Hall Pass

Posted on Tue Mar 14th, 2023 @ 9:57 by Claire Cavendish & Sarah Bright
Edited on on Tue Mar 14th, 2023 @ 9:57

Chapter: Prologue: Dawn of Avalon
Location: Avalon Institute, Interior halls
Timeline: Tuesday morning, September 29th, 1992
3863 words - 7.7 OF Standard Post Measure

The hallways of Avalon were a kind of quiet that pleased Claire. Beyond the walls there was a buzz of busy classrooms covering the myriad of subjects. It was a good moment for her to walk in the halls, to just get the sense that life was a bit normal. After everything that had happened she knew that not everyone in the classes were going to be able to focus, and she did tell all the faculty that there could be attention to current affairs. Ignoring it and hoping it would go away was never the best approach to these things. Her teachers would know that much better than most. It was definitely something she'd be basing her more advanced ethics classes around.

She rounded the corner and saw a uniformed young woman that looked like she was a bit turned around. Her eyes narrowed a bit trying to make out if she could recognise them, they were certainly a bit more senior so she doubted it was a first year. With everything going on she couldn't ignore the possibility that it was someone that infiltrated the institute. Though exactly how she had managed to get the uniform was a bit of a question mark. Though it wasn't like the students never visited New Cresthill in their uniforms. "Excuse me, miss, can I see your hall pass?"

Sarah had been wandering the halls of Avalon, essentially lost. It was not a great start to her orientation day, but that's what she got for showing up late, in the early afternoon. She didn't like being late, but her life was still very chaotic after an unplanned move to not just a different country, but a different continent. She'd had to hire a lawyer to help with getting her work visa sorted, and she'd needed to take the morning to meet with him to hopefully finish the paperwork. Sara had called the school to inform them, of course, but even with some much appreciated support and understanding on the school's part, it still weighed heavily on her... believing that she was not off to a good start. Sarah was not a women who responded well to sudden detours or changes in plans.

With all that in mind, Sarah couldn't help but look visibly startled when she realized that she was the one being addressed. She almost jumped out of her shoes even more when she turned and saw who was speaking to her. Sarah had seen other mutants on the television, but to the best of her knowledge she'd never met one in-person. Now, unless the woman speaking to her was in the habit of dying both her hair and skin purple, she definitely had. She expected that, of course, but expectations and realizations didn't always match up.

"Oh, hello. I'm Sarah Bright. " She said, offering the guest pass she'd been given, as well her passport for identification. Her faculty badge was still being made... the price she paid for missing out on her planned orientation scheduled for earlier in the morning. Her voice at least sounded a little steadier than her nerves, which was surprising. It was pleasant in tone, but a little on the quiet side, and featured a hybrid accent, alluding to her mixed American and English upbringing.

The librarian--and of course she'd forgotten to introduce herself as the librarian--couldn't help but look down at her clothes after considering the other woman's choice of words... hall pass. The secretary in the administration office had warned her that this would probably happen, as her outfit apparently fit almost exactly within the student dress code requirements: grey sweater over a cream blouse, a matching black, grey and red plaid skirt, and 80 denier black tights. There were differences, she'd been told... she wasn't wearing a tie, and her skirt was more black than grey. Plus she was wearing four inch pumps with stiletto heels. Those had at least earned her a compliment from one of the secretaries... that and an almost inaudibly whispered 'good luck' when she walked off in them.

In truth, Sarah had not expected this, even though she totally should have. After all, she'd grown up in private schools... the thought should have occurred to her that she might have to reconsider her wardrobe upon deciding to take up a job working at one. She did wear many different color variations, but most of her outfits were essentially the same style... with minor personal touches added over the years. Had she really changed so little?

Claire had been holding her hands behind her back until the moment she had gotten close enough to accept the offered papers. The name Sarah Bright did ring a bell, and while she was an engaged and thorough head teacher she didn't think she'd remember all the students names, and this one was clearly new. "Good afternoon, miss Bright. Why aren't we in class?" She asked before looking at the passport, at least they had used their real names. The guest pass showed how Jhanvi had added a bit of extra security to the proceedings, which was probably for the best. Claire her usual 'based on trust' approach probably wouldn't work now with so many of the tabloid press trying to get into their halls.

Sarah blinked, momentarily perplexed and at a loss for words. She’d introduced herself, but was still being regarded as a student. Had she been mistakenly enrolled as a student, and not hired as faculty? She recovered quickly though, as only a brief moment of logical thought was needed to realize that the mistake was her own… she’d neglected to introduce herself as the school’s new librarian.

Though Sarah wanted to quickly correct her mistake to get her day back on track, a smaller part of her wanted nothing more than to milk this fleeting moment of recaptured youth for all it was worth. Part of her missed being in class, where her biggest concerns were over how much reading the teacher would assign for homework, and whether anyone would notice her staring dreamily at the cute girl seated nearby. But those days were gone, and she was a grown woman now. At best the joke she had in mind might lighten the mood, but if she wasn’t careful Sarah might find herself taken literally and actually ushered into and seated in a classroom. She’d never live that down. At worst she’d be fired on the first day of her first professional job. She’d probably never live that down either.

Instead, Sarah consulted her inner playbook for guidance: Bright’s Rules for Success. Unfortunately Rule #1–always dress to impress—had failed, so she moved on to Rule #2… when in doubt, smile. She did so, offering the purple woman her most winsome smile. “I’m actually the new librarian, I’m looking for the library. And apparently I should have picked a different color sweater to wear this morning.” She paired the last bit with a self-deprecating wince.

Claire raised an eyebrow, "Oh. Really? We spoke on the phone, didn't we?" Something started to dawn on her, but the past few days had been hectic to say the least and a new name on the roster of faculty wasn't something she had kept proper track of. "I'm glad to see you've decided to join us. I hope the travel here was uneventful." She motioned in the opposite direction from where Sarah had been heading, "follow me, I'll give you the tour."

"Oh, you're Headmaster Cavendish, then. It's nice to finally meet you." Sarah said, seeming a bit more settled now that she was headed in the right direction. She didn't comment on the rest Claire had said. She almost hadn't taken the job, given recent events. She was not keen on being exposed as a mutant, as she'd managed to keep it secret from everyone except her immediate family. But keeping it secret also meant distancing herself from others. She'd learned as much as she could on her own, but it still wasn't enough to keep her powers from affecting close friendships and intimate relationships. She was tired of worrying about her powers manifesting during the eventual emotional highs and lows, and afraid that she might wind up living her life alone because of that. There might be a lot she could learn at Avalon simply by being there and observing, and not having to admit that she too was a mutant. The reasons for her wanting to come only just outweighed her reservations.

Sarah simply nodded when Claire motioned for her to follow. She settled her messenger bag on her shoulder and turned to follow.

"We'll start with the library. As that's presumably where you'll be spending most of your time." Claire took a turn and headed down the corridor leading to the place where they kept most of their books. "We've invested in a computer system, I was assured it was more than adequate for the intended purpose of cataloging the library. A 386 running at 33Mhz. But so far all of our books are on an index card system. We took some time between faculty to index everything start of last year. I hope it's still in good shape." They had been adding books and materials relevant to the curriculum, and she had made every teacher responsible for proper cataloging of the materials, but the library hadn't been a high priority up until now. "With our growing staff and student body we felt it was time for us to step up our game. But you already knew that, of course, since that's where you come in." She gave a warm smile at the new arrival.

"If I recall correctly, your file didn't say anything about abilities or mutations. It's quite rare to have someone without them apply for a job here." The question she implied was of course, what are you hiding? Why are you here? But she didn't want to call her out on it. "Not that you're not welcome, of course!"

Sarah was not at all surprised to hear that the library still utilized a card catalog. Most still did, though computers were becoming more commonplace every year. Sarah was by no means an expert with computers, but she had of course used them extensively during her graduate studies in library science. Seasoned librarians might be able to get away with using the old ways for a little while longer, but those like her could not afford to be old fashioned. She murmured her approval as Claire noted the computer's specs... which should be perfectly adequate for her needs. She returned Claire's warm smile as the tour continued, but it almost slid off her face the moment the headmaster mentioned her mutations... or alleged lack thereof. Only a fool would've missed the things left unsaid in that weighted pause, Sarah might be naive, but she wasn't a fool... at least, she didn't think she was.

But then again, she was a mutant, trying to pass for normal in a school full of mutants.

"I don't have an X-gene." Sarah said, saying about as much as she could while telling the truth. According to modern medical science, she was not a mutant. "But I wanted to be a part of a school like this... one that was different from the kind I went to when I was younger. It looked the same on the outside..." Sarah casually swept her hand, gesturing to the walls, then to her own outfit, which she couldn't deny had changed little, it at all, from what she'd worn as a girl. "But on the inside was far less accepting of those who wouldn't, or couldn't fit into their mold." Sarah shrugged, as if to acknowledge that her reasons weren't a lot, but for her were enough. She also had some professional reasons for wanting to be at Avalon, but didn't go into those. She didn't want to give the impression that this could be seen as just a stepping stone for her career until something with a better fit came along, even if that was how people with professional careers were more or less expected to live their lives. She would put in her best effort, for however long she was there.

Claire nodded a bit at that, she had experienced the same in the private school system, which is why she couldn't imagine someone dressing in the clothes that would remind them of that time. Then again, perhaps Sarah had only seen it from the outside looking in. Purple hair and skin in the seventies wasn't a great look to blend in, regardless of powers. "The world could use more people like you." She gave a warm smile towards the new librarian before coming to a stand still in front of the large wooden double door at the end of the hallway. "Welcome to your domain." With a bit of a flourish she opened the doors and extended her arms to show her the inside.

With all that the room that was revealed seemed a bit disappointing. The bookcases, tucked off to the sides all around a study area in the middle, right beneath skylights. Not that it was letting in much light at the moment, with the overcast threatening rain sooner rather than later. The large dark oak bookcases reached to well above the reach of an average person, looming over anyone walking around the room. There were a couple of ladders, but nobody would need them because half the shelves were still empty. There was a beautiful window looking out over the Loch that let in fresh sunlight, on one of the rare sunshine filled days it would be reflecting off the water. It had all the trimmings to be a wonderful library, but the current state would probably pain a professional librarian. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that there were probably a couple dozen books about the place that hadn't been properly catalogued yet.

Sarah blushed a bit at the compliment, but the glow in her expression was only momentary. In truth, the library was in better shape than she'd been expecting, but she'd set the bar pretty low. In her mind, old castle libraries were dark and drafty, with leaky windows and roofing, dust everywhere, and too many old, outdated books with water damage. At present this library was dark, but it was still too early in the season for drafts. The windows and skylights looked new, or at least recently renovated.There was no evidence of water damage that she could see, and only thin coatings of dust in the places that didn't see much foot traffic.

Most of the books Sarah could see were new, but there were not many... perhaps only a few hundred, in a library large enough to hold thousands. Where were the older books? She couldn't help but tense up, and feel more than a little anxious about that. Part of her reason for coming here was to search through the old stacks, to find a few books that she'd heard were here. Research for her doctoral dissertation was slow going, and this had been her best lead.

Technically what Sarah had said to Claire about wanting to be here had all been true, but that wasn't the whole of it... not even half. It felt like it took every bit of patience and discipline Sarah possessed to not ask about those old books. Which was saying a lot for a person who'd been hiding personal secrets for most of her life. She liked to think that she'd gotten good at choosing her words carefully, and determining what else they might reveal, besides their intended meaning.

Sarah was momentarily startled again the moment she stepped forward into the room. Maybe it was just the acoustics, but her heeled shoes were very loud against the library's hardwood flooring. At least she probably wouldn't have to discipline any of the students up for unacceptable behavior, as there was no way she'd be sneaking up on any of them.

"People always said I really know how to brighten up a room..." Sarah murmured citing Bright's Third rule for Success... never underestimate the value of a bad pun with good timing. "Seriously, it seemed like there wasn't a cloud in the sky fifteen minutes ago..."

It took a moment for the joke to land with Claire, at which point she snickered. "I hear you've not been in Scotland long." She strolled slowly into the library, she put on a faux Scottish accent; "I remember the summer of 1990, 't was a Tuesday." She gave a cheeky grin towards the new member of faculty before she looked around a bit. "Most of this is curriculum required reading." She pointed in the general direction of the English, French and German literary books. "There's some magazines and news papers back there. Mostly what the staff has subscriptions to and finished reading." She turned to point towards the other end of the library, "Your desk is over there." She continued to walk towards it. "Feel free to rearrange and reorder everything. Like I said, this is your domain."

"I have not." Sarah admitted with a mild grin of her own. Though she'd bounced back and forth between England and the United States many times, outside of the American Northeast and the English Midlands she was not widely traveled. Coincidentally (and almost absurdly), both her mom and dad were from Boston... though not the same Boston. Most of her adult years had been spent in America, but she'd made a conscious effort to retain her Lincolnshire accent... mainly because it sounded more natural, but also because in the states it had helped her get dates.

"I'll look through the stacks, and see if there are any obvious needs. And also circulate a wish list of sorts among the teachers. There are grants I can apply for, and some larger schools, libraries and other institutions may be willing to offer donations." Sarah said as she followed along. She did also have some personal funds that she was willing to use, but for the moment she was holding it in reserve, until she knew what the school needed most--a rainy day fund, of sorts. Well... a rainier day fund.

"I hope this is everything you expected and more." Claire turned around a bit to look into the larger area of the library before turning back to the new librarian and smiled. "The building and the room is old, but most of the books are quite new. There's an archive where we put all the old stuff, and there's some really old stuff." She remembered putting a couple of books from William's tomb in there as well, perhaps she should remove those and put them in her private storage. "Because we wanted to avoid the students spilling something on them. Not that food or drinks are allowed. But you know. Teens." The head mistress wondered if she was just getting old or if this particular new librarian was dressing very young, but she felt like Sarah had walked straight out of class and into this new job.

Sarah nearly bounced at the mention of old books. Or at least she felt like she could. Was it true, could the manuscript she was looking for really be here? While her heart and mind were practically floating, thankfully her feet were much more grounded. But then again it was kind of hard to bounce in four inch heels. If she’d been wearing her sneakers, Claire might’ve witnessed a very different reaction. One thing was certain, though… she was glad she’d forgotten her coffee thermos in the school office when she’d checked in. Some people were not to be trusted with handling food or drink in certain places regardless of age… not that Sarah was admitting to being one of them.

“It’s perfect.” Sarah replied simply, and genuinely. Thoughts of old manuscripts aside, she couldn’t have asked for more. For her first job she’d imagined being either a junior minion at a large library, where she’d be busy being told what to do all day, or being totally on her own at a small library with little to do and even less to work with. This wasn’t even something in between, it was way outside of her expectations.

"I'm glad to hear it. And I'm happy to have you on board." There was still that nagging feeling of someone without powers joining the institute without clear indications as to why they had done so, but Claire figured that as she got to know the new librarian more they'd eventually get to the bottom of that as well. "If you need anything. Or if you want to discuss some things, please don't hesitate to reach out." With that the head mistress gave a small, polite, nod of the head and started back in the direction of the exit. As she did so she saw the clouds darken even more. Just another late summer day in the Scottish highlands.

"I will, thanks!" Sarah called out as Claire headed off, then almost shushed herself out of habit. Libraries were supposed to be quiet places, even thought at the moment she was the only one there. Part of her had wanted to keep talking to Claire, as she did have several questions, like whether it was too late to grab some lunch in the cafeteria... and where the cafeteria was. At some point she also needed to find out where her room was, and whether or not her bags had already made their way there. None of those seemed like the kind of questions one bothered the school headmaster with though. Especially when the answers were probably in the orientation packet stowed in the messenger bag hanging off her shoulder. She should probably take a look at that before doing anything else.

As Sarah watched Claire move off, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she hadn't gotten off to greatest start... even though she couldn't think of why she felt that way. Maybe she wouldn't have been surprised to learn that Claire was now on her way to the office to make sure she was in fact the new librarian, and not just a student trying to lie her way out of attending class. That at least she didn't have to worry about. Sarah might not have been completely honest about why she was there, but she was legitimately qualified for the job.

Whatever. Sarah thought, brushing her doubts aside. She wasn't the kind of person who liked to dwell on stress that wasn't totally warranted. Reaching her desk, she opened her bag and grabbed the orientation packet. All thoughts on finding answers got pushed aside as soon as she thumbed through the first few pages, and saw that she had a study hall starting up in less than ten minutes. Apparently lunch was going to have to wait.