Eden Island: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Island

I woke with a start to hustling and bustling around me. People were coming back up from the mingling area to get their things. I realized I had been asleep on Wurin’s shoulder.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” I said, turning red. He laughed.

“Anytime,” he said, brushing a stray hair off my face. I smiled.

“Let’s start getting our stuff,” he said, standing up.

“Right,” I said, moving out of the aisle to allow him through. We picked up our stuff and starting walking towards the exit. As we walked through the door, he rested a gentle hand on the small of my back. My skin tingled.

The school was perched on the top of the mountain-like island. There was a cable car system running to the school to get students there quickly. We lined up with the rest of the new kids, so we were in a line of our own. They led us to an admissions office, where we showed them our papers. The lady at the desk handed us an information leaflet.

“Since you might need some help, we arranged for a student guide. You will need to go to the dean’s office first, though.” She smiled gently. “I know coming to a different school can be hard. But you kids will love it here. We want to do our best to make sure you feel included. I had a similar experience, coming from public school to Eden. But I learned to love it eventually.”

“Why did you choose to work here?” I asked, curious. She shrugged.

“I felt like Eden needed someone who knew what it felt like to be the new kid. I wanted to help those kids. Coming here was how I felt I was able to do that.”

I nodded, my trust won. This lady truly knew how to make me feel comfortable. She smiled again.

“You’ll want to be going up that cable car right there. The dean’s office is in the East Wing of the school. It’s impossible to miss, it’s right near the greenhouse.”

We nodded, and walked out and sat in the cable car. A supervisor sat waiting, in case of emergencies. I looked out at the ocean, at the sprawl of green. I noticed a crumbling white building in the distance, on the shoreline. I pointed to it, turning to the supervisor.

“What’s that?” I asked curiously.

“It’s an abandoned hospital. Probably from the late forties or early fifties. Home to all manner of dangers. For safety reasons, we ask students not to go there. It was initially built for the school, but now we have our own facilities,” he explained. I nodded, satisfied with the explanation.

After reaching the top, we reached the school. Wurin and I just stood there, shocked. It was giant. It had a blend of old and new, with more modern buildings attached to the original Victorian-style buildings, without looking tacky.

“Am I at Hogwarts or something?” breathed Wurin, and I breathed a shaky laugh. We walked to the dean’s office, occasionally consulting the map in the information leaflet.

Eventually we reached the mahogany door embellished with letters reading, ‘DEAN’. I took a deep breath, and then knocked.

“Come in,” said a woman’s voice. I opened the door and we stepped through.

It was a well-lit room, with soft lighting and a large window at the far end. Plants were set up in corners, and shelves of books adorned the walls. On one shelf, there were assorted trinkets and an old-style record player with vinyls on the shelf. Awards were also placed there, and picture frames. The desk at the back had two comfy-looking chairs in front of it, and an armchair behind it. The desk had a computer, and a lamp. A half-drunk cup of coffee was next to the computer, and papers littered the table.

Behind the desk, perched on the chair was the dean. She seemed to be in her forties, with black hair that was cut short. She had dark, copper skin and high, defined cheekbones. She had a nose piercing and wore a fitted, thin black sweater and a tight skirt, with black heels. Gold hoops and studs hung from her ears. She smiled upon seeing us, revealing perfect, straight white teeth.

“Welcome to Eden. Wurin Song and Yuna Seo, I presume?” she said. Her voice was huskier than I expected, and she had an almost lisp-like lilt to her voice that was practically mesmerizing. I nodded. I liked her already.

“Perfect,” she said. “I’m Clara Winters. It’s a pleasure to meet you two. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I frowned. A lot about us? How, where and why? Oh, well. I was here now, and I might as well just suck it up.

“Likewise, ma’am.” responded Wurin. I snapped back to my senses.

“Lovely to meet you,” I said, fasle honey oozing from my voice. We shook hands. She smiled again.

“I arranged for a guide for you both. She can also show you both to your rooms, and your roommates can take it from there. Does that sound okay with you guys?” She asked. We both nodded. She clapped her hands.

“Perfect. She’s just outside, if you guys want to meet her?” she gestured to the door with manicured hands. I looked at Wurin, and he shrugged. We walked toward the door and opened it. A girl stood there.

She was tall for a girl, with long, straight blonde hair that fell down her shoulders. She was conventionally attractive, with a curvy build and sharp features. She was looking down at her phone and texting. She looked up at us. She looked us both up and down. She smiled at Wurin, but shot me a dirty look. Oh, great.

“Hi newbies, welcome to Eden, I’m Mikayla. What’re your names?” she asked, her voice a high-pitched falsetto, fake friendliness dripping from her.

“Wurin Song. It’s nice to meet you,” said Wurin, shaking her hand, and resting another hand on my back, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yuna Seo. Pleasure,” I said, saluting. I didn’t wanna shake her hand. She giggled slightly, and turned, gesturing for us to follow her. Wurin took my hand. He leaned down and whispered in my ear in Korean.

“Please pretend. She won’t leave me alone otherwise. I don’t like her.” I nodded.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll play along. Kiss my cheek, it’ll make it look real” I responded, keeping in Korean. He laughed, and did so. I smiled, genuinely enough for me.

Mikayla watched us carefully, seeing how close I was to him before clearing her throat. We pretended to snap to our senses, and Wurin held up our interwined hands and moved forward, pulling me along.

“Let’s go,” he said in English. I nodded, and smiled. Mikayla stared daggers at us.

“Are you two dating?” she asked, her act of false friendliness dropping slightly. We both nodded. A disgusted look flashed upon her face slightly as she looked at me, but when she looked at Wurin, she giggled.

“That’s so cute. How did she ask you out?” she asked.

“Why would you assume that she asked me out? I asked her out. We worked at the same coffee shop for a while, and I had her number, so I met up with her after she stopped working there.” he said. Damn, the boy could lie smoothly. I just nodded along.

Mikayla smiled icily and nodded.

“Anyhoo, let’s give you two a tour!” she said excitedly. “I’m like, dying, to show you guys the school! We don’t get newbies that often!”

We nodded and smiled as she led us around the school. I gasped when I saw the dance studio. I’d been dancing since I was very young and Wanda had made the mistake of exposing me to K-Pop, which I had been hooked to ever since.

I’d never been able to use a full-on studio, even in school. At school, since I hadn’t danced for a studio or done any contests, I just sort of watched while the others danced. I pointed to the room and looked at Mikayla.

“What do they dance to normally?” I asked, wondering if I could do anything they did.

“Well, most of them are K-Pop fanatics, so they do a lot of that. They tend to go for existing choreo, so K-Pop works for them. Why, do you dance?” she asked, for the first time not sounding sour. I nodded, and she smiled genuinely.

“That’s really cool! Did you ever dance for a studio, or just a hobby?” she asked curiously.

“Oh, just as a hobby. I never stayed somewhere long enough to consider joining a studio.” I responded with a small, awkward laugh. Mikayla grinned brightly.

“My best friend has been looking for one last person for their performance. Maybe you’d be interested? I’ll introduce you sometime, it’ll be fun!” she said, taking my hand in hers. I looked at Wurin and laughed. It was a real laugh.

“Sure, that sounds like fun!” I said enthusiastically. Wurin just smiled as he looked at me.

We continued our tour, and as we walked, my dislike for Mikayla disspiated. She was a nice girl when you knew her. I guess she’d gotten over the fact that Wurin was ‘taken’.

Once we’d come full circle, she turned around and looked at us.

“You two must be tired- do you want to see your rooms?” she asked, a smile forming on her face. We both nodded, excited.

“One minute, please. I’ll make sure that your roommates are ready,” she said, checking her phone. She looked up again after a few moments.

“Okay! We are good to go! This way, please,” she said, steering us in the right direction.

Wurin and I looked at each other. I wasn’t sure whether I would be okay here, but with Wurin as my friend, and with that dance studio, maybe things would turn out alright.