Ten Minutes Past Five

== Prologue ==
To be or not to be, I thought, sitting on my grandparents porch. It was my last day of normalcy, then, it was into the unknown. I had no clue what it would be like someplace other than home, where I lived and thrived. I wasn’t totally sure if my new school was even in this dimension. My big brother could tell me, but he wasn’t exactly trustworthy. Mom came out the front door and apologized for holding us up. She was trying to hurry so that we could get home and pack for school. I rode silently back home, not saying anything.
When we got there, as soon as my shoes were off, I was given a stack of collapsed boxes and told to pack up my room. I started with my box of drumsticks. I pulled off the lid of the purple and turquoise swirl box. I pulled out plain wood drumsticks, purple ones, teal and silver. I even found my old pink ones from when I started playing. They were battered, and the paint was coming off in places. Standing up, I saw Aaron and Thomas across the hall, packing up. Aaron stood and yelled to me,
“You realize you don’t need much of this stuff, right?”
I hadn’t.
“No, thanks!”
He nodded
“You’ll mostly need your actual school supplies.”
I bent over, beginning to unpack my books. I had stacked them into the box, carefully but hurriedly so they were a mess. I quickly shelved them and ran downstairs. I grabbed a cup of milk, then saw Mom on the porch swing. I went out to her.
The sun was setting over the countryside in various shades of red, pink, orange and purple. I realized it would be one of the last sunsets I would see in this dimension for a while. I love sunsets. They are pretty. Mom suddenly said:
“I just remembered.you asked me earlier what Skyswirl was like. They are especially well known for their music program, and part of the reason I wanted you to start playing at such a young age. You need to audition to get in, and you stay there until winter break and sleep there.
“OK, so that’s a bit scary” I said
I went back inside, knowing I had time to read my book. Pasta night, I think to myself. I go to the speaker, turn it on, and bluetooth it to Dotify. I play The Greatest Snowman soundtrack and relax on my bed.
“Dinner!” comes Mom’s voice from downstairs.
We rush downstairs for our spaghetti, washing our hands quickly. I sit down and spoon sauce on my pile of spaghetti, then meatballs. I dust on top a light coating of cheese. Perfect. It tastes amazing. Mom interrupts my happiness with a reminder.
“I need your things packed up by tomorrow. Your audition is at noon, remember?”
We nod, still chewing.
Thomas and I said in perfect unison,“What’s an audition?”
Aaron says, “It’s like tryouts. they see what you can do.”
“Oh.”
“They aren’t usually hard.” he says, trying to be reassuring.
It doesn’t work.
After dinner and cleaning up my dishes, I go and put on my favorite pajamas. They are purple warm flannel pants and an old T-shirt. I am cozy and happy for my last night at home.
== Chapter 1 ==
=== ~5 years later~ ===
I was older now. In 6th year with 4 little sisters, an older brother, a twin, and a little brother. Eve, in 3rd year, Ella, in 2nd year, Lulu and Ely in preschool, Aaron, in 7th year, Thomas in 6th year, and Fred, in first. I knew by now that today should be the day the letters came and it was.
𝓢𝓴𝓲𝓮 𝓡𝓸𝓫𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓷
𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓿𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓢𝓴𝔂𝓼𝔀𝓲𝓻𝓵 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓐𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓮 6. 𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓶𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓼𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓸𝓷 𝓐𝓾𝓰𝓾𝓼𝓽 22.
5 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓵 𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓼.
𝓐𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓶𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓬𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓽.
𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓼, 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓹𝓲𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓮.
(𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾). 𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓾𝓹.
𝓢𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓵𝔂,
𝓢𝓴𝔂𝓼𝔀𝓲𝓻𝓵 𝓐𝓬𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓶𝔂
The letters looked similar to last years from what I could tell, so I showed mine to mom. She nodded and said,
“Get in the car everyone, It’s time to go get school supplies."
We drove to a store called Fanci Pants, where we found tons of little sections for schools in the neighborhoods nearby, and even one for Hogwarts. We found the Skyswirl section towards the back, and looked there for our uniforms (Fred needed some, as did Lulu and Ely, and the rest of us needed new ones since ours were small. ). Aaron and Fred found some polo shirts and dress pants for themselves pretty quickly, along with ties. Ella And I found our polo shirts, skirts, tall white socks, and neck scarves just as quickly. As we were standing in line, a girl behind us with long brown hair to her knees said to me,
“Skyswirl too, huh?”
“Yes”
“What year?”
“I’m in 6th.”
“Really?”
“Yes”
“Would you like to know my name?”
“Sure. what is it?”
“What is your name?”
“Skie…”
“Do you like your name?”
I nodded
“Me, too”
“Oh. well, gotta go!”
“See you at school?”
“Ok.”
As we walked back to the car, Mom asked,
“Who was that?”
“Just some girl who goes to Skyswirl. She didn’t tell me much about herself, but I think that she only speaks in questions”
“Weird” mom voiced
“Yeah. I agreed.”
== Chapter 2 ==
=== 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕁𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕪 ===
We were all very nervous to go to school because we didn’t know what to expect. I continued reading in my bedroom, worried that we would travel by some bizarre means, since it was different every year, such as the Knight Bus, like in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I honestly didn’t want to ride a triple-decker purple bus through the streets of London and then get zapped to another dimension, but thanks for asking. It sounds terrifying.
On August 22, we all stood outside, no idea what to expect. Each person had a large suitcase with the logo, two blue interlocking Ss on it, and a tin of cookies that were made yesterday. Furthermore, we each had a jacket with pockets full of homemade chocolate bars.
I was the first to hear it.
A loud, slow whistle.
Then…
POOF!
A large, blue, and white garbage truck appeared and slowed to a stop at our house. We all stared, mouths open until a tall, sallow-faced man said
“What are you waiting for? Get in the back!” So we climbed in the back and found…
A very spacious room inside. The seats were all comfy, with a small table in the center with KitKat bars on it, and we each took one. I was starting to get very sleepy…
“Skie, Skie wake up! Wake up! We're here.” I stand up and walk out of the garbage truck. I've seen it before, but I still felt amazed by the whole thing. It was like it was saying `only for the very best young performers’ something I hadn’t noticed before sprung out at me. Over the door it said is é an saol an fheidhmíocht. I opened the door and found a room bustling with life. Students were milling about, standing in lines, and hugging after summers apart. I walked to a line and waited.
And waited
And waited
Finally, at the front of the line, I step forward. A squat, toadlike man says in a squeaky, slow voice,
“Name?”
”My name is Skie Robinson, I play percussion, and I’m in 6th year.”
“Perfect.” he slides a small, wooden box toward me. I take it and notice the top has a cornflower blue seal on it
I take it, along with a pile of cornflower blue fabric that he hands me. He says, gesturing behind him
“Go in there and sit at the table on the left. Use the bigger pin to fasten your cape, and put the smaller one on over your heart.” I walk through the doorway as instructed and open the box. One pin is a large, sapphire pin with a gold pegasus rearing. The other is a cornflower blue music note. I lift the pile of fabric, pinning through the ends. As the cape settles around me, I look up and see Aaron next to me, with a cobalt blue cape and a cobalt blue music note over his heart. It looks stunning with his lollipop green eyes and dark hair that is artfully mussed(he forgot to brush it this morning) I catch a girl with shoulder-length red hair, freckles, and square glasses gaping at him. It was Evary! I waved at her and realized I probably looked like a blueberry with my cerulean eyes and cornflower cape and pin. I spot Nate walking in with his cape, pin, and crest. He had a scarlet bull charging across his pin. I wave him over. We have been best friends since the first year, and I knew Evary from the first year too. I look across the hall and spot Fred in fiery red, Eve in gold, Thomas in cornflower, and Ella, who looks like an Oompa Loompa in her orangey cape. Fred and Thomas are at the center table with microphone pins and Ella and Eve are on the right with what looks to be ballet shoes on their pins.
Nate draws me out of the daze, saying,
”Skie? Did you hear me?”
“What?”
“I asked what you thought of the remodels that they did.”
“Oh. yeah, it's ok.”
“Is it? Or are you just saying that to ensure that you present no signs of weakness? Cause if so, I’ll change that if you like.”
“No way weirdo”
“ooookay”
I turned and walked away, my cape swishing around my ankles as I did.
Further up the table, I spotted a chair that was empty and sat in it, noting the empty ones on either side. Nate walked up and sat on my right. He pulled a KitKat bar out of his pocket and opened it, eating very loudly and obnoxiously. I tried to ignore it, saying to myself he’s just being annoying, but it only got noisier. I found myself wondering why we were even in this hall when a little old lady stood up and surprisingly, lifted an electric guitar and played a loud riff. We all turned and stared at her. I didn’t notice the hall was loud until it was so quiet I could hear my digestive system humming. Then the lady gave a speech
“Four score and seven years ago, our governor brought upon this state a great school. Ensured by performance and dedicated to educating the bright minds of tomorrow.
As we are still educating all of y'all I think that we have done an excellent job. To Skyswirl!”
“To Skyswirl!” we echoed, raising our goblets that were now full of what looked like someone had shoved a watermelon through a blender, and then added ice. When I sipped it though, it was the best taste ever. It tasted like apples drizzled with honey and rolled with cinnamon.
There was food too.
delicious food,
Food
Food
Food…
I was standing there, the new kindergarten playground behind me, gleaming in all its glory. Tall slides shining in the bright August sunlight. A teeter-totter, ready to be used. New climby things all over the fresh, clean, cedar mulch. As it starts raining, Nate is hugging me, despite getting drenched, promising that it would be okay, saying, “I get it, I know”.
“Classic Skie. going to the nurse on your first day of school” I hear the smug voice of Nate saying.
I open my eyes, flinching at the blinding blue light.
“The Wicked witch of the west left, but I stayed here.”
“The wicked witch of the… Nate, what’s going on?”
“You passed out in the middle of dinner. I had to drag you here. As for the witch, probably just a regular lady in a green mask. “
“Mask? Like...”
“People of London. Don’t send your kids to school tomorrow? That old song? No. Plus, we wrote that song so long ago. How do you still remember it?
He changes the subject pointing to the crease between my eyebrows. “I didn’t want to tell you. I shouldn't. But they sent me to get you.”
Chapter 3
“Tell me what?”  I asked.
“Skie…”
“I’m not being stubborn. I deserve to know.”
“Fine. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you won’t freak out”
“I won’t”
“Okay. Skie, when you passed out, it started to rain. Like a lot.”
“And…?”
“And, some of that rain… froze”
“And?”
“And then it got real windy”
“Oh. Are you saying that... ”
This time, he looks straight into my eyes and says, “yes. The school is under tornado lockdown.” 
I look at him.
“Are they OK?”
“Ella, Eve, Thomas, Lulu, Ely, Fred, and Aaron? Simply put, yes. They sent me to get you. And I WILL get you, even if I have to knock you out again.”
“The fear in your eyes suggests otherwise.”
“I will do anything for you, Skie. Even if it means…”
He looks away, his eyes glittering. I stand up and say, 
“Let’s go.” 
“Ok.”
He leads me down a long hallway lined with torches and through a door. Inside is a dark, cramped space with a single lit lantern in the center. I see many faces and cram myself up against the wall, right in between a girl with short brown hair and glasses and a boy who looks like Nate, with shaggy brown hair and periwinkle eyes. I recognize the girl as Skyla, a funny but obnoxious girl in my year, but I didn’t recognize the boy. I guess I was staring at him because he smiled and the girl cleared her throat. 
“Not to interrupt or anything, but I exist, too! Stop staring at each other and listen!” 
And then an announcement came on the loudspeakers
“ you may return to the feast, threat is over”
We all stand up and push out the door, walk along, and push into the hall. The tables are still covered in food and the odd watermelon juice and we eat and then go to bed in the warm castle a little ways away from the feast hall. The towers have high ceilings and beds sunk into the floor.  Mine is next to Evary. 
“Hi,” I say nervously.
“Hiya! How was your summer! I can’t wait for class tomorrow. 
Skyla walks over and shows me that her bed is on the other side of me.
I sit down on my bed and see girls in cornflower capes, like me, some in olive green capes, some in cobalt, and some in royal purple. I lay down on the bed and close my eyes…
It was a long, long hall. A good way to escape, well, everything. The heavy patter of rain on the roof and the loud voices of shouting 4th years rung in my ears. I was sick of it. Why couldn’t Nate and Rocksann just make peace and go their separate ways? Whose side should I take? The side of my friend who I had known since we were in 2nd year, or the fun one who was new to the school? If I broke off with Rocksann, I’d lose everyone. But if I stayed, I didn’t know what would happen. I chose to stay. And then, I was falling...falling….falling. Scared to do anything, because it might make me fall faster. I could never tell with these people.
I was being shaken awake by a person with shaggy brown hair and periwinkle blue eyes. He looked remarkably like Nate, Except for the eyes. So I said 
“hi, Nate. nice contact lenses. Aren’t your eyes usually brown?”
The boy looked at me.
“I am not Nate Katale, that silly boy. Musica est Magia, et Magia: Musica”
“Music is Magic, and Magic, Music? What?”
“Come. I have something to show you”
I nodded, put my cloak on over my pajamas, and followed him. I don’t know why I trusted him, as he led me up the stairs, into a tower, and along a wall just outside the tower. We climbed some ivy and wound up in the glass tower. Just then, the sun began to rise in front of us. And we watched and waited as the sun rose. 
It seemed crazy to me that we were watching the same sunrise as I had watched out my window back in Ireland. I sat, watching for a moment until I found my voice.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“My name is Alex. Alex Stradivaius. I am new to Skyswirl. And you are Skie Robinson. Legend around here in this dimension. I have wanted to meet you for years. When I learned I was coming, I got so excited, I could hardly focus on anything.”
He smiled and turned to the bridge we had taken. “Let’s go back. They will be looking for us. I nodded. 
“Let’s go”  I agreed.
It was perfect timing. 
We got back just as everyone else was waking up. Alex, before going to his tower, whispered, ¨same time tomorrow?¨ 
I nodded. 
As I was walking to class in a skirt, short-sleeved shirt, and vest, I thought about how Alex had seemed familiar somehow. I went to the courtyard and slowly, the other 6th years came in behind me.
“Ok students! If you could please come forward as I call your names! I have your schedules!” 
“Katale, Nate!”
Nate stepped forward.
“Evans, Evary!”
Evary did the same.
“Robinson, Skie!”
I went up and took the gilded piece of paper from the tall woman at the front of the courtyard, then, looking at the paper, noticed my new schedule had some strange classes on it.
Monday 	Tuesday 	Wednesday 	Thursday 	Friday
BAND 	SKILLS 	BAND 	SKILLS 	BAND
LUNCH 	LUNCH 	LUNCH 	LUNCH 	LUNCH
OFF-PERIOD	SKILL DETECTION	HISTORY 	ENSEMBLE 	ASTRONOMY
STUDY HALL	TEST PREP 	STUDY HALL	TEST PREP	STUDY HALL
Skill Detection was nothing new, but Skills and Test Prep were new subjects. Just then I was drawn out of my daze by the lady saying,
“6th years! This year you complete the H.A.T.s, or Higher Academy Tests. Every Tuesday and Thursday you will have Test Prep rather than Study Hall, and Skills allows you to practice magicraft. Your instruments, feet, and voices have a kind of magic to them. You must master that magic, and you’ll have a HAT over it. Off-periods are for studying, not sneaking around! Now, to your first classes. I walked off to the band room. Magic? Higher Academy? Tests? I was already sure that these would cause stress. I had a sinking feeling that it would be a long year.