Hint

Lawrence

The school was abuzz with activity. Prince Michael had just released his first royal proclamation to the public. It was being covered on every news station, on the front page of every newspaper and it was the first thing that popped up on any web browser. But everyone at school was excited because it concerned them.

The library was usually the best place for Lawrence to study, but it was mostly full of curious students without internet access using the computers these days. Everyone did as much research as they could on the four other teenagers coming to the island. "Two sisters and then two other boys, right?" One girl said passing Lawrence and not using her library voice at all. Her companion responded even louder. Lawrence tried his best not to let out a groan.

The majority of students here weren't there for summer school, and if they were it was likely they had failed a class and needed to make it up. Parents just didn't know what else to do with their kids and were so completely loaded that they sent them to the boarding school all year. Lawrence's parents were no different, but he did enjoy the summer school program. There were no regular classes, only a few professors teaching things such as grammar and of course all levels of mathematics and a few history and language courses. Lawrence took as many of them as he was allowed.

He checked his watch. Three in the afternoon, rats. Time flew by so fast when he was invested in a book. His band practice started at three fifteen however, so he couldn't steal a few more pages. He reluctantly shoved the book into his bag, and swung by his dorm room to pick up his trumpet and the music. He had so much more to play now that the new students were coming in. The Prince had personally asked him to choose songs to play upon their arrival. He hoped he chose songs that were patriotic but not obnoxious. Who knew what they would be like?

If they were anything like their parents… a psychotic animal murderer, an evil all powerful genie, a wicked enchantress... Powerful and wealthy people, reduced to nothing because of their evil ways. Were their children anything like them? He'd seen photos of the island, a few short video clips, and heard rumors. The men and women that people saw from the cargo shipments were harried, dirty, and all seemed to scowl, eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched. The barrier around the island kept the sun from shining, letting nothing grow, it allowed the king to know exactly what kind of food he was shipping to them. Knew what their rations were like. It made them easier to control.

Most of the band was gathered in the main hall, but nobody had their music or instruments anywhere near ready. They were whispering and chattering. Presumably about what would be happening in the next few days. Tomorrow they would arrive and the next day they would be moved into the school. "Can we get started?" He yelled.

A few people sighed, but everyone slowly gathered their things, setting their music up where it needed to be and piecing their instruments together. The girl who was charged with conducting was the last one to arrive. They launched into the music, stopping every once in a while when someone missed a solo or the tempo changed without the conductor's motioning. But they were very close to being ready.

The rest of practice was spent arranging everyone in a specific place so that they could be heard when the students arrived. The chattering picked up again, but at least it wasn't impeding anything. All they had to do was stand where Lawrence told them to.

After he finished up, he was laying on his bed in his dorm thinking. Thinking about things he wouldn't normally. Would he get to meet them? Everyone would no doubt want to meet them. Many students were arriving at school earlier this year to be there when the new kids made it. What would they do if the students could use magic and tried to hurt them? Prince Michael had promised that there would be magically gifted guards posted around the school at all times, but it still made him uneasy. Only a few other students could use magic and they had very specific classes to teach them to control it and use it properly. Would they teach the new students how to use it?

He pulled up the pictures someone had caught of the two girls. It was hard to tell from the blurry photo, but they didn't look like sisters. They were of different builds, looks, even their skin tones were different. And from what he'd heard… A thought popped into his head. Quick as lightning, he grabbed his laptop from his bedside table and began searching.