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"Hi," I said "I I’m a new student"

She nodded "What is your name?"

"Renée Winters"

She scanned the files with a long slender finger and handed me an envelope I turned it over, not sure what to do She see

"Your schedule is inside" Sheyou’ll need is in your roo delivered as we speak You’re in 12E, in the girls’ dorht Follow the ay past the green When you get to the lake, you’ll see it on your left"

I folded the envelope into h the campus, which was lined with oak and maple trees and small leafy shrubs There were students everywhere Girls in pleated skirts and oxfords, boys in collared shirts and ties loosened around the neck I looked down at ether frorandfather wouldn’t notice when I paired them with my cutoff shorts It was the last ti But now I felt out of place I picked up the pace, eager for the privacy of rassy area surrounded by trees, which I guessed was the green Just past it was the lake, wide and still, expanding across the entire upper half of ca and distorting in its ripples At the head of the lake stood a life-size statue of a bear on all fours, its face arched up toward the sky

The girls’ dorray stone Even from the outside it looked clean, as if it were made entirely of bars of soap Across the lake stood an alhtly darker stone It was shaded by a collection of oak trees and see toward it

Inside the girls’ dor of warm milk A wide stone staircase led upstairs, and I skiers across the surface of the banister as I ascended

My roos and a fireplace The walls were a welco bread filled the rooe s overlooking the lake and the green My suitcases rested beneath theust of northern air blew in, followed by the sound of rustling paper

On the desk was a large rectangular parcel wrapped in brown paper RENÉE WINTERS, it said in bold letters Resting on top of it was a manual with the Gottfried crest embossed on the cover I opened it Gottfried Acade How could there possibly be that many rules? I set it aside and tore open the parcel

Inside was a stack of books:

Latinvs, by Evangeline Rhine

Mythology and Rituals, by Gander McPherson

Lost Numbers, edited by J L Prouty & Linus Moss

Soil, by Brenda Hardiins of Existence, by Paul F Dabney

Metaphysical Meditations, by René Descartes

The Republic, by Plato

Beneath them was a series of other books by Nietzsche, Aristophanes, Aristotle, and other names that I couldn’t pronounce

Confused, I pulled out the envelope from my pocket Inside was a sheet of paper labeled: Second-Year Schedule: WINTERS