Safe Haven

“I'm so sorry!” a girl said as she bumped into me with her suitcase. I cannot believe my parents are making me go to this stupid boarding school. I’m so mad I wanna scream but that's what got me here in the first place. My parents agreed sending me to the MOOR would make me a bit MORE grateful. And they said it just like that ,as if sending me to the middle of nowhere was a joke! 

“Welcome!” I heard an annoying charismatic voice say from behind me “To the Safe Haven finishing/boarding school!” She sounded genuinely happy to see us. “We are here to help you all become young ladies of great renown!” Gee, I thought, I wonder if she even gets bored of smiling so wide. “Come! This way to your dorms!” We all followed her inside and up the spiral staircase,which was not easy with one hundred plus girls and suitcases. The air in the building was hot and dry. Seriously!, I thought, They couldn't have at least bought air conditioning! We walked down a hall and were told to stand in a line because our tutors would be here soon. “Each tutor has their own room for their six girls” Said our happy go skippy tour guide. Soon a wall of skirts and jackets came down the hall.

 “Hello.” said a sweet youngish voice. I looked up to see a young woman with bright red hair and a big smile standing in front of me. Her hair was pulled into a tight braided bun and she had freckles. A Lot of freckles. She looked like the human equivalent of a cupcake. She was tall and wore a knee length poofy tulle skirt and a dressy white button up shirt with short puff sleeves. She definitely looked different then the other tutors. They all wore floor length skirts and button up dress jackets. 

“Follow me!” she said with a cheery voice and we did. Me and five other girls trekked up the hall to a room marked Tutor Ella. 

“You want us to call you Ella? Not Miss anything?”

“You can call me whatever you want.” She said and walked into the room. Something was off about this place. I could feel it. When we walked into the room there were six colorful twin beds with painted iron frames. Each painted frame was a different cheery pastel color and shape that matched the color of the frame. Beside each bed sat a small matching colored dresser. I chose the bed with the pastel purple frame that was kind or cloud shaped with the bubbly look the bumps gave the frame. Sitting on the soft light purple blanket I looked under and saw a single set of sheets and a thin mattress. I opened my suitcase and started folding and putting my clothes in the bedside dresser. Each girl had  little dividing walls they could position around their bed. I put mine up and soon I had a very small bedroom with only enough room for one twin bed, a miniature dresser and one girl. The floor had a very small area on it for the decoration I had brought. But I laid down the small white rug I had brought from home on the small floor space I had left. I put the last of my clothes away and hung up the string of photos on one of the little fold up walls. 

“Knock knock!” I heard a cheery voice say then I saw the face of a small tan girl who had dark brown hair falling out of a low twist, she wore round glasses that were so large they filled up her tiny face. She had pulled open the door I had constructed out of an extra sheet that the school had given us. 

“The other girls figured out how to put up the walls but we were wondering if you could show us how to make a door? So I helped them to put up doors and we went to supper and had dinner with Ella. Everything was amazing, at least I thought. The next morning is when things went downhill.

 “I can’t remember what time I'm sorry, probably around two?” I said to the investigation officer. Apparently while we were asleep a robbery had taken place. Someone had stolen some very valuable materials from the academy kitchen. I had heard some noises but I had fallen back asleep and now I was answering questions. 

“Do you know what you heard?” the officer asked.

“Maybe some clanging noises?” I said in a worried tone. “How are you gonna find the thief?”I asked, feeling even more worried. 

“Don't worry we will not rest until they are found.”

“At least let me help” I said “My mom is a cop.” he said no but I’m still not entirely sure they can catch this thief. I was gonna catch this thief myself and prove that I could do it myself. So after dinner I went upstairs into our room to investigate when I caught Ella on an animated phone call. 

“No!” she was saying “I can’t get it to you tomorrow!” Uh oh I thought sneaking into the room and into somebody's miniature space. 

“I have a cover to keep here, I can’t just leave out of nowhere!” Then some muffled words and a slammed door. I stepped out of the room and I walked down the hall with confidence because I had a lead. I woke up the next morning exhilarated. I threw on one of my dresses the school had provided, braided my hair, and got to class. Halfway through my History of trade class an assembly was called regarding another stolen object. 

“What was stolen this time?” I said walking up to Ella. 

“A glass vase that was super expensive.” What! I thought to myself another expensive item. Okay this thief wanted money ,not to get back at this school. 

“Students please stay calm, we don't know exactly what was stolen, we just know that the school library was broken into.” Wait I thought, Ella knew what was stolen when no one else did which means Ella must have taken the object! I ran to the stage, my heart pounding.

“I know who took the object! Ella our tutor said she knew it was a fancy vase and nobody but the thief would have known that!" Soon after the robberies were traced back to Ella and I won an award. It was overall and amazing adventure but I'm still wondering why they didn't believe me? Maybe it was because I was small, maybe because I was just a teenage girl. But to anyone who is reading this no matter how big, small, different you are, you can always make a difference.