It was a pretty typical castle in shape - tall towers and a drawbridge at the front - but the thing that was different is that it was pure white. All the stones glimmered as if hit by sunbeams, even though the sky was overcast, and there was a soft glow over the stones. The glow was a color, but I couldn't really tell which.

All in all, it looked magical.

I heard gasps from around the boat. I didn't blame them. I would've gasped too if I hadn't been holding my breath.

"That's a SCHOOL?" Audrey said incredulously. "That's a castle!"

Mrs. Simone laughed. "I told you it was a sight you didn't want to miss."

Audrey shook her head. "Ok, I'm done. If this is all a dream or a joke someone is playing on me, stop now. There is absolutely no way I am going to an insane asylum which looks like a castle in the middle of the ocean."

"I don't think we're dreaming Audrey," I said breathlessly. "There is no way I could imagine something that looks like that."

"It belongs in the sky with the stars," Sophie whispered.

"Girls," Mrs. Simone announced, "Welcome to your new home!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After waiting on the boat in anticipation for about half an hour, we arrived at the school. It was even more fantastic from up close. We stood, staring, until the drawbridge (that was white too by the way) slowly lowered. Mrs. Simone led the way across into a courtyard.

There were girls EVERYWHERE. Talking in the courtyard, walking in the open hallways, studying on a bench...a few of them waved at us as we passed by, some clapped and several cheered.

It really is all girls, I thought. Ashlyn seemed to think the same. "Mrs. Simone ma'am," she said as politely as she could, "is this illness only for girls?" Mrs. Simone turned around and smiled. "This particular illness? Yes sweetie. You'll learn why soon enough." Then she turned back around and continued walking.

We followed her out of the courtyard into the building. The insides were a soft, comforting gray. We walked straight for a long time, until we came to a pretty, open room. There were big double doors at the other end. Mrs. Simone strode up the them, and it seemed as though she was about to run into them, when they slowly opened inward. She walked in, and we followed.

It was a dining hall. That was easy to tell from the tables and place settings already there. They were circular, and placed pretty much everywhere. But the tables were different colors. There were some that were brown, made out of wood, but there were some that looked like they were made out of metal. Also, there were tables that were white and really low to the ground and didn't have chairs. Suddenly I noticed ceramic tables in pools of water by the edge. Yes, in the water. Only the table top was above it.

Audrey bumped my elbow and pointed her finger upward. I looked, and gasped. There were tables attached to the wall twelve feet in the air. The chairs were attached to the table like some desks at school. There were no ladders, no stairs, no way I could see to get up there. They must have been for decoration, though I couldn't imagine why someone would decorate like that.

Mrs. Simone led us toward two brown tables near the back of the room. "For now, you can sit here. You'll get to eat at the more, ah, special tables later. You'll see soon enough." Then she walked away smiling.

I sat in my chair. "I'm tired of being told we'll see soon enough," I grumbled. Audrey sat down next to me. "I know, right!" She exclaimed. "The anticipation is killing me!"

Sophie sat on my other side. "Maybe we start at the normal tables, and the more insane we get, we go to different ones."

The table was silent. We hadn't though of that.

Tess walked towards the other table we were told we were allowed to sit at. "Hey," Audrey called, "What's the matter? Don't you want to sit with us?" Tess turned around. "Like I'd ever want to sit with you, muffin."

Audrey furrowed her brow. "Muffin?"

"You called me a cupcake," Tess said smirking. "And everyone knows a muffin is just an ugly cupcake." Then she turned on her heel, walked to the table, and sat down.

There was silence at our table. Then Audrey began laughing. "Ooooh I like it," she said rubbing her hands together. "The game is ON!"

I looked at her, a small smile escaping me. "It's a game now?"

"It was always a game," she said. "But now we play for points."

"Go team Audrey!" Sophie cheered quietly. We laughed.

Finally, everyone sat down. At our table were Ashlyn, Taylor, and Talia. Taylor couldn't stop looking around the hall. "I seriously can't stop wondering what on earth these crazy tables are for!"

I shrugged. "Beats me. But I don't suppose anyone would give us an answer if we asked," I sighed. Talia nodded emphatically. "I know, I'm so frustrated!" she said, thumping her head into her arms. "I like to know stuff," she added. Ashlyn laughed. "I like anticipation," she said with a glint in her eyes. "It makes my blood pump. I actually kind of like being insane," she said laughing. "I got to meet you cool people and I get to go to school in a glowing white castle!"

"I suppose there's a bright side to everything," I said grinning.

Just then, a bell rang in the distance. It was deep sound, but there were other, much higher rings amidst it. It was a mysterious, beautiful sound. It was like the bell was trying to tell a story... and I tried to grasp it but it was out of my reach.

Girls began pouring in through the doors. Some went and sat at the normal tables or the metal ones, but the ones by the really low ones knelt or sat cross legged. Some went and sat at the edges of the pools of water, while still others stood beneath the tables up high.

The freakiest thing was, they were all staring at us.

Every single girl in the hall (or most of them anyway) were looking directly at us with a mischievous glint in their eyes, like we were the freshman in high school and they were about to play a prank on us. I was a little nervous, but just turned away and tried to ignore them. Sophie followed my example, but kind of sank in her seat a little too. Audrey, however, glared at them as if daring them to even try what they were thinking about doing.

Talia was practically bouncing in her seat. "They know something we don't oh my goodness help me someone I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die tell me what's going on!"

Ashlyn laughed. "I'll admit, I'm pretty excited."

Taylor was looking away. "They need to stop staring at us. I'm going to blush and it's going to be embarrassing.  I know it."

I grinned. I liked these people.

Suddenly, the room quieted. I looked around. At the front of the room, Mrs. Simone stood on a podium. Other women (teachers?) stood around her. I recognized Ms. Catalona and Ms. McCarty. Audrey whispered to me, "Hey, look, it's the Asian woman who told me I was crazy." I followed her gaze to a tall, pretty Asian woman who wore a blue dress with a white jacket. Mrs. Simone cleared her throat.

"Welcome, dear friends, to the feast in honor of our newest members. Let's give them a round of applause!"

The room burst into clapping and cheering, way more exuberant than I would have guessed.

"Now, to our new ones," Mrs. Simone said, looking at us. "I have something very important to tell you. We apologize for misleading you, but it's the only way, really."

I glanced around my table. Everyone looked just as confused as I felt. I turned back to Mrs. Simone. She was smiling warmly.

"Girls, I'm am very pleased to finally be able to tell you this: you aren't insane."

Silence. Total silence. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I heard a chuckle from one of the students.

"Yes it's true. You aren't normal, but you are definitely perfectly sane. We'll explain it all right after dinner, I promise," she said with a mischievous grin. "But I'll tell you what you actually are," she said beginning to glow. "You don't belong in the human world. You are what they call," she said jumping inhumanly high in the air, "a Myth!"

The room exploded.

Mrs. Simone and the teachers burst into flames, swirling and throwing off sparks. They spread their arms, and feathers grew. Suddenly, they were flaming red birds--phoenixes. They flew across the room, filling it with light. I gaped in awe.

Then I saw the other students.

The ones at the metal tables began to glow and suddenly a light flashed. When it faded, they were clad in armor and muscular. They held a sword, axe, or knife before them.

The ones at the low table had all knelt, taken a deep breath, and then light began swirling around them. It swirled faster and faster, and then faded rapidly. In place of the girls were white, majestic, unicorns, kneeling at the table.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

At the water, the girls' legs had begun to glow blue. They jumped, and as they jumped, the glow intensified. They all did a synchronized flip in the air, and landed in the water. When they came up, their legs had been replaced by tails. Mermaids.

Not possible, I thought.

The girls standing beneath the higher tables jumped too, and spun in the air. Golden sparks shot off of them, and I think I heard them laugh. Something formed out of golden sparks on their backs. When the glow faded, each one had wings on their backs. Dragonfly wings or butterfly wings, they fluttered into the air and daintily sat at the table high above us.

Fairies. This was completely impossible.

A phoenix landed in front of us and morphed into Mrs. Simone. "So girls," she said grinning, "surprised?"