Chapter 4: The Dead Schooled
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I always hated receptions, I hated the fact that the people who worked at them were always miserable. Although in this case the woman at the desk looked extra miserable, and my appearance only seemed to make her day worse. She took one look at me and decided I ought to be out of her sight as soon as possible so after talking to Guy she quickly ushers us towards a back office where the Principal was waiting. He was a tall bloke with a failing combover, but still the same man I once knew fairly well. I unzip my satchel and pull out the whiteboard and a marker, quickly jotting down my greeting.

Hi Principal Rockford
Bet you didn’t think you’d see me again

“Oh my…” This shock routine was getting a little old, I suppose I have to get used to it. “So the reports were real after all. You can’t speak”

“Gruh-grrrrooo” I gave up.

Nope

“So you wish to re-enroll here? We might have to take some extra precautions and have you sign some legal documents, ever since the appearance of creatures such as yourself we’ve had only a few come our way, so we may not be the best prepared” I nod, but Guy doesn’t look convinced.

“Can you ensure me that no-one will try and harm her whilst she is here?” Principal Rockford looked slightly taken aback by his reaction.

“Yes we have a safe space dedicated for our more vulnerable students and I suppose she might be able to make use of those, plus I think I’ll finally have enough students like you to bring in some changes I want to make. Yes, she’ll be safe” The secretary pokes her head in, still with that eternal scowl, and passes the Principal a set of papers, which are handed over to me once he rereads them for errors
.”Right, please sign these and you can begin next week, still interested in music and english as a subject?” I nod and sign the papers and Guy co-signs it. “A lot has changed in the ten years since you...yes. So I’ll call your main teacher to show you around” He presses a button on the desk and speaks into a microphone. “Can Mrs Murray make her way to Principal Rockford’s office please?”

It takes about 5 minutes for her to arrive, she is a short woman who is a little bit on the chubby side, she gave me quite a lot of ‘motherly’ vibes.

“Yes Harry what is-” she cuts out the moment she sees me and I give her a little wave and a smirk. “-it?”

“Well, Petra” He sounded really annoyed about being called by his first name, just like how I remembered him. “This is Sylvie Wade, who has returned after a 15 year… absence… to continue her studies here. She has missed a lot in those 15 years, so if you can take her for a tour while I speak to Guy here about a few things” She took a few more seconds than she would have usually done to respond.

“Yes alright Principal, ok Sylvie come along now” She gives me a slightly more wilted smile than she had when she came in. I stood to leave and fell right on my face with a soft thump, I had lost all feeling in my legs because I was sitting cross legged and as I had turned, one half of my right leg had stayed where it was and popped off.

“Gruuuh” I pulled my upper body up with my arms, spitting out a few stray bits of loose fluffy carpet, and Guy quickly swooped in and jammed the missing limb back on, which seemed to attach it back on much like the previous times. Guy apologises profusely to the two of them for me, ducking his head sincerely.

“This can sorta happen now, apparently a zombie’s joints are rather weak. She joins back together well though” He scratches his beard and I give him a thankful nod and I walk to the door which was being held open by Mrs Murray.

Mrs Murray leads me down a corridor lined with awards and posters. “So Sylvie” Uh-oh, I suspect this is going to be not a fun question to answer “What was it like, you know, being dead?” Thats a loaded question, she might be religious so I don’t really want to disappoint her. I scrabble on my whiteboard:

I’d rather not say

“Ah thats fair, I apologise” she coughs “Anyway in the past few years we’ve gone through quite a few new renovations, including certain adjustments to allow for creatures and humanoids such as, no offense, yourself to join us” I shrug, humanoid is one of the least offensive things I could be currently called I suppose. “We’ve got a gym where the roof can open for winged types for example, as well as enlarged doors”

She wasn’t wrong about some of these ‘adjustments’ There were little doors separate of the main ones which I am told are for Fae and other small humanoids. There were special shaded rooms for those affected by bright light which, when we visited an empty one, provided me quite a bit of childish fun since my eyes turned into two little green torches. She also told me how the bus services provided special features like curtained windows for them too. I found it incredibly interesting to see the inventive ways society had taken to having to accommodate previously fictitious creatures. I’m still sort of coming to terms with it myself, having to constantly adjust the muzzle. Hopefully one day I can go out in public without it, I think it gives people the wrong impression, when I voiced...well...whiteboarded this to Mrs Murray she smiled.

“I’ll raise your concerns to the Principal, You don’t strike me as someone who wants to harm anyone, and just seem like a normal girl to me, albeit undead” She nodded profusely, clearly having warmed to my silence. I suppose as a teacher its nice to have someone who can just listen and not interrupt. The tour of all the new buildings ended at the gym which was right near the entrance to the campus and near the Principal’s office building. All in all the Campus was like a big horseshoe arrangement formed out of quite a few tall buildings. There was even a dormitory that had been built for those with special needs that couldn’t be handled at home.

It was still lesson time so most people were still in their classes and lectures, we were here to talk to the staff about food, as we found out I now had much more special needs when it came to food. Mrs Murray opens the door to the kitchen, I can already smell the meat of some kind, my sense of smell seems to be heightened a bit around fresh meat. I was introduced to the cooks. Mr Lawrence and Ms Collins, Mr Lawrence was a big and jolly chap, my favourite kind. “Oh? So we have a new humanoid type? Nice to meet you kid” He chuckles whilst Ms Collins looks on, rolling her eyes.

You can call me a Zombie I don’t mind.
I guess its who I am.

I give him a grin back, I was gonna get on with him.

Unfortunately we tested and I can only eat meat now.
I woke up like this a few days ago

“A Carnivore huh?” Ms Collins speaks up. “That should be fine, we should be able to cook you a special lunch just fine, most people bring their own food”

Awesome :)

I’m surrounded by smiles and nice people, thats lovely. At least I get decent treatment from the school’s staff, I feel uneasy about the students though. After that, we ended up meeting Guy and Principal Rockford outside the front of the main office building. “Ah Sylvie, its not quite like how you remember it I’m sure but I hope the campus satisfies you, we’re offering you a place to stay on campus if you’d like?” I quickly scribbled down on my whiteboard.

Only if Colin can come too

Rockford looked confused, “Who is Colin?”

“Her pet tortoise” Guy affirms.

“I shouldn’t see why not as long as he is small” I nod and he continues. “Thats it settled then, welcome back to Cherryford College Sylvie” He puts his hand out for a handshake and I return it, thankfully it was gentle so he didn’t end up pulling my hand off. “We’ll get a room set up for you and you can begin next week, you can head home for now though, you’ll probably want to pack” I hug Guy, a lot of my worries were abated that day. And I really hope I can fit into this new paranormal society.

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