Mikhail Crowne's Academy for the Gifted and Talented - Part Three

Finding her dorm room wasn't very hard at all. Once you got to the fifth floor, which was the top floor, excluding the attic, there was a fork; you would either go left or right- left was room 500 to 550, and right was 550 to 600, then that was it. Anastasia's room was nearly the last one on the left side, located most of the way down the hallway. The place nearly reminded Anastasia of a hotel; and if she hadn't known that Mikhail Crowne had built the building from scratch than she might have wondered if the building was a hotel to begin with. The hallways were wider than the hallways in hotels, but it had the same carpeting and the numbered doorways all painted the same color had the same feel of a hotel as well. Her door was heavy and painted green and had “542” written across it in gold, much like the auditoriums' door. All of the boxes that the movers had brought in thus far were waiting outside the door, as they had forgotten to get the key on their way up. Ah, well. Even if it did turn out that she'd have to move the boxes herself, she didn't really mind. 1

Anastasia tried not to let her feeling of anticipation lurk in her eyes as she unlocked the door and stepped inside, with Chris following behind her. 2

“Oh, wow...” was the first thing she said. Not because the dorm room was much of anything special, but because she had just now finally seen the room, which had caused it to finally dawn on her that she was actually moving out. 3

Yes.4

And this was her room. No, not her room- her living quarters. 5

Because she'd actually be living here. 6

The “living quarters” were actually bigger than she'd expected it to be. When you walked in, you were right on the dividing line between the kitchenette and the bedroom. The bed was in the left corner farthest away from the door, and the dresser was right up next to it. There was a window right at the head of the bed, and another one next to the dresser. The desk was immediately to the left of the door, which must come in handy if you come in after a long day and decide to just drop everything on top of it. 7

The kitchen was... well, a kitchen. It was small, but had all the things that a kitchen would necessarily have, even a small stove, which Anastasia doubted she'd ever use. The bathroom door was straight across from the front door, and there was even a small couch on the opposite side of the bed that the last resident of the room must have left, having had no more use for it. 8

“Wow, this is a really nice room,” Said Chris. Anastasia walked over to her windows and peered outside. 9

“I can't believe I'm finally moving in here...” She murmured. 10

“Wow... this is a really, really nice room.” Chris repeated. Anastasia turned towards her. 11

“Is it?” She asked. 12

“Yeah,” Chris replied. “I mean, it's only a little bigger than the other dorms, but it looks a lot more taken care of. It's nice. Really nice. And I guess the fact that you'll get to be with all of the other singers is a bonus. Most of the singers live up on this floor, in case you didn't know.” Anastasia raised her eyebrows. 13

“Seriously?” She asked. Chris smiled, her eyes wandering around the room, and she plopped down onto the couch. 14

“Yeah, seriously. For instance, Alexandra Dovecote lives right down the hall, I think, I'm pretty sure it's that one on the way end, and Ryan Atkins lives down in that other hallway, the one we passed, on the right? And If I'm not mistaken, Jeremy O'Brian lives right across the hall from you, and I don't think 'Isha has arrived yet, but when she does, there's no doubt she'll end up on this floor...” 15

When Chris noticed the peculiar look she was getting from Anastasia, she nearly blushed. “No, everyone knows their names, not just me. I'm no obsessive fangirl. I was naming off the most popular ones.” The Look disappeared from Anastasia's face and she nodded.16

One of the moving people appeared at the door. 17

“Miss Petrov, would you like us to move everything inside for you?” He asked. 18

“Yes please,” Anastasia politely answered. 19

She hated it when they called her Miss Petrov. It made it sound like she'd hired them or something. She'd told them more than once that they could call her Anastasia, but none of them obliged. 20

One by one the boxes were stacked inside in front of Anastasia's new desk, with the smaller ones on top of it. Having nothing else to do, Anastasia started unpacking, starting with her clothes. 21

Her dresser was full in no time, and even after that, she still had some clothes left, so she filled a box with the clothes she never wore and slid it under the bed. After that, there was just enough room for all of her clothes. She was just pulling her bedsheets out of a box when her mother erupted through the door and burst out with an "Anastasia!" In a giant volt of energy. 22

Aloysha was quietly following close behind. Chris politely excused herself when they arrived to let them be alone together. 23

“Hey, mom...” Said Anastasia as she was crushed by a hug. Anastasia sometimes didn't understand how her mothers' skinny arms could produce such lung-bruising hugs. 24

She then received a hug from her father, who always gave strong hugs, but not strong in the sense that he crushed you to bits. Strong, gentle hugs. 25

Anastasia didn't have a favorite. 26

After a few minutes of chit-chat, her parents began helping her unpack her things. Her mother and father worked together on wrangling her bed while Anastasia herself put all of the necessary items in the bathroom, such as shampoo and towels and soap, etc. 27

When she was done with the bathroom and her parents were doing other miscellaneous things, Anastasia pulled another one of the boxes out of a stack and opened it up. 28

Yes... They had packed her painting things, after all. Paint, paintbrushes, palettes, canvases, and even her books on textures and techniques, it was all in there. Before her mother could see, Anastasia quickly closed it and stashed it under her desk. 29

Truthfully, her mother was not completely supportive of Anastasia's painting. When Anastasia was thirteen or fourteen her mother had thought of it as a healthy hobby- which it was- and had allowed her to have a painting instructor come in twice a week to work with her. When Anastasia started shirking her singing duties to practice the newest things she'd learned about painting, though, was where the line was drawn, and her painting classes were continued no longer. 30

Anastasia had been disappointed, but survived.31

Clara Petrov was perfectly supportive of her daughter's artistic abilities, as long as they didn't get in the way of her daughter's singing abilities. 32

So, Anastasia had kept the painting to a minimum. She didn't really mind with the small amount of time she had to paint, it was just a hobby. She'd have loved to have more time, but she had higher priorities. Back then, she'd been eager to learn new things and had let it get in the way, but she wouldn't make that mistake again. 33

In about an hour, pretty much everything of Anastasia's was unpacked. She, her mother, and her father folded up all the boxes and stashed them in Anastasia's unused kitchen closet, in case she'd need to use them sometime in the future. 34

At about four o' clock, after taking a short walk around the grounds and hearing stories from her parents about things that had happened at the academy while they'd attended and certain places they'd been, just bonding in general, they said goodbye. Clara made it much more dramatic than it deserved to have been, as it was in her nature, and Aloysha kept it short and sweet, as he always did. 35

“Remember to write!” Her mother said as she climbed into the limo next to Aloysha and began pulling out of the driveway. 36

In less than 30 seconds, they were gone. 37

Anastasia felt an odd sense of emptiness, but freedom at the same time. 38

Just to get a sense of the building, Anastasia decided to take the stairs on her way up to her dorm instead of taking the elevator, which proved to be almost a bad idea, as she kept stepping on her dress and nearly tripping. In the end, she had to hold it up a bit above her ankles. 39

As she walked up, she got a view of all the hallways on the different floors. Four floors of classrooms, one floor of dorms, and the attic. There were also couple separate buildings branching off from the main building that lead to more classrooms, but Anastasia didn't get to see those. At about the third floor, she crossed paths with Chris. 40

“Oh! Oh, Anastasia!” She said, sounding excited. “You know that girl I told you about named 'Isha? She just arrived! I can introduce you to her if you want!” She seemed really happy, so Anastasia decided to accept her offer. 41

“Just let me change into some more normal clothes first, okay?” She asked. 42

“Okay, I'll come with you.” Chris replied. 43

Chris was proving to be a pretty good friend. She was what you expected of the student body president- she was always on top of everything and never seemed to run out of energy. Anastasia hadn't really met people like that before, so Chris was beginning to grow on her. 44

When she arrived at her dorm, she picked out a more casual-looking outfit and changed into it in the bathroom while Chris waited, sitting on the couch that was left behind. 45

Anastasia emerged from the bathroom and folded her dress quickly, blindly shoving it into her dresser (which she secretly relished, as that would have been a major taboo if her mother had been around) and turned towards Chris. 46

“Okay then, let's go!” Said Chris, making her way towards the door. She opened it and took a step out, and Anastasia was close behind her, so she nearly fell over when Chris gasped loudly and jumped back into the room, pushing Anastasia in with her, and closed the door quickly behind her with a thud. 47

Chris stood with her back to the door, her eyes wider than dinner plates and staring at the floor, her face paler than Anastasia thought was possible. 48

“What the Hell, Chris?” Was the only thing Anastasia could manage to say. Chris' eyes slowly rose from the carpet and locked with Anastasia's. 49

“He's-standing-right-outside-the-door!!!” She managed to gasp. “I swear, he almost saw me!” 50

Anastasia's first impression was that Chris had a crush on someone and they were standing outside, but she didn't voice the thought. 51

“Who?” She asked, reaching for the door. Chris blocked her way. 52

“Mikhail Crowne!” 53

---------------------------54

It was impossible. 55

There was no freaking way that the infamous Mikhail Crowne could be standing outside of the doorway.56

Anastasia was suddenly excited. 57

“I just want to see him, I just want to see him, please, c'mon, Chris! Don't be a baby! Just let me peek out the door, c'mon, please!” 58

After enough begging on Anastasia's part, Chris gave in and let her open the door just a crack so that she could see what Mikhail looked like. 59

Chris was right. He was standing just across the hall from them, about one door down, studying a painting that was hanging up on the wall. He was a tall, willowy figure, wearing a completely white tuxedo with a top hat, white gloves, and a cane clutched loosely in his hand. His hair wasn't quite shoulder length, but really, it was the color that got her. 60

Strawberry Blond. Very strawberry blond. Really, it was nearly pink. Pink and orange. Like pink and orange mixed together. Not your average strawberry blond color at all. 61

Anastasia couldn't stop staring. 62

Had she been able to see his face, she probably would have stared even more, but she figured that even if he was facing towards her, she probably wouldn't be able to see his face anyway, because of the angle that his hat was tilted. 63

He was just standing there, staring at the painting. It made Anastasia wonder if he was bored. Maybe he just wanted to daydream, but didn't want it to look like he was daydreaming, so he stood in front of a painting to cover it up. Or maybe he had been the one to paint the painting in the first place- being the founder of a notorious art school, he had to be some sort of artist, right? 64

Or maybe the painting was dedicated to him, or maybe the painting had been given to him, or maybe someone close to him had done the painting. Or maybe...65

By the way he was standing, you would just never be able to tell. 66

It made Anastasia want to sit down in front of her door and just study him. 67

Was this really the man that her mother had told so many stories about? He seemed a little young, but maybe he was one of those people who end up looking young for a really long time. She thought she could remember her mother mentioning that at one point. 68

“Are you done yet?” Chris hissed. Anastasia was just about to answer when Mikhail Crowne turned exactly in Anastasia's direction- and began to walk away, down the hallway towards the elevator. 69

Ah, well. Dreams are dreams. 70

Anastasia stood up and opened the door for Chris, who peered out cautiously before actually stepping out and making her way towards the stairs, the opposite way that Mikhail was going. 71

Had Chris not been there, Anastasia probably would have followed him around for a while until she got bored. He looked a little too nonchalant to have really been the way that her mother described him as. 72

Or maybe he was just having a slow day. Anastasia had days like that sometimes, too. Just because he was basically a celebrity didn't mean that he couldn't have his spacey days, right? 73

Anastasia and Chris walked in silence for the ten minute trip to the registration desk. 74

'Isha. What a unique name. Anastasia wasn't sure if she'd ever heard it before. 75

Thoughts about 'Isha and how they'd get along made Anastasia start thinking about how many friends she'd make. She was fairly confident that she'd do fine, she wasn't the most social person but she knew how to get on peoples' good sides. Thanks to her mother, of course. 76

But then, there was the minor problem that she'd never been to a real school. Besides kindergarten. 77

The two viewpoints, one confident and one less confident, switched and thrashed around constantly like two blind fish battling to the death out of water while being poked with sticks by interested onlookers. 78

Anastasia felt anxiety rising in her chest. Classes started in three days. That gave her three days to gather her bearings before the hardcore socializing action began. Until then, she could familiarize herself with the buildings and the people and hopefully gain slightly more confidence in her social abilities. 79

Not that she needed to or anything. Anastasia cleared her throat.80

They reached the main office, bouncing down the stairs just as Chris had when Anastasia had first seen her, and 'Isha came into view. 81

Anastasia nearly did a double take. 'Isha was the skinniest girl she'd ever seen. 82

Some girls are just born really, really skinny. You can nearly see their bones. They can eat fine, but still stay so skinny, it seems as if there is no fat on their bodies whatsoever. 83

'Isha, by the looks of her, was one of those girls. 84

Despite the fact that she looked nearly to be skin and bones, she had a round chin and big round brown eyes to match, and was pretty tall. Anastasia was nearly relieved to notice that 'Isha was wearing slightly formal clothing just as she had. 'Isha was talking to the secretary for a moment, so Chris and Anastasia didn't say anything immediately when they reached her. 85

When she was finished talking, 'Isha turned towards them and beamed- she had a huge smile, one that showed all of her teeth. 86

“Hi!” She said warmly in Anastasia's direction. “You must be... Anastasia, right? Chris told me about you. I'm 'Isha. I'm a junior.” She shook Anastasia's hand delicately and Anastasia murmured a hello back to her shyly. 87

“What number dorm are you in? You're in the A Dorms, right?” 'Isha asked. Anastasia nodded. “My dorm's number 542.” She answered. 'Isha smiled again- that big 'Isha smile- and answered, “Hey, we'll be right down the hall from each other! My dorm is number...” She looked down at the number inscribed into her key, which was clutched in her hand- “521. Yeah, we'll be right down the hall. Maybe we'll get to know each other better. What chamber choir class did you get into?” 88

Anastasia was glad that all the people she met were willing to do all the talking. “I got into advanced.” She answered simply. 'Isha smiled again. “Me too!” She said. “We're in the same class! We can be buddies! Maybe sometime I can introduce you to all the girls! I'm sure you'd get along with Alex Dovecote. She's a sweetheart.” 89

Chris was beginning to look slightly anxious at being in the presence of two singers who were both talking about singing. 90

“Well, I'm going to go bring my things to my dorm. I'll see you around, 'kay?” She said, and then she turned towards a pretty blond woman behind her, her mother, and picked up one of her suitcases. “Okay, bye...” Said Anastasia and Chris as they began walking back up the stairs. 91

They walked in silence until Chris spoke up. “So, what do you plan on doing for the next three days, Anastasia?” She asked as they walked. 92

“I don't know.” Anastasia answered. “Familiarize myself with the buildings, I guess. Walk around a bit. Get to know the people.” 93

Chris didn't answer, but by the look on her face, she either didn't approve or thought it was a bad idea. Anastasia couldn't imagine why, so she didn't say anything about it.94