Arcadian

The error

I stare out the window, watching the crisp autumn leaves fall off the trees that line the desolate road my taxi steadily drives along.

I relish in the journey, not being excited for the destination.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for this new opportunity and maybe a fresh start will be good for me but I can't help but feel unwanted. I asked my mum for help, begged even and her first response was to send me across the country so I wouldn't damage her perfect reputation.

'You're always creating problems Harper' She would always say.

No matter what I do I can't seem to live up to the impossible expectations she sets for me. I was the top of my class, I worked everyday and volunteered in my spare time and she still criticised me for being lazy and wasting my potential.

But I love her, I really do. I want nothing more in the world than for her to just look at me and tell me she's proud, proud of all the effort I have to put in just to keep living but she never will because she's never noticed.

Not even when I started isolating myself, creating distance from the friends I once loved hanging out with or when I completely stopped eating the food she would put in the fridge.

"Here we are," The taxi driver announces, pulling me out of my pessimistic thoughts.

We drive down the gravelled road as we pull up in front of the massive building. The tall stone walls are coated in unkept vines of ivy and enormous hedges, each shaped as different animals line the entrance.

I smile at the bunny hedge, finding it absolutely adorable.

"Thank you," I smile at the driver before handing him the money and climbing out. He speeds off, leaving me alone with nothing but my raggedy old tote bag adorning my shoulder. 

The courtyard is completely empty which makes sense because according to the schedule I memorised, students aren't allowed out of their dorms before breakfast at seven am and it's currently ten past six.

I stand still for a moment, letting the cold wind of the brisk autumn morning waft through my long hair as I stare at the medieval looking building, my new home.

My hands slightly shake as I shove them into my cardigan's pockets and begin walking towards the huge glass paned oak doors. The all too familiar sense of dread and anxiety lingers inside me as I search for the admissions office.

My feet creak on the old flooring, disturbing the utter silence as I approach the woman at the office. "Excuse me, I'm new here and I was told to find the admissions office," I say, my voice coming out a lot my wobbly than I had intended.

"Ah well you've found me," She says cheerily. "What's your name sweetheart?" She asks. "Harper, Harper Flores," I reply, now feeling more at easy because of the woman's kind nature.

"Well Harper take a seat," She says, motioning to the chair in front of her desk but as she does so she knocks over a set of files that were near her arm, sending them scattered across the floor.

I drop to the floor and pick them up. "Don't worry, I've got it," I reassure when I hear her try to get out of her seat. I place them in a neat pile back on her desk and sit down, crossing my legs in the chair.

She thanks me and begins typing away on her computer. 

"So it says here that you were in all the top sets in your previous school," She says, not looking away from the screen. "Well your grades are very impressive, we'll continue to keep you in the highest sets here and see how you get on," She explains, taking a sip from her coffee.

I nod in understanding as I watch her eyebrows furrow and her smile morph into a frown. "Oh." She says bluntly. "Oh?" I repeat, slightly confused.

"It seems as if we've made a mistake, you've been assigned to Oakwood hall which is the boy's dorm," She reveals, causing me to frown as well. 

"Don't worry sweetheart we can get that sorted, I can transfer you to the girls one," She reassures once she senses my worry. She stares at her computer for a few moments, still frowning before picking up the old landline that rests on her desk.

She hits a few buttons and places it to her ear. I watch as she explains the situation to the unknown person, she seems as if she wants to argue with them but is holding herself back so I'm assuming it's her boss.

"Mhm yeah, okay," She says bluntly before hanging up. She sighs in frustration and turns her attention back to me.

"I'm sorry but there's no available room in the girls dorm," She explains apologetically . "You'll have to reside in the all boys hall until the end of the year or until a girl drops out," She says as I stare back at her in shock.

I'm going to be staying in the all boys dorm?