We were passing a stunningly beautiful glass building. Cloud reflections skittered over its walls like playful lambs.

　　I stared up at the sky. There wasn't a cloud to be seen anywhere.

　　I gawped back at the building, completely confused. "How do they DO that?" I breathed.

　　"I have no idea," admitted Lola.

　　"Hey," said Amber brightly. "1 hope we're all staying in the same dorm!"

　　I stared at her. "No-one told me this was boarding school?"

　　Lob gave me a funny little smile. "Well, you can't exactly go back home at nights, Melanie."

　　Amber giggled. "Ooh, Lola, you're so mean! Poor Mel. She just needs time to adjust."

　　I forced a smile. Amber was probably a genuinely sweet person, but I got the feeling that hanging out with her could do some serious damage to a person's tooth enamel.

　　The class came to a standstill in a beautiful little courtyard, full of tropical plants. Sand and seaweed were scattered around as if left behind by the tide. A salty breeze blew my hair into tangles.

　　I noticed hammocks strung between the palm trees, their canvas bleached by the sun. Then I gave a squeak of surprise.

　　"Is that the sea over there?" I whispered to Lob. "Is that the beach?"

　　This school is something else, I thought. It almost made me wish I was attending the Academy for real, instead of just faking it while I figured out my next move.

　　"That's the great thing about this city," Lola was saying.

　　It had never occurred to me that Heaven might be by the sea. And I'd definitely NEVER imagined cities.

　　Lola hoisted herself into a hammock. "It's great to be back," she said.

　　Some of the other kids grabbed hammocks too. Flora and Ferdy casually took up advanced yoga poses under a palm tree.

　　I couldn't believe the way Mr Allbright let everyone mess around like this. Poor lamb, I thought. He's got "pushover" written all over him.

　　Our teacher gave me an absent-minded smile. For a nasty moment I thought he'd actually read my mind. Then I decided Mr AIIbright was just enjoying some private teacher-type joke.

　　"Right," he said, tugging at his ear. "You'll all be wanting to go and settle into your dormitories, so this is just an introductory session--"

　　I put up my hand, totally confused. "Erm," I said. "1 thought we were going to our form room."

　　"You thought right," said Mr AIIbright. "And as you see, here we are." He waved his hand at the little courtyard.

　　Suddenly I knew exactly how Alice felt when she fell down that rabbit hole.

　　我们经过一栋非常漂亮的玻璃大楼，朵朵白云映在它的墙上，好像正在玩耍的小羊羔。

　　我抬头望着天空，天上并没有云彩啊，我完全被弄糊涂了：

　　“那么，云是怎么映上去的呀？”

　　罗拉大声说：

　　“我也不知道，不过不用管它了，我们现在马上要到住的地方去了，真开心啊！”

　　阿贝的声音听起来非常愉快：

　　“真希望我们几个能被分到一间宿舍里去！”

　　我张大嘴巴，望着她：

　　“宿舍？怎么？这是个寄宿学校吗？好像没人跟我提过啊！”

　　罗拉冲我一阵坏笑：

　　“嗯，你该不会以为，每天放学又可以回家吧，美兰妮。”

　　阿贝咯咯地笑了：

　　“得啦，罗拉，你这家伙真坏！可怜的小美，她现在还不适应自己的新身份呢！”

　　我勉强挤出了个笑容。

　　阿贝的嘴巴真甜，可是我总有种感觉，跟她在一起待久了，我的牙釉质会坏掉的，我可受不了太甜的东西。

　　一班人走到一个小庭院前，停下了。

　　这里长满了美丽的热带植物，到处散落着沙子和海藻，它们似乎是被海浪冲上来留在岸上的。

　　一丝带着咸味的风吹过，卷起了我的头发。

　　沙滩的棕榈树上，排列着一个个吊床，上面的帆布都被太阳晒白了。顺着吊床看过去，我不禁大叫起来：

　　“啊——”

　　我兴奋地问：

　　“那边是海吗？那真的是海吗？”

　　在学校里，竟然可以看得到大海！

　　这所学校真不一般啊，我想。

　　这一秒钟，我希望自己真的是来上这个学院的，而不是只装装样子留下来，然后好找机会逃跑的。

　　罗拉好像读懂了我的心思：

　　“这个城市很棒吧！”

　　我从没想到，天堂里居然有城市，有大海，还有看得见大海的学校。

　　罗拉支起身躺进一个吊床，说：

　　“好舒服啊！是回家的感觉！”

　　其他的孩子，有的躺到吊床上，有的在疯闹，弗萝拉和弗尔迪甚至在一棵棕榈树下做起了瑜珈。

　　能让大家这么随意地在这里活动，全光明先生真是当得起“好好先生”这几个字，这一切，在我原来的学校，简直是不可想象的事情。

　　我的老师，好像读懂了我的心思，给了我一个漫不经心的微笑。不过，也可能只是他们老师惯用的小伎俩，虚张声势，装作自己什么都知道的样子，我太清楚这一套了。

　　全光明先生拉拉自己的耳朵，说：

　　“好了，现在大家肯定都想快点到自己的寝室去，安顿下来，所以这堂课呢，我只想作作简短的介绍……”

　　我简直被弄糊涂了，举起手问：

　　“嗯，上课不是要到正规的教室去吗？”

　　“你说得没错。”全光明先生说，“你们看，我们现在已经到啦。”

　　他挥挥手，指指我们面前小小的庭院。

　　只怕漫游仙境的爱丽丝掉到兔子洞，也没有我现在这么惊讶吧！