Chapter 4

Austin promptly woke up in the morning to the sound of Megan ironing her school clothes that her mother chose for her. Austin won't lie, the colors of blue and white went well together, but she still wasn't too happy about wearing them. Megan pulled the pajamas over her head and pulled down the frock in its place. The blue and white hues gleamed and complemented her fair complexion. The light rose-colored lips and brown eyes contrasted them, and Austin Rose looked more beautiful than ever. "Ah, girl! At least you got out of those shabby black clothes."

"They weren't shabby, they were comfortable."

"As well as revealing, which I'm sure your mother wouldn't have appreciated."

"Please, how do you think she got dad to marry her."

"Hush, Austin! Your mother might hear you." Austin rolled her eyes and walked downstairs. The clothes were beneficial in that she didn't require the useless high heels and was unable to trip over the long hem of the aforementioned ball gown. "Good morning, Austin dear. Are you ready for school?"

"Of course, mother!" Austin replied plastering a fake smile on her face. As Austin's father walked by he gave her a bright smile and approving pat on the shoulder then walked to his bedroom. Austin grabbed the bag Megan had already packed for her and rushed to the carriage waiting for outside the gates. She wasn't too excited for the trip there, but there was a silver lining to this cloud, she would be living far, far away from the queen.

Austin fell asleep in the back of the cart and after an hour-long excursion as well as a grunt from the driver she opened her eyes to the school before her. After getting down from the carriage the driver heaved her bag down and, giving her a curt smile, turned the carriage around back to the castle. The school stared at her, beckoning her to make her way inside. Before she could do that, however, she heard a voice behind her calling her name. "Austin!" Micah ran towards her with a bright smile.

"What's up? Liking the new renovations on the tower?"

"Yeah... it's... really different from a tall prison for future princesses?"

"Did you get your schedule yet?"

"Schedule? What's that?"

"It's an enchanted list of your classes, all they do is cast a spell and you'll have it in your head every time you need it."

"Sounds... great."

"Is that your bag?"

"Yes?"

"Sacculum ad cubiculum." The bag disappeared from Austin's view and went off to who knows where.

"Hey! Wait-"

"It's in your dorm room, don't worry. Let's go! I'll give you a tour!" Micah excitedly grabbed Austin's hand and led her inside the tower. The bottom level was giant, filled to the brim with tables and chairs hosting many students all from different parts of the kingdom. "This is unreal..." Austin whispered.

"It's pretty great, isn't it?"

"Austin Rose," a short, stout woman came up to the two. "Nice to see you in our institution, have you received your schedule yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, I'm Blanchette Luna-"

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Well, you may know me as Little Red Riding Hood from my story."

"Little Red Riding Hood? As in, crazy little girl that was like 'Grandma you clearly look different but I'll walk to you anyways even though you look like that wolf I saw earl-'" Micah kicked Austin before she could finish her sentence as Blanchette glared at her. "I see what your mom means when she says you're an interesting character. In any case, whatever past decisions I made, you are not the person that should be judging me. I am Headmistress, and it is more my job to judge your work in this academy prior to graduation. Now, any other sarcastic comments or should I imprint your schedule now?" Austin remained silent, she had already upset the Headmistress and didn't want to do so more. "Alright, tempus apud caput." Austin felt the spell push her back and she stumbled while a list of events came into her mind. Incomprehensible while her eyes were open, when Austin closed her eyes the list became more readable. "Woah, that's weird," Austin stated. "Of course, Ms. Rose. I'm sure this new feeling will surely grow on you in the future. Good day."

"Yeah, yeah, uh, good day, Mrs. uh, Luna." Mrs. Luna, the Headmistress walked briskly to what was presumably her office leaving Austin and Micah in her wake. "I swear, Austin, you're so lucky she didn't blast you into pieces."

"Is she allowed to do that?"

"Just got to hide the body."

"What..."

"Kidding, you wanna meet my friends?"

"Uh... sure." Micah led Austin to a table with a pair of laughing kids. "Bet! I can make Noridith shut up for 3 minutes."

"Impossible! Noridith LOVES the sound of her own voice. She needs to talk 24/7."

"How much do you wanna bet then?"

"10 pecunias."

"Got it!" A dark-haired girl with brown eyes and a dark complexion got up from the table and walked up to a white-haired girl with heavy makeup and a plastic gold crown placed onto her head. "Hey, Noridith! If 2+2=4, which is the same as 2*2, then why does 1+2=3. Shouldn't it equal 2?"

"Oh whatever, Lauren Hayes. Can't find someone else to share your stupid stories to?"

"Or, you just don't know the answer."

"Of course I do! Just wait, I'll do it on paper and prove it!" Noridith waved her fingers and brandished a sheet of paper. Working out the problem on it, the red-haired boy with blue eyes that started the bet waved his fingers and a timer appeared within his reach. After a bit of time Noridith looked up from the paper. "Oh, you're so stupid Lauren, multiplication is different from addition. Duh!" Noridith threw the paper back at Lauren and rolled her eyes. Lauren walked back over to the table and sat back down. "So? What's my clock?"

"3 minutes and 21 seconds, impressive."

"Darn right! Pay up, Lucas!" The boy smiled, rolled his eyes and handed Lauren a shiny gold coin. "Hey guys!" Micah exclaimed. "Micah, what's up man?" Lucas nodded at him.

"Nothing much, new kid in school, this is Austin."

"Hey, uh, yea, I'm Austin."

"Coolio, you're really pretty!" Lauren exclaimed.

"Thanks."

"So, what's your backstory?"

"Huh?"

"What famous child are you? You kind of look like Mrs. Cinderella, but I know Leya's her kid and I didn't know she had a sister?"

"Oh uh, no, I'm... Snow White's daughter." Austin almost whispered the last part, she just wanted to be Austin Rose, not Snow White's daughter. "You?" Austin asked, in an attempt to divert the attention from her heritage to knowing about theirs.

"Oh! I'm Lauren Hayes, Jasmine and Aladdin's daughter."

"And I'm Lucas Oldenburg, I'm Anna and Kristoff's son."

Lauren and Lucas both smiled at Austin, and just about they were about to ask something else the bell rang. "Crud, where am I supposed to go?!" Austin asked.

"Just close your eyes. You got your schedule imprinted remember?" Micah smiled at Austin. She closed her eyes and tried to read the words on the page in her mind. "Spellcasting?"

"Hey, I'm in that class too! Here, I'll walk with you. Bye Lauren, bye Lucas!" Austin and Micah waved farewell to Lauren and Lucas and began their walk to their first class.