Ollie~

Since ghosts don't have to eat or change clothes, Lydia, Hal, and Attie didn't have to pack. Unfortunately, I did.

"Ugh," I groaned, slumping against the wall of my and S.C.'s room and sliding down onto the floor. "This is so hard. I feel like I'm forgetting eveything."

My sister had all her things together already, so she just snickered at me from the other side of the room. Spook barked. "I could use a little help!" I exclaimed.

S.C. came over to see if I'd forgotten anything. "Um… shoes?" She said. I made a face. I hate wearing them- you can't feel the ground beneath you, it's like your feet are trapped. So, I shoved them in my suitcase. "Ok. Ready!"

We walked out into the kitchen, where my parents stood waiting for us. A few tears glistened in their eyes, but they looked more happy for us than anything. S.C., on the other hand, did not look happy at all. I hugged both my parents, then my sister for good measure, and we went out to get our family's donkey, Ghoul. Before I knew it, we were (slowly) making our way to the boat that would take us to the academy.

When we passed by the graveyard, I hopped off the donkey and sprinted to wear Lydia, Hal, and Attie's tombstones were. I didn't even have to call for them, they were already waiting for me.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," said Hal, pacing back and forth. Well, he didn't have working legs, so he floated. An almost always fatal disease called Mortivy had taken his life when the boy was ten years old, but had turned his legs into useless, sore-covered stumps before he had died. I've been working on a cure for this disease my entire life. And after all these years, I still hadn't really come up with anything. 

"Oh, can it, worrywart!" Attie said. Despite being only 4 ' 6'', which is even shorter than me, Attie had the patience of a wild bear and the temper of a hornet. "We're going to the stupid academy, and that's it!"

Lydia just rolled her eyes. "Lead the way, guys. I'm sure we can keep up with Ghoul." She was right. Our beloved donkey had to stop almost every five minutes. It was slow progress, but finally, I saw the water up ahead of us. I looked at my sister. "What now?"

~~~

Can Ollie's dog come with him? Or are there no pets allowed? 

Zara~

We arrive at the Academy on horseback, and at that point, I snap an illusion of me still on horseback while I secretly head for the woods, but Michael catches me and demands I get back on my horse.

I groan and do as he says, only because I'm too tired to argue with him.

I knock on the heavy wooden door of the Academy, and a lady opens it, who I am guessing is Marywill Blacksmith.

Her brown hair with white streaks is tucked in a neat bun, her eyes gazing down at me.

"Zara Azelle?"

"And my twin sister," I reply, creating another picture of me come out from behind me. "Was she not invited?"

"Nice try, dear," she says, a smile forming on her face. "Now go upstairs and unpack. You'll be sharing a room with Kayla, who is from Socupinra, who has telepahy and telekineses. Your names will be on the door."

I hesitate but walk inside with my things, looking back at Michael one last time before the door shuts close. 

Ollie~ (I apologize for any charrie control)

S.C., the ghosts, and I left Ghoul to find his way back, then boarded the boat. I gripped her hand tight- I didn't want to get lost in the crowd, and all of this water made me nervous. I'm fine with staying on land. Still, I was excited to get to the academy, meet my roomate, and learn what kind of activities I'd be doing. 

We went to the middle of the crowd, which helped with my seasicknesss because I couldn't see the water. I got lost in my daydreams of what the academy would be like, and soon, we were docking, and people were getting off. I jumped up and down. "Come on, guys!"

Attie harrumphed and grabbed Hal, who was biting his nails and looking around nervously. Lydia smiled, her face mirroring my own- ready for whatever adventure was coming. We got off the boat as fast as we could. I looked at my sister, and we decided to follow the trail.

I started to say something, but Lydia shushed me and held up a finger. "Do you hear that?" She said. I was silent for a minute, then heard the sound of a girl crying. "Where's it coming from?" I asked.

I pushed through the crowd, looking for the source of the weeping. Finally, I noticed a girl with straight black hair sitting on the ground. "Hey, are you OK?" I asked.

She didn't reply, so I kept talking. "I'm Ollie. Don't feel bad for being scared, my friend Hal is the same… um, never mind, actually, I got really scared earlier, too! All that water makes me sick. I about threw up on the boat at least twice, and…"

The girl sniffed and looked up. "I'm Raya."

Just then, S.C. and the ghosts caught up to me, breathing hard. "Ollie! You've gotta stop running away like that!" My sister said. Then saw the girl I was talking to. "Oh. Hi, I'm S.C., and this is my annoying kid brother, who you've met already, I see." she said, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

Raya laughed a little at that. I offered her a hand up. "If you want, you can come with me and my sis, we can figure this out together. Whaddaya say?"

TOP!

Ollie~

When we came to the cabin door, Hal hid behind Attie, despite both of them being invisible to everyone but me and S.C., and, well, dead. Lydia rolled her eyes. "You need to get a grip."

"I know right," I muttered. When Raya gave me a strange look, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to talk to my friends around other people, unless I wanted to look like a total lunatic. That would take some getting used to.

Raya stepped up to the door. S.C. started to say something, but she had already knocked, and the door opened. A woman with white streaks in her hair gestured to the three, or six, of us. "You must be Raya. And you must be Ollie and S.C. Come in, come in."

~~~ 

We sat around a slightly crooked wooden table, glancing around, not sure of what to do. I tried not to look at Lydia, Hal, and Attie, though it was pretty hard- my short friend was turning very red in the face as Hal rambled on and on about all the things that could go wrong- I could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears. Lydia seemed intent on observing Raya. S.C. had a gloomy look on her face, and when the woman finally came in, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hello, my name is Marywill." She said, smiling. "You can go upstairs and unpack. We can figure out who you'll be sharing rooms with later, but for now, just get settled."

I, for once, had nothing to say. "Ok." I replied, starting to get up. "Oh, and Ollie?" The woman started to say. "Tell you're friends they're allowed to roam the grounds, but are not to scare any students."

How did she… no. She couldn't know that I'd brung Lydia, Hal, and Attie, could she? I glanced at my sister. She gave me a look that said we'll talk later, okay? I was pretty sure bringing three ghosts to school was probably breaking at least one of the rules. And I couldn't get kicked out on my first day!

~~~

Inktail, would you like Ollie and Raya to be roomates?