ACT 1

The MATRON MISSES ME

"A school guarded by armies of trees"

Alderbridge Academy was an exclusive school that only the richest of families had sent their children too. Yes, we have those American Academy's and British boarding school's, but Alderbridge was far beyond than those type of schools.

Getting in:

1. The school wasn't plastered on brochures, bombarded with paparazzi at the front gate, or having a school website, it was simply hidden from the world. Knowing the right connections was the best way possible. The school was founded to stop high families from being mingled with disregarded arrogant ones.

2. A respectable family, status was one thing, your father might be listed as one of the richest men in the world according to Forbes or your mother might be the highest-earning model in history but one must not forget there are people who pay not to get displayed on the pages, who sought privacy over fame.

3. Wealth, similar to (2) your family's money had to be at least started or in it's prime from the very early 1900s. Anything less was unacceptable by all accounts.

4. The child themself. The child being accepted had to be with no exception had to be brilliant whether self-thought (That was miraculous or looked down upon in this society) or had an army of tutors teaching them a large scaffold of subjects ahead of their age.

A clear reputation which included the child (teenagers prominently) not ending up in a huge debacle that was caught on headlines (sure they did stuff but being associated with anything that would ruin the family's privacy had caused the family to be belittled), not to be known on social media (sure Gianna de Bellucci had posted photos of her limited edition Patek Phillipe watch with a 1960's vintage Cartier piece resting on her neck but people didn't stop and ask for a picture for her when she was walking down a street) Alderbridge didn't want to risk any trace of it being exposed.

5. The child had to speak English (living in England) and of course, knowing how to act and host a tea party (every Friday they would serve afternoon tea, students are expected to know how to be both host and guest)

6. Not every child is accepted. Only twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls are accepted each year as one grade.

Inside

So the child is finally accepted to the exclusive Alderbridge Academy. Congratulations. But things are quite different than what it seems to be.

1. Curriculum. The Academy's curriculum was far different from any other school. First, the entire year as all put into the same year. The year didn't cross between two years. Breaks were distinguished with a month and a half starting in July and coming back in mid-August, and the last finishing the year was the long Christmas break that ran from the start of December to mid-January.

Middle schoolers from those who were in their first years of the high school class had their timetables different. From thirteen to sixteen the child would spend a full week of school and once every fortnight they would receive on the day as a break and repeat the cycle.

Seventeen and Eighteen had received a normal week of education, fulfilling five days of education (Monday to Friday) and Saturday to Sunday off, considering how busier their schedule would be as approaching the age of becoming groomed to be the perfect aristocrat.

2. Heirachy and repespect. So everyone is beyond rich, anyone could have a billion-dollar company with the amount amassing growth of wealthy families, everyone had surpassed Alderbridge's entrance exam and being approved by the board. All had been groomed with etiquette and it was expected to treat every with respect and not shaming a single person (also ruining a future business partner or degrading any allies), and stereotypes were saved for later on after graduation.

Hallway rules in order.

Headmaster, Teachers, Matrons, Other staff, Head Students, Seniors and so on.

3. Teachers and staff give no damn about any drama being what so ever! One: the students were required already to be well-mannered (Unlike those snobby kids who believed they were above the law), Two: they were paid (a ridiculous amount) to teach not to deal with hormonal development issues.

4. Education system. So the recurring problem of students already knowing the shit being taught? From the start of high school years, the students were taught a different way, instead of being taught a subject, the teachers would give them real-life problems to broaden minds, skills that would be taught at top universities (Oxford business and literature or Harvard law etc) hands-on experience (they had to do something with the extra money), assignments were long gone.

5. Location. Alderbridge was nestled on a small crescent-shaped island, not too far from the mainland of Britain. Originally two castles stood on each side of the island, now were turned into houses of education shaping the true heirs that truly shaped the world. The smaller castle was where the middle schoolers resided and down the other end, the larger castle stood home to where the older children stayed.

So, welcome to Alderbridge Academy

---

If Gianna was a walking Aphrodite, Talia was an Artemis, and Mila was a f*cking Hera. The trio had always caught the eyes of everyone in the school, regardless of what year they were.

With England's winter's pouring pearly white snow, students of the high school had met in the grand hall, with warm welcomes, hot chocolates served, chandeliers finally lit illumining the space as its bright ribbons shone down on the returning students adorned in jumpers and coats taken to their rooms were now bickering about their holidays, private experiences, latest gossip (Talia's and Mikhail's wedding is one of the few hot topics), and catching up.

Talia walked in a slightly dishevelled appearance with her hair looking like it was last-minute brushed, her golden framed wayfarer glasses resting on her nose, her legs still covered by her periwinkle Peter Alexander pj's with sausage dogs patterned on the fabric, a StarTrek shirt somewhat crinkled at the bottom, her eyes tired. Yesterday she had to deal with her infamous Chinese New Year back in Singapore even though she had pleaded not to go -but being the firstborn of Richard Hu and favourite granddaughter she was forced to come, and God it was tiring, especially due to her having so many bloody cousins and extended family.

"You look f*cking dead," she turned to see Mila who was holding a mug of hot chocolate, faint whisps slowly rising then vanishing.

"Have I've ever told you how extended my family is?" she seethed as she grabbed a mug herself.

"I thought you despised hot chocolate?" Mila raised a brow as her friend chugged the drink.

"I'm dead, and I'm desperate,"

"Why does England have to lack so much sunlight!" Gianna had walked up to the two as she complained, "My tan is going to fade, and it's so f*cking cold here!"

"I love the cold, I hate the sun, I love England," Talia nonchalantly said as she sipped her savoury drink.

"You bloody vampire. For some reason, you don't like getting tanned! And you get tanned so nicely with your Asian blood," she effused.

"I hate tanning, I get tanned so easily," she looked at her light caramel skin, "And the majority of the places are cold. I walk out one minute into the sun and Bam! I'm like a burnt toast,"

"Hiro is tanned, and you don't see him complaining,"

"He tolerates it. And he looks good with it, if I get any darker I think my aunts will disown me," she sighed.

"Live long and prosper?" Mila read the text.

"Vulcan salute," Talia lifted her cup as she looked at friend and classmate squeal as she hugged Alice and two other friends.

"Lia, why can't you be like that with us," The Italian brunette asked as Talia had kept her tired poker face expression.

"I see you guys every bloody week at most,"

"Your so mean," Mila teased

"thank you,"

"Don't you love our company?" Gianna pouted as Talia had pretended to think.

"No, I would rather be alone," she winked as the two dramatically flabbergasted.

"She knows she loves us, it's okay Tala we understand," Gianna dramatically sniffed.

"Yes, I don't know how I tolerate you guys," she smiled rolling her eyes.

---

Hiro slumped his elbow on the window if his car watching his car roll up around the frozen fountain. The black-haired Japanese male was rather relieved to escape Japan and anything beyond his family's association. With his parents constantly cooing on his older brother Wakatoshi, along with the rest of the family he was left in the overshadowed at his pudgy brother's ugly arse.

With Wakatoshi being the star heir of his family's amassing fortunes, being fawned over for flawless alabaster skin unlike Hiro's tanned one that was greatly looked down upon, and even though he was attending such a prestigious school he was completely overlooked by his brother to which was attending the University of Tokyo taking multiple courses at once.

"We're here Hiro-sama," his driver Takao, who had served him ever since his early teens announced.

"Arigato," he thanked as the driver got out opening the door as he bowed when the boy stepped onto the ground as he walked in.

Dressed in a thick navy blue turtleneck and black sweatpants as he jogged up the stairs of the school.

When Hiro first entered the school students and some teachers and staff alike were utterly perplexed on how a boy from such a new generation family, being the tech giants of the 'SearchUp', but fate had turned out that his family were had descended from old nobles from when aristocrats of Japan had thrived.

He was completely out of place, though he had worked his way up and befriended none other than the grand empress herself he was still secretly looked down on by his peers though of his lineage.

When someone had asked what family he came from a student answered quite boisterously about his money and had sealed his fate for the rest of his life. If it wasn't for Talia, he would have lived a life of hell, changing the way he acted and how he talked. 'So what if your father has a net worth of over billions and billions of dollars, anyone these days can do that?' he remembered Talia words.

---

Alice Läckerburg bickered over her guests that stayed with her over the holidays with her close friends Petra - whose parents had descended from the distinguished House of Habsburg from her father and the House of Shwazanvic, Calypso 'Cally' whose last name was very, very long, and lastly Margaret whose father held the title of a duke her mother a duchess, who dawned from a family of wealth since the age of the Crusades.

"-and we just had to have last-minute guests that my mother had tea with the Danish royal family, and my mother was screaming the phone to get my arse down to our manor in Stockholm when I was halfway through the flight from Paris. And I was like 'mum how do expect me to help you host tea when I'm jet lagged'" Alice complained as they listened to her rant.

"Having royals over is soooo annoying," Margaret replied.

"Agreed," Petra nodded.

"And not only that my cousin had to come as well... I just want to smush her st*pid pig face and pour the tea on her hair. She's like this yapping puppy who's running around like a headless chicken!" This wasn't the first time her friends had her complain about her infamous cousin, they just had to bare with it -and also loved the funny moments-, "She's such a, a-,"

"Toula?" Calypso chuckled at her Swedish friend, as her friend nodded knowing what 'toula' had implied from her Greek heritage.

"Yes, a flippin' Toula," she expressed.

---

Talia walked through the east wing of the building where the rooms of the girl's dorms could be found. Walls of stone and polished columns were the living and breathing remains of the past students who had changed society's past and with her the future.

A golden seven was embroidered on the large double brown doors as she opened them to reveal her room.

Each room was renovated to the student's satisfaction, -which costed them as well.

Black marble wallpaper was distinguished among the walls to her liking, a chandelier dazzling itself in the centre of her ceiling with directly under it a black fleece rug. Adjacent on both sides symmetrically stood two tables that held perfectly cut emerald green bonsai plants, resting behind it large shelves that filled up the remaining space of the wall.

Looking in front of her was her bed on top of the steps and a chaise lounge in front.

"Home, sweet, home," she bitterly effused from her lips as she kicked her shoes off and fell and into the embrace of the silken sheets of her bed and duvet. She turned her head to the side to see her door opened that to lead to her walk-in wardrobe to which her clothes had already been placed in an ostentatious manner by the staff.

Her uniform was hung that very door as she scrunched up her nose. Her white blouse was covered in a garnet red blazer with white outlining the edges and matching black and red skirt that was perfectly folded that it had seemed it look it had been drawn for a cartoon. She zeroed in on the two emblems on her blazer.

The right was the school's crest in gold, the other side her fiancee's house emblem. Each student's blazer would have on the blazer the family's or father's crest embroidered on the left side of their blazer.

Due to her technically belonging to Mikhail's family. The crest had consisted of two Slavic dragons behind the crest itself, a lion in the left top corner symbolising nobility and courage, and a tiger in the bottom right signifying strength, as on the bottom a ribbon that golden into three write the very meanings in latin.

A moment of serenity Talia relaxed as she closed her eyes.

A moment of silence

A moment of peace-

"Uh-huh!" the door was swung open by the matron.

The matron was an elfish looking woman, with her petite but sturdy frame, elfish looking ears, a small pointy nose, brown orbs glued onto her downturned eyes, and incredibly long eyebrows.

"Miss Sprite!" Talia cheerfully said as she grinned at her 'favourite' person in the school.

"Grin all you want but karma, will hit ye', I'd tell ya'," she indignantly waved her finger at her as Talia had missed her angry little woman with her thick Welsh accent. The name was used on her for generations, coming after the mythology Celtic creature.

"Now, get dressed you lump!