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[color=FFCFC0]"¿Vas a estar bien?"[/color]

[color=#568203]"Mama, se preocupa demasiado. Todo irá bien."[/color]

[color=FFCFC0]"Mmh. Diviértete."[/color]

James snatched his briefcase and flew out the front door of 219 Wade Street. He had a bike, sure, but the school was only a 20 minute walk away. He liked to walk. It gave him time to think. James considered himself quite good at thinking, but by no means was he an expert. Anyone who was a master at thinking went and lived on high-up mountains in China or Tibet or some other equally distant Asian country.

[i]Harbour Academy for Gifted Adolescents and Youths, huh?[/i] He thought.

HAGAY was the most prestigious school in a town of prestigious people. Cape Cove was the home of a rapidly growing medicinal market, and where there was medicine, there was money. Not only were there doctors and high-paying patients, but also everything else a spanky-wanky new hospital town needed to sustain itself. Hotels, restaurants, playplaces like the cinema or that new bowling alley on 3rd Avenue. Cape Cove needed nurses, janitors, receptionists, accountants, [i]people[/i] to fill the many jobs and duties in town.

[i]Lawyers, too.[/i]

Well, soon there would be a [i]new[/i] occupation Cape Cove could claim possesion of- mystery writer extraordinaire- but only if he could get his shit together and write something good for once.

James passed by some other teenagers walking in directions antithetical to his. Students of the other schools in town, no doubt. HAGAY only enrolled a hundred students spread over multiple years- around 15 or so per grade.

He stopped at the school gate. What a grey place! The architecture was incredible, but the color design was so odd- almost as if the architect was colorblind. It blended in so well with the grey Virginia weather that he had almost missed the damn thing!

[color=#568203]"No sense losing my nerve now, ah?"[/color] James said to nobody in particular, which was good, for no other students were loitering at the entrace to hear him. He checked his watch, a gift from his late paternal grandfather. He was somewhat early.

[color=#568203]"Might as well head to the classroom."[/color]

He showed his student ID to the guard at the gate and stepped inside. The courtyard leading up to the school was a good deal prettier than the entrance- soon the fall colors would come into a beautiful symphony of reds and oranges. James snapped a quick picture with his phone- the first of what he hoped would be many happy photos of the school year.

The halls were also mostly empty, save for an adult or two that rushed by James without a word. Last-minute preparations, no doubt. James could relate. He often procrastinated important essays until the night before the due date, a habit would have to work on if he wanted to succeed in the coming year.

As he entered the classroom, James noticed one other student- a blonde girl- already there, speaking quietly with a bespectacled man who he recognized as Mr Spelwel, his teacher. They turned as he entered.

[color=FFCFC0]"Ah, James, how good to meet you in person! I've heard a lot about you, and I'm excited to see how you perform this year!"[/color] Mr Spelwel stuck out his hand.

James shook it. [color=#568203]"Likewise. I'll be in your care. I hope that-"[/color]

The screech of the morning bell interrupted James.

Mr Spelwel laughed. [color=FFCFC0]"That's alright. We can have a proper introduction once everyone comes in. I'm sure everyone will welcome you just fine. Here they come now!"[/color]

HAGAY's class of 2020 entered Room 201 like a flock of swans. Disorganized, wacky swans, but swans nonetheless. Each student carried themselves in a way that emphasized how they [i]deserved[/i] to be in one of the top secondary institutions in the country. Several of them gave James looks that reminded him of the look a cat gives a mouse before eating it. He swallowed. Did cats play with their food before eating it? Did cats eat the mice at all? Or was that something that the portrayal from-

Mr Spelwel gave James a hearty slap on the back, nearly sending him sprawling. The thin teacher's frame certainly belied his arm strength.

[color=FFCFC0]"Right, why don't you introduce yourselves? Give us your name and... a fact about yourself! You know, icebreakers. Then we'll go around the class and everyone else can do them."[/color]

The blond girl was apparently vegetarian. He would have to remember that.

It was his turn now. Spelwel pushed his hand down on James's shoulder.

[i]Easy now. Good first impression. These people have known each other for ages now, but that doesn't matter. You're not an outsider, you're just a couple years late to the party. That's like, not that much of a person's life, right? 1/40th the total lifetime of an average person, maybe?[/i]

[color=#568203]“Ah, hey everyone! I’m James León. I like mystery and crime novels and writing!”[/color] He smiled and clapped his hands together. [color=#568203]“I look forward to the coming year with you all!”[/color]