Twisted Wonderland: The New Student

It had to be just barely morning when Xinyi chose to leave the room. The light from the sun just barely peeked through the window, but she was unsure of the time since no clocks seemed to work. She had decided to clean out some of the other rooms, while she waited for the headmaster to come, as well as for Grim to wake up.

The ghosts had returned and followed her around, sometimes playing a trick or two, but they kept their distance. She was not overly bothered by them and also had a decent conversation. The girl was one of the first willing to do so.

When the sun was fully up, Xinyi realized the ghosts were missing, making her a bit worried. Traveling back to her room she found them surrounding Grim, cycling menacingly. "Don't you two have to be up to clean the school." the thin one whispered, a smirk blessing his face.

Xinyi smiled at them and nodded before going to the windows and opening the curtains. Grim tossed and turned trying to go back to sleep. "Unnnn… nyaa… five more minutes…" he moaned into the blanket.

The smallest one smiled, coming closer to the monster's fiery ears. "Laze about too long and you'll never wake up again," he whispered.

"Just like us!" the biggest one exclaimed cycling as Grim finally jolted awake.

"It's those ghosts again! Hey you, wake up!" The small monster turns to where he had believed the girl would be, only to find her by the window as she turns towards him.

The thinnest started cackling, at the look on Grim's face. "Are you all going to be living here? You're gonna get pranked!" They all laughed, further amplifying the raccoon's unhappy mood.

"Shoot. Well get rid of you eventually!" he growled, ready to attack the floating globs.

"Good morning, you two. Did you sleep well?" Crowley barged into the room startling everyone. The ghost instantly disappeared, while Grim jumped off the bed and up to Xinyi's shoulder, hissing at the man.

"I was all sprawled out then I fell out the bottom! Just how ramshackle did you let this place get? Then the ghost woke me up. This is the worst!" Grim complained as he muttered curses.

The girl only shook her head before addressing the headmaster's question. "I couldn't sleep well," she answered honestly, looking away from the man.

"Even though you just got tossed over from another world, you can still be cheeky. Wonderful!" Crowley commented, smiling at the girl, patting her head, before leading them downstairs. "I came to speak to you about your work for today."

They went to the lounge, Xinyi getting a bowl of oatmeal and fruit while Grim ate another can of tuna. They sat on the couch waiting for the headmaster to continue. "Today, you are to clean the campus." the man explained, making sure both were listening. "...but the campus is quite large. Cleaning it all without magic would be impossible. So I'd like you to clean Main Street from the main gate to the library. Understood?" he paused looking at Xinyi, making her stop eating. "Please watch Grim closely so he doesn't cause a scene like yesterday."

She gave a swift nod. "I understand," she confirmed with a small smile.

Crowley smiled at the girl, knowing she would try her best. "I'm counting on you. You have permission to have lunch in the school cafeteria." he continued to explain. "Take care of your work enthusiastically.'' He soon left, leaving a change of clothes for Xinyi so she had something other than the initiation ceremony robes.

"Che… No way I'm doing any cleaning." Grim grumbled as Xinyi started to get dressed in the bathroom, still not happy with the situation. "I wanna go to class and bang! Boom boom boom! Use a bunch of awesome spells!"

She soon came out, giving the small creature a sympathetic smile. She was wearing a simple uniform. A black jacket and white blouse, black pants and white shoes. On her neck was a black and white bow and her hand had black gloves. There was also a hood that hid most of her features, most being seen was just her mouth. "We could go to the library after cleaning?" she said, putting the animal on her shoulder. "For now, let's go to the campus."

Grim grumbles a bit but doesn't talk back, slowly snuggling up under her hood.

Don't start your day with the broken pieces of yesterday. Everyday is a fresh start. Each day is a new beginning. Every morning we wake up is the first day of our new life.

Unknown Author