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- Joined
- Jul 14, 2013
Rothbornham Boarding School, Rothbornham, Midlands, England (fictional)
At just under 300.000 inhabitants, Rothbornham is a mid-sized city in central England.
Like many cities throughout the country, it went through a golden age at the dawn of the industrial revolution. It became a hub of industry, commerce and trade during the mid- to late 18th century, bringing splendour and riches to the city. Within a few short decades, Rothbornham transformed from a market town of 20,000 to a bustling city of almost 100,000 people. A canal was dug to allow for bigger mills and factories, until by the early 1800's, the city's skyline was filled with smokestacks and fumes. The riches the industry brought allowed for the construction of opulent avenues with white limestone buildings, statues and churches. In 1832, Rothbornham became one of the early cities to join the budding railroad network that was haphazardly developing throughout England. By the mid 19th century, the city's population peaked at about 450,000 inhabitants.
As the 19th century went on, the city began to lag behind in development compared to its competitors. Part of the blame fell to the poorly connected canal; the flow of water wasn't strong enough to keep sediment from building up, making it impossible for larger ships to move through it, while costing the council an inordinate part of its budget to maintain. By the dawn of the 20th century, the city was back down to a population of 200,000, with above average unemployment figures.
It was only after the Second World War that the city regained some of its former glory. In this era of redevelopment and growth, the city started climbing towards its current size, with new buildings being added to the old center, roads being improved, and new suburbs being added on the outskirts of the city.
Today, the city still breathes an atmosphere of past glory. Many of its historic buildings are still covered in black layers of smog and soot, and the central canal still looks more like a muddy stream than a former lifeline to a major city. While the local population has found its way to climb up the socio-economic ladder, to the point where about half of the people could be considered to belong to the middle class, Rothbornham still has the name and reputation of a poor city that's well past its prime.
A few streets down from the old, early 20th century central station, on the side facing away from the city centre, surrounded by streets that always seem to feel a bit colder and windier than they should, stands Rothbornham Boarding School. It was established in the 1960's, and though it was renovated several times, it still feels like it never really became part of the modern era. The school, situated on the intersection of Hill Street and Victoria Mews, caters to both full boarding and daytime students. While not rated too highly nationally, it is considered to be one of the better schools in the Rothbornham area, attracting mostly middle class students, save for the few upper class members of its population.
At just under 300.000 inhabitants, Rothbornham is a mid-sized city in central England.
Like many cities throughout the country, it went through a golden age at the dawn of the industrial revolution. It became a hub of industry, commerce and trade during the mid- to late 18th century, bringing splendour and riches to the city. Within a few short decades, Rothbornham transformed from a market town of 20,000 to a bustling city of almost 100,000 people. A canal was dug to allow for bigger mills and factories, until by the early 1800's, the city's skyline was filled with smokestacks and fumes. The riches the industry brought allowed for the construction of opulent avenues with white limestone buildings, statues and churches. In 1832, Rothbornham became one of the early cities to join the budding railroad network that was haphazardly developing throughout England. By the mid 19th century, the city's population peaked at about 450,000 inhabitants.
As the 19th century went on, the city began to lag behind in development compared to its competitors. Part of the blame fell to the poorly connected canal; the flow of water wasn't strong enough to keep sediment from building up, making it impossible for larger ships to move through it, while costing the council an inordinate part of its budget to maintain. By the dawn of the 20th century, the city was back down to a population of 200,000, with above average unemployment figures.
It was only after the Second World War that the city regained some of its former glory. In this era of redevelopment and growth, the city started climbing towards its current size, with new buildings being added to the old center, roads being improved, and new suburbs being added on the outskirts of the city.
Today, the city still breathes an atmosphere of past glory. Many of its historic buildings are still covered in black layers of smog and soot, and the central canal still looks more like a muddy stream than a former lifeline to a major city. While the local population has found its way to climb up the socio-economic ladder, to the point where about half of the people could be considered to belong to the middle class, Rothbornham still has the name and reputation of a poor city that's well past its prime.
A few streets down from the old, early 20th century central station, on the side facing away from the city centre, surrounded by streets that always seem to feel a bit colder and windier than they should, stands Rothbornham Boarding School. It was established in the 1960's, and though it was renovated several times, it still feels like it never really became part of the modern era. The school, situated on the intersection of Hill Street and Victoria Mews, caters to both full boarding and daytime students. While not rated too highly nationally, it is considered to be one of the better schools in the Rothbornham area, attracting mostly middle class students, save for the few upper class members of its population.
Age: 15
Height: 5'2" / 1.65m
Weight: 123.5lbs / 56kg
Body type: slim to average
Hair: red, medium length
Eyes: blue/green
The sound of her footsteps echoed against the buildings along Hill Street as Sasha made her way to school, with a book laden backpack on her back, and a heavy weekend bag hanging off her shoulder. She was early, and as it was the last Friday of the summer holidays, it was relatively quiet on the streets. It was quite cold for an August morning, and the pavement was still wet of the rain that had fallen the night before. Sasha's summery clothes were barely adequate to keep her warm, but at least it gave her an excuse to shiver. She might have shivered all the same if it hadn't been cold.
The 15 year old redhead was both nervous and filled with anticipation at the same time; this was hardly her first time visiting Rothbornham Boarding School, but in a way, it also actually was. She'd spent the previous years as a daytime student there, but as her parents' jobs had become more chaotic, and their ability to be at home to care for their daughter had diminished significantly, they'd insisted she'd transfer to full boarding. Sasha had objected, not feeling quite comfortable giving up so much of her privacy and freedom. Rothbornham Boarding may have been one of the more favourably rated schools in the are, but like most teens, Sasha knew full well that life in the school's dorms wasn't quite so glamorous. In the end though, it became clear that her parents' decision was final, and Sasha simply convinced herself it'd just be for a year, to see how things went.
School wouldn't start for another few days. Today was Friday, which meant there'd be three days to get settled in, and meet the students she'd be sharing a dormitory with. School would start on Monday, although the first week would probably be mostly introductory. Sasha was anxious for normal school life to begin; just these three days felt like they'd take an eternity to get through. Sasha didn't really know why she dreaded them so much, or why she felt so lost now that she'd be staying on campus. She only knew that she felt los.
Still though, it's not as if Sasha didn't have goals set to look forwards to this year. She'd decided that she was ready to fall in love and start dating, and she'd promised herself to finally experience more than just a kiss with someone. She didn't know exactly who she'd be falling in love with, she didn't really have strong feelings about the boys that were in her class last year, but she'd decided that she just had to fall in love somehow. She'd also promised herself to maintain her good grades, and spend as much time with her old friends as she could manage.
She already knew she was going to miss Alex a lot this year. Alex was more than Sasha's closest friend - she thought of him as a brother rather than just a friend. They'd grown up together, and he'd always been a beacon of strength and support to Sasha. He'd been her shoulder to cry on, her confidant, her chaperone and her absolute best friend throughout her childhood. He was tall, handsome, fit, confident and caring. He was everything she thought the perfect guy should be, and she'd probably be with him if she didn't look at him the way she did. As it was, she had zero romantic feelings for him, but she idolised him nonetheless. He went to the same school, one year above her, but he was still a daytime student. Last year they'd travelled to and from school together nearly every day... It was sure going to be weird having to watch him walk out the school gate while she remained behind.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Sasha noticed that she'd just gone through the school gate herself, arriving about an hour early for her orientation. Other new boarding students wouldn't start to arrive for at least another half hour. In all of her nervousness, anxiety and anticipation, she'd set her alarm an hour early on purpose, but it was only now that she was standing in the empty school yard that she realised that getting to school early would mean waiting by herself for the rest to show up. Sasha took a few seconds to gather her thoughts, and then walked over to the steps in front of the main dormitory's entrance. She put her weekend bag down, contemplated her options, and then hesitantly started wandering. Almost instantly, she felt a bit more at ease; wandering and exploring had been her first nature ever since she was little - and even if she'd been at this same school for several years, today everything felt as if it was new to her. Lost in thought, she walked alongside the dorm building, over to the bike shed at the secondary entrance to the campus. As she rounded the building's next corner, and walked into what was basically an alleyway between the building and the bike shed, she realised she wasn't the only one out. On the ground was a still lit cigarette bud, with a little bit of smoke still coming off of it. From inside the bike shed, Sasha could hear the sound of someone using a cigarette lighter in an attempt to light probably another cigarette. Suddenly, Sasha felt nervous in an excited way; snooping around school, all alone, and running into an unseen stranger with cigarettes, somehow it all felt darkly intriguing.
As she approached the source of the sound, she let her backpack slide off of her shoulders, and announced herself; "Hey... Didn't think anyone else would be hanging around here so early...", she said, starting to recognise the stranger as she came closer.