Holly

Holly

“Well, I can’t say I feel sorry for you. You brought this on yourself.” Wow. thanks for the sympathy sis. We’re standing outside the imposing grey stone building that is now my boarding school. Boarding school. Ugh. Tammy is holding my three suitcases that hold most of my belongings. I really don’t see why I needed to be shipped to dreary England to live with my ancient creaky great aunt Imogen. I’m not even actually staying WITH her, I’m going to this medieval fortress- posing- as- a- boarding- school so I’m not really seeing the point here, mom. This is a punishment I guess but, hey,  it was only a REALLY CHEAP WATCH that I stole. Not even worth anything good. I guess to my filthy rich stepmom, the information that her youngest daughter was a pickpocket would be a fate worse than death. It might ruin *gasp* her reputation! Horror of horrors. Whatever. Now she sent me here with my older step-sister Tamiya- tammy-as an escort to go stay with Imogen only to have her turn us away, saying that I needed to finish my high school years at Madam Edwards boarding School for the gifted. Delete all that and replace it with Madam no one cares boarding school for rich kids whose parents can’t stand them tarnishing their “reputations.” I can’t believe my mother married that woman [my stepmother, not my aunt Imogen. Gross]. Tammy nudges me with the toe of her heeled boot “move it holly. Daylights burning” I grumble something incoherently but begin the trudge to the front of the school. No getting out of this now. I tried to slip away at the airport but Tammy is a dedicated jailer and trailed me to baggage before she physically hauled me into the plane. The interior of the school is basically the same as the outside: smooth, plane, grey stone with little decoration. “The headmaster’s office is this way… wait no, this way. Oop no. that’s the gymnasium. THIS way. C’mon H.” Tammy grabs my wrist like a handcuff which is actually pretty impressive since she is balancing all of my huge suitcases with only her arms. We make our way up the stairs and I’m puffing by the time we make it all the way to the top. What is the purpose of so many freaking stairs? According to the website, Madam Edwards has seven more of these things. Crazy architects. 

After we have a long talk with the headmaster- a chubby old man with an even chubbier mustache- he shakes Tammy’s hand and then mine, and gives me a card of paper with all my school info. My dorm room number, school email, schedule, dining times, and key for my dorm. As we leave the office I give Tammy puppy dog eyes and whimper “pleeease don’t make me stay here Tam. I promise I will be good! No more stealing of useless Rolex watches. Just take me back home with you!” she rolls her eyes, thoroughly unmoved by my attempts. “Take it up with our moms and Imogen. At least your lucky mom didn’t bury you in the basement until this whole incident blows over. Although, we do have quite a nice basement…” she answers. We drag our feet up another flight of stairs to the dorms. she drops my suitcases unceremoniously o the floor next to my door. “This is where I leave you. Who knows? You might like it here. Ill facetime you later, ‘kay? Now, I’ve got a flight to catch.” and with that, she pecks me on the cheek and practically gallops down the stairs. Jerk. I hum a song that was playing in the rental car that drove us to this prison while I fumble with my key. “Ew. I hate that song.” snipes a girl’s voice from behind me. I nearly jump out of my skin. The girl behind me is medium height and skinny as a corpse. Seriously, the girl looks like she hasn’t eaten for weeks with sallow cheeks and a pale complexion. Her head is bald and she appraises me with her slitted black eyes. “It’s so catchy though,” I reply cooly. She sniffs and replies, “the plage was catchy, yes? Doesn’t make it nice” oof. Good one corpse- girl. “Were you trying to break into my dorm room?” she says in a polished english accent. “No, no, i think this is our new roomie! Are you, sweetie?” says another girls voice. I was so focused on the girl in front of me i completely missed the other girl standing next to her. This girl looks like the poler oppsite of the first one with bouncy blonde curls and a curvier build. “Well? Do you speak?” snaps the first girl. What is this girls problem. “Yes. i am. Im new here, duh, and this is my dorm room according to this card,” i wave the paper in their faces and the corpse-girl scrunces her nose while the friendly one squeals “ooh! Your american!” at the same time as the first girl says “ew, your american.” the same way one would say “ew, theres gum on the bottom of my shoe” i bristle “you got a problem with americans?” i challenge. “As a matter of fact-” starts corpse- girl but the second girl buts it “oh, El was just joking. Shes really sweet once you get to know her. Im so glad your here… oh, i dont know your name. Im Harper.” says the second girl- Harper. “Im Holly. Nice, were all acquainted. Now, can you please let me in? These bags are ripping my arms off,” I complain. El sighs “step aside American girl. I got it” I narrow my eyes “Holly” but she ignores me. She pulls on a key on a chain around her neck and slips it over her shiny head, then into the keyhole. The door swings back to reveal my small dorm room. And when I say small I mean, it fits three cubby/ cabinet things and three skeletal beds with wire headboards and two desks. Two of the beds have throw pillows and personalized comforters on them while the last one is bare with a white fitted sheet and two pillows. There are posters covering the walls, the one closest to the bed in the corner is actually a chalkboard where someone has written hundreds of tally marks. I raise an eyebrow at El and Harper. “who s chalkboard is that?” I say curiously. El glowers and flops onto the bed near the chalkboard “mine” she snaps. I’m starting to think that’s just how she talks. Harper rolls her eyes and plops on the other bed which has so many emoji throw pillows I can’t see the actual bed. “El is just bitter because she didn’t want to be sent here in the first place, although El, you have been here for over a year. Really, get over it” I raised my eyebrows in surprise at the thought that corpse girl and I have something in common. El shoots death rays at Harper with her eyes. “You don’t get it. You chose to come here.” she looks towards me “She’s the headmaster’s daughter” El clarifies. “What are you in for?” I ask while I dig through one of my suitcases until I found my bedding. El grumbles something that sounds like “Grannys stupid will” and rolls over. “What about you, American girl? What are you in for?” she grumbles. I shake out my pillowcases and start pulling them over the pillows on the bed. “Stupid Rolex watch and nosy policeman” I admit and I think I hear El chuckle. 

For some reason, I’m expected to attend the rest of the day’s classes even though I have serious jet lag and am missing most of my materials. I learn that Harper and El were excused from math class to help me unpack [which neither of them actually did] and that I don’t have any classes with them. By dinner time the while dining hall is buzzing with “American Girl”s and “new girls”s and even a couple “Rolex watch”s. I wonder how THAT secret got out *glares straight at a smug-looking El sitting across the hall* I sit at a table in the corner with a friendly but silent puddle of new girl awkwardness and practically leap out of my seat when people start filing out of the hall and back to the dorms. When I get to mine, it’s empty and I fling my bag on my bed. First four hours of Madam Edwards school and I’m about ready to make my own tally mark chalkboard. I reluctantly pull some of my newly accumulated textbooks out of my backpack and practically throw them onto one of the desks. The one on the top reads english history: grade 10. I sit down on the wicker chair in front of the desk and flip carelessly to the assigned pages. Ouch! Paper cut. This day just keeps getting better and BETTER. King blah blah blah blah from who cares. Part of the house this guy died 500 years ago and therefore doesn’t matter. I slam the book shut and groan. Why, why, why did I steal that watch? Stupid question: I wanted attention. Not from stepmother, she already pays more attention to me than I would like. Waiting for me to mess up so she gets a reason to ship me off to Europe or Antarctica or anywhere that is far away from her. No, I wanted to get my mom’s attention. She is so thrilled about her new marriage she hardly notices me. Tammy drives me where I need to go and signs my permission slips and helps make dinner for me. Not my mom. I m sure she’s also happy I’m gone so she can spend time with her new family. I rest my cheek on my arm so I get a sideways view of the courtyard and the landscape behind it.  A thick cloud of fog hangs around literally everything and it makes it almost impossible to make out the only people walking in the courtyard. But I see them. I squint to try and see better. Two people: a boy and what I think might be a girl but I can’t really tell. Oh, nope. Definitely a girl. A girl I, I notice with mild interest, that I recognize. It’s El and she looks angry and sort of sad and definitely freaked out. From what I can tell at least, it’s hard to see them and I really can’t see the boy whos walking further away from my window. The two seem to be arguing about something. I think El is crying. Both of them are helping to drag what looks like a long garbage bag across the lawn. I wonder what’s in the bag. But not that much. I start to look away, back to King Henry the whatever number but then I see El scream something I cant hear and trip over a rock, letting go of her side of the bag. Oh. my. God. the boy stumbles too and something shifts out of the bag as it drops to the grass. A limp. Human. hand.