, they're like something they'd put convicts in in the 1800s. You know? It's 2021, let's get things moving.' She clicked her fingers to emphasise her point. As the boats started moving, she felt a lurch in her stomach and a wave of nausea. No, this most certainly was not for her. It reminded her of the time she went kayaking in Argentina. About five minutes in she felt like she was going to hurl and when they hit ten minutes, she gave up trying to, like, row because her arms were too tired. Then the guide-guy got really angry because he'd let her have her own kayak even though she was technically too young, because her mom had insisted she was a very talented and athletic young girl with a great passion for the outdoors. While this was going on, Vivian had been staring at her phone: one of her friends had posted pictures of her trip to Dubai on her Snapchat story, and Vivian couldn't help but think that Dubai looked so much cooler than where was then.
She was dragged back to the present by the sound of some sort of commotion in one of the other boats, but she didn't pass much heed on it.

When Atlas had spoken anxiety swept through her at the thought of no one answering and the confident persona she put on started to slip. There could be a number of reasons no one would answer starting with they could have not heard her. So when the girl she had followed into the boat turned to her and introduced herself, Atlas beamed. Not only at the words, but at the girl herself or Vivi as she now knew her. There was a sort of cocky aura about her, not the type of cocky that makes you never want to speak to one again, the type that feels genuine and radiates confidence.

Atlas continued to smile, maybe giggle a little, throughout Vivi's rant about everything she's gone through today. When she started talking about the boat they were in, which had started moving away from the shore, Atlas looked down to find it covered in slimy muck that made her want to throw up everything she ate today. With a squeak, she brought her knees together and tried to keep only her toes touching the floor of the boat. This sent her tumbling into Vivi's side, the girl had stopped talking and now looked a little seasick. "Sorry, so sorry," Atlas said straightening herself out. "Are you okay? You know if you have something sweet or sour to put in your mouth that might help if you're not feeling too good". Atlas wasn't actually sure this would work, never having the need to try it out herself, but she knew giving it a shot wouldn't hurt.

"I actually kind of like the ancient feel of this place, it reminds me of a fantasy novel" she continued, now looking away from Vivi and toward where the boats were heading as they passed through some fog. Atlas had never liked fog or the idea of not being able to see her surroundings in general, but this one put her at peace. It felt extremely refreshing touching her skin after a long day of sitting on a crowded train. Once the fog had cleared and Atlas saw what was beyond she gasped. "Oh my god look at that!" In front of them stood a huge castle, on a mountain, covered in lights. "There is no way that thing can stand without magic". The sight overwhelmed her and realizing she would have the next seven years to marvel over the castle Atlas turned back to Vivi.

Interacting: @Atlas Rey

As Atlas tumbled into her side, Vivian felt just about ready to retch. She barely noticed Atlas apologising to her, but she did hear the stuff about eating something sweet or sour. 'Nope, got nothing,' she managed to get out, 'Gosh, I wish I had a Red Bull. Red Bull makes everything better... nngh...' she decided, for once, that it might be better if she stopped talking. She really didn't like water. Water parks were fine, because they were feeky and fun and all about shoving your frenemies down slides when they least expect it. This was somewhat different.
Just as she was thinking about that, a girl in one of the other boats stood up and toppled over into the water. 'Oof!' Vivian said to Atlas, 'Look at that!' A boy jumped in after her, and Vivi couldn't help but feel a rush of affection for him. If only more boys would be willing to help a damsel-in-distress--wasn't that what they were there for?
They were nearly at the ivy-curtain-thing that led into the harbour when they were called to a halt. A tentacle emerged from the lake, splashing them all with water: it was carrying the girl and the lad who had gone into the lake. 'Eurgh!' Vivian groaned, as she was soaked. 'Rude.'
The tentacle dropped her two new classmates into the boat with the two teachers; the cross one promptly began to berate them and Vivian's eyes fell on the girl, who seemed to have curled in one herself like a crustacean. Well, she thought. Better you than me, sis.

Taffeta blinked out of her daydream as a brown-haired girl stepped into the boat with a greeting, she blinked a gin as she looked around and saw that the boat was already at max capacity. Any normal person would be embarrassed if caught daydreaming to the point of not noticing the world around them, but Taffeta looked pleased. "It's soooo nice to meet you!" she said practically bouncing with a wide grin her golden-like eyes almost glowing in the pale moonlight.

"I'm Taffeta Lalonde, but if I had friends they would probably call me Taffy." She babbled and knew that if her bother Wilby was with her he would tell her to calm down. Taffeta closed her eyes letting her glasses slip down the bridge of her nose and took a shuttering breath and brought her hands from her side into her lap. She dug her nails into her hands leaving crescent moons.

" But it's not like any of you would want to be friends with filth." she said never losing her but also not raising her head her eyes were opened and trained to the floor of the boat. Taffeta stayed quiet as she hummed 'Lavenders blue' with the sway of the boat and like that she was off into her own world.

The excitement flowing through her made Atlas oblivious to her surroundings. Although she noticed the castle and the people in her boat she hadn't noticed any commotion or the girl that had fallen out of a boat. She was even too distracted to notice when the boats came to a stop and disregarded the splash as the lake acting up. Blocking out loud noises and sounds, when they weren't relevant, had always been easy for Atlas. Days later, when a friend would let her know what had happened, Atlas would be relieved that she hadn't known. This relief might have been purely selfish but knowing herself Atlas would have jumped into the lake to try and help the girl and simultaneously wet her brand new robes. She wasn't too fond of the idea of walking into the castle for the first time soaking wet and dripping lake water.

Vivi telling her that she had nothing to help with her nausea led Atlas to stuff her hands into the pockets of her cloak in search of some type of candy. Coming up empty, Atlas looked toward Vivi apologizing for not having anything either. She was about to say that they could ask the other two people on the boat when she noticed that the third girl was speaking. "I'm Taffeta Lalonde, but if I had friends they would probably call me Taffy." Atlas turned to her, smiling, it was hard to make out her exact features in the darkness but her voice was kind, if not a little quiet. "But it's not like any of you would want to be friends with filth". Those words made Atlas's heart squeeze. Why would she think that of herself? Had someone called her filth before?

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, and of course, I would want to be friends with you. You aren't filth, you seem like a great person," Atlas was quick to answer not wanting Taffy to go down the rabbit hole to self-deprecation. "Do you by any chance have something sweet or sour?" Not knowing if Vivi would have wanted her to tell the whole boat she wasn't feeling well Atlas decided to leave that part out.

While waiting for a reply a weird thought struck her. They were all told to leave their luggage behind, but there were so many people on the train, how could everyone possibly get their luggage back by the end of the day. Maybe it was some kind of magic they used to make sure everyone had what was theirs. Where would she even sleep when they got to the castle? The thought that they would probably be sent to sleep soon troubled Atlas since that was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. If she had roommates or would sleep in a shared space, guilt and her not wanting to keep others up with light or movements would force Atlas into bed. Hopefully, they would at least have dinner first, that way she could spend some more time out of bed and also feed her empty stomach.