Saint Paul High Misfit

She is Starting to Get Suspicious

CHAPTER 4: She is Starting to Get Suspicious

Gale followed the old lady who supervised the meal in her dormitory as soon as she was called. She finished eating her meal, unwillingly. They walked towards the building on the left side at the back of the cathedral and a little far from the classroom buildings. Since the Dormitories are on the right side, they had to cross the school premises to get to their destination.

As usual, Gale garnered the attention of the students as she slowly paced the hallways, looking around. It is obvious that she is a new student at this school. She was instantly a celebrity as rumors that she is getting punished on her first day spread.

‘But this is not my first day. I came here yesterday, Monday.’

Gale initially thought that rumors don’t occur here, but she was wrong. Nonetheless, at least she found a normal societal occurrence, so she was relieved.

Gale and the lady ultimately reached the two-story rectangular building beside an enormous tree. There are two other buildings there, one is the library and the other is an unnamed old building. The first floor of the building they approached has three rooms and they are outside of the middle door that has a signage that reads “Office of the Guidance Counselor” at the top of the door. The lady glared at Gale before dragging her harshly inside the middle door.

Inside the door is a plain room. There is a table and a chair where the guidance counselor sat, and in front of her are two-person sofas parallel to each other. The lady pushed Gale forcefully on the sofa, wrinkling her uniform. But it did not bother her at all and she fixed herself as if it was nothing.

“Now, Eleonor, you must not treat a student like that,” the guidance counselor said. But her eyes and smile were not sincere at all. This creeped Gale out.

“Look at her, Miss Bennett. Look at the way she looks.” Miss Maurice is a lady that looks like she is in her 40’s but in reality, she’s already 62. She is poised and looks collected. She wears rectangular eyeglasses and red lipstick on her lips—which is unusual, that highlights her sharp features that exude beauty and elegance despite the wrinkles.

“This is what you gave me. What, did you want me to wear it or not?” Gale said smugly, which made Eleonor more furious.

“YOU—!” Eleonor was about to say something but Miss Bennett interrupted her.

“Eleonor, stop. Don’t say any more.” She turned to Gale and resumed. “Indeed, miss Peterson. This is not at all your fault. I will request a bigger set of uniform for you so, in the meantime, you can wear that. Please overlook this matter as Eleonor here is only concerned about the reputation of our school.”

Miss Bennett’s voice was gentle but, somehow, Gale felt threatened. There was no sincerity in her tone and expression, and it made Gale uncomfortable.

‘Reputation? To what? The trees? There’s literally nobody here.’

Gale was excused. She hurriedly left the room. As she was closing the door, she heard a part of the conversation between Eleonor and Miss Bennett.

“You’re not going to send her to detention, Miss?!”

“For what?”

“That girl did not pray on her first day and showed no respect to us at all!”

“Calm down, Eleonor. She’s new. Detention is a heavy punishment.”

“But—”

“Besides, the boy is in there. Letting them meet this soon is going to be a problem.”

Gale did not pay mind to this as she was in a hurry to get out of there. She is suspicious of everything, but she is aware of her current situation. She had just entered this place. She leaned on the huge tree and calmed her system.

‘That woman is so creepy. There was something about her that felt ominous.’

Gale shrugged that thought off. She took out the paper containing her schedule from her bag and walked to her classroom.

Fortunately, the schedule came with a map of the campus which made her easily navigate her way.

“Class 11-C. Is this it?” Gale stood in front of a closed door. She is 15 minutes late thanks to Eleonor. She knocked on the door before twisting the doorknob and pushing it open.

Gale is currently at level 11 out of 12 levels of primary and secondary education. Saint Paul only offers 11th and 12th level education, which does not make any sense to Gale. There are four sections each year, which are labeled A-D.

When she entered, people in the classroom looked at her. The teacher gestured her to come in front and she obliged. The teaching staff in this school is a mixture of nuns and teachers. The subjects and courses are similar to other schools, but here, there are religion and values subjects included. As a result, class starts at seven and ends at three, plus an hour of self-study and an hour for organizational activities.

“Why are you late?” asked the teacher who was annoyed that her class was interrupted. The first class is Philosophy. Gale transferred late in the first semester.

“I was sent to the guidance counselor’s office.” The class audibly gasped upon hearing Gale’s straightforward answer.

Gale sat at the back of the room and sat throughout the lesson.

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“When is Liam going to get out?” asked a blonde girl in pigtails while playing with a card.

“Don’t be impatient, Honey. He’s going to get out later,” answered a shirtless guy on top of a tree.

“That b***h is really strict. I can’t believe they punished him for merely kissing a girl,” uttered another.

This is among the members of one of the many secret societies in Saint Paul High. A circle with a diamond, heart, spade, and clover inside of it that was engraved on the trunk of a tree symbolizes this group.

Inside of the forest, there are trees with different engraved symbols and logos carved on them—each pertains to a group.

“Have you heard of the new girl?” asked the fourth person.

“That chick?” The shirtless guy looked at the person who asked.

“Yeah. Apparently, she smashed someone’s head open before she entered here. Not only that, but she also has a criminal record.”

The girl laughed. “She did not look that part. Must be a cool lad, but what’s new? There are lots of people like her here.”

“True.”

Saint Paul probably looks quiet, and the students seem well-behaved. But beneath the surface, there are things that are hidden.

Soon, Gale will come to know what lies under the pretense of holiness of the place.

But no hurry. She is only in her second day. And the mice have not yet come out of the hole.

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