Wintercrest Academy

Welcome to Wintercrest!

            Kaia stares back at the girl looking at her in the mirror. She’s almost surreal, in her khaki, high-waisted, pleated skirt that stops mid-thigh. Her white shirt is properly starched and ironed, fitting her frame like it was made specially for her (it was, duh), and her burgundy cross bow adds some sort of professionality to the entire outfit. She’s won the battle against her otherwise obstinate 4C hair, managing to put it into a low bun and taming the puff that would usually have formed at the end of the bun into a single braid she tucked neatly beneath her ribbon.

            She’s been questioned and gawked at like a weirdo for the “unconventionality” of her hair for most of her school life, and even though it seems like people are becoming “woke” and understanding that the black hair is not like every other kind, that it has its own unique  texture and process, she didn’t want to risk being stared at again at a new school. She would wear her hair out in all its thickness, voluminosity and glory. Just, not today.

            Her edges are 99.9% on fleek, sincere condolences to half the jar of Eco Styler Gel, Gorilla Snot Gel and tube of Got2be (her ultimate three) that went into that pretty look. She peeps at the jar on her dresser. Yep, it definitely needs immediate replacement. But she’d bother about that when she slays her first day at Wintercrest Academy. The Wintercrest Academy.

            Best school in Massachusetts, third best in the country. Well known for bagging awards— in not just academia but also sports and arts—home and abroad, and yearly producing Ivy League college students. She places her left hand over her beating heart, feeling equal amounts of excitement and that first day at school tummy whirl.

            “Reciting the pledge?” Her father says, fitting just his head through the door. Still facing her mirror, she motions for him to come in and he does. He’s wearing his regular ‘Big K’ t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. He watches Kaia through the mirror, his eyes soft and loving.

            “Wow, dolphin. You look . . . perfect.”

            “Almost perfect.” She corrects and he smiles. The chances of perfection among humans are next to none, that’s what Kaia believes.

            “Almost perfect.” He repeats and goes to perch at the foot of her bed, still watching her from the mirror.

            Kaia does a 360 to face him. “Is it weird that I’m a little anxious? I don’t know, my socks are just a minute away from being sodden, with all the sweat my feet are producing. It’s crazy.”

            Dad shakes his head. “Not at all, my dolphin. You’re going to Wintercrest. If you weren’t anxious, I would be concerned.” They laugh. “You’re going to do just great, as always. You know that, right?”

            Getting into such a reputable, expensive school is an enormous deal. And Kaia wants to live up to it, the standard. She wants to thrive in there, do excellently, increase her chances of getting into Harvard’s pre-med program and make her Dad proud.

            She hesitates before nodding once. “I am. I hope.” She exhales and starts fiddling with her shiny stud earrings. Dad picks her blazer from her chair and walks up to her. He runs his thumb across the school badge as if to confirm its realness, before helping her put it on. Her turns her around so she faces the mirror again and she stares back at her reflection, now complete. They didn’t wear uniforms at her old school, so seeing herself in the very expensive burgundy blazer with grey piping feels so . . .novel.

            She smiles, and the most adorable dimples appear on both cheeks. Deeper on the left one than on the right. Just like her Dad's. She actually is her dad, phenotypically speaking. They have the same features: spotless cinnamon skin with golden undertones, thick, dark brown hair, round face, Nubian nose: long bridge and wide base, pinpoint mole on their cupid bow, plump lips, dimples. But where her Dad’s eyes are smaller in a way that makes him look calm and content, hers are doe, daring, wanting to do more. To be more. Just like her Mum’s.

            “I’m so proud of you, dolphin. Always know that. Come on, let’s get you to Wintercrest.”

            She quickly slips on her loafers, having already worn her grey socks that stop a few inches above her knees and they go to the living room. Kaia quickly downs a cup of coffee and two slices of toast, before grabbing her lunch of turkey wrap, blue berries for her brain (name a food that is said to sharpen the brain, Kaia has eaten it), water and mango juice and shoving it into her bag. Her scholarship covers lunch, but she’s a picky eater, so she’s taking her own lunch, in case she doesn’t fancy what they serve at Wintercrest’s cafeteria.

            “Thanks, Dad.” She stretches on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek. He raises his hands to run it through her hair, but stops himself when he sees the work she’s done. He pats it instead and they laugh.

            “Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off? I could go to the restaurant afterwards, and Diane would open up and start without me.”

            Kaia nods certainly, with a small smile that makes the right dimple almost nonexistent. “I’m sure. It’d take a bus. It’s not a hassle, I promise.”

            “Are you sure? This route is new for you.” Dad presses.

            “Yessssss!” Kaia says with a laugh. “I’m not changing my mind, Dad. Stop trying.” He raises his hands in surrender.

            “Okay, you guys are cute and all, but Dad still gotta drop me off. And I have a punctuality record to keep. Hurry up people.” A slim boy with a too big square frames, chubby cheeks and a clean-cut hair, clad in slacks, a plain white dress shirt and black sneakers snaps his fingers at Kaia and Dad. He's wearing his backpack to the front and holding his lunch bag in his left hand.

            “Keanu, rude.” Kaia clucks her tongue. She hugs Dad goodbye then goes to ruffle Keanu's hair and squeeze his cheeks. “Be good, little K.”

            “Hey, hey, you’re bothering the baby fat.” He takes her hands off his cheeks and tugs at her blazer. “You be good too. Enjoy your new year at Wintercrest, Winter Soldier.” Kaia rolls her eyes at the new nickname. “And if anyone bothers you, call me. I’d be right there ready to kick asses!” He actually kicks air and Kaia has to laugh at how silly he is.

            “Keanu, language!” Dad cautions from the dining table.

            “I can’t say “ass” even though it's a part of the body?”

            Dad raises his head and gives Keanu the don’t test me look. “Say buttocks. Or at least butt.”

            “Laaammmeee!” Keanu makes a fart sound with his mouth that makes his baby cheeks vibrate and gives his Dad a thumbs down.

            “Okay, I’m gonna go while you two keep arguing about what name to call your gluteus maximus.  Love you!”

            They call back and Kaia is out the door, down the elevators of the apartment building they live in, and on her way to the bus station. She puts on the headphones Dad got her on her 17th birthday and texts Cliché, the best friend, she’s sadly leaving behind at East Side High, their old school.

            On their first day of high school, they were both walking down the hallway minding their business, when they somehow ran into each other. They stopped right there, in the middle of the scurrying and chattering students, stared at each other for a minute, and then burst out laughing because they were both sporting a powder blue T-shirt that read ‘AloHighschool’. They’re Hawaiian natives, hence the shirt. And because they were wearing the same shirt, Kaia started calling her Cliché, tossing aside her actual name, Micah. They had been an inseparable duo since then.

            Bus station already, Kaia texts

            Ugh! I miss you so much. I wonder how school would be without you, Cliché replies with a crying emoji. Let me know when you get there. I need picturesss! Good luck! Then a white heart emoji.

            Kaia smiles, slips the phone into her bag and takes a seat in the bus when it arrives. She keeps her gaze outside the window, watching Cambridge, Massachusetts move past her eyes. The September sun sits radiantly in the cotton candy clouds, and the Autumn season always reminds Kaia of new beginnings, the way the weather says goodbye to summer and prepares for winter. It reminds her of her life right now.

            After about twenty-five minutes, the bus arrives at the station. She alights and then walks for about 7 minutes before she sees it. Wintercrest Academy. Standing before her in all its hugeness and splendour. The car park is filled with brands of cars that only truly wealthy people can afford. She scurries out of the way before a Chevrolet sports car runs into her.

            Four huge white pillars hold the entrance of the building together, giving the building a very ‘White House’ kind of look. She tightens her grip on the strap of her bag for a while, before taking a picture of the front and sending it to Cliché who replies immediately with many starry eyed emojis. Kaia takes a deep breath, and walks into her new life.

                                                                        ****

          She was given some sort of Welcome to Wintercrest pamphlet map that helped her navigate her way through the large hallway to the admission officer’s office. Mrs Howard, a wintry, tall woman welcomes her. They talk about the classes she’d offer, the house she belongs to, brief info on school rules and regulations, compulsory extracurricular activities to take, and Mrs Howard hands her her locker keys and asks her to have a nice day before showing her to the Principal. Principal Jan, a proportionately fleshy woman in her early thirties with flawless tawny, donning a midnight blue blazer and black pants with equally black heels gives her a sort of pep talk. Her personality is comforting, she makes Kaia feel instantly at home.

            “Welcome again to Wintercrest, Kaia. You already look like one of us in those cute uniforms,” Principal Jan says when they’re out of her office and Kaia blushes. The nervousness she’s been feeling since she left the house goes down a notch. The bell rings. “Uh oh, homeroom’s about to start. Do you think you’d be able to use the map to get to class?”

            Kaia considers it, she could, or she could ask for directions. She didn’t want to be late on her first day.

            “Big K?” She hears someone call from ahead of her. Her eyes widen in surprise that someone recognizes her when she’s only seen Wintercrest students in passing and never up-close.

            “Adan! Just the man I’m looking for. Show her to her class, please. She’s the brilliant scholarship student.” Principal Jan beams as she waves Adan over.

            Kaia studies him closely: he’s tall, maybe 6ft or 6ft1, has dark auburn hair that is a cute blend of fluffy and curly, olive skin, skilfully carved thick brows, a confident smile that makes all the lights in the hallway fade to black. A white badge that reads Council (President) in all caps is clipped to his blazer.

            “Uh, hi?” Kaia narrows her eyes at him.

            “Adan is a senior. President of the student council, as you can tell from his badge. I see you two know each other, but catch up later. Right now, you have to learn. Okay?” They nod and Principal Jan flashes her warm grin before stepping past the empty receptionist desk and into her office.

            “I had no idea you were the smart scholarship student.” He closes the space between them, pearly teeth adding wattage to his smile. Students move past in strolls and hurries, all on their way to class. A couple of them stare at Kaia and whisper amongst themselves. Her fingers go up to her earring— nervous habit.  Adan gestures to the left wing of the spacious hall and they start walking.

            “Sorry, have we met before?”

            “Yeah. Insufficient funds, last summer. I’m hoping you don’t get orders from a lot of people with maxed out cards.” He laughs nervously, his hands sliding in and out of his pockets.

            A light gasp escapes Kaia’s lips as the memory comes back strong. Last summer, someone had placed and order for sugarcane juice, noodles and some other things that were about $20 dollars. She delivered it to him, and when she slotted his card into her portable POS machine, it declined. He tried two other cards but they were the same thing and he had just $7.90 in cash. She returned his money, accepted his unending apologies and asked him to enjoy his meal.

            “Oh, my goodness! Small world, right?” Her lips curved out in her effortless, dimple revealing smile.

            “Yeah. I never thought I’d see you again. I actually drove to the restaurant when my cards were active again but I was too embarrassed to come in.”

            Kaia shakes her head. “It’s alright, you didn’t have to. We all have one of those days.”

            “Some of us have too many of it.” He laughs again, the sound soft and warming, and Kaia joins in.

            He stretches his left hand. “Official introduction. My name is Adan Ramirez Perez. Coerced to be Student Council President. Nice to meet you. Again.”

            Kaia takes his hand and his palms are soft but his handshake is firm. She introduces herself too.

            “Have you gotten a tour yet?” She shakes her head no. “Perfect. Let me pay you back, by showing your around the Wintercrest campus. First your locker, then the fields, court, library and every other thing worth seeing. I’d show you the venues for all your classes. I could even give you an early introduction to all of your teachers”

            “Oh, no, no. You don’t have to—”

            “I insist.” He faces her. “Until I pay off all ten dollars.”

            She raises her neck to look up at him. He’s much taller than her, her head barely grazes his shoulder. His hazel eyes are bright and have flecks of grey in them. He’s handsome. Very handsome. “Okay, student leader. Since you insist.”

            He hides his face with his large palms. “Don’t call me that. It’s embarrassing to hear it out loud. It makes me too conscious of myself.”

            Kaia giggles. “Noted, I won’t.”

            “I’d come by your class immediately it’s lunch time. Wait for me, okay?” She nods. When Adan stops at the front of a door she assumes leads to her class, she stops too. “Ready?” He asks, like he can smell the nervousness on her. She nods and they step in.

            Kaia observes her class. There are about 18 students and all 36 eyes dart to her the moment they step into the class.

            “Adan, this is the junior class, sir. Misdirected?” A slender woman with delicate curves in a pretty floral dress and top knot bun smiles at Adan.

            “Principal Jan asked me to show her here. Our genius student.” Adan grins and makes space for Kaia who comes forward in short steps.

            “Kaia Mahoe? Welcome to Wintercrest Academy. I am Miss Celine Hudson, you can call me Miss Celine, your homeroom teacher. It’s so great to finally meet you.”

            Kaia’s lips twitch and form a faint smile. “You, too. Miss Celine.” Adan waves goodbye and exits.

            “Introduce yourself.” Miss Celine smiles again and Kaia faces the eager, somewhat berating eyes looking at her. Some keep their focus on their books, like they could care less about her existence. She clears her throat in a way that is inaudible. No reason to be nervous.

            “Hey. My name is Kaia Mahoe. I passed the scholarship exams over the summer, so I transferred here. It’s nice to be here and I hope it remains nice to stay here.” She manages a small smile and one person claps, loud and impressed, like she just delivered a speech after bagging a Nobel Prize.

            “Thank you, Rosco.” Miss Celine acknowledges the richly tanned boy in neon green kicks. “Be nice, guys. Welcome her.” They murmur ‘welcome’, and Kaia goes to take the only empty seat in the class. The chairs and desks are a lot bigger and more comfortable than the ones at East Side. The seat is even cushioned in leather! Kaia wriggles quietly to be sure her butt isn’t playing tricks on her.

            “Welcome to WA, babe. You’re not just a genius, you’re a damn fine genius. Cute dimples.” Rosco licks his lips and smirks, all boyish and cool.

            “Thanks.” She returns the smile, a little cringed by his lips licking and the ‘babe’ word. They break eye contact and give Miss Celine their attention.