The rest of the Summer passed quickly with Lior alternately convinced she had made the wrong choice and impatient for August to come. On the last day of July, her bedroom was a mess of discarded clothes and overflowing suitcases, the task ahead of her feeling near impossible. She couldn’t fathom how anyone managed to pack for months at a time. At least she had the advantage of being near home if she needed anything, but she wondered about the students who came from further away.

Lior’s mother poked her head through the door. “You can’t stay up all night packing. Just shut your suitcases and be done with it.”

“But what if I’ve forgotten something? What if I get there and I don’t have underwear or my toothbrush?”

“Did you pack underwear and a toothbrush?”

“Yes, but-”

“Then I don’t want to hear.” Lior’s mother came fully into the room and began zipping one of the suitcases. “You have more things here than anyone could possibly need in four months, and if you have, by some miracle, forgotten something, we’re twenty minutes down the road.” She finished with the first suitcase and began on the second one, sitting on it to get it closed. “Now get some sleep. I don’t want to hear you whining tomorrow about how tired you are.” She waited at the door until Lior was tucked into bed, then flicked off the light. “Goodnight, Lior.”

“Night, Mom.”

***

Lior woke to the sight of the city and butterflies in her stomach. It was early morning, but the streets were already filled with commuters. Nobody paid any mind to the girl sleeping on the sidewalk, which was a relief. Lior could vividly recall the time a concerned bystander called the police, thinking she was a lost child. When the police came and began asking questions, Lior closed her eyes and fervently wished they would fade away. When they didn’t, she did the next best thing and began to walk away. They tried to grab her arm, but their hands passed straight through her, and the concerned bystander fainted. That was how she became known as the ‘ghost of Porter Road’. Lior wondered if any of the people passing her now recognized her as the ghost, or if they simply didn’t care.

Judging by the sliver of sun peeking between the buildings, Lior figured it was about time to eat breakfast. She had learned it was better to already be eating breakfast than have her mother try to wake her up while she couldn’t hear. She had done this enough times to have little difficulty pouring cereal into a bowl, but she decided against pouring herself juice. She was very glad of her decision a moment later when the kitchen faded into view and she found her mother already awake and eating breakfast, while reading a book per usual. “Morning, Mother,” Lior said as she sat down.

Her mother’s eyebrows rose. “I said good morning to you five minutes ago and you didn’t respond.”

“Sorry, I must have been lost in thought,” Lior answered, digging into her cereal and hoping her mother would catch on.

“Is cereal really that thought provoking?”

“What?” Lior looked back up and found her mother now studying her closely.

“Whenever you eat cereal, you seem to get lost in thought.”

“Maybe I just eat cereal when I’m distracted,” Lior countered, trying to sound unmoved. Inside, she went cold at the realization that her mother had noticed. Lior only ever ate cereal when she was in a vision because it was easier than toasting a bagel.

“Hmm. I had no idea other foods were so mentally taxing.”

“You have no idea how much complicated math I have to do in order to make a perfectly toasted bagel,” she joked. “It’s a wonder I ever manage it first thing in the morning.”

Lior was very relieved when her father walked into the kitchen a moment later. “Good morning, my wonderful family,” he greeted them, far too cheerfully for the early hour. “Ready for today.”

Lior shrugged. “I guess.” Truthfully, the butterflies had not disappeared.

“I can’t believe my little girl is headed off to school. They grow up so fast.” He wiped away an imaginary tear.

“It’s twenty minutes down the road,” Lior reminded him.

“Yes, but you won’t be here anymore. Next thing you know, we’ll be forgetting all about you and converting your bedroom into a model train room.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Her father shrugged, maintaining his stoic facade. “Who can say?”

“I support the train room,” Rolph said as he bounded into the kitchen, his bed head making him two inches taller. “It would be way more fun.”

“Shut up Rolph.”

“Lior…” Their mother finally looked up from her book with a frown.

“Sorry, Rolph,” Lior grumbled.

“So Dad, when can we go shopping for trains?”

“Not so fast punk. We have to get your sister out of the house first.”

“Ed!”

He sent his wife a cheeky grin. “You know you love me.”

“Unfortunately.” Lior’s mother turned her attention back to her book, staunchly ignoring the rest of the hubbub.

Lior didn’t particularly feel like hanging around, so she wolfed down the rest of her cereal before heading back to her room to begin transporting her luggage to the front door.

It took an agonizing hour to get everyone out of the house. I’m the one who’s moving out, Lior thought. What’s taking them so long?

Both Lior and Rolph agreed that Rolph shouldn’t be forced to come along, but their mother insisted he say goodbye to his sister. Lior could have done without his various comments about him becoming an only child and her becoming a science experiment. By the time twenty minutes had elapsed, Lior was quite ready to be rid of all of them.

The sight of the massive front gates to Galerose shut even Rolph up. At their approach, a man in blue tweed with a gratuitously large mustache appeared from the gatehouse and signaled for them to stop. Lior’s mother rolled the window down to speak with him.

“Name?” The man asked, mustache wiggling as he spoke.

“Lior Sova,” her mother answered.

“Sova, Sova, Sova… Ah! Found you.” He checked something off on his clipboard and gave them all a broad smile. “Just drive straight up the drive until you see the main building. I’ll get the gate for you.” He disappeared into the gatehouse and the gates creaked open a moment later.

“You are definitely disappearing into this place,” Rolph declared.

“Shut up, Rolph.”

The driveway wound through a thickly forested area, long enough that when the gate disappeared behind them, it felt like they might just be driving in place. Lior wondered why anyone would have this much space only to fill it up with trees. She would never admit it aloud, but Rolph was right: this was exactly the sort of place people disappeared.

It was with some relief that she saw the trees opening up into a wide lawn. Just ahead, she could see a tall gothic structure, though she thought she could see numerous addendums in every other style imaginable. Lior had the unsettling feeling she had seen it before somewhere. Above the door was a large, glittery banner which read: ‘Welcome Students!’ The drive continued around the side of the building, but another glittery sign read: ‘Park Here’ and pointed toward the grass.

As soon as the car was parked, Lior hopped out, breathing in the fresh air. Movement from the direction of the stairs caught her eye, and she watched as a girl hopped down from the stone balustrade, waving wildly as she pelted toward Lior. The girl was perhaps a few years younger than Lior with blond pigtails and a mass of freckles. Most notably, she was wearing a bright green, sequined jumpsuit. Lior suspected she might have had some involvement in the making of the signs.

“Helloooo!” The girls cheered. “Welcome to Galerose! I’m the official welcoming committee.” The girl puffed out her chest. “My name is Elena Rosencrantz. What’s yours?”

“Lior Sova.” Lior was so taken aback by everything about this girl that she wasn’t really sure what else to say. Maybe nothing else was expected.

“Ms. Essie will be out in a moment to get you officially registered and all that. I’m just here for the fun stuff.”

Just as she said it, the massive front door swung open to reveal a terribly familiar figure. Her long, brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and she wore a geometric patterned sundress. Nothing about her seemed particularly official or boring, Lior thought, but she supposed this must be Ms. Essie. She just wished she could think of where she had seen her before.

“Don’t scare our guests off, Elena,” Essie cajoled. She turned to Lior’s parents who had by this point gotten out of the car and were looking around. “Welcome to Galerose, Mr. and Mrs. Sova. And welcome to our young friends, too.” She turned her warm gaze on Lior and even spared a moment for Rolph, who was uncharacteristically quiet. “Elena, why don’t you show Ms. Sova to her room and give her a little tour. Make sure you bring her back when you’re finished.”

Elena nodded and grabbed Lior’s arm in a vice grip. “Let’s go!”

Ms. Essie continued, “If the rest of you would follow me to my office, we can get the paperwork out of the way, as well as any questions you may have.” She led them away and they all disappeared through the front entrance.

“Come on!” Elena tugged on Lior’s Arm.

“Shouldn’t I grab my things?”

“Fine.” Elena sighed dramatically. “But I am not helping you unpack.

Lior opened the trunk and heaved out the two suitcases. “You can at least roll a suitcase, can’t you?”

“I guess,” Elena sighed. “But it’s not my job, you know.”

“Noted.”

Dragging the smaller of the two suitcases behind her, Elena led Lior around the side of the building and out onto a wide grassy area surrounded by buildings. Much like the addendums to the gothic structure, these buildings represented a wide range of styles and eras.

“This is the quad.” Elena announced. “Most of your classes will be in the main building behind us, but some of the more specialized ones are in these buildings here. At the back are the dorms. One for boys, girls, and undecided.” She pointed out three squat buildings that looked to have been inspired by brutalism, but less original. “And the dining hall’s right next to them.”

“You’re in Whimsy Hall, third floor. We can leave your stuff in the lobby though until Kaena gets here. No elevators.” She whispered it like a secret.

They entered the leftmost dormitory and Lior stopped in shock. The lobby of the dorm was entirely different from the facade. They were in a wide foyer, brightly lit by the windows that had looked so pathetic from the outside. Armchairs and couches dotted the area and a large television hung from one wall. Across from the entrance, a carpeted stone staircase led up to a second floor balcony with tables and chairs lining the rail. The whole place looked much homier than Lior would have imagined a boarding school could look.

“Nice, right?” Elena commented.

“Yeah, nice.”

“They don’t want us leaving cause the dorms are gross.”

“Would you leave if they weren’t nice?”

“Nah, don’t have anywhere else to go. Other people might though.” Before Lior could ask her about having nowhere else to go, Elena changed the subject. “Leave your things here and let’s head up to Ms. Essie’s office. Your parents have probably finished with all the boring stuff by now.”

Lior let it drop for the moment and followed Elena silently back to the main building. She had thought it would be strange, but this was beyond what she could imagine. How could anyone think up a place like this?