The bus rattled on down the road. Catharine wasn't sure why she was doing this. It had all started with a letter. It had been July when she had come home from hanging out with her friends when the letter was placed there, mysteriously, on the kitchen table. "Mom" she said. "What's this letter?" "I don't know, honey." Her mom said from the stove. I came home and it was sitting on the table. It had your name on it, so I didn't open it."
Catharine took the letter up to her room. It was an old envelope, sealed with wax. She was getting serious Harry Potter vibes from this. She sat down at her desk, tore open the note, and read it.
Hello, CATHARINE DAVIS. My name is Rachel Loveless and this is an invitation to attend our university. Camwood University is a prestigious school located in (Catharine read the location. That must be long way away) The goal of our school is to teach young women the basic fundamentals of life. Social skills, cooking, and other unusual activities will be taught to all our students. Send attached application to (Catharine read the address). Oh, did we mention you will be attending this University FREE OF CHARGE? Hope to see you in September!
Signed, Rachel Loveless, headmistress.
Catharine was almost repulsed by how obviously the note was a from letter. They didn't even bother to use the same color ink for her name. She would have thrown it away but something about the college intrigued her. So she took it down a few hours later and talked with her parents. They were very hesitant at first (after all, they were sending their daughter to a school they had never heard of before), but after talking it over, they had allowed her to go. Two months later, they kissed her goodbye as she boarded the bus for Canwood University.
"Hey!"
Catharine was broken out of her hypnotic trance by the girl sitting in the seat across from her. She had long, blondish-brunette hair and was wearing a red blouse with khakis. "Hey, I thought I was the only one on this goddamn bus going to Camwood. My name's Taissa. What's yours?"
"Catharine."
"Nice to meet you, Catharine. Did you get the letter, like I did?" Catharine nodded. "Yeah. My parents were really suspicious at first, but they let me go in the end." "Hey, nice!" Taissa said. "Maybe we'll have some classes together."
Then, the school came into view. Catharine gasped. In the reddish-yellow sky of the sunset, the school spread out over a misty field. It was a huge red brick building, with turrets, large windows, balconies, window seats, chimneys, and every other architectural anomaly you could imagine jutting out of every nook and cranny. The bus pulled up the u shaped drive in font of a long set of steps that lead up to very large, ornate-looking wooden doors. "All off!" the driver cried. He handed Taissa and Catharine their bags and sped off into the fog.
Taissa started up the stairs right away, but Catharine stood there, in the silence of the twilight, looking around. All around the school, a thick, misty forest was filled with the last sunlight of the day wicking through the trees. Suddenly, she involuntarily shivered. She looked up. The school rose up above her, ten floors high, like a monster. She gulped, wondering why she had even considered coming here. At last, she gathered up her bags and started up the steps.
