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Starting over isn’t something new to me.
Being in care is like that.
If it wasn’t a new foster home, it was a new school. New friends. New family. Sometimes even a new town.
I’ve spent the weekend holed up in my room refusing to come out unless absolutely necessary. The babysitter stopped by again, offering to hang out with me. I saved her the awkwardness and declined. I’d like to say I was polite, but I wasn’t, practically slamming the door in her face.
Besides, something tells me I won’t fit it in with the likes of Tallulah Darlington and her posh school friends.
By the time Monday morning rolls around, I’m ready to climb the walls. Mrs. Danvers dropped off my uniform yesterday. The godawful black and green tartan skirt and black blazer make me want to vomit but I suck it up and play my part. I draw the line at the knee-high socks though, opting for a thick pair of black tights instead. I’m sure the headteacher will take pity on the outcast.
Grabbing my timetable and my bag, I decide to head out early, before Tally appears and tries to take me under her wing.
I have to meet with Miss Linley, the school counsellor, first thing but I want to get a lay of the land. Maybe check out that weird Chapel place again.
There was something about it… something ominous. I’ve always been into creepy shit. Horror films. Urban myths. Anything scary and a little grotesque. I didn’t grow up plucking the wings off bees or the legs off spiders or anything. But death and the macabre has always kind of fascinated me.
I spent my early teens in a pretty hardcore goth phase. Probably had something to do with my boyfriend at the time.
When we broke up, I traded my black biker boots and black lipstick for tartan skirts, chains, and pink hair dye.
I bounced between styles like I bounced between foster care homes.
Now I’m older and my style has settled somewhere between grunge and geek chic. I gravitate to dark colours. Love anything baggy and oversized and live in my tatty old black Dr. Martens.
A far cry from the prep school uniform I’m expected to wear.
Still, I want to make a good impression on my first day. Or, at least, avoid getting summoned to the headteacher’s office.
For as much as I don’t want to be here, in a strange new school, among a bunch of rich kids who I doubt have known hardship, it’s my chance to regroup. To make a plan for when I age out of the system.
A chance to breathe without constantly looking over my shoulder.
A violent shudder rolls through me but I shake it off. I’m safe here. All I have to do is keep my head down and my nose out of trouble.
Famous last words.
* * *
Campus is quiet but then, it is only a little after eight.
A fine mist clings to the ground, giving the entire place an eerie vibe. One I embrace as I roam between the buildings toward the Chapel in the distance.
I don’t get very close before three figures emerge, laughing and shoving each other. Straining my eyes, I watch the boys head toward another building on the opposite side of campus. A fourth boy appears, jogging after them. Something about him seems familiar but they’re too far for me to get a better look.
Shaking off the odd feeling, I decide to get a closer look at the Chapel. My heart crashes against my chest as I approach the small yet impressive structure.
Set away from the main cluster of buildings, it’s cloaked on two sides by the dense woods along the perimeter of campus.
Surely those boys don’t stay out here. Unless it’s an extension of the boys’ dorm. But it doesn’t look big enough for that.
I’m about to move closer when voices fill the air.
“I have to go check on the new girl.”
“Hopefully it’ll go better than the other day.”
Shit.
