Prologue

Fourteen year old Nick Duval's eyes ran grudgingly over the dilapidated houses than ran down both sides of his Ashville street as he walked home from school. He'd lived here for all his life, and detested everyday of it. Growing up on a town known only for having the world's oldest traffic light is about as much fun as it. It wasn't.

Nick's middle school was your run-of-the-mill, middle-of-nowhere school. With a population of about 400 kids, Ashville Public Middle School was his own personal branch of hell. He was a nobody there, and not a 'not popular' kind of nobody, a certified 'I've been in your class every year since kindergarten and I still don't know your last name' nobody. And now Nick was about to graduate from eighth grade, and go to Ashville High where he would once again, be a nobody.

He stopped at his house, a tiny two-story house with windows tinted with dirt and dead bugs. The once pristine yard was now just an organized pile of odd car parts and garbage. Grime caked the white paneling of the house and the tendrils of some kind of vine-like plant snaked over the side of the house. It looked like hell. Not that the interior was much nicer. In each of the house's rooms the paint was peeling off the walls, the air vaguely smelled like boiled cabbage and the was the odd mousetrap underneath the couch. Nick stomped up the front steps of to the door. The hinges screeched in pain as he opened it.

"Nick, is that you?" called his mother as Nick dropped his bag on the floor. "No mom, I'm a robber who just happens to have keys to the front door." he replied gloomily. He took off his shoes and walked into the kitchen. Charlotte Duval stood in front of the stove making what smelled like spaghetti sauce. Her chocolate brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun, her clothes were freshly washed but still crumpled. She put down her sauce-covered spoon and sat down at the small round table from where Nick now sat. "I got a call from your school today." she started with a small smile. "Those are never good words." Nick muttered as he played with the sleeve of his shirt. Mrs. Duval scoffed and smiled at him excitedly, "Why didn't you tell me you're going to be valedictorian, Nick?" He looked up from his arm, muttering, "Because I'm not valedictorian anymore."

She stared at her son for a second, processing his words. "Why? You're a straight-A student. And you worked so hard..." Nick shrugged, "Valedictorian has to give a speech at grad..." His mother sighed in frustration as she finally clued in, "I didn't want to, so I gave it to Madalyn Hart."

"That girl down on Myrtle Street? Why her?"

Nick shrugged again, "Because she's student council president and one of the most popular girls at school." His mom took a sip from her coffee. "Is she cute?" she asked bluntly, not believing his answer. "Not in the least." he deadpanned. Truth be told, Madalyn Hart was a tall, thin girl with straight black hair and blue eyes that could burrow into your soul. But he couldn't let his mother know that.

When Nick was 9 years old, his parents got divorced. At the time, he didn't think much of it. Most of the kids in his class had divorced parents, it wouldn't be a big deal. But then the custody battles came, and his parents moved on with their lives. His dad got remarried to a woman named Laura from Columbus and his mom was had been dating a man named Derrick for almost 3 years now. But Nick hadn't moved on, he felt so lonely. He didn't have any close friends that he could talk to, so he began to focus on his school work to distract himself from the fighting. Next thing you know, he's at the top of his class and still eating alone at lunch.

"But Nicky, you worked so hard. Don't you want to be rewarded for that?" she pried softly. Nick ignored the question. He didn't want a title, or a trophy, or whatever pointless 'prizes' came with the chance. All he wanted a way out of Ashville. A way out of being stuck in his low-life hell-hole called his hometown.

Last summer, Charlotte asked Derrick to move in with them. The two met each other online a year after the divorce, and he quickly won her over with his story of how he beat his alcohol addidiction. For a while, Nick really liked him. He took Nick to local football games and taught him how to hit a home run. Derrick made his mom the happiest woman in the world and for a time, Nick felt he had a family again. Then Derrick fell of the wagon. As Nick and Charlotte had discovered, Derrick was a violent drunk. One night, Derrick had a little too much to drink and got into a fight with Nick's mom. Despite her efforts to calm down her intoxicated boyfriend, Derrick had her pinned to the wall by her shoulders within seconds. "Derrick, please!"she pleaded, tears streaming down her face. Derrick's huge fist crashed into her jaw. Her blood curling scream still echoed in Nick's mind today. A then 10 year old Nick tugged desperately at the hem of Derrick's shirt, "Stop it!" he would cry, "You're hurting her!" The drunken monster swung a long arm at Nick as if he were a mere insect. He knocked Nick clear off his feet, into the coffee table. Derrick drunkenly spit in the general direction of Nick's sobs. Charlotte grabbed Derrick's jaw, forcefully pulling his face back to her. "Hey, don't look at him. Look at me." she tried. With a crushing blow to the temple, Charlotte collapsed onto the dirty floor. She wasted no time, she darted over to where Nick huddled behind the coffee table. She pulled him back to his feet, and hurried him towards his bedroom.

"Go into your room Nick! And don't come out until I come get you...!" she instructed quickly. Derrick reared up behind them, grabbing Charlotte by her hair. Another scream. Sobbing madly and running as fast as his adolescent legs would take him, Nick slammed his door shut behind him. He crawled weakly onto his bed and spent the remainder of the night weeping into his pillow and trying to block out the screaming and banging from the living room.

The next morning, Derrick woke up with a hangover, and her with a black eye. He'd spent the better part of the day on his knees apologizing, and she, being the borderline saint that she was, forgave him at once. He promised her that it would never happen again. But it did, less than a month later. And again, a week later. And again, the next day. Eventually, he just stop apologizing. And that's the way it stayed. For two years. Now it was a regular occurrence for Nick and his mom to wake up with a scar or two and a couple bruises.

One late July morning, after Derrick had another one of his 'episodes', Mrs. Duval handed Nick a pale yellow envelope in the mail, addressed to him. "I knew you hid my Hogwarts acceptance letter in fifth grade." Nick joked, taking the letter. His mother laughed quietly as she shuffled through the growing pile of bills. He read the address on the front.

"Hey mom? What's Dalton Academy?" he asked, getting up from the table. His mom looked up from her mail, "Its a private school over in Westerville. Your cousin Thomas just graduated from there."His eyebrows knitted together, he gingerly opened the envelope and read it out loud.

"Dear Mr. Nicolas Duval,
We are please to inform you that the Admissions Board here at Dalton Academy has been told of your academic record, and we are most impressed..."

His mother listened to every word Nick read, but didn't look up.

"As you may know, Dalton Academy is one of most highly respected private schools in the country. We pride ourselves in the fact that many of our graduating students go on to Ivy League Schools, pursuing and achieving careers such as doctors, lawyers, judges, physicists, professors and future leaders of America. We at Dalton Academy, feel that you have earned the opportunity to become one of those students..."

Mrs. Duval's head sprang straight up at his words, as Nick continued to read off the page.

"We are prepared to offer you a full scholarship for your first year at Dalton. This would include room and board, the price of five sets of school uniforms, your required textbooks, and payment for joining extracurricular activities. Furthermore, as long as you maintain acceptable grades, we encourage you to reapply for your scholarship next year, so that you may continue with your stay at Dalton. We look forward to your reply via the enclosed applications, and we hope to see you in the new school year.

All the best,
The Admissions Board of Dalton Academy."

Nick was in complete shock. He couldn't feel his legs. His hands shook the letter violently. His heart pounded in his chest. His mother ran around the room and hugged him tightly, almost knocking him over in the process. "Oh my gosh!" she cried, wiping joyous tears off her face. "Nicky, I'm so proud of you!" She kissed the top of Nick's shell shocked face.

The low thumping of wobbly footsteps came from the upper floor. Down the stairs came the eternally hungover body of Derrick. The man held his fingers to his temples and winced and the noise. "Ugh, what's with all the yelling down here? My head is killing me." he groaned.

Nick's mom ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Derrick! Derrick, you won't believe this! Nick's got into a private school in Westerville! A full scholarship! I can't believe it!" "What are you talking about, Char?" he blinked at her, "A scholarship to where, some special ed school?"

"Dalton Academy!" she sighed dreamily, not ignoring the his words. "A boarding school for amazing boys like my son!" she hugged Nick again. "So, what does this mean?" Derrick asked, still rubbing his temples.

Nick still stood in the middle of the kitchen like a living statue. He shaking remembered how to speak, "It means I'm leaving Ashville."

So...that's the prologue. It might not be very good now, but it won't be long until the first chapter is up. I've been planning this story for a while now and Tumblr is a never ending source of inspiration. So stay tuned for more! Less than 36!
Love Always,

~ELC

P.S. If there are any readers out there who live in or near Ashville, Ohio, I apologize in advance for my portrayal of the town.

I have never been there myself, I just chose the town because I thought the traffic light story was cute!