[Kylie]

Kylie felt a small shiver up her spine as she gazed at the gates in front of her. The guards standing vigilant at the gates reminded her of those British guards that stare out onto the streets and have no emotion, no matter what you did to try to distract them. Kylie didn’t feel compelled to test that on them.

Her father had just left. She didn’t want him to stay very long, and his teary goodbye was getting old. It still ticked her off that he was pretending like he cared about her… but whatever. Now she was on her own, finally, like she had wanted. This should be a piece of cake, right?

She peered through the gate’s opening and saw the school was way off in the distance. Luckily, she had passed of her hefty pieces of luggage to inspection before coming here, so she wouldn't have to lug it all the way there. With a deep breath, she started off and crossed the threshold of the gate…

Her vision seemed to flicker for a moment, and before she could even realize what was happening, she saw the school was now considerably closer. Impossibly close. With a little gasp, she glanced behind her and saw there was no gate. Nothing. Just the grass that seemed to go on forever.

“Oh…” she muttered to herself in a small voice. “I guess there’s no turning back now…”

Kylie should’ve expected as much. She knew the school wasn’t… normal. But the fact that she was experiencing this not-normal-ness firsthand was certainly bizarre. She inhaled shakily and turned around to face forward again. Her brown eyes swiftly scanned over the school in front of her. It kinda looked like your typical boarding school. She had expected something along the lines of Hogwarts… but this was okay too. She noticed she was on the field enclosed by a track, and her stomach tingled. Was there a sports team? Maybe she could cheer for them!

She headed off to the field since she saw a group of adults setting up tables there. Must be the place to check in.

“Hello there!” one of them called out suddenly. “Name?”

Kylie nearly jumped. She didn’t expect anyone to reach out to her so out of the blue.

“Eep!” she gasped. “Oh my God… Sorry.” She giggled to diffuse her embarrassment. “It’s Kylie Reith. R-E-I-T-H.”

The well-dressed woman who had addressed her nodded and produced an envelope labeled 4.

“That number is your class. Class 4.”

“Oh, well you won’t need to worry about me showing up,” Kylie laughed, taking it from her hands.

“The first class is required. After that it’s up to you to show up or not.”

Kylie frowned. She hated that word, required.

“Really?”

“Well if you don’t you’ll certainly be in a pickle. Don’t want to get eaten by a bunch of monsters, do you? It starts at 10am so you have a little bit of time.”

Kylie laughed nervously at the odd woman and stared down at her envelope with a frown.

“Okay, one class isn’t too bad, I guess,” she replied quietly.

“Your room key and information are also in there,” said the woman. “The girls’ dormitories are located on the opposite side of campus. Just keep going straight and past the boys’ dorms. Your luggage should already be in your room by now.”

“…Thanks,” Kylie answered. She figured the first thing she should do was locate her room and belongings and unpack before she got to this class. She gently folded the envelope in her hands and took off toward the girls’ dorms.