Two days later, Alex slipped on the maroon blazer that made up the last of her new uniform and grimaced. She looked ridiculous in the get up even disregarding the skirt. At least the uniform included sensible leather boots rather than any of those ankle breaking monstrosities rich women called shoes. Happily, today was going to be her final day in the cell, and she was more than ready to stretch her legs. As awesome as it was to experiment with her new found talent, the view left much to be desired. Besides, it would be just as easy to practise outside of the steel box.
Alex reached for the small knife on the bedside table that she had been practising with. Casting her will at the small piece of metal she started to slowly contort the knife into interesting patterns with her mind. She had quickly found limitations on her talent. Most limiting was she could only control relatively small objects, and she had to be touching them to do so. The necessity of touch was apparently unusual for telekinetics but she didn’t care. Alex had long ago given up on the idea of developing a talent, so even these drawbacks were not going to kill her enthusiasm. Besides,she was reasonably certain that with more practise she could manipulate one end of a rope over longer distances if she really had to.
Her practise was interrupted by the arrival of Professor Fletcher, the eccentric women from the other day.
“Oi, kid you dressed and ready to get go?” she all but shouted while simultaneously rattling the bars. Alex jumped guiltily, stuffing the butter knife down her boot before heading towards the door.
The blunt knife was likely to be almost useless as a weapon, but it would not take much effort to impart an edge to the blade and years of habit made it hard not to feel naked if she was unarmed.
Northcrest Academy was a very different picture in the light of day.The previously empty hallways were now full of students moving in groups, and the air was full of both cheerful chatter and an thrum of excited energy.
Something she most noticed straight away though, was that the students were not in any coherent uniform. However her strangled protests to Professor Fletcher were not met with sympathy. Instead the infuriating woman simply cheerily replied that she lied about the uniform since Alex had to look good when she met the Dean. Apparently, the professor thought the lie was the easiest way to get her in a skirt. Alex briefly considered protesting, but sullenly realised that if her protests did not convince herself, they certainly wouldn’t convince the professor.
Alex noted with some trepidation that she was getting a fair number of glances from the rest of the students. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but sped up her pace and shadowed her beaming escort. Professor Fletcher came to stop outside a solid wooden door, waiting for Alex to catch up before breezing in with little ceremony.Alex nervously followed into a well lit antechamber that held only a few bookshelves and a severe looking desk that barely contained an extremely large scowling woman who Alex presumed was acting as the dean’s secretary.
“Damn it Fletcher, do you not know how to knock?” Alex recoiled at the vehemence of the woman, but the words flowed right off her ever cheerful companion.
“Please Lucrecia, How many times have I told you to call me Beatrice?”
“The same number of times I have told you we will never be that close, and it is Mrs Pitt.” The now almost frothing woman shot back. As her focus moved to Alex, the young girl noticed her already beady dark eyes narrow.
“I suppose this the criminal your trying to sponsor in your latest scheme to make a joke out of this academy?”
Alex sighed. Of course things were going to well to be true.
Northcrest 