[b] - Train to the Academy, Third Row Seat >> Ivory Dorms -[/b]

Gracie did her best to ignore the commotion around her as her eyes methodically scanned across the pages of her book. Well, book was really bit of a charitable term for it.... "Brick" or "Grimoire" seemed much more suitable to describe the sheer massive size of the monstrosity which she was reading. It was big. Really, really big. So big that she found herself unable to support its weight with her arm strength alone, and had to raise her legs to prop it up, using her knees for support. Although it was hard for others to really tell from the angle she was holding it in, it looked fairly old and had clearly seen better days. Across its weathered black cover, faded golden letters read "Anthology: The Complete Work of Kant". The edges of the book were frayed with age, and many of the pages seemed to have been distorted by neglect or humidity. 

In spite of the volume's decrepit condition, she seemed enraptured in her reading nonetheless, blissfully ignoring her chaotic surroundings as she lost herself within the words. Admittedly, the noise made it pretty hard to concentrate properly, and she had to re-read a few segments once or twice, but the content was rather interesting, and it provided a handy and convenient excuse to avoid socializing with the other students. Sure, some might say that such writing was a bit too complicated in comparison to some of what other people her age usually read, but she personally always found a certain comfort in the familiarity of books. They, for lack of a better term, made sense, while people far too often did not. 

She had obtained her latest one, along with most of his companions, when she learned that the local library was throwing them out, shortly before leaving. Apparently, they had suffered some sort of water accident involving a pipe break, which had led them to get rid of all books they considered to be too damaged to be of use anymore. Gracie had come by the next day, and salvaged a fairly respectable amount of reading material for herself. Sure, they were all damaged to some extent, but for the most part they were still pretty readable. As long as you didn't mind the occasional coffee stained ring or water blurred page, they were enjoyable, and best of all, free. She didn't really have much funds available most of the time, and a sizable majority of her possessions, from her books to her clothes, had been obtained second or third hand from thrift stores and garage sales.

Thankfully, the passanger sitting next to her hadn't felt the need to initiate a conversation with her, unlike most of the other people on the train, and seemed content to sleep and leave her alone for the most part. The remainder of the trip, for lack of being silent, was fairly short at least, and it wasn't long before they were all debarking. Accustomed to the relatively bland Euthenian metro system, she was caught completely unprepared when they were greeted, not by the monochrome concrete structure that she expected, but rather a vast, majestic forest, who's imposing figure stretched far and wide. Well, that's how it seemed to her at the time, at least. She had never really been much of an outdoors person, to be perfectly honest, and the closest she had come to nature beforehand was whenever her foster parents would force her into the miserable urban square of grass and sand they called a park. 

As she walked through the forest and, later, swamps, on the way to school, wonder soon gave way to annoyance. While her luggage was by no means amongst the largest to have been brought onto the train, it was still fairly heavy, and the measly wheels it rolled on were clearly not designed for trekking through the woods. Not to mention that, as far as attributes go, physical fitness was never really one of her primary concerns, and her muscle strength could best be ranked somewhere between "mediocre" and "Oh gods I think that skeleton just moved!". No one offered her any help as she struggled silently to keep up with the group as they walked, though, in all fairness, neither did she ask for any. No, she simply stubbornly suffered in silence instead, dragging her luggage behind her. 

Needless to say, by the time she arrived at the dormitory building, she was beginning to feel rather exhausted. Well, technically, it was more like the "mildly inconvenienced" of someone who hadn't done any exercise in a few years than the real "exhausted" a real athlete might feel after workout, but she really didn't care for such distinctions right now. She was exhausted. The fact that she had been forced to turn around in circles three times because she didn't want to ask for directions might also have had something to do with that, a little voice at the back of her head also added. At least now she knew where the other paths led, on the bright side. Still, all throughout the entire ordeal, her face had maintained the same bland, emotionless expression it always had. Even when she was tempted to simply slump down onto the floor in defeat upon realizing that her room was on the third floor. Okay, to be fair, she didn't really ever think of doing that, but she was still tired.

When she finally reached the door to her new room, she took a short, silent breath to ready herself for whatever might await on the other side, then crossed the threshold. The dorms were surprisingly spacious, compared to some of the orphanages and families she'd been to. Every student apparently had their own room, and only really shared living quarters in the loosest of senses. Thank the gods for small favors, at least she wouldn't have to endure the same sort of clash of lifestyles and schedules as she had with one of her previous stepsisters. 

It looked like one of the rooms was already occupied, so she headed to the other one to deposit her baggage, before heading back to introduce herself. Okay, she didn't so much "deposit" as "dump it on the bed", but she really wasn't in the mood for semantics. Anyways, she headed back to the main room, then gave a hesitant knock on the door frame, before peaking into the room.

"Hello, I am Gracie." she began. As usual, she spoke in her typical bland, monotone voice, her speech mechanical and devoid of contractions. "I think that we are dormmates."