It’s a typed letter from the dean, welcoming me to Shelfbrooke Academy. He’s included my schedule and told me to find Ms. Beverly in the front office as soon as I arrive.
“Do you think they’ll make me start classes today?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” Belle sits on her bed and looks out the window.
“Are you on lunch break or something?” I ask.
“Not really,” she says, messing with her sleeve again.
“Well… are you going to show me where the front office is?”
Belle’s nervous expression comes back. My cousin is extremely weird. She takes a deep breath. “I’m really busy, but I can tell you where to go.”
I lift a curious eyebrow. She doesn’t look busy. She tells me the way to the front desk, and she also warns me that I should put on a uniform. Uh, no thanks.
“Uniforms are mandatory,” she says, biting her bottom lip. “You have to wear them at all times.”
I put a hand on my hip. “You’re not wearing one.”
Her cheeks flush red. Something tells me I shouldn’t have mentioned that, but I don’t know why. She’s a student here too, after all.
“I’ll wait until I go to classes to wear that stupid thing,” I say, casting a scornful glance at the pile of uniforms on my bed. “And thanks for letting me borrow your sheets. I’ll order my own online and have them shipped overnight to me.”
Belle’s directions were easy enough and soon I’m entering the main building where the front desk is. Everything about this place screams prestigious and expensive, and it makes me wonder why they put us away in tiny little dorm rooms. Shouldn’t students get to live in luxury when their parents are paying a ton of money for their education?
The woman behind the front counter has bright blonde hair pulled into a neat bun on top of her head. Her face is round and friendly.
“Hi, dear,” she says, beaming at me.
“Are you Ms. Beverly?”
“I am. Most people call me Ms. Bev,” she says with a smile. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m new,” I say, holding out the schedule I’d received in my letter from the dean. “I was told to come talk to you.”
“Oh, perfect! Hello there, Miss Brass.” Ms. Bev stands up and shakes my hand. “It’s so lovely to meet you. We don’t usually have new students in the middle of the school year.”
“Yeah it was… a surprise,” I say.
She picks up her desk phone. “I have a student who will show you around campus. Give me just a moment. You can wait right over there.”
I thank her and go stand in the lobby while I wait to meet the first student at Shelfbrooke who isn’t related to me. My phone rings from my back pocket, and although I wish it was Henry calling to tell me he misses me and wants only me, not Viv, and that he will wait until I graduate and move back, it’s not him. It’s my mother.
“Hello,” I say, in the most apathetic voice I can make.
“Did you make it there safely?”
“Yep,” I say, heaving a sigh.
“Great. I got a notice from the shipping company and your luggage will be delivered in a few hours. They’ll probably call you to the office or something.”
“Wonderful,” I say in a way that shows I clearly don’t think it’s wonderful at all.
Mom sighs. “Sophia, why are you being like this?”
“Oh I don’t know,” I say. “Maybe because you forced me to go to some stupid school for no reason at all. It sucks here, Mom. The rooms are small and everything is old and ancient, and the uniforms are the most hideous thing I’ve ever seen—”
“Sophia!” Mom snaps. “I will not have you talking to me this way. You are too old to be such a brat.”
