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Synthetic Chapter 1 - Shattered mind

The only thing I'm sure of is that time will keep going forward. Everything else is up for grabs.

The first day... I didn't know who I was. It was as though my mind was blanked out when I was sitting on the bus that day, not knowing how I got there or more importantly, why I got there. I knew what was to come; going on a bus to a High School, then new thoughts appeared, created out of thin air. Information that was impossible to obtain suddenly appeared in my head, I knew that it was my first day there, and to report to the front office. I was... it was still coming through sluggishly... 16 years old I thought as I looked down at my hands. No, not hands... paws.

More memories drifted into subtle existence as I glanced around myself, observing out the window at the maze of streets and buildings that ran by me in a blur. I pressed a paw against the glass and leaned forward, getting a better view, a smaller window above the large one on the bus was open, the incoming air tickling my obsidian black fur as it brushed through it gently. I turned back and looked left towards the inside of the bus, full of students in their matching uniforms except for the polo shirts that had different colours to reflect their years. The colour system, how could I have known that?

A hand fluttered right in front of my eyesight, I flinched slightly in surprise before noticing the person sitting right next to me, waving a hand in my gaze to get my attention. I looked over at him, my eyes taking in his sharp blue eyes, decently built body and soft, well brushed grey fur. His curved husky tail was pressed softly into the seat behind him as he looked back at me, his head ever so slightly tilted in reflex curiosity.

"Haven't seen you around before, you new or something?" He asked me innocently, his eyes looking right back into mine and causing me to have to force myself not to shudder. I felt something inside me ringing alarm bells, something about eyes. I quickly brought myself back to reality to reply to him.

"Yeah, it's my first day." I replied, a small grin creeping rapidly across his muzzle.

"Nice to meet you, but don't let the old hag catch you!" He chuckled back at me.

"The old hag?" I probed at him, confused.

"Headmistress, she's one hell of a moody bitch, best just to stay away from her." He explained, turning to face backwards and talking to the person behind him.

I sighed and relaxed into the seat, my head resting back against the head rest as I waited for the bus to arrive, I asked why I was here in my head. No answers came to me. I closed my eyes and waited for the bus to arrive, unsure what I was going to do.

"Hey, wake up, we're here." The boy next to me nudged me some minutes later, thinking I was asleep. I opened my eyes and stood up; picking up a bag from the floor I didn't know existed until just then.

He was already stood up, walking along the length of the bus and exiting without a second thought. I paused for a second, possibly daring to defy whatever my future was going to be before following after him and into the daylight outside the vehicle. I was blinded by the light, my vision filling with pure white as though I was in daylight for the first time in my life. The effect died down and I looked at the huge campus ahead of me, modern and new, reading the sign that defined it as "Seagate Boarding School", a fitting name with the seaside visible in the far off distance. I started strolling up to the main entrance, opening one of the double doors and entering the reception, the carpet freshly cleaned and dyed with the schools logo, the earth floating on the waves.

To the left were a few seats for waiting and to the right was the glass window separating the reception from the office where it was monitored. A paw pressed against a glass panel on the window, sliding it to the side as a face sprung into view, a female wolf looking through at me.

"Hey, welcome back! How was your summer holiday?" She asked with stunning enthusiasm.

"I-uh, I'm actually new here..." I replied meekly, noticing the fake recognition as I pointed out I hadn't actually been here before.

"Oh... I see, you're the new pupil we're expecting then? Well, until we get your lessons set up tomorrow we'll let you get adjusted here first. I'll send Alex along; no doubt he's going to love a break on the first day." She told me, still smiling softly. She pushed a button on the other side and a quiet buzzing sound broke through the air, the glass door to enter the school opening horizontally and receding into the wall.

I went inside, standing and waiting for "Alex" to appear at any moment, rubbing my slightly sore eyes from the light outside as the door silently shut behind me. A couple of minutes passed, I looked across the corridor and was nearly hit in the face by a violent door swinging open, the husky who had sat next to me on the bus appearing out, smiling at me as he looked me over again.

"Well well well, don'tcha believe in coincidence!" He started, looking at me in the eyes with a large grin. "Now... where to start the tour... Ah! May as well show you your room, it'll help if y'get lost anywhere else."

He set off before I could add anything, not that I was complaining, I couldn't think of anything to say anyway. I hurried after him as he navigated with ease the labyrinth of corridors, trying to take not of the signs and symbols on the walls before arriving at a back exit from the school into the yard. He swung the door open, holding it there for me as I passed through. It was gigantic; to the left was a full football field with a tennis court only a couple of meters away from it while to the right were a couple of large buildings, one of them having two floors. Ahead of me, just across the huge expanse that was the yard was the three story block that was the student quarters, a red, new-looking building with balconies visible up the sides.

He yanked the door open and set off inside the building, leaving me blindly tailing him in an attempt to not be left behind. We went up a floor, and stopped at a series of doors at the left of the corridor we were in. We were standing just outside the room marked with freshly polished brass lettering spelling out "223". He placed a paw into his right pocket and fumbled in it, his face turning into blind panic a second later as he pressed his paws across the pockets in his jacket and trousers. He eventually froze and gave a sigh of relief, withdrawing the elusive key and sliding it into the lock smoothly.

"There we go..." He muttered quietly as he turned the key, the latches slipping back inside the door with a quiet 'click'. He turned the handle and swung the door open, motioning for me to enter. I did, having a quick glance around before he shut the door behind me and walked ahead. "Eh, much cleaner than last time..."

The room had obviously been fully cleared out and cleaned before we arrived, to the left was a single door with a bathroom sign pinned up on it and to the right the walls went on to reveal the living area. It was by no means small, but compact. A small television hung from a metal constraint in the corner with a small, grey sofa pressed against the corner facing it. A simple wooden table with two wooden chairs slid under it was pressed against the adjacent wall with a micro fridge plugged in beside it. On top of the micro fridge were two equally small glasses with a metal sink nearby.

The only source of light was from two large windows which lead to the balcony outside, one of them had a plastic handle on the side of it so it could be used as a sliding door. Plain white curtains were pulled back at either side of the windows so the light could push its way into the room, falling upon the telephone resting on the bedside table, a drawer visible on the front of it. It was then that Alex placed his bag down and looked straight at the area where the beds should be.

"Oh... you've got to be kidding me..." He spluttered out quietly, looking at the single bed where his gaze fell. A double sided bed took the place where there would normally be two, with folded up towels prepared and left neatly on it with a paper note resting on top of them. He went over and grabbed the sheet of paper, reading it furiously.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"...We don't take kindly to your claiming of a double bed for you and your "roommate" last year when you didn't have one. As a punishment we're going to give you one, along with the roommate you should have had. Yours sincerely, Mrs Wilson." He read out, shaking his head slowly in disbelief. "... Hag."