Chapter One: The Beginning 1/3

Okay, so let’s get this right, this isn’t the beginning. My story didn’t really start here, but this is where it becomes relevant.

I was standing in front of my new school, an all-girls school meant for young ladies.

I was no lady, nor did I have any desire to be a proper one.

Here I was anyway.

‘Pruitt’s School for Young Ladies’ the large letters hung above the main building, in light pink letters.

I found myself frowning; this was how my life was going to go? I was going to be taught how to curtsy, pour a proper cup of tea. Also, how to make a man a meal. What the hell? Of course, I knew those weren’t the actual things I was going to learn here, but damn it, I was pissed off.

I turned back to the man who set my bags on the curb.

“Is this everything?” the cab driver asked as he set the last bag next to me on the curb.

His eyes were curious as they scanned me, then the building I was in front of.

“Yeah,” I said, “Thank you.”

I handed him the only two twenty-dollar bills I had in my possession.

It had never been my plan to go anywhere but home after camp. I should have saved the money I had, now I was reduced to a ten-dollar bill and a single crumpled up dollar bill.

“Good luck,” the man said after making sure I paid him enough.

“Thanks,” I said sourly. I needed something more reliable than luck.

It didn’t take him very long to get back into the cab and drive off. My gaze lingered on the large gate.

This wasn’t right, no matter how much I thought about it. My mother wanted me to marry a man with money so that I was ‘taken care of.’

What the hell did I care? What happened to marrying for love?

It didn’t matter to me, I just wanted to be happy. Didn’t everybody? Though it was just an excuse to get rid of me so that she didn’t have to take care of me anymore.

It was pointless to worry about it right now, so I grabbed all my bags and headed inside.

The first place I went to was the building that resembled an office. It was the same one with the light pink letters. There was a button off to the side, and it opened the door for me. I didn’t have to set any of my bags down to get inside. I stopped once I reached the large desk closest to the front.

“Hello,” I called out.

There was no response, so I stood awkwardly by the desk. I had to shift the weight of my bags to my other side.

A woman with clear plastic glasses walked to the desk from the other side.

“Last name Graham?” she asked.

I nodded, “That’s me.”

I sounded more eager than I believed possible.

“Your packet is on the counter,” she pointed to the other desk, not much further from this one. “Right over there.”

I nodded, “Thank you.”

I wasn’t sure why I was thanking her. She could have just brought it for me.

It only took less than a minute for me to reach the next desk, and this one had a large envelope that I was sure was mine.

M. Graham.

It was probably a bad idea to leave these kinds of things out, what if I wasn’t the new kid? Someone could have just stolen my stuff.

It didn’t matter, I needed to take a breath. I set my bags down so that I could open the envelope.

I had to carefully maneuver the metal piece so that I could open the top. The first thing I saw looked like a student handbook. The cover was light pink. It exhausted me just running through every possible bad interaction I was going to have when I came here.

It was a shame that even after all this time, my brain still did that to me.

The next piece of paper I saw looked like a class schedule. It was a good thing I was able to speak with someone before I got here, or else they would have messed all my information up. I was happy to see Ren Graham across this sheet, along with what looks like eight classes. I didn’t allow myself much thought on that because I was already pulling the next piece of paper out. This one had a room number on it, number forty-two, and a small plastic bag was stapled to it with a key. I pulled the bag off and then went to the next sheet of paper.

This one was a small letter from the administration, thanking me for joining their program. The next one looked like a little pink planner. I put everything back into the envelope before stuffing it into my backpack. I made sure to leave the key out, and I looked it over. It had my room number on it.

It was time, I had to find my room. Then I would go from there.

I picked up all my stuff, and then I made my way to the nearest door.

The first thing I saw was grass, so much grass. The next building over, looked like it could be the dormitory. It was big enough to be many rooms. It was more than tall enough to house all the students here, that I was sure of. It was tall enough to easily be seven floors.

I walked up to the door, and to my surprise, this one had a button too.

This school was seeming a lot fancier than I first expected. I stepped inside, and the clear glass shut behind me.

“Wow,” I muttered as I slowly walked through the first set of rooms. They looked pretty well spaced apart. The numerical order of the rooms was pretty straight forward, I just needed to go further down the halls to make it to my designated destination. I knew I had to find the stairs or at least another way up.

I walked until the hallway turned to the right, and I noticed the small elevator and stairs sign by a large archway. I peeked in to see a small room with snack machines and refrigerators. My gaze went over until I saw the side area with another sign with the picture I was looking for. I walked through to the elevator, and I pushed the down pointed pressure switch for it to get to this floor. It was quick to open, and I moved inside to push the button for the fourth floor. I waited only a couple of seconds before the ding sounded to let me know I reached my designated level.

I stepped off, and at the corner of my eye, I noticed a map of the room layout, and I glanced over the fourth floor to make sure my room was on it.

I frowned at seeing the lowest-numbered room. It was number 97.

I didn’t wait. I moved my way back over to the elevator, and I had to wait for it to open again.

I pressed on the third floor, and I pulled out the map I got in my envelope.

There were outlines of pink, and the elevator dinged before I could really go over the map.

I didn’t step off, I read over the map to see the room I was looking for wasn’t on the third or the fourth floor.

The door shut in front of me, and I sighed. I didn’t want to haul my stuff all over the place.

I pressed the second floor, and right as I pushed it, the door opened again.

There was a girl with short brown hair on the second floor.

Her brown eyes met mine.

My first contact with another person here. I was honestly a little worried.

She grinned wide at me, but then she pointed to my bags.

I was confused.

“You’re new here?” she asked me.

I nodded, words actually failing to come out.

“What room are you in?” she asked, making sure to put her hand on the elevator side so that it didn’t close.

“Uh,” I said, looking down at my paper again, “Forty-two.”

I didn’t think it was possible, she looked excited about it.

“I can take you there,” she said, indicating behind her.

“It’s on this floor?” I asked, even though I had just figured that out a few minutes prior.

“Come on,” she said, walking in the opposite direction.

I hesitated a split second before I finally stepped off of the elevator to follow her.

She led me out of the snack room area, and she took a left and then another quick left.

I was about to ask her how far it was from where we started, but she stopped at the door and pulled out her keys.

I looked at the door number next to the one we were at. It read number forty-four.

Then my gaze went to the rooms across the hall, and I noticed that every one of them within eyesight is odd numbers.

I had to double-take and then look at the number of the door she just opened.

Forty-two was on the door, and I could have smacked myself in the face.

I peeked in, and she was standing there, gesturing to the left side of the room.

“Are the keys here universal?” I asked.

She actually laughed at my awkwardness.

“No,” she grinned “I’m your roommate.”

I smiled awkwardly at her.

I didn’t know that I would have a roommate, but I suppose it did make sense. This school was only so big.

“Howdy,” she said with a broad smile.

“Hi,” I said a little strangely.

“I’m Benny,” she said, holding out her hand.

“Ren,” I said, taking her hand and shaking it.

It was strange, my nerves seemed to fade away.

“I like Benny,” I said after releasing her hand.

“Well, my parents named me Bethany,” she said, “And I like Ren.”

She sat down on her bed, and I figured that meant it was time for me to put my stuff where it goes.

I pulled my stuff inside and put my bags near the bare side of the room.

“They are starting uniforms this year,” Benny said, “I wonder how horrible they are going to look.”

I couldn’t help but smirk, “I’m sure they will be pretty awful.”

She giggled, “So I take it you aren’t here of your own free will?”

I shook my head “Nope, parents are evil.”

“I can relate,” she said before grinning at me.

I turned to look at her, confused.

“And just so you are prepared,” she stated, “Most of the girls here are probably going to piss you off.”

I gave her a smile back “I don’t doubt that.”

She giggled, and I felt myself relaxing, I didn’t have a super bitchy girl for a roommate.

I was grateful for that.

“So, when are we supposed to get our uniforms?” I asked her.

“We still need to get sized,” she rolled her eyes “You would think they would have done that already.”

That is kind of the point of uniforms, right?

There were a couple of minutes of silence while I tried to decide if I wanted to take my stuff out of my bags right now or do it later.

“Also, before I forget,” she said, “The school also has a curfew.”

“Curfew?” I asked, “I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged “It’s because of the school next to us.”

I turned to look where she pointed, but there was only a wall. Man, I felt like an idiot right now.

“I’m not sure if you noticed the large gate on the side.”

“The only thing that isn’t pink,” I nodded, “Yeah, I saw it.”

“That is the only thing keeping us separated,” she said, “Even though you’ll be able to see them, it’s not like they can get in here.”

“Is it an all boy’s school?” I asked her.

She looked at me, “You really are new here, aren’t you?”

I smiled sheepishly. I was too lazy to read up on the school. Well, that, and I didn’t really have enough time to.

“That’s where they send all the teenager’s other schools won’t take,” she said, “They’re all a bunch of juveniles.”

“Do they live on campus too?” I asked her.

“Some of them do,” she nodded. “Others have to commute.”

It’s really quite weird that they would put a school like that next to one like this.

The whole idea was just weird.

“So?” I asked her, “They see us, what’s the big deal?”

“Perverts and creeps,” she stated.

“What?” I demanded.

Now I really was interested, why would they put a bunch of predators next to a bunch of helpless girls?

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain some of them were convicted of harassing someone but not all of them were.” She shrugged, “They don’t discriminate. If you committed a crime and a normal school won’t take you, they will.”

Hmmm, is that so?

I sat down on my bed and listened to her talk about random things, and more about the school.

I guess me coming here on a Friday night was a good idea.

I don’t think I really heard some of the things she said, I found myself wondering about the school next to us.

It didn’t take much longer for me to decide to get all my stuff unpacked and ready, I put my bed stuff on and put the empty bags under the bed.

“Where are the showers?” I asked Benny.

“I can show you,” she said, getting to her feet “You should get your stuff together.”

I nodded as I put my stuff in a big bag.

“I might as well join you,” she said as she got her stuff together “I’ll bring my key.”

I nodded as she grabbed her key, and I followed her out.

It was going to be just like college, wasn’t it, bringing my own everything.

She led me outside, and I felt a cool breeze.

I had to stop for a minute to actually enjoy it; it felt amazing on my skin.

“That good?” she asked.

I smiled, “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to slow down.”

“They’re not too far,” she said, “We just have to walk to the gym.”

I just followed behind her, and again I found myself getting distracted. The large black gate wasn’t too far from us. It was tall, way taller than it had been out front.

At the very top, the metal rods were spiked, and barbed wire lined the top of the wall.

“Ren?” I heard my name.

I blinked a few times before I realized she called my name, “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she said, “We can enjoy the scenery on the way back.”

“Okay,” I said as I followed behind her once again.

Once we were in the bathrooms, I noticed the lack of people.

“Where is everybody?” I asked.

“It’s Friday,” she stated, “Girls leave campus to do stuff, I don’t know.”

I don’t think I’d have a good enough reason to leave besides shopping.

“Most of the girls won’t be back until Sunday,” she said, “So enjoy the silence while it lasts.”

The silence was always good, but I would at least like to know what I was going to be up against.

I walked into a locker room, and she let me put my stuff with hers until I got a locker. I got undressed and found myself a shower.

For now, life was easy.

And for a little while, I could at least feel like everything was going to be alright.

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