MagicPocket
EMT Extraordinaire
Briarwood Preparatory Academy
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An expensive black Mercedes, gleaming in the bright overcast mid-day sun, wove its way around the stone driveway and rolled to a gentle stop outside the front doors of the grandiose mansion. A man dressed in a dark suit and cap got out of the driver’s seat and hurried to open the doors of the backseat. Moments later, Veronica Holiday stepped out of the vehicle a small smile crossing her lips. She straightened her white skirt before looking up to face what seemed like more of her home than her family’s residency across the country on the Pacific coast in Malibu–she found that rather humorous.
A droplet of water landed on her cheek and reminded her that she didn’t have time to stand staring at a place she would be looking at for the entire school year, it would rain soon as it had off-and-on all day and it seemed so nonprofessional to be caught in the rain. Veronica heard her mother complaining loudly at the chauffeur about a bumpy ride near the back of the vehicle where they were unloading her luggage. She rolled her eyes, her mother was always one to make a scene, as she was never easy to satisfy. Veronica began to take a step away from the car when a hand caught her own. She turned and smiled gently into the very large sad eyes of her younger sister.
"I wanna’ go too...I’ll miss you," Maddie pried.
Veronica leaned down to look at her, "And you will next year when you’re thirteen. Then we’ll be in school together. You just have to be patient," she kissed Maddie’s forehead, "I’ll miss you, too, so much."
Her sister’s face fell, her shoulders sank, but her jaw set. "I love you," she added hopefully but Veronica just smiled sadly, finally enough to convince her younger sister to give in after a long moment of deliberation. She released the firm grip on her older sister’s hand. Veronica smiled encouragingly once more before turning and closing the door to the Mercedes behind her.
She heaved a sigh, taking solace that the Academy did not admit those who where not of proper age without reason and that she was in fact currently enrolled in her final term at Briarwood, as a senior, she would not be coming back for another year.
~ ~ ~
Cameron Epcott sighed from the back seat of a relatively clean tax cab. She stared out the windows at the leafy canopy of the towering maple trees that bordered the boulevard drive up to Academy. It was the last leg of the journey, about five minutes of driving down the Academy’s private driveway through the massive estate, but she couldn’t help thinking the trip from her apartment in Queens always seemed to take too long. Though it seemed like the cab driver was having a fine time talking her ear off with irrelevant nonsense in his heavy New Yorker accent. Cam rolled her eyes. He pulled around the drive that circled around between a huge elegant fountain that was surrounded by extravagant landscaping and marble steps up to the mansion Academy. The cab driver squeezed through the throng of other arriving students, narrowly fitting between a long black limousine and a Volvo before parking. The driver peered through the windshield to get a full view of the statuesque building.
"You shore’ we at the right place?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes." Cameron said shortly, her eyes averted while she picked through her wallet.
"So, ah...You go ta’ school heah?" His eyes flickered from the marble crowning to his rear-view mirror and the girl in the backseat.
Cameron looked up after a moment. "No. I’m just a consultant." She handed him the exact cash for her bill and hauled her duffle bag in her lap and popped open the door. The driver sifted through the cash twice in what seemed like record time. He coughed and cleared his throat. Cameron turned her head to face him. "Is there a problem?" she asked with mild interest.
The driver made a face and held out his hand for more money. Cameron raised an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes extravagantly, evidently irritated for the need to spell things out, "Usually, when a driver bothers to take a ‘client’ this far out of his way, usually therahs a tip involved."
Cameron raised her eyebrows. "How about never, is never good for you?"She kicked the door open farther, tired of drivers mooching off of her after they saw the kind of place she was headed to and expecting more of a tip–and this guy had really gotten on her nerves. "And you, sir, are validating my inherent mistrust in strangers."
She stepped out of the car, pulling her duffle bag over her shoulder and pushing it behind her back as she did. Cameron leaned down quickly and swept up a backpack from the floor of the car, then pushed the door shut with her hip. The heals of her black high-healed boots clicked on the stone masonry of the Academy driveway as she walked away from the car and disappeared in the activity of her fellow classmen. She felt several drops of water fall on her head. Cameron looked up at the sky and another drop fell on her face. She tugged at a light scarf around her neck that accented with her leopard print leggings then popped up the collar on her black trench coat, glad she came prepared and worn it after all.
~ ~ ~
Conner Greyson pulled the ear buds out of his ears as his mother grabbed him in an inevitable, inescapable hug. The faint hum of music could be heard over the babble of a bunch of other people, lower classmen, that he didn’t know and didn’t particularly care to meet. He looked down and paused his music and shoved his iPod into his pocket and waited out the hug, patting her back with his other hand. His mother sniffed and finally pulled away, her eyes were red and wet. "Mom, please." He sighed, tired of the dramatics and waterworks year after year. "I’ll be back for Winter break. It isn’t like I’m going off to the military or anything..." he said rolling his eyes. Immediately he regretted saying anything.
She burst into tears and yanked him into a hug again. "Don’t say such a thing! I’m already going to miss you, don’t make me worry about anything happening to you!" Conner had momentarily forgotten that his mother had lost her brother in the Operation Dessert Storm; his uncle had gotten shot under friendly fire. He supposed that death was a touchy subject... " It’s your final year–you know crazy things happen when people get too comfortable!"Conner had actually counted on going to some crazy parties and participating in some of the nefarious crazy happenings seniors got into in their final year.
After a few minutes of emotional breakdown, he was able to pull out his luggage; one large suitcase a small duffle of his instrumental stuff, which he latched to the pull handle of his suitcase, and both of his guitar cases. Another few more hugs and tears and promises of being safe and studying hard, she kissed him goodbye and Conner finally coaxed her into the car. He waved to his older sister looking smug in the front seat, as she was an alumni of Briarwood from a few years back. She waved to him and mouthed, "Good luck." She laughed to herself–obviously she had listened in to their conversation--and started the car and drove off carefully.
Conner shook his head as he stared after the car. He turned around and bent down to pick up his stuff.
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