Post by Diablo on Mar 19, 2014 16:33:13 GMT
The first thing you'll ask me is "What?"
The second thing you'll ask me is "...JUST WHY?"
I'll answer to both with: "Craps and giggles."
And without further chasing around the bushes, I hereby announce to ye the first chapter of the newest story that erupted from the minds of Speedlion, Meredith, Striker and ol'me.
Fasten your seatbelts, sent a last letter of love to your family, and get some pocporn.
Chapter 1 - Welcome to Beaver Acadamy
BOOM!
A huge explosion filled the science classroom of Beaver Academy. Several surprised students in the hallway next to the science classroom stood still in anticipation of what would happen next. An angry, adult yell sounded from inside the classroom.
“FWOOOOOSH!”
The classroom door was thrown open and out stormed a laughing Fwoosh. Behind her, a trail of smoke and her two best friends, Frostria and Werekitty. The three of them ran as hard as they could through the hallway.
Smoke started coming out of the classroom, and together with it, Daluna, the Academy’s science teacher, emerged angrily.
“You brats! Come here!” he said, as he started pursuing Fwoosh and her two companions.
Fwoosh turned her head around and stuck out her tongue at Daluna, as she turned around the corner and laughed.
“Wahahahahaha! That explosion was brilliant! I’d almost say it was perfect.”
“It could’ve been bigger,” Werekitty added onto her friend’s statement.
“Explosions can always be bigger!” Fwoosh responded as she threw her arms into the air to emphasize on how big explosions could be. She turned her head and grinned at her two friends.
Turning her head around, however, made her not able to notice the person that just came around a corner up ahead. Frostria still tried to warn Fwoosh, but it was too late. Fwoosh and the other person clashed and both fall backwards on the ground.
“Hey!” Fwoosh said immediately, “Look out where you’re walking!”
“Ah, but you should do that as well, Fwoosh,” Frostria reminded her.
Fwoosh looked back at her friend and laughed sheepishly.
“Ah, sorry,” it came from the other person. Fwoosh returned her vision from Frostria to this other person. Fwoosh guessed him to be one year older than herself. He had already undertaken action to stand up again. He stuck his hand out at Fwoosh, whom was still sitting on the ground.
“My bad,” he said, as he looked right at her, “I should’ve paid more attention.”
Fwoosh had never seen him before and she also noticed how he had an accent from a European country. His blonde hair fit his face. Fwoosh stared at him for a second, before giving him an angry glare.
“Don’t worry yer little head about me,” she said, as she stood up without making use of the strange person’s hand.
“Fwoosh, he hasn’t given up yet,” Werekitty warned Fwoosh. Fwoosh quickly turned around and spotted Daluna running at the four of them.
“WAIT THERE, YOU BRATS! DON’T YOU DARE RUN!”
“Crap, there he is again. He’s persistent today!” Fwoosh said, as she started running again. Frostria and Werekitty followed suit, leaving behind the European guy, whom was scratching his head as he looked at the backs of the three running kids. He shrugged, turned around and tried to halt the teacher that now came storming at him, planning to pass him.
“Uhm, sir, could I ask you-”
“Not now, lad,” Daluna said, as he ran past the European without even looking at him.
“WAIT! STOP!” he then yelled at Fwoosh once more.
The European scratched his head once more as he now also looked at the back of the running teacher.
“I just wanted to ask where the principal’s office was,” the European mumbled to himself.
“Principal office? Take the first set of stairs to the right, then go left.”, a small voice said from behind him. The blonde guy turned around. In front of him stood a slightly smaller boy, brown hair was surrounding his face and a dark blue jacket was draped around his shoulders.
“Thank you, um…what is your name?”
“Name’s Rene.”, the boy said and extended his hand, “And don’t mention it… it’s only natural for me to help a transfer student like you.”
The European raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“You’re well-informed,” The European said.
“Of course! I’m the Student Council President. Your name is Leendert, right? Leendert van der Plas. Transfer student from, I believe, The Netherlands.”
Leendert smiled.
“Entirely correct.”
Rene nodded.
“Follow me, I’ll lead you to the principal’s office. He’s probably waiting for you already.”
“LEENDERT VAN DER PLAAS!”
The Principals vocie echoed through the room like the shot from a canon and could probably be heard throughout the whole school. Leendert had trouble keeping his body straight up as the booming sound passed through him.
“YOU HAVE COME FROM THE FAR AWAY NETHERLANDS TO THIS SCHOOL, FOR WHAT REASON EXACTLY?”
“The same reason as every other transfer student, sir.”, Rene mumbled, sounding more annoyed then impressed.
“My father was offered a much greater position in the company overseas and he accepted it eventually… now we’ve all moved here.”
“HOW IMPRESSIVE! IF I WASN’T SO MANLY, I WOULD CRY!”, the Principal boomed and stroked his incredibly large beard, “Men with beards should never cry.”
“Right,” Rene said, “Good luck, Leendert… I’ll be on my way. I still have a lot to do. The future of this school depends on me!”
With those brave words, Rene turned around and walked out of the principal’s office.
“Leendert, right?” The principal asked. He didn’t wait for an answer and just assumed he was right, “Take a seat.”
Leendert looked around and saw multiple things to sit upon. He chose a comfortable looking couch that lived up to its appearance when Leendert sat down on it. The principal stood up from his bureau-chair and walked towards a couch that faced Leendert’s. In between the two couches stood a small table with two plants placed on it.
“Usually, we’d do lots of paperwork, but that’s boring, so I’ll leave that up to Rene.”
Leendert laughed somewhat, not knowing what to think of it.
“More importantly, have you already taken notice of my beard?” the principal said happily as he pointed at his long, magnificent beard.
“Well….um, it’s hard not to notice it, Sir.”, Leendert replied carefully.
The principal seemed satisfied with Leendert’s response.
“You may call me Mr. Svensson,” the principal said with a smile.
“Sure, Mr. Svensson,” Leendert responded.
“Hmm, okay, so, let’s see… where to start. First of all, you’ve probably heard this quite a lot already, but welcome to Beaver Academy.”
Leendert smiled.
“I and the entire staff hope you have a great time here at our school. Do you know what class you’re in?”
“I believe it was 3-A, though I could be wrong.”
Mr. Svensson nodded.
“You’re completely right. And you already made friends or at least, aquaintance with some of the students?”
Speedy frowned for a second. “Well, I ran into one of them. Does that count?”
“Fwoosh. Frostia. Werekitty. Quick little brats. Their idea of fun is to blow up our chemistry labs on a daily basis. I applaud them for their bravery, but I do not praise them for their grades.”, the Principal muttered and leaned back in his chair. Strangely, despite his disapproving tone, a small, warm spark flashed in his eyes.
Leendert could tell that this man was indeed crazy, but he put it out of his mind. He got up to leave and put Mr. Svensson’s laughter out of his mind. Leendert thanked Svensson’s assistant as he left to go to class.
“Class 3-A huh? This might be interesting after all.” Leendert said as he walked to class. He walked through the corridors, while the sun shone brightly through the windows… There was really not a single speck in the blue sky… not a single thing disrupted the beautiful blue sky… except that red-white police box that was slowly rising from and into nowhere… Leendert stared outside in utter disbelief, as questions flooded his mind.
“Why is it flying?”
“Why is it a police box?”
“Isn’t it supposed to be blue?”
“Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
“Just whaaaaa...?”
Before finishing all those thoughts, the police box disappeared from the sky rather uneventfully for such a strange happening.
“First time seeing that thing, huh? You’ll get used to it.”
Leendert turned his head and saw a tall, bearded man standing behind him. He wore a brown jacket, a cap and a pair of glPenderses on his nose. Probably one of the teachers, or an upperclassman. He had a pretty bored look in his eyes.
“Um, I’m Leendert van der Plas. And you are…?”
“Dirk Mitchell. History Teacher at this school.” the teacher said offering his hand for a handshake.
“You’re the new exchange student, I presume.”
“How come everybody in this school knows who I am?” Leendert asked puzzled, while shaking the teachers hand.
“Let’s just say that Rene has a knack for informing everyone about everything very fast.”
Then the teacher suddenly leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“A word of advice. Be a bit careful around here. This school isn’t always what it seems.”
With that, Dirk turned around and walked down the hallway, while whistling a strange tune.
“Mr. Mitchell!?” Leendert yelled, “Which way is Class 3-A?”
“Just keep walking, it’s up ahead,” Dirk calmly answered, while he walked around the corner.
“Thanks!” Leendert yelled out as he continued forward.
As he walked past the hall that Mr. Mitchell had gone down he noticed that the teacher had disappeared. Yet there were no doors to enter in the hall, or well none close enough for the teacher to enter as Leendert walked by. He remembered what Mr. Mitchell had said about the school not being what it seemed and continued to his class.
Class 3-A wasn’t hard to find… Every classroom had these very handy signs above the doors indicating the name of the classroom and as Leendert soon discovered, Class 3-A was no exception. Leendert stood in front of the classroom door for a moment, with his fist in front of the door, ready to knock. Leendert took one deep breath, closed his eyes for a second and knocked as he opened his eyes again. He knocked thrice, a satisfactory amount… he waited a total of 3 seconds, for someone to open the door… he stared into the face of whom he presumed to be his teacher as he looked just old enough not to be a student. A smile appeared on his face.
“Are you Leendert?”
The way he pronounced the name was kinda funny… English people always have trouble pronouncing it, but the way he said it made Leendert smile in return. He nodded and answered:
“Yeah, that’s my name.”
“Come in,” the teacher said, as he stepped away from the door opening to let Leendert in. As Leendert walked towards the teacher’s desk, he saw how everyone curiously stared at him.
Leendert stopped right next to the teacher’s desk. The teacher passed behind Leendert and sat himself into the ridiculously comfortable looking chair that was positioned behind the teacher’s desk.
“Do you want to introduce yourself to your classmates?” the teacher suggested.
Leendert had no reason to refuse, so he started talking, slightly nervous, like most transfer students are when they have to introduce themselves to a class full of strangers.
“My name’s Leendert van der Plas and I come from The Netherlands. I moved to Canada because my father wanted to move here for his work. I’m 17 years old and I guess I’m quite fond of manga and anime.”
At the mention of manga and anime, Leendert looked around the class, hoping to see any kind of reaction. To his surprise, he saw one person smile and another one looking up from the notebook he apparently was doodling in. There might have been more reactions from students, but Leendert didn’t get the chance to notice them, as the teacher started talking to him again.
“You have quite the unique name… mind writing it on the blackboard behind you?”
Leendert nodded and softly said:
“Is good.”
He then proceeded to neatly write down “Leendert van der Plas” on the blackboard. When he was done, Leendert looked back at his teacher, whom had now stood up, still smiling.
“It’s best if I shortly introduce myself as well, eh? My name’s Daniel Pickerill. You may call me Daniel, since I prefer close relationships with my classmates and Mr. Pickerill sounds far too distant.”
Leendert nodded and vowed to remember that. Making the mistake to call Daniel “Mr. Pickerill” now would be embarrPendersing and being embarrassed while still being unknown to most people in the classroom would not be contributory to a great impression.
“I’ll be your homeroom and religion teacher this year. I hope you’ll get along with me and everyone else in this class and the school.”
Daniel moved his open hand towards Leendert, which Leendert took and shook with his own hand.
“Thanks,” Leendert said.
“Now, let’s see… why don’t you go sit right next to Laurin, eh?”
Daniel pointed at a desk in the back of the class, which was right next to a desk with a hooded person behind it. Leendert hadn’t paid a lot of attention to Laurin when he had been introducing himself, but Leendert had the impression that this counted for Laurin as well.
While Leendert walked over to the desk he’d been put in charge of, he took a small glance at his new desk neighbour. Or rather, what he could see of him. Laurin’s face was almost completely concealed by a dark red hood, with only several thick strands of dark-blonde hair sticking out. He didn’t really seem to notice Leendert, and rather focused on his notebook. Leendert sticked out his head a bit to look at what he was sketching. A strange, somewhat creepy monster was doodled onto the paper, the head was stretched into something that looked like a long, tendril-like “ponytail”, horns were sticking out of it’s blind grimace and black veins were covering it’s chest.
Definitely creepy.
Laurin didn’t seem to notice Leendert’s gaze...actually, he didn’t seem to notice anything. Not Daniel’s words, nor that Leendert had actually entered the class.
“Laurin, would you please take that hood off? I assure you, we won’t be blinded by your face,” Daniel sighed.
Laurin’s head suddenly jerked upwards, then he muttered something and uncovered his head.
His face was not unpleasant, but neither incredibly handsome. A mane of dark-blonde hair surrounded his face, several strands of hair were falling into his face, and his gaze was a bit piercing. He also looked a bit annoyed.
“And while you’re at it,” Daniel continued, “why don’t you stop drawing and pay attention, eh?”
“Where am I, church?”, Laurin muttered, but he closed his notebook anyway. Then he actually seemed to notice Leendert for the first time, whom was still in the same position, leaning towards Laurin’s desk.
“...Since when have you been sitting here?”, he asked confused.
Most of the class started to laugh.
“See, sometimes it is worth something to pay attention, Laurin. Even in my class.”, Daniel exclaimed cheerfully.
“But anyways, open your books. I do hope most of you actually did your homework this time.”
The snickering in the class made way for general groaning.
“I’ll check your homework in a bit, but I’ll first explain some stuff. Open your textbooks at page 34.”
Daniel looked up at Leendert immediately, whom was looking uncomfortable.
“Did your books arrive yet, Leendert?” Daniel asked.
Leendert shook his head.
“They’ll arrive tomorrow, probably,” Leendert explained.
“I see… well, why don’t you move your desk towards Laurin. You’ll be sharing the same textbooks for now.”
Moving his desk to Laurin’s was done within two seconds and Laurin had already moved his textbook almost completely on Leendert’s desk.
The rest of the lesson passed rather uneventfully, aside from how half of the class hadn’t been able to finish their Religion homework properly. Or, on Laurin’s part, not at all.
Daniel merely rolled his eyes to the ceiling and said something along the lines of: “Well, I myself was a student once.”
After the bell rang, Daniel informed the class that there was a half hour break. Everyone started talking and packed their stuff before leaving the classroom to sit outside, spending their precious 30 minute-break under the sun’s rays, aside from a few exceptions. One of these exceptions was, unsurprisingly, Laurin, whom had pulled out his notebook from his bag the moment the bell had rung and before the first had left the class, was already doodling things again. Plus, he had put his hood back on. Daniel sighed as he saw Laurin’s actions, but followed his sigh with a shrug… that wasn’t his concern anymore…
“Next class is Biology for these guys… it’s Alkali’s problem now,” Daniel thought as he walked out of the classroom.
Leendert once more leaned closer to Laurin to look at how he was doodling again. Laurin didn’t care about the fact that he had an audience now. Most people who saw him doodling, eventually lost interest anyways.
“Are those creatures part of something?” Laurin was surprised by Leendert’s sudden question.
“Kinda. They’re designs for a story I’m writing on.”, he answered reluctantly.
At the mention of story-writing, Leendert’s face brightened considerably.
“You write stories?!” he yelled enthusiastically.
“If you can call the stuff I’m randomly typing into a computer a story, then yes.”, Laurin snorted. “No one really reads it anyway. Apart from my brothers.”
“Is it on the internet?” Leendert asked. Laurin strangely sensed interest coming from the new guy.
“Not yet. I mainly carry it around in my bag, mostly just for proof-reading. If you want, you can take a look.”, he shrugged.
“Yes, please!” Leendert immediately answered.
Laurin leaned over to the right, and fumbled around in his bag, then pulled out a stash of pages and put them on Leenderts desk, then he leaned back and watched Leendert out of the corners of his eyes, as he started reading. Laurin tried to act as disinterested in Leendert and his reaction to his story as possible, but he couldn’t help but still anticipated any kind of reaction from Leendert. He expected him to stop reading after one page… or maybe two… but to Laurin’s growing surprise, Leendert didn’t stop reading until he was at the last page… when he finally finished the story and turned to Laurin, Laurin turned away his head, so to give the impression that he hadn’t been paying any attention to his classmate at all.
“Wow, man, this is impressive! I can’t wait for the next part!”
Laurin turned to Leendert surprised.
“Nah, it’s just some rambling, man. It’s not that good at all.”
“Better than my story,” Leendert answered.
“Impossible,” Diablo automatically responded, “wait, you also write stories?”
“Well, yeah, I guess… though mine are on the wonderful world of the internet.”
Laurin wanted to respond to that, but someone interrupted their conversation.
“One Piece?” the person asked as he leaned forwards, almost into Leendert’s face. Leendert was a bit overwhelmed by the question… was that question even grammatically correct?”
“I love One Piece, yes,” Leendert answered hesitatingly.
“I KNEW IT! THE STARS HAVE ALIGNED! I HAVE FOUND A COMRADE!” the strange classmate yelled at the top of his lungs, as he jumped around and nearly knocked over Laurin’s chair.
“...Have you been smoking your own stuff again, Vincent?”, he snarled annoyed.
“Why should I? bad for business.”, Vincent replied, with one eyebrow arched.
“Leendert, meet Vincent. Our resident ‘chef’.”, Laurin sighed and went back to drawing. “Don’t try any of the things he cooks though.”
“...Do I really want to know what kind of stu-?”
“No.”, Laurin immediately answered before Speedy could even finish his question.
“....But he’s from the Netherlands. Don’t they all eat those delicious things? Like those mushro-”
“Vincent, are you trying to sell your stuff again?!”, a female voice erupted from behind Vincent.
His eyes widened and he whirled around.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Hayley!”, he stuttered.
“Suuuuuuuuure you don’t.” The girl pulled her tote bag up and over her shoulder and adjusted the glPenderses perched upon her nose. “Don’t scare the new guy with your ‘products’, Vince.”
“Me? Scaring someone? Laurin is already doing that. Scaring someone away is bad for the business.”
The girl sighed. “Whatever.” Turning to Leendert and giving a sweet smile, she went on, “Oh, I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I’m Hayley, grade two. You’re… Leendert right?”
“...How does everyone in this school know my name already?”, Leendert asked confused.
“Let’s just say news travels quickly,” Hayley responded. “Plus Rene was just taking about you.” She gestured to Vincent and Laurin. “You’ve already met our two resident meatheads here, I presume.”
“I feel so very hurt.”, Laurin snarled.
“Oh, hush,” Hayley teased. “You know very well that I’m right.”
“...No I don’t.”
“Lame comeback, Laurin,” Vincent commented.
“Anyway,” Hayley went on, “How much of the school have you seen yet, Leendert? The lab, the playing field, the library, anything.”
“...Not really, only the principal’s office, some corridors and this classroom.”, Leendert admitted.
“Oooh, you’ll be amazed by the lab. It’s pretty huge. And the library has all sorts of great books. The playing field’s huge, basically everything’s quite a sight to see.” She paused. “Especially the principal’s beard. Like, dang, how did he grow it out that long?”
“It took him a long time. He had to venture to the Sacred Mountains of the Three Bearded Goats, where he bathed in the pool of Growing. On the first day, the very first hair erupted from his chin, on the third day, the beard had grown as long as his hand, and on the tenth day, he arose from the pool, with his beard as long as the sky.”, Laurin said with an ominous voice.
“Yeah, right after he had some of Vincent’s ‘stuff’,” Hayley chuckled in reply.
“No, really, he actually told me this story when I once asked him about it. Only that it was a lot longer. And had the word beard ten more times in it.
...That was a really weird visit,” Laurin muttered as he finished his drawing.
Hayley smacked the back of her hand on Laurin’s shoulder. “You sure he wasn’t on anything? Or rather, isn’t on something?”
“...I don’t think even a high person could ever think of such strange stuff. And if our principal was high, then he would’ve probably run down the hall with nothing on him except his beard. Again.”
Laurin, Vincent and Hayley shuddered in unison.
“We don’t talk about that incident in front of the new guy,” Hayley muttered. “Or ever. Anyway, I better start getting ready for my next class. I’ll see you guys later.” Hayley waved to Leendert. “Very nice meeting you!”, she said as she walked off.
“Yeah, see you!”, he replied and smiled.
“Already fallen for her?”, Laurin muttered. “Vincent, pay up.”
“Whaaaaaaa?”, Vincent and Leendert replied.
The second thing you'll ask me is "...JUST WHY?"
I'll answer to both with: "Craps and giggles."
And without further chasing around the bushes, I hereby announce to ye the first chapter of the newest story that erupted from the minds of Speedlion, Meredith, Striker and ol'me.
Fasten your seatbelts, sent a last letter of love to your family, and get some pocporn.
Chapter 1 - Welcome to Beaver Acadamy
BOOM!
A huge explosion filled the science classroom of Beaver Academy. Several surprised students in the hallway next to the science classroom stood still in anticipation of what would happen next. An angry, adult yell sounded from inside the classroom.
“FWOOOOOSH!”
The classroom door was thrown open and out stormed a laughing Fwoosh. Behind her, a trail of smoke and her two best friends, Frostria and Werekitty. The three of them ran as hard as they could through the hallway.
Smoke started coming out of the classroom, and together with it, Daluna, the Academy’s science teacher, emerged angrily.
“You brats! Come here!” he said, as he started pursuing Fwoosh and her two companions.
Fwoosh turned her head around and stuck out her tongue at Daluna, as she turned around the corner and laughed.
“Wahahahahaha! That explosion was brilliant! I’d almost say it was perfect.”
“It could’ve been bigger,” Werekitty added onto her friend’s statement.
“Explosions can always be bigger!” Fwoosh responded as she threw her arms into the air to emphasize on how big explosions could be. She turned her head and grinned at her two friends.
Turning her head around, however, made her not able to notice the person that just came around a corner up ahead. Frostria still tried to warn Fwoosh, but it was too late. Fwoosh and the other person clashed and both fall backwards on the ground.
“Hey!” Fwoosh said immediately, “Look out where you’re walking!”
“Ah, but you should do that as well, Fwoosh,” Frostria reminded her.
Fwoosh looked back at her friend and laughed sheepishly.
“Ah, sorry,” it came from the other person. Fwoosh returned her vision from Frostria to this other person. Fwoosh guessed him to be one year older than herself. He had already undertaken action to stand up again. He stuck his hand out at Fwoosh, whom was still sitting on the ground.
“My bad,” he said, as he looked right at her, “I should’ve paid more attention.”
Fwoosh had never seen him before and she also noticed how he had an accent from a European country. His blonde hair fit his face. Fwoosh stared at him for a second, before giving him an angry glare.
“Don’t worry yer little head about me,” she said, as she stood up without making use of the strange person’s hand.
“Fwoosh, he hasn’t given up yet,” Werekitty warned Fwoosh. Fwoosh quickly turned around and spotted Daluna running at the four of them.
“WAIT THERE, YOU BRATS! DON’T YOU DARE RUN!”
“Crap, there he is again. He’s persistent today!” Fwoosh said, as she started running again. Frostria and Werekitty followed suit, leaving behind the European guy, whom was scratching his head as he looked at the backs of the three running kids. He shrugged, turned around and tried to halt the teacher that now came storming at him, planning to pass him.
“Uhm, sir, could I ask you-”
“Not now, lad,” Daluna said, as he ran past the European without even looking at him.
“WAIT! STOP!” he then yelled at Fwoosh once more.
The European scratched his head once more as he now also looked at the back of the running teacher.
“I just wanted to ask where the principal’s office was,” the European mumbled to himself.
“Principal office? Take the first set of stairs to the right, then go left.”, a small voice said from behind him. The blonde guy turned around. In front of him stood a slightly smaller boy, brown hair was surrounding his face and a dark blue jacket was draped around his shoulders.
“Thank you, um…what is your name?”
“Name’s Rene.”, the boy said and extended his hand, “And don’t mention it… it’s only natural for me to help a transfer student like you.”
The European raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“You’re well-informed,” The European said.
“Of course! I’m the Student Council President. Your name is Leendert, right? Leendert van der Plas. Transfer student from, I believe, The Netherlands.”
Leendert smiled.
“Entirely correct.”
Rene nodded.
“Follow me, I’ll lead you to the principal’s office. He’s probably waiting for you already.”
“LEENDERT VAN DER PLAAS!”
The Principals vocie echoed through the room like the shot from a canon and could probably be heard throughout the whole school. Leendert had trouble keeping his body straight up as the booming sound passed through him.
“YOU HAVE COME FROM THE FAR AWAY NETHERLANDS TO THIS SCHOOL, FOR WHAT REASON EXACTLY?”
“The same reason as every other transfer student, sir.”, Rene mumbled, sounding more annoyed then impressed.
“My father was offered a much greater position in the company overseas and he accepted it eventually… now we’ve all moved here.”
“HOW IMPRESSIVE! IF I WASN’T SO MANLY, I WOULD CRY!”, the Principal boomed and stroked his incredibly large beard, “Men with beards should never cry.”
“Right,” Rene said, “Good luck, Leendert… I’ll be on my way. I still have a lot to do. The future of this school depends on me!”
With those brave words, Rene turned around and walked out of the principal’s office.
“Leendert, right?” The principal asked. He didn’t wait for an answer and just assumed he was right, “Take a seat.”
Leendert looked around and saw multiple things to sit upon. He chose a comfortable looking couch that lived up to its appearance when Leendert sat down on it. The principal stood up from his bureau-chair and walked towards a couch that faced Leendert’s. In between the two couches stood a small table with two plants placed on it.
“Usually, we’d do lots of paperwork, but that’s boring, so I’ll leave that up to Rene.”
Leendert laughed somewhat, not knowing what to think of it.
“More importantly, have you already taken notice of my beard?” the principal said happily as he pointed at his long, magnificent beard.
“Well….um, it’s hard not to notice it, Sir.”, Leendert replied carefully.
The principal seemed satisfied with Leendert’s response.
“You may call me Mr. Svensson,” the principal said with a smile.
“Sure, Mr. Svensson,” Leendert responded.
“Hmm, okay, so, let’s see… where to start. First of all, you’ve probably heard this quite a lot already, but welcome to Beaver Academy.”
Leendert smiled.
“I and the entire staff hope you have a great time here at our school. Do you know what class you’re in?”
“I believe it was 3-A, though I could be wrong.”
Mr. Svensson nodded.
“You’re completely right. And you already made friends or at least, aquaintance with some of the students?”
Speedy frowned for a second. “Well, I ran into one of them. Does that count?”
“Fwoosh. Frostia. Werekitty. Quick little brats. Their idea of fun is to blow up our chemistry labs on a daily basis. I applaud them for their bravery, but I do not praise them for their grades.”, the Principal muttered and leaned back in his chair. Strangely, despite his disapproving tone, a small, warm spark flashed in his eyes.
Leendert could tell that this man was indeed crazy, but he put it out of his mind. He got up to leave and put Mr. Svensson’s laughter out of his mind. Leendert thanked Svensson’s assistant as he left to go to class.
“Class 3-A huh? This might be interesting after all.” Leendert said as he walked to class. He walked through the corridors, while the sun shone brightly through the windows… There was really not a single speck in the blue sky… not a single thing disrupted the beautiful blue sky… except that red-white police box that was slowly rising from and into nowhere… Leendert stared outside in utter disbelief, as questions flooded his mind.
“Why is it flying?”
“Why is it a police box?”
“Isn’t it supposed to be blue?”
“Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
“Just whaaaaa...?”
Before finishing all those thoughts, the police box disappeared from the sky rather uneventfully for such a strange happening.
“First time seeing that thing, huh? You’ll get used to it.”
Leendert turned his head and saw a tall, bearded man standing behind him. He wore a brown jacket, a cap and a pair of glPenderses on his nose. Probably one of the teachers, or an upperclassman. He had a pretty bored look in his eyes.
“Um, I’m Leendert van der Plas. And you are…?”
“Dirk Mitchell. History Teacher at this school.” the teacher said offering his hand for a handshake.
“You’re the new exchange student, I presume.”
“How come everybody in this school knows who I am?” Leendert asked puzzled, while shaking the teachers hand.
“Let’s just say that Rene has a knack for informing everyone about everything very fast.”
Then the teacher suddenly leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“A word of advice. Be a bit careful around here. This school isn’t always what it seems.”
With that, Dirk turned around and walked down the hallway, while whistling a strange tune.
“Mr. Mitchell!?” Leendert yelled, “Which way is Class 3-A?”
“Just keep walking, it’s up ahead,” Dirk calmly answered, while he walked around the corner.
“Thanks!” Leendert yelled out as he continued forward.
As he walked past the hall that Mr. Mitchell had gone down he noticed that the teacher had disappeared. Yet there were no doors to enter in the hall, or well none close enough for the teacher to enter as Leendert walked by. He remembered what Mr. Mitchell had said about the school not being what it seemed and continued to his class.
Class 3-A wasn’t hard to find… Every classroom had these very handy signs above the doors indicating the name of the classroom and as Leendert soon discovered, Class 3-A was no exception. Leendert stood in front of the classroom door for a moment, with his fist in front of the door, ready to knock. Leendert took one deep breath, closed his eyes for a second and knocked as he opened his eyes again. He knocked thrice, a satisfactory amount… he waited a total of 3 seconds, for someone to open the door… he stared into the face of whom he presumed to be his teacher as he looked just old enough not to be a student. A smile appeared on his face.
“Are you Leendert?”
The way he pronounced the name was kinda funny… English people always have trouble pronouncing it, but the way he said it made Leendert smile in return. He nodded and answered:
“Yeah, that’s my name.”
“Come in,” the teacher said, as he stepped away from the door opening to let Leendert in. As Leendert walked towards the teacher’s desk, he saw how everyone curiously stared at him.
Leendert stopped right next to the teacher’s desk. The teacher passed behind Leendert and sat himself into the ridiculously comfortable looking chair that was positioned behind the teacher’s desk.
“Do you want to introduce yourself to your classmates?” the teacher suggested.
Leendert had no reason to refuse, so he started talking, slightly nervous, like most transfer students are when they have to introduce themselves to a class full of strangers.
“My name’s Leendert van der Plas and I come from The Netherlands. I moved to Canada because my father wanted to move here for his work. I’m 17 years old and I guess I’m quite fond of manga and anime.”
At the mention of manga and anime, Leendert looked around the class, hoping to see any kind of reaction. To his surprise, he saw one person smile and another one looking up from the notebook he apparently was doodling in. There might have been more reactions from students, but Leendert didn’t get the chance to notice them, as the teacher started talking to him again.
“You have quite the unique name… mind writing it on the blackboard behind you?”
Leendert nodded and softly said:
“Is good.”
He then proceeded to neatly write down “Leendert van der Plas” on the blackboard. When he was done, Leendert looked back at his teacher, whom had now stood up, still smiling.
“It’s best if I shortly introduce myself as well, eh? My name’s Daniel Pickerill. You may call me Daniel, since I prefer close relationships with my classmates and Mr. Pickerill sounds far too distant.”
Leendert nodded and vowed to remember that. Making the mistake to call Daniel “Mr. Pickerill” now would be embarrPendersing and being embarrassed while still being unknown to most people in the classroom would not be contributory to a great impression.
“I’ll be your homeroom and religion teacher this year. I hope you’ll get along with me and everyone else in this class and the school.”
Daniel moved his open hand towards Leendert, which Leendert took and shook with his own hand.
“Thanks,” Leendert said.
“Now, let’s see… why don’t you go sit right next to Laurin, eh?”
Daniel pointed at a desk in the back of the class, which was right next to a desk with a hooded person behind it. Leendert hadn’t paid a lot of attention to Laurin when he had been introducing himself, but Leendert had the impression that this counted for Laurin as well.
While Leendert walked over to the desk he’d been put in charge of, he took a small glance at his new desk neighbour. Or rather, what he could see of him. Laurin’s face was almost completely concealed by a dark red hood, with only several thick strands of dark-blonde hair sticking out. He didn’t really seem to notice Leendert, and rather focused on his notebook. Leendert sticked out his head a bit to look at what he was sketching. A strange, somewhat creepy monster was doodled onto the paper, the head was stretched into something that looked like a long, tendril-like “ponytail”, horns were sticking out of it’s blind grimace and black veins were covering it’s chest.
Definitely creepy.
Laurin didn’t seem to notice Leendert’s gaze...actually, he didn’t seem to notice anything. Not Daniel’s words, nor that Leendert had actually entered the class.
“Laurin, would you please take that hood off? I assure you, we won’t be blinded by your face,” Daniel sighed.
Laurin’s head suddenly jerked upwards, then he muttered something and uncovered his head.
His face was not unpleasant, but neither incredibly handsome. A mane of dark-blonde hair surrounded his face, several strands of hair were falling into his face, and his gaze was a bit piercing. He also looked a bit annoyed.
“And while you’re at it,” Daniel continued, “why don’t you stop drawing and pay attention, eh?”
“Where am I, church?”, Laurin muttered, but he closed his notebook anyway. Then he actually seemed to notice Leendert for the first time, whom was still in the same position, leaning towards Laurin’s desk.
“...Since when have you been sitting here?”, he asked confused.
Most of the class started to laugh.
“See, sometimes it is worth something to pay attention, Laurin. Even in my class.”, Daniel exclaimed cheerfully.
“But anyways, open your books. I do hope most of you actually did your homework this time.”
The snickering in the class made way for general groaning.
“I’ll check your homework in a bit, but I’ll first explain some stuff. Open your textbooks at page 34.”
Daniel looked up at Leendert immediately, whom was looking uncomfortable.
“Did your books arrive yet, Leendert?” Daniel asked.
Leendert shook his head.
“They’ll arrive tomorrow, probably,” Leendert explained.
“I see… well, why don’t you move your desk towards Laurin. You’ll be sharing the same textbooks for now.”
Moving his desk to Laurin’s was done within two seconds and Laurin had already moved his textbook almost completely on Leendert’s desk.
The rest of the lesson passed rather uneventfully, aside from how half of the class hadn’t been able to finish their Religion homework properly. Or, on Laurin’s part, not at all.
Daniel merely rolled his eyes to the ceiling and said something along the lines of: “Well, I myself was a student once.”
After the bell rang, Daniel informed the class that there was a half hour break. Everyone started talking and packed their stuff before leaving the classroom to sit outside, spending their precious 30 minute-break under the sun’s rays, aside from a few exceptions. One of these exceptions was, unsurprisingly, Laurin, whom had pulled out his notebook from his bag the moment the bell had rung and before the first had left the class, was already doodling things again. Plus, he had put his hood back on. Daniel sighed as he saw Laurin’s actions, but followed his sigh with a shrug… that wasn’t his concern anymore…
“Next class is Biology for these guys… it’s Alkali’s problem now,” Daniel thought as he walked out of the classroom.
Leendert once more leaned closer to Laurin to look at how he was doodling again. Laurin didn’t care about the fact that he had an audience now. Most people who saw him doodling, eventually lost interest anyways.
“Are those creatures part of something?” Laurin was surprised by Leendert’s sudden question.
“Kinda. They’re designs for a story I’m writing on.”, he answered reluctantly.
At the mention of story-writing, Leendert’s face brightened considerably.
“You write stories?!” he yelled enthusiastically.
“If you can call the stuff I’m randomly typing into a computer a story, then yes.”, Laurin snorted. “No one really reads it anyway. Apart from my brothers.”
“Is it on the internet?” Leendert asked. Laurin strangely sensed interest coming from the new guy.
“Not yet. I mainly carry it around in my bag, mostly just for proof-reading. If you want, you can take a look.”, he shrugged.
“Yes, please!” Leendert immediately answered.
Laurin leaned over to the right, and fumbled around in his bag, then pulled out a stash of pages and put them on Leenderts desk, then he leaned back and watched Leendert out of the corners of his eyes, as he started reading. Laurin tried to act as disinterested in Leendert and his reaction to his story as possible, but he couldn’t help but still anticipated any kind of reaction from Leendert. He expected him to stop reading after one page… or maybe two… but to Laurin’s growing surprise, Leendert didn’t stop reading until he was at the last page… when he finally finished the story and turned to Laurin, Laurin turned away his head, so to give the impression that he hadn’t been paying any attention to his classmate at all.
“Wow, man, this is impressive! I can’t wait for the next part!”
Laurin turned to Leendert surprised.
“Nah, it’s just some rambling, man. It’s not that good at all.”
“Better than my story,” Leendert answered.
“Impossible,” Diablo automatically responded, “wait, you also write stories?”
“Well, yeah, I guess… though mine are on the wonderful world of the internet.”
Laurin wanted to respond to that, but someone interrupted their conversation.
“One Piece?” the person asked as he leaned forwards, almost into Leendert’s face. Leendert was a bit overwhelmed by the question… was that question even grammatically correct?”
“I love One Piece, yes,” Leendert answered hesitatingly.
“I KNEW IT! THE STARS HAVE ALIGNED! I HAVE FOUND A COMRADE!” the strange classmate yelled at the top of his lungs, as he jumped around and nearly knocked over Laurin’s chair.
“...Have you been smoking your own stuff again, Vincent?”, he snarled annoyed.
“Why should I? bad for business.”, Vincent replied, with one eyebrow arched.
“Leendert, meet Vincent. Our resident ‘chef’.”, Laurin sighed and went back to drawing. “Don’t try any of the things he cooks though.”
“...Do I really want to know what kind of stu-?”
“No.”, Laurin immediately answered before Speedy could even finish his question.
“....But he’s from the Netherlands. Don’t they all eat those delicious things? Like those mushro-”
“Vincent, are you trying to sell your stuff again?!”, a female voice erupted from behind Vincent.
His eyes widened and he whirled around.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Hayley!”, he stuttered.
“Suuuuuuuuure you don’t.” The girl pulled her tote bag up and over her shoulder and adjusted the glPenderses perched upon her nose. “Don’t scare the new guy with your ‘products’, Vince.”
“Me? Scaring someone? Laurin is already doing that. Scaring someone away is bad for the business.”
The girl sighed. “Whatever.” Turning to Leendert and giving a sweet smile, she went on, “Oh, I haven’t even introduced myself yet! I’m Hayley, grade two. You’re… Leendert right?”
“...How does everyone in this school know my name already?”, Leendert asked confused.
“Let’s just say news travels quickly,” Hayley responded. “Plus Rene was just taking about you.” She gestured to Vincent and Laurin. “You’ve already met our two resident meatheads here, I presume.”
“I feel so very hurt.”, Laurin snarled.
“Oh, hush,” Hayley teased. “You know very well that I’m right.”
“...No I don’t.”
“Lame comeback, Laurin,” Vincent commented.
“Anyway,” Hayley went on, “How much of the school have you seen yet, Leendert? The lab, the playing field, the library, anything.”
“...Not really, only the principal’s office, some corridors and this classroom.”, Leendert admitted.
“Oooh, you’ll be amazed by the lab. It’s pretty huge. And the library has all sorts of great books. The playing field’s huge, basically everything’s quite a sight to see.” She paused. “Especially the principal’s beard. Like, dang, how did he grow it out that long?”
“It took him a long time. He had to venture to the Sacred Mountains of the Three Bearded Goats, where he bathed in the pool of Growing. On the first day, the very first hair erupted from his chin, on the third day, the beard had grown as long as his hand, and on the tenth day, he arose from the pool, with his beard as long as the sky.”, Laurin said with an ominous voice.
“Yeah, right after he had some of Vincent’s ‘stuff’,” Hayley chuckled in reply.
“No, really, he actually told me this story when I once asked him about it. Only that it was a lot longer. And had the word beard ten more times in it.
...That was a really weird visit,” Laurin muttered as he finished his drawing.
Hayley smacked the back of her hand on Laurin’s shoulder. “You sure he wasn’t on anything? Or rather, isn’t on something?”
“...I don’t think even a high person could ever think of such strange stuff. And if our principal was high, then he would’ve probably run down the hall with nothing on him except his beard. Again.”
Laurin, Vincent and Hayley shuddered in unison.
“We don’t talk about that incident in front of the new guy,” Hayley muttered. “Or ever. Anyway, I better start getting ready for my next class. I’ll see you guys later.” Hayley waved to Leendert. “Very nice meeting you!”, she said as she walked off.
“Yeah, see you!”, he replied and smiled.
“Already fallen for her?”, Laurin muttered. “Vincent, pay up.”
“Whaaaaaaa?”, Vincent and Leendert replied.
