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enchantingkittengaditor · 4 years

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The Charmed | 01: Lovely

POV: Olivia Rodriguez

They’d sent a private jet to pick me and one of the other girls up from Australia and Canada respectfully. Over the course of the near 28 hours of the flight, I’d read up on the other three scholarship girls and the school hoping that I’d be able to talk to them about something.

I’d packed everything I could have ever needed from my surfboard to all of my clothes that I could fit into my suitcase. I’d been given a bunch of snacks and mementos from my friends, from Tim Tams and friendship necklaces to vegemite to photos of us when we were younger.

While we were waiting for the final girl at a train station we were chatting about nothing and getting stared at by passers-by for the fact we were sitting in a horse-drawn carriage.

“Wait so you grew up here in London?” Lucy asked the girl who’d been waiting in the carriage when we’d arrived at the airport.

“Yeah but not this side of London. Mainly what I guess people would call the wrong side of the tracks,” Catina responded.

“Would either of you be interested in trying a Tim Tam with your tea and crumpets?” I asked them, pulling out the packet from my backpack.

“What are they?” Lucy asked me.

“They look like Penguins,” Catina said looking at them suspiciously.

“Do you both know why people in the northern hemisphere call snacks after animals?” I asked them.

“I don’t know,” a new voice said. “Hi, I’m Holly. I’m guessing this is the ride to princess charm school?”

“You’ve got the right horse-drawn carriage,” I joked to her, Catina scooting over to allow her to sit next to her.

“Do any of you know anything about Princess Charm School except what’s broadcast?” She asked as the scary security guard placed her bags on the back of the carriage. “I mean what does the public truly know about this place except royalty goes there?”

“I wish I could tell you, my little sister Chloe could answer all of your questions,” Catina spoke up.

“You miss her?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah but this is a chance for a better life for her and my mum. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her,” Catina said smiling at the thought of her sister.

“She means a lot to you doesn’t she?” Holly asked.

“She’s my whole world. I love her to bits,” She responded.

“That’s really sweet,” Lucy said.

The rest of the trip was like this each of us sharing things about our lives and our families. That was until we saw the gates of the school where we all became silent at the sight.

“Two days ago we were normal teenagers worrying about normal things, and now we’re here at Princess Charm School waiting to meet the next stage of our lives as Lady Royals,” Holly said what we were all thinking inside, “We’re screwed aren’t we?”

“Yup,” we all said in unison staring at the intimidating walls of the school.

POV: Catina Williams

“What should we do?” Lucy piped up after about ten minutes of us just standing in front of the doors too intimidated to go in.

“I think we should go in. People are starting to stare at us. It’s not like we weren’t sticking out before but we definitely are now,” I told them. “On three.” We looked at each other.

“Two,” Lucy said.

“One,” Holly said.

“Now,” we all said, Holly and Olivia pushed the door open as we all stepped forward.

“That was dramatic,” Olivia said, as we burst out laughing.

“Maybe we should try to find someone to help us,” Holly suggested while we looked around in awe.

WROOF! And I’m on the floor.

“Hello! Aren’t you a cute little doggo,” I smile down at the golden retriever that jumped on me, causing me to fall on the floor. “Prince is that your name buddy.”

“You must be the scholarship girls. We don’t usually find our future lady royals sprawled on the floor,” A shortish brunette lady said.

“I’m so sorry, he’s just so energetic and sociable,” I said getting up and brushing myself off.

“Not usually. He’s always quite shy. Go lie down, Prince! Welcome to Princess Charm School, ladies. I’m Danielle Anderson, and I’m the headmistress here.” She said as we started moving.

“Thank you it’s an honour,” Lucy spoke up for all of us as we stepped in unison.

“Shall I take you to your locker?” she asked us as we kept moving forward, “Princess Charm School was founded on the principals of building young ladies with character and confidence. Preparing them for royal life, for nearly six centuries. Some of our notable graduates include Princess Diana, the six wives of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth.

“In fact, we were founded by Catalina de Aragon as she believed in the education of women at least to the extent this school offered at the time. The lottery began in 1952, it was one of Queen Elizabeth’s first acts as queen. So that normal girls like you could have the chance to improve their social standing and help their families.”

“Wow! This is incredible,” Lucy said spinning, “I can’t wait till we’re all Lady Royals and live in castles!”

“Ah. You all know that only 27% of the lottery girls make it through to graduation each year. Do you all have what it takes?” She asked.

“I think we all do,” Holly said looking at each of us as she said it.

“Good. Ahh, here they are. Here are your lockers and three of your personal princess assistants. Where’s Grace?” she asked as we looked at the fairies in front of us.

“Catina Williams? I’m looking for Catina Williams,” a pink flying fairy said before she hit me with a cupcake.

“Hi. You must be Grace, I’m Catina Williams,” I said catching the fairy as she fell.

“At your service? You want a change of clothes?” the fairy asked

“Sure,” I told her, unsure of what was going to happen.

POV: Lucy Davis

“Time for a locker tour!” the orange fairy said. “It has everything a princess student needs. Books, pens, paper, makeup mirrors, sparkle purse collection and of course, emergency pumps! Then, we’ve got your beauty supplies. Jewel-encrusted hairbrush, shiny lipstick… Oh, I love this perfume!”

“Slow down, maybe we should introduce ourselves first. I’m Harmony, I’m Olivia’s assistant,” The purple fairy said, “This is Caprice, she’s Lucy’s assistant,” she pointed to the blue fairy, “This is Rina, she’s Holly’s assistant,” pointing to the purple fairy this time, “And you’ve all meet Grace, she’s Catina’s assistant as you may have gathered.” They all waved as we waved back.

“OK, do you want us to help you with your bags and show you your dorm, your roommates are already there,” said Caprice.

“Sure let’s go,” I said, “So who are our roommates?”

“Princess Sophie of Maurya and Princess Naomi of Van Lang. They were the only princesses who wanted the scholarship kids, sorry,” Rina said as she directed us to our dorms.

“You’re next to each other. In adjoining rooms actually,” Caprice said as she tried to push open a door.

“Let me help,” I said pushing the door open.

“This place is incredible,” Olivia said staring at the room.

“You must be our new roommates,” a girl said coming from one of the two adjoining rooms, “I’m Sophie and that’s Naomi, she’s currently editing her music. I’m sorry I don’t know your names, well I do but not to the faces.”

“I guess I’ll introduce us,” I said to them as Sophie got Naomi to pay attention, “I’m Lucy, I’m from Canada. The one with the crazy hair is Holly, from Oxford. The brunette’s Olivia, from Australia. And then goldie locks is Catina and she’s actually from London.”

“Hi,” Catina said offering her hand form them to shake, “Call me Cat if you want. Can I ask which room are we each in?”

“I think Cat and Holly are with me and you two are with Naomi. I can show you where you can put your stuff away and find your uniform, we have to be at the opening assembly in 5 minutes.”

They walked into the room on the right of the small living room between the two rooms. While we walked into the other one.

Once we were finished getting changed into our uniforms we had to run toward the pavilion where the assembly was being held, grabbing the last seats at the back.

“You guys need your training tiara’s,” one of the older girls said passing us each a very plain tiara. “Don’t lose them. Angela is a devil about keeping them, you don’t you’ll get detention for the rest of the year. Take it from me, I lost mine in my first year. I’m a scholarship kid too. These guys’ parents can afford to replace them ours can’t, trust me on that one.”

“Thank you,” we said in unison to her turning our attention towards headmistress Anderson and Dame Jones on the stage.

POV: Holly Smith

“Welcome, students. And dogs. Tonight, you begin the greatest challenge of your life. Training to be a princess or lady royal. The most important jobs in the realm. Don’t get too used to them. Only those that succeed this year will earn more realistic ones. Fail as a princess-in-training and you will lose that privilege forever. We have very high expectations of you. Everyone must attend every class on time and in uniform. And your grades must be excellent! That said, I believe every one of you has princess talent inside of them. Work hard and you will succeed,” She said before Dame Jones coughed, “ I’m so sorry, Dame Devon. Do you have a nasty little tickle in your throat there? Would you like a glass of water?”

“I want a proper introduction!” she responded to headmistress Anderson.

“Of course. Students, Dame Anderson, everyone,” Headmistress Anderson said to all of us.

“I have an earth-shattering announcement!! This will be my last year group I teach here at PCS, before I- Uh, I mean, my daughter- becomes Queen of Magna! No, no. Hold back your tears! Miss Anderson will take over my classes in her own, little way for all future generations,” She said while Miss Anderson rolled her eyes in the background, “Of course, no one knows the royal life as I do. I’ve lived at the palace ever since my dear sister Queen Isabella and her family died. And it has been my pleasure greatly.”

“IF they died! Do you know the legend?” Naomi said to us.

“What legend?” We asked in sync.

“There is a legend that Queen Isabella and her family didn’t all die in that accident,” Sophie said to us.

“And so I welcome you all to Princess Charm School. May your time be magical!” Dame Anderson finished.

“Alright, everyone! Curtsies to all then it’s time for bed!” Headmistress Anderson said to everyone.

“Favourite legend about Queen Isabella and her family? Go!” Naomi said.

“I don’t know any,” Cat responded for all of us.

“So missing out! Sophie, go!” Naomi said.

“My fave’s a simple one. Magna’s magical crown,” Sophie said.

“Mine too,” Lucy said, “It’s the only one I know.”

Just as we finished talking the bell rang and we walked back to our rooms for the night.

“So do four want to unpack or find out more about the legend of the royal family of Magna?” Naomi asked us once we got back to our room.

“I’m going to unpack and call my mum before I go to bed,” Cat told us.

“Well I for one want to know more about these legends,” Lucy said sitting down.

“Me too,” Olivia said sitting down.

“Cool, see you tomorrow Cat,” Lucy said waving to Cat before we disappeared into our room for Cat to call her family and me to call my mine while we unpacked all of our worldly possessions into our small room and closet while chatting with the people that mean the most to us and each other.

POV: Buzzfeed Unsolved Video

“That was their first night at Princess Charm School from their new book but the majority of our story takes place in their second year and the discovery that has lead one of our old Unsolved mysteries to be solved, which is what we’re going to be talking today,” Ryan said to Shane who was playing with his pencil.

“Wait, one of our unsolved mysteries got solved?”

“Yeah. It was, by six 17-year-olds who attended the PCS in London, England.”

“Wait they solved it and we couldn’t?”

“I think the biggest mystery is how Interpol didn’t.”

“I mean that is a big mystery. Like they get paid to do this and actually solve them and they got beat by six teenagers who attend a school for Princesses.”

“I mean four of them were scholarship kids and they did have the help of two teachers and some of the best facilities in the world and labs.”

“This is just bizarre. Please continue with this.”

“Is it more bizarre than ghosts and demons?”

“No. But it’s up there.”

“You think that the fact six teens solved this is crazier than ghosts existing?”

“Yes, Ryan.”

#barbie princess charm school #barbie #buzzfeed unsolved #h2o just add water #high school #writing #My writing #england #royalty #royalty!au #royalty au

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iugesorbust · 7 years

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My flight to McMurdo was just delayed 24 hours, which is always a possibility with Antarctic travel, this is the end of my time in Christchurch, NZ. I appreciated having the past twenty-four hours to explore, to soak up the warmth and verdancy of a warm spring day, and to eat and shop one last time in civilization, before heading off to McMurdo. Sounds like I have a little more time today as well.

When I last wrote, I had just gotten off the plane and was relaxing in the hotel. The remainder of that day was spent eating and walking around a nearby mall. It was a nice mall, and I was able to cut my unruly mop of hair before leaving for the Ice. The remainder of our group arrived over the course of the rest of the day, and we ate and bonded over Indian food at a restaurant around the corner from our hotel. I fell asleep at around nine, and woke up at 4, ready to go out and be a tourist.

Breakfast at the hotel was very good, I stuffed myself on crumpets with cheese and Vegemite. It seems I’m the only one in the group that likes Vegemite, which is definitely an acquired taste. Several people remarked that they would rather eat dirt than Vegemite.

As the sun rose in the sky, we drove to the International Antarctic Center, an attractive building complex where a number of countries’ Antarctic programs have their clothing distribution and travel logistics offices. We needed to receive training on safety, proper waste disposal, and environmental protection as well as receive flu shots and have our computers screened.

The Antarctic Center is decorated with images of Antarctica and exploration throughout time. Suspended from the ceiling was a wooden sleigh, and I jokingly asked if it was of historical importance, like the very sleigh that Scott died on. Our chief scientist laughed, and said I can dream. Our flight engineer grumbled, “The only dreams here are broken ones.” I smiled at both of them, and sat down. The flight engineer is a bit of a strange, melancholic person, so I think his comment was his way of saying he likes me.

There’s something about an authoritative voice with a Kiwi accent that I find very entertaining, so our training went by quickly. We watched several instructional videos created by the National Science Foundation, which were surprisingly good. They felt like early 2000s classroom tapes, but the imagery of Antarctica was beautiful, and they did an excellent job of conveying how special we were. The woman narrative repeated how we were a lucky few to experience this forbidding continent, and how she was sure that this experience would be life-changing.

Most of the information was common sense, and there was an emphasis in the safety training on how it was trips, slips, and over-exertion that were the most common safety hazards, not the environmental dangers of glacial crevasses, cold-related injuries, or snow-blindness. They were also quite emphatic about the limitations of McMurdo’s internet. There was an infographic of the relative bandwidth speeds of a 4G network smartphone, a household with basic connection, a household with hi-speed connection, and McMurdo. The smartphone gave 19 megabites per sec for one person, the household, something like 50 Mbps for four people, and then the McMurdo Station’s circle was even smaller than the smartphone, and the people symbols kept falling onto it until it was completely smothered. McMurdo Station has 18 Mbps shared among over 900 people. The seasoned IT guy says that he’s never seen bandwidth usage saturation like he has in McMurdo. So please be patient when you message me.

During our break, we went to a nearby shopping center and stocked up on snacks and last minute essentials. I got a very large chocolate bar that promised to be full of energy, more tea, and some skincare products.

Following shopping, we received flu shots and had our laptops screened. I already had my flu shot, so I waited outside. I started chatting with a man named Mike who had just left his Peace Corps. position of the past two years in Botswana. He worked to spread HIV/AIDS awareness and accessible treatment. He was a very interesting person, and I hope I get to see him again on the Ice. He’ll be part of the kitchen staff, and was as excited as I was to hear about the 24hr pizza and cookies. The food in McMurdo seems like it will be pretty impressive.

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The last and final business at the Antarctic Center was clothing distribution. I was like a little kid waiting for presents. I can’t remember feeling prouder than when I opened my assigned bright orange bag and pulled out a big, puffy, red, US Antarctic Program parka with my name on it. I felt a swell of emotions, everything became even more real. I was going to Antarctica. I had a piece of Antarctic history in my hands, with my name on it. Piecemeal, I tried on each article of assigned clothing. I apologize for my terrible selfie, but I hope the sense of excitement is conveyed. I was assigned rubber-insulated boots, known as “bunny boots”. They were very warm. I was given several layers of face and neck protection, fleeces, gloves, mittens, snow pants, and a windbreaker. Having checked off that each item fit properly, I repacked everything into its bag, and turned my paperwork in. When we do fly out, we will have our carry-on bags, our checked bags, and a ‘boomerang bag,’ which will be the only bag returned to us in the days following a boomeranged flight.

Had to take a picture with the Antarctic Center’s penguins

In the afternoon, we split off for various tourist activities. Our hotel was a good forty-five minute walk to the downtown area. The warm, flower-scented air was intoxicating, and it was strange to be mentally preparing to be in a barren wasteland amid subtropical flowers. We eventually made it into town and I was immediately struck by the amount of construction sites in town. in February 2011, Christchurch was hit by a massive, magnitude 6.3 earthquake. Most of the downtown area was destroyed, including a majority of the historic buildings. Just from my first few minutes walking through, Christchurch looks…thinned. As if buildings as random were removed and replaced by gravel. There were still a few buildings cracked down the middle with rebar exposed.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

To be continued…

Not Enough Time In Christchurch (And Then More Time) My flight to McMurdo was just delayed 24 hours, which is always a possibility with Antarctic travel, this is the end of my time in Christchurch, NZ.

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