"Strange lights are seen coming from the school."

25/ 11/ 00

Dear Diary,

Guess what! It started snowing today! Real live snow! It's soft and cold and wet. Today was another cold rainy day, and when Zack, Sally, Peter and I were sitting in the Diner, I noticed that the rain looked a bit strange. When I commented on this, Zack laughed and told me it was snow! It was 'Brown Day' which meant the Freshmen and Sophomores got to pile into a mini-bus and get driven into town for a couple hours of freedom.

We all went and saw 'Scooby Doo' in the cinema and then we went to the Diner afterwards for hamburgers. I also wanted to see if this girl, Lee-Anne was working there today to ask her some more questions about Hamilton’s. Now that Peter's on the investigative team he kept telling Sally and I what questions to ask her. He's getting quite bossy actually. Sally told him to shut up or we would kick him out of the 'Mystery Machine' just like they did to ‘Scrappy Doo’ in the movie we saw. LoL!

When Sally and I went up to the counter to pay for our food, Lee-Anne was on the cash register. I asked her if she had a break coming up and she said she'd meet us outside in 10 minutes. So we four waited out the front for her, and I started to smoke while we were waiting. She came out and pretended to talk to us by asking me for a cigarette, which I gave her. She lit it and then we started asking her the questions.

"So, has anyone died there?" Peter asked her first.

"No, no-one. A few years ago a gardener had a heart attack when he was mowing the lawns, but your doctor who teaches there, revived him long enough till he was taken to the hospital here. Then they flew him out to a hospital in Thunder Bay and he had some kind of triple by-pass surgery." Lee-Anne answered.

"What about the stories you've heard about the school." I mentioned.

"What about them?" she shrugged.

"Well, what are they?" I asked her.

She shivered and pulled her jacket around her more tightly. She seemed to hesitate before telling us, as if still trying to make up her mind if she should or not. "Strange lights are seen coming from the school."

"From the main building?" Peter asked her.

"Yeah. From across the lake we see strange, bright bursts of lights, like when there's supposed to be no-one there during summer holidays." she answered.

"Blue lights? White lights? What kind of lights? Coming from the windows?" Zack asked next.

"All of the above." She shrugged. "I've seen them. One night I was in the woods with my brother and his friends. We even climbed over the fence on a dare. It was summer and there was supposed to be no-one there. But then there was a bright light, and then all of these people were walking around this building, like they came out of nowhere. One minute it's dark and quiet, the next minute it was all lit up with all these shapes of people walking around."

Just then I got a cold chill down my spine and I shivered.

"That's like what we saw and heard." Peter said to the rest of us.

"We didn't see a group of people." Zack interjected.

"But I bloody well heard them!" Peter retorted. "And it happened when you guys saw the light."

"So it's true, huh?" Lee-Anne asked us.

"Don't worry, feel fortunate that you're not there." I said to her.

"Hey Lee-Anne! Break time's over!" her brother suddenly opened the door and yelled over to us.

"I gotta go." she sighed and stumped out the cigarette. It was only half finished too, and I almost regretted the waste of a good cigarette with my supply running so low. I think she saw my reaction. "What's wrong? Running out?"

"Yeah." I said.

"For $20 my brother can keep you in supply." she said simply.

"$20? What a rip off! A packet costs only $7!" Peter replied before I could.

"$13 commission. Take it or leave it." Lee-Anne shrugged.

"Fine." I got my purse out.

She took my money and went inside, then we had to wait another 10 minutes until her brother came out this time and tossed the packet to me.

"See you next weekend?" he asked me, suddenly a lot nicer than the last time we spoke.

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"It will be $20 again, and the time after that as well, capiche?" Then he went back inside, leaving Peter, Zack and Sally staring at me as if I had just bought a broken down car or something.

"Sucker." Peter teased.

"Who else is going to buy my cigarettes? My last supply line was given a 3 month detention, remember?" I shrugged again.

It's been snowing all afternoon and most of the evening. I hope it snows all night, then maybe tomorrow I can make my first ever snow man! It's been pretty cold, I've had the heater on constantly in my room. I’ve had to, it's this annoying old oil heater that takes at least half an hour to warm up when you first switch it on!

Tonight for Fun Night we got to choose between hamburgers and tacos. I had the tacos. The two movies showing afterwards were "Perfect Storm" and "Event Horizon". I chose to watch "Perfect Storm". Remember when you made me go see that other movie in the cinemas? I still think that is the scariest movie I ever saw! Peter made Sally go see it with him while Zack saw "Perfect Storm" with me... and after about 45 minutes Sally came and sat with us instead, she hated that movie too! But Nelson loved it. She ended up staying and watching it with Peter. Pat watched that movie too, apparently, but he sat away from Nelson, I think with Soong and Wong.

After the movie finished (we were in the Gamma building Rec room) Dr. Myles came in and rounded up all the students and made sure we all left back to our dorms coz the curfew was about to start soon. I think it was about 5 minutes till 11 o'clock or something... but I thought he was being extra pushy about it. When we were walking back across the oval to Beta building, I looked over at Alpha building. I nudged Zack and pointed.

Dr. Knight, Nell and Professor Hamilton were watching us all from the library window on the second floor.

"What are they doing there?" Zack asked me.

"Good question." I thought out loud.

Just the way the three of them were standing there, watching us, made me feel a little uneasy, and definitely curious. I know they're hiding something. I know they think we suspect. And I know this curfew business isn't just to stop students from breaking the rules.


======================================================

"And what about the timing of our guest lecturer? He arrives magically, to talk about Roman Legionnaires, right after we've seen one?"

07/ 11/ 00

Dear Diary,

We were in the library doing our homework after dinner when Peter came in and sat at the table we were at. He tossed us over his notes from history and then started with, "from the guy we saw, the kind of armour he was wearing, I'd say we're looking at a ghost from around 100 BC. But what I can't work out is, why a ghost from Ancient Rome is hanging around Ontario? From the types of hauntings I've researched, there are two types of ghosts, one that died in the area, even when the building wasn't even built yet and it can interact with people years later; or it's a kind of recording, one that seems to be imprinted in the surroundings. But that doesn't explain what Roman soldiers are doing in a country which wouldn't have been discovered yet."

Sally, Zack, Nelson and I just looked at him, throwing our own daggers at him. "NOW you're interested? Bugger off Peter."

"How is the cleaning going, Pete? You look a bit hot and flustered there." Zack said coldly. That was true, he stunk of bleach.

"And doesn't that perturb you in any way? The way Hamilton and his crony just showed up, perfectly timed?" Peter leaned forward. "And what about the timing of our guest lecturer? He arrives magically, to talk about Roman Legionnaires, right after we've seen one? And how did our guest lecturer arrive here, may I ask? Did you guys notice any new looking cars parked in the staff carpark outside of Alpha building? Or did he just helicopter in, using the prestigious Brownsville hospital helipad?"

"So what are you saying, you saw our guest lecturer arrive in the middle of the night, bathed in blue light? Wow, I should become a poet." Nelson said sarcastically.

But that did make me think what he was saying may have been right. "You know what, I have been thinking about this a lot. You know how Hamilton caught us and said to Peter, 'with the type of medication she was on, she would have overdosed?' He didn't say 'could have', he said 'would have', like it was a forgone conclusion. Like he knew it was about to happen."

Zack just looked at me, then he turned to Peter. "What exactly was it you and Brett and Sophie heard that night? That scared Brett and Sophie away."

"Footsteps. Lots of them."

"That could have been from us." Sally looked at Zack and I.

"No, I mean LOTS of them, the kind that sound like it's Piccadilly Circus in rush hour. They thought it was all of the teachers and probably all of Brownsville, come back from partying early, because it came from upstairs where the teachers offices are."

"That's strange, we didn't hear anything." Zack said. "And we were right outside the teachers offices."

"Which office was it that you saw the blue light?" Peter asked us.

"How do you know we saw a blue light?" I asked him back.

"I heard Hamilton talk about it. He knows we know." Peter sung warningly.

"So? What's wrong with that?" Sally shrugged dismissively.

"Girlfriend, buy a clue! Pat saw a blue light coming from his office once, we have a guest speaker from 100 BC, and Hamilton knows when his students are about to drop dead from overdosing! What do you think?" Nelson snapped at her.

"So, which office was it?" Peter asked me again.

"I don't know, I've never been up there." I shrugged.

"Well, there's no time like the present." Peter stood up. "Come on, show me."

"What? Now? But it's cold outside." I whined.

"We should find out." Zack stood up too.

"Come on." So did Nelson, and she looked at Sally. "Don't you wanna know? Or are you too scared?"

"Fine!" Sally huffed and stood up.

"Bloody hell. Can't this wait until morning? When it won't look so strange, on our way to class?" I refused to stand up.

"Good idea." Sally quickly sat down again.

Then they all sat down again.

"And we don't all need to go. Let's keep them guessing just a little bit, shall we?" I pointed out. "They mightn't know we all know."

"Know what? Our teachers are ghosts?" Nelson said flatly.


======================================================


(THE FOLLOWING PIECE WAS WRITTEN ON SCRAP PAPER BY ELISHA BAKER AND PASSED ON TO NELSON, PETER, ZACK AND SALLY AT 8.15 AM THE 8TH NOVEMBER 2000, DURING DR. KNIGHT'S MATH CLASS)

Left breakf. early so could go to class early to check out Alpha. Light did come from Prof. H. office.


======================================================

I couldn't explain it, I just had this growing feeling inside me that something bad or something big was going to happen.

01/ 11/ 00

Dear Diary,

Last night was the Halloween bash, and what a bash it was! Even the teachers dressed up for it. Pat did an hour of DJ'ing with the other Senior, Steve, I think his name is, with some of the music they had downloaded off the net and remixed. Everyone danced, ate, and danced some more and we didn't have to stop the music till 2 AM! Well, nearly everyone. Everyone except Zack, Sally and me.

As soon as classes finished that afternoon, we all rushed back to the dorms to try and get our showers first. I was halfway through shampooing my hair when somebody started banging on the door telling me to hurry up! Then as we were getting ready, Nelson, Sally and I were running between each others rooms to lend/borrow the clothes and make-up and stuff. It was funny, Sally kept screaming, "Don't look! Don't look! We're not ready yet!" and slammed my door in Pat's face!

"Freaking hell! I'll meet you guys at the Caf then. I'm going for a cigarette." Pat shook his head at us, but I think he was trying not to laugh. He caught Zack just as he was leaving his room and took him with him, warning about a couple of shrieking banshees running wild at the end of the corridor.

Even Nelson got into a girlie mood. She did her make-up in my room and then after doing her eyes with black liquid eye-liner, she did mine for me too. Sally raced in with this color of lipstick she reckoned went well with the purple velvet skirt I was borrowing from her. Nelson and Sally then started fighting about what kind of music to play as we were getting ready, and they finally compromised on U2’s, ‘Rattle and Hum’. I turned up "In the Name of Love" really loudly and we three started jumping up and down on my bed. Then Sally started teasing Nelson about her crush on Dr. Myles and joked that she should ask him to dance tonight!

‘Club Night’ started at 7.30 PM after dinner and was in the theater in Gamma Building, where the Caf is. We three skipped dinner and turned up at 7.30. We saw that with the theater they had folded away all the chairs and lined them all along the walls, and darkened the place with the lights that usually lit up the stage, now flashing around the room like we were in a real night club or something! There was the senior guy, Steve, DJ'ing from the stage, and at the back of the room there was a table in the corner offering punch and cans of soft drink and some nibblies.

Pat and Zack were already there, waiting for us. I noticed Peter was there, hanging out with the two other Americans in our year, Brett and Sophie. He gave us a dirty look and whispered something to Brett, probably about us, and they laughed. I tried to ignore them and grabbed Sally and we started dancing. Zack and Nelson joined in, and Pat seemed really uncomfortable. Nelson asked him what was up, and he said he couldn't dance.

"So? That's not stopping Zack!" I teased and Zack tickled me!

I noticed Jordon and Raj and Yuichi come in and just stand around the refreshment table, looking a little uneasy themselves. I pointed them out to Sally and we went over and asked them to join us. Jordon and Yuichi looked relieved and agreed, but Raj shook his head and said he was waiting for someone.

After a little while of more dancing, I soon found out who... Maya arrived, looking quite conservative but still very pretty. Raj immediately gave her a glass of punch and tried to engage her in conversation. She looked over to where we were dancing, but I looked away and pretended I didn't see her. She said something mean the other day which I'm still annoyed about.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, including the teachers. Nell, Dr. Knight and Professor Hamilton looked on happily at the turn out, as they stood to the side and talked. And Dr. Myles even took Miss Inez out onto the floor for a spin!

"I think they're dating. Steve, the DJ guy, told Pat that he saw Dr. Myles take Miss Inez out to lunch at the Diner last Sunday." Sally whispered in my ear.

I looked over at Nelson, who was looking at Dr. Myles. She was still dancing, and when she noticed that I noticed, she turned her back to him and got on down with Pat, who was still moving very awkwardly. He reminded me a little of a robotic scarecrow the poor guy! Then paired with Nelson who looked like she was doing the lambada or something... I tried not to laugh!

Around 10 PM I went outside with Nelson and Pat for a smoke, and when we were finished, I told them I wanted to use the bathroom and I'd meet them inside the theatre.

When I went down the hallway, past the Caf, I heard voices coming from around the corner. I stopped before going into the Ladies and listened. I recognized one of the voices as Peter's. He was talking to someone else, another guy from the sounds of it, something about money...

I peered around the corner to see Peter putting something in his pocket, and another guy, a Senior called Paul who I buy my smokes from, put money in his wallet. I didn't know Peter smoked... he never joined Pat or Nelson and I. I turned around and went into the Ladies.

When I came back to ‘Club Night’, it looked as if Peter had returned the same time as I did. He went over and whispered something to Brett and Sophie, and the three then turned around and left. I watched them go, but something didn't feel right about this. I nudged Sally and indicated the three leaving.

"Good riddance." Sally shrugged.

"No, I think something bad is going to happen." I said to her.

"What the f**k are you talking about?" she shook her head at me.

"Come on!" I grabbed her arm and pulled her with me.

"Hey, where are you going?" Zack called out after us, then followed too.

We three hid in the doorway of the building as we watched the other three walk around the oval and go into Alpha building. Once they were inside, I then dragged Sally with me as Zack followed behind just to see what the hell it was that I was doing. I couldn't explain it, I just had this growing feeling inside me that something bad or something big was going to happen.

When we reached Alpha building, all of the lights were turned off, even the library and computer lab were all turned off.

"What the f**k are we doing here? The party is in the other building!" Sally whined.

"Shh!" I nudged her again, and walked very slowly and quietly inside, trying to listen to any footsteps or voices that might tell me where the three went. Then I heard it, footsteps that sounded like they were going up the stairs.

I pulled Sally with me, and Zack came along anyway, and we three crept inside the hallway and then slowly up the staircase. Once we had reached the first floor, I stopped us so I could listen for anymore footsteps.

Then I heard them. They were slow, but they were loud, and it only sounded as if it was one person making them. They must have known we were coming and split up. I may as well follow the one, since I don't know where the other two went, so I pulled Sally up some more stairs.

"Would you let f**king go of me!" she said angrily, snatching her arm back.

"Shh!" I hissed back at her.

I went up the next few stairs to the second floor and looked down both sides of the darkened corridor. It was totally black, with no lights, or even emergency lights on. I thought this was weird, even the EXIT signs were off.

Zack came and stood next to me. "I can't hear them anymore." he whispered to me. I shook my head to let him know that neither could I.

"This is the teachers offices. What are we doing, following them up here? You think they're gonna get high of Hamilton's own desk?" Sally scoffed.

"What makes you think they're gonna get high?" I asked Sally. Then I realized that that was what Paul sold to Peter. "S**t, maybe that's it."

Then we heard voices coming from the bottom floor, and Zack and I leaned over the railing for a better look, but we couldn't see anything.

Just then Sally started pulling on my arm.

"Ah, guys... I think you should see this."

"What?" Zack asked, then he stared, and I could see him stare, because there was a blue light on his face.

I turned to see what he was staring at, and what I saw was the source of the blue light. It was coming from under one of the teachers office doors. And it was getting brighter and brighter.

"S**t! Somebody's in there! Lets run!" Sally started back down the stairs.

"But all of the teachers are in Gamma building! We saw that!" I yelled back at her in a whisper.

Suddenly the blue light flashed into a blinding white light. Then it was gone, leaving us blinking blindly in total blackness again. But all the hairs on our arms and on the back of our necks started standing up, and suddenly the temperature was freezing cold!

"Oh s**t! Lets go!" Zack grabbed my arm and started running down the stairs, with me being practically dragged behind him!

Then Sally, who was running in front of us screamed and stopped, and Zack and I ran into the back of her, nearly knocking her down.

She had run into Peter on the first floor who had given her another fright.

"What the f**k are you doing here?!" We all exclaimed at each other.

"Where's Brett and Sophie?" I asked him.

"Pissed off they did. Thought they heard a teacher upstairs." Peter said indignantly.

"That wasn't a teacher, that was us. Or maybe that was a teacher as well..." Sally tried to think.

"But all the teachers are in the Gamma building! It wasn't a teacher in that office!" I said defiantly.

"What the f**k are you talking about? Seeing dead peeeooo..." his voice trailed off, as he didn't get to finish his sentence.

We noticed a new blue light coming from the window at the end of the corridor.

The temperature dropped here as well, and the hairs on our arms and necks started to stand on end again. We all watched, as if in slow-mo a figure of a man in a short skirt and armor, wearing a helmet, slowly materialize from the window at the end of the hallway. The same window that Nelson, Pat and I had seen that lady disappear into.

"OK, time to go." Peter announced.

He grabbed Sally, Zack grabbed me, and we bolted down the rest of the stairs and out of the building.

"Now do you believe me?!" I shrieked on our way down.

As we all poured out of the front door, we were in for another surprise! Professor Hamilton and Dr. Myles were standing outside, as if they were waiting for us. Myles grabbed Peter as Hamilton yelled at us to stop.

"Would you mind telling us what you were doing here?" Hamilton asked, looking at us individually.

"This is my first guess." Myles pulled a small plastic bag with some white powder out of Peters pocket.

"What?!" Sally exclaimed. "You WERE going to get high? I was just joking!"

"There's enough in here for a little party for four." Myles handed the little bag to Hamilton.

"No way! There is no way that we were going to do that stuff!" Zack said indignantly. "I don't even smoke! Tell them Peter!"

We all looked at Peter.

"They're clean." he said.

"But you're not, are you Petie? You were planning another party with some other people, weren't you?" Myles patted Peter on the back - hard.

"Did you know Sophie is on medication at the moment? If she took this as well, she would have overdosed!" Hamilton lost his temper and yelled at Peter.

"Hang a minute! How did you know?" I asked Hamilton.

"You don't have to have three doctorates to work out what three teens, one with the goods, are up to when they leave a party to go into an empty building to start their own." Hamilton said. "Now you three either go back to Gamma building, or to the dorms." he ordered Zack, Sally and me.

We quickly left, not to the dorms, but to Gamma building.

After what we had just seen tonight, I think we all wanted to feel the safety of numbers. We didn't go into the theater again though, we went into the Rec room where the horror movies were shown. We sat on a lounge in the corner away from everyone else, and then just looked at each other, wondering what to say.

"There you are! What have you been up to?" Pat asked as he and Nelson came over, carrying some drinks.

We three all looked at each other, not knowing where to start.

On the TV screen it was showing the movie "House on Haunted Hill". You know the one, where all the characters are locked up in an old funny farm and are slowly being killed off, by the past inmates. At that moment it was the scene where the character Sarah was running around the maze of hallways and corridors, chasing a ghost.

I pointed at the screen and then looked at Pat challengingly, daring him to disbelieve again.

Well I've just found out what's wrong with this school, it's bloody haunted!

TO: mbaker@hotmail.com
FROM: ebaker_hamiltons@evers.com
SUBJECT: No Joke!!
DATE: 19/ 10/ 00


Well I've just found out what's wrong with this school, it's bloody haunted!

I just saw the ghost! I'm serious! A real live ghost! I'm for real! A ghost! And if you don't believe me Nelson and Pat was with me when I saw it! When we saw it, is what I mean.

We were in the Alpha Building in the computer labs, downloading stuff off the Internet. I was printing out pictures of David Boreanaz, Kevin Sorbo and Sarah Michelle Gellar to put on my walls in my room.

We went over at 9 PM as Pat said the labs are usually unlocked at night since the teachers knew the students liked to use it for homework or whatever, and since we're in the middle of nowhere, who's gonna come and steal the computers? There's nobody around! Well, nobody alive anyway... then around 11 PM Nelson and I went outside for a cigarette and when we came back, we heard footsteps coming down the hall. We thought it was either a teacher or a student or even a cleaner, we didn't care about it.

After a couple of minutes, I complained how it seemed colder in the lab than it was outside. Pat said that the heaters in the building should be on until midnight and he got up to check the thermostat. He said that the thermostat said it was 22 degrees Celsius, and I told him it was not because I was freezing!

Just then we heard the footsteps again, as if they were walking right past the doorway of the lab. So Nelson got up and said she'll see if it's a cleaner or someone we can ask about the heat. She gets up, goes to the doorway and then freezes... I mean, totally not moving. Pat and I quickly got up to see what she's looking at, and we see the back of a woman in an olden day dress walk through a wall with a window!!!!

No, she didn't go out the window, she went through the wall!

The window was still closed and it wasn't broken or anything! It may have only happened in just a couple of seconds, but I know what I saw... what we saw! We quickly grabbed what we had printed and then we ran out of there! We ran out of the building and then Pat stopped running when we were halfway across the oval, and Nelson and I were yelling at him to hurry up. I think he was looking back to where the wall with the window was, then he turned around and we all ran again back to Beta building.

In Pat's room later on, Nelson said what made her freeze was this feeling inside that what she was seeing... wasn't natural. Pat has been here the longest, and I asked him if he had ever seen anything like this before. He said yes, but then he seemed to change his mind. Nelson and I pressured him to tell us what he was thinking of.

He said that a few months ago before the summer break he saw one of the rooms in Alpha building light up with a bright white flash in the middle of the night once. It was a room on the top floor, that lit up very brightly, then went black. He thought it was just something else until now. I asked him if it was the computer lab, and he said don't be stupid since it was on the top floor, and we were just in the computer lab on the second floor. So Nelson asked him which room was it, and he said it was Professor Hamilton's office.

I swear to you Mark, just as he said that, a cold chill ran down my back! I think I blurted out something about how I think Professor Hamilton is related somehow to what we just saw and Pat immediately told me to shut up and don't be so stupid. Then Nelson told him to shut up and to let me speak.

I told them how I think we should find out how old this school actually is and how old the buildings actually are, as I just had this feeling this wasn't quite right. That this whole situation isn't quite right as to why we're all here. Then I reminded Pat of what he said that first night I met the two, when he said there had to be something special as to why I'm here.

"She's right. Why are any of us here? It's like somebody has hand picked us to be here for a reason." Nelson said, staring at the floor. I thought she was about to say something else then, but she seemed to be struggling as to how to say it.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Nothing." she shook her head.

"Come on, we've heard from Mulder over here, now it's your turn Scully." Pat said sarcastically.

"F**k you Paddy." Nelson got up from the bed and left back to her room.

"Nice one!" I glared at Pat and followed Nelson out. I tried to go into her room with her but she slammed her door in my face! Great! I really wanted to know what she would have said. So I went back into my room and slammed my door too.

It's 2 am here at the moment, and I've just left Pat's room. Mark, if your offer is still on the table, I might just accept it soon. I have to find out how weird this place is. F**k you Dad for sending me here!


======================================================

"Welcome to Hamilton's School of Headcraft and Heterodoxy. There must be something special about you for you to be here."

TO: angiepevensie@ihug.com.au
FROM: ebaker_hamiltons@evers.com
SUBJECT: Met some sane people at last!
DATE: 10/ 10/ 00

Hey Angela,

Everyone came back from dinner in the cafeteria and I met two people whose rooms are next to and across from mine and who’ll be in my year. Their names are Nelson and Pat. Nelson is from America and Pat is Irish! Or Northern Ireland as he repeatedly told me. Nelson is from somewhere in the country apparently (or 'the mid-west' as she calls it), she grew up in a small town whereas Pat grew up in Belfast. He doesn't have a laptop in his room but a bigger desktop computer. He does carry a laptop to class with him though, so he says. Genevieve, sorry, Nelson as she prefers (her last name) asked me if I smoke, which I immediately jumped at the chance. Thank god this place isn't going to be such a concentration camp as I was worried it would be!

As we were walking down the hall towards the stairs a teacher I hadn't met yet, Miss Inez stopped us and asked us where we were going. Nelson told her we were going to the library. So she said that it was a good idea to show me around a bit, but reminded us not to get lost behind any of the buildings. Pat gave her this funny smile and said to her, "would we ever do that?" and Miss Inez reminded him that he does it nearly every day. We got away with it and as we went down the stairs I found out from Nelson that Miss Inez is our Music, Art, Drama and Gym teacher (I think that’s what they call PE over here) plus she's also our Den mother on our floor of the dorms. She, like Nell, look pretty young. I think definitely in their twenties. I wonder how they wound up here in the middle of nowhere to teach around four subjects to kids who are nuts?

Anyway, we got outside and started crossing the oval that's in the center of the grounds, with the four buildings, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta around it. We started heading towards the Alpha building where Pat said the biggest library is and where the classrooms are. It's the biggest of the buildings, but in my opinion they all look pretty big… and old. They all look like stately manors that should be in an English period drama or something... which I can't work out why they're here in the middle of nowhere? And with a shitty little place like Brownsville next to them, instead of a proper town or city or something?

When we reached the building, instead of going up the couple of stairs and inside the doors, we walked around the side of the building and stood just around the corner of the back. Both Nelson and Pat each pulled a packet of their own out and Pat offered one out of his to me. I thought I could use this opportunity to ask them some questions about the school.

I asked them how they got their cigarettes as I noticed when I went to the shops today that a sign said the legal age limit is 21. They told me there's a Senior student in one of the bottom dorm rooms that gets them for them. Cool, I'll have to check that out. Next I asked them how they got here. Apparently Pat also tried to kill himself in Belfast, and his family were approached by Stephen Hamilton to come here, like what happened to me. Nelson shook her head at us and told us we were a pair of freaks. So I asked her what she did to deserve to come here? She said she would have been sent here or to Juvenile Court, but wouldn't tell me anything else. Pat has been here for a year already, and Nelson started last month. Then I asked them if anyone had ever run away? Pat shrugged and said he'd heard stories that kids in the past had tried it, and managed to hitch-hike out of here, and some of them ended up coming back on their own free will. I laughed and asked why, when Nelson said something that now bugs me and makes me wonder about.

"When there's no home to go to, what do you run from?" with that she threw her cigarette to the ground, stumped it out with her foot, than turned around and left before Pat and I had finished. I guess all of my questions had somehow offended her.

This can't be true. I mean, if all the misfits and outcasts all come here, there would surely be more than 60 students attending at a time at Hamilton's, right? So where are all the other kids who have tried killing themselves? Or have criminal records? It doesn't make sense.

"Basically life here is pretty good. There is some disciplining, but basically the teachers let us just get on with it. You'll notice there are no curfews or lights out, you just go to bed when you feel like it. The only thing is if you're a Sophomore, which you are, you have to have supervision when you leave school property. Welcome to Hamilton's School of Headcraft and Heterodoxy. There must be something special about you for you to be here." Pat said to me.

Was he complimenting me? Was he hitting on me? Why does there have to be something special about me to be here? I thought it was just because I tried to kill myself.

We finished our cigarettes and came out from the back and then he offered to actually show me the library as he had to get some books. I said thanks, but no thanks, and went back across the oval towards the dorms, or Beta building as everyone else calls it. I went back to my room and I noticed Nelson's door was shut. I guess that was it for any more conversations with her tonight.

So I'm sending this email to you Angie. It's 10:30 PM. I better go to bed soon, breakfast is at 7.30 tomorrow morning, then I have my first class. What time is it in Sydney at the moment? What's the weather like? Here, there is a cold wind outside, I shivered so much I nearly dropped the cigarette!

I may not have a home with Dad but at least I've got you.

Night night.


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