Akademie

 Tucked between upright mountains, rolling hills, and a teal lake that faded into the horizon sat the small, Swiss town of Leuthold. It had little brown, red, and white houses, their roofs only slightly pointed, hardly visible above the hilltops. A single, winding parkway separated the lake from the town, cutting through the mountains to the east and west, every road that led from that was cobblestone and narrow; pedestrians and animals were common, Noah noticed as he sat in the back of the Mercedes.

He hadn't said anything to the driver; the driver hadn't said much to him either, only gesturing to the windshield when they entered the picturesque town full of autumn and rich, green grass, saying: "Leuthold! Leuthold!"

As they made their way through the town, Noah keeping his eyes to the passing Swiss people, never meeting their's but taking in their ease of how they walked on the street, seeming annoyed by the car if anything at all.

The Mercedes climbed higher into the mountains, where the houses were getting further apart, animals were more common than humans, and the trees were bright red, orange, yellow, or evergreen—all seemed ancient, as if they had seen millennia.

Noah moved towards the center seat in the back when the car rounded a farm with a large willow tree and the forest fully opened, revealing a sprawling campus where students were already about, dressed in merlot red, black, and white. They weren't in the way of the car, ignoring it as it went by them and by one of the campus's building's; it was a large Tudor home with a single tower that poked above the trees.

Noah managed to look back in time to see LEUTHOLD AKADEMIE in large, gold letters on a black archway over the road. The pictures had made Leuthold Preparatory Academy for Young Adults seem small, despite the dozens of pictures in the pamphlet, there had been few online. What lay before Noah, around the turn of the courtyard and a large garden, was nothing short of a castle.

Even when Noah stepped out of the car, he could hardly feel as though he were supposed to be there. His skin felt as though it were crawling, that if he took a step forward he would be stepping right into a wall. Surely he must be seeing a painting, surely he must be mistaken.

Yet, he walked towards the castle, up the rounded steps and to a large door that was already open. Inside, he could see another uniformed student with her blazer off, revealing her white button-up and pleated, waist-high skirt, she was sweeping the floor and only spared him a glance before returning to her task.

"Mr. Cooper," a voice came over him, distracting him from even approaching the sweeping girl to a man in a black suit with a red tie and pin depicting the owl that was the academy's logo.

"I am Headmaster Berg," he said with a heavy accent. He was a short, wide man with a short, wide head. He had a large mustache that was as grey as his hair, high cheekbones and fair skin that was starting to peel from a bad sunburn.

"Hello," Noah replied as he stepped towards him.

"You are already late. Come with me." Headmaster Berg said before looking beyond him and calling to the girl. His tone was authoritarian, his German so quick Noah knew he hadn't a chance of understanding it. Yet, whatever he said, made the girl turn her head and curl her flat nose and roll her black eyes at him before returning to her task.

"This castle was built in the 14th century," Headmaster Berg said as they started walking. "All of your classes will be in this building. The boys' dormitory is to your left from the castle, the girls' to the right. They do not intersect and never will."

He had such a fast pace that Noah was having trouble carrying his suitcase and pulling along the other, he couldn't spare a moment to think of why they were so heavy. Noah nearly ran into the headmaster when he suddenly turned back to him.

"I will repeat myself: they do not intersect." Headmaster Berg said again. "Should you be found sneaking into your unassigned dormitory, you will be expelled on sight."

Noah swallowed thickly, feeling as though Headmaster Berg had the same angry stare his parents did. He couldn't meet his eyes, holding his bag tighter as he wished to simply be alone.

"Because you are late," Headmaster Berg continued his rant and fast-pace with a turn of his heel, "I will leave most of the touring and the ceremony to your roommate."

"My plane didn't take off on time. There was a big storm." Noah attempted to explain.

"I did not ask why you were late," Headmaster Berg said calmly yet with such force that Noah flinched. "I only stated what you are to do now. Should you be so incompetent to find your dorm and roommate from your booklet, you are not suited to be at Leuthold."

Noah could only nod, feeling very small underneath the headmaster's gaze. He felt as though he were holding a violin again, his mother scolding him for missing the strings again, for placing his fingers wrong. He could nearly feel her grind his fingers against the string to grow calluses on his fingertips. He could nearly hear the noise it made, how he begged her to stop.

"Put your things away first, Mr. Cooper, change into your uniform, then head to class." Headmaster Berg finally said before turning away again, heading down a hall and soon Noah could feel himself panting for air. He hadn't remembered when he started to hold it.