Home Sweet Home

Chapter 1

For the first time in history, Welton Academy was accepting admissions from girls and I was just lucky enough to be accepted. I had no choice in the matter, it was my parent's idea to begin with. They were always off on tours of Europe, both for work and leisure, and they thought it best that I got a first class education with the price tag that came with it. Lucky for me, I persuaded my best friend Lillian to come with me. Okay, so I didn't mention all of the crusty teachers with rooms that smelled like moth balls or the fact that the courses were actually difficult, but I did mention boys and the minute I did, she was on board.

It was a cool September morning when the whole school sat in the great stone hall, listening to the croaking rambles of Mr. Nolan and Co. I felt the whistling air from the propped up windows slowly gliding over my stockinged legs. Lillian leaned into my ear and whispered, "Look at those hot rods over there," she pointed.

I glanced over to where her finger was pointing and found a group of guys jacking around and giggling. I rolled my eyes. Dear God, I hoped those weren't my roommates. The last thing I needed was an immature bonehead to live with.

"Now that the opening ceremony is complete, I'd like to introduce to everyone our new students this year, Ms. Lillian Somerset and Ms. Mary Caville."

Suddenly in a great wave of excitement, all eyes were on us. Jesus, I thought, this was embarrassing. I felt my cheeks redden. It was alright for Lillian, she was used to the attention. She even waved to some of the boys in the crowd. But I was, well, I was a little different.

"Finally, some girls!" a boy with sandy hair yelled.

Mr. Nolan did not look pleased.

"It seems, Mr. Dalton," he growled into the microphone, "that your request from last year has been accepted."

A huge ripple of laughter exploded in the great hall as parents and teachers looked around disdainfully.

"Oh, boy," Lillian murmured, "that kid seems like trouble. How much do you wanna bet that the minute we meet, he'll start flirting with us?"

"I'd bet more on me running away before he has a chance to open his mouth."

Lillian giggled as I rolled my eyes at her.

Lillian seemed to have the idea that boys were always gentlemanly and, what's the word, civilized. I grew up with three brothers. I knew better. Most of them were fairly decent but there were always a few bastards thrown in with the regular bunch of bananas.

"And now without further ado, the roommate assignments have been posted on the far wall-" Mr. Nolan's voice drowned in a sea of stomping feet and deafly shouts.

"Hey, lemme see!"

"Whadja get, Jack?"

"We're together again!"

"This is the same room I got last year."

Lillian and I waited for the stampede of boys to scatter so we could get a better view of the list.

~Somerset, Lillian; Meeks, Steven~

"Hmm, I wonder who this Meeks is," Lillian rose an eyebrow.

A wavy haired redheaded boy with a slight coiff and neat glasses walked over.

"Uh-I'm-I'm-uh-well-my name is-"

The boy was practically drooling over my friend. There was no surprise there. Lilian was tall with graceful movements and light golden hair that was as straight as an arrow. She violet doey eyes and perfect red lips-the kind that didn't need lipstick. Her form was long and slim, almost ethereal. I snapped out of her character description as I noticed a group of cackling boys slowly making their way over to where Meeks was. Lillian smiled coyly.

"Well, Mr. Meeks, this will be an interesting year indeed. Would you care to accompany me up to our room?" her mouth pouted slightly and Meeks gladly gave her his arm as they walked down the hallway and up the stairs to the dormitories. The great hall began to empty and soon grew quiet.

"Wow, what a great friend!" I almost cursed. "Thanks a whole damn bunch."

I kicked one of the four large poles in the hall that were supposed to represent the school's four pillars: Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence. What a bunch of baloney. I kicked it again and stubbed my toe.

"Ah, shit," I mumbled.

"Is that unbecoming language I hear? And from a young lady no less? Oh my, what shall we do?"

I whirled around and saw a boy leaning against the wall, arms crossed over chest and a smug look on his face. It was the sandy haired boy. The troublemaker.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be up in your dorm getting settled?"

I stood up straighter in empty hopes that he hadn't seen me stub my toe. He chuckled softly and pushed himself off the wall. He sauntered over towards me arrogantly. He stopped about two feet from me and crossed his arms over his chest again. I noticed he was tall, real tall. My head just reached the top of his shoulders. And I was in heels!

"I could ask you the same question."

He gave me a stupid smirk as I fumbled for an answer.

"Well, I asked you first."

"If I was a gentleman, and I am, then I would let the lady go first without any hesitation at all."

He seemed to be amused by my increasing frustration with him. He was probably as gentlemanly as Rhett Butler.

"Look, I don't know who you are but if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my roommate."

I started walking towards the list of names. I didn't hear his footsteps follow. H remained silent and motionless. I struggled with trying to find my name amongst the sea of letters.

"Shouldn't you be looking for your roommate too? I mean, you seem like a pretty popular guy. Surely, you'd want to get to know the person that is if you don't already know them."

"I don't know much about my roommate but I do know she's a girl and that's good enough for me."

"Yeah, right. She's a-WHAT?! SHE?!"

I spun around to find his smirk widen and a chuckle escaped him. I choked on my voice box as I frantically searched for my name on the list. This time it wasn't so hard to find. In the clearest script I had ever read, the cursed paper said:

~Caville, Mary; Dalton, Charles~

"Oh, no!" I cried, "No, no, no! This-this can't be! This must be some sort of mistake. I-I-"

I flipped the pages of names back and forth in a trance. It was no use. My fate was sealed.

"It can't be," I whimpered softly.

I looked at him, horrified. He laughed even harder.

"You-you salty bastard! This is all your fault! You probably found out where they kept the list and the minute you saw a girl's name, you made sure you got the same room as hers. You perverted twit!"

I yelled at him ruthlessly. I was angry and tired and I felt like crying. And I certainly did not want to cry in front of him. With great effort, I heaved up my suitcase.

"Why don't you switch your room to where Lillian is? You'd enjoy her so much more I know. I'm sure you two would get along just fine."

"Oh, I'm sure she's swell and all, but you're much more interesting. You're buxom and feisty and full of curves."

I huffed angrily and began to struggle up the stairs.

He offered the help but I flatly declined. So there I was, hobbling up the stairs to my new life with my suitcase trunk as my new roommate followed after me, laughing at a situation that I didn't find funny at all.

Alternative Scenarios Ch. 1:

The boy was practically drooling over my friend. There was no surprise there. Lilian was tall with graceful movements and light golden hair that was as straight as an arrow. She violet doey eyes and perfect red lips-the kind that didn't need lipstick. Her form was long and slim, almost ethereal. I snapped out of her character description as I noticed a group of cackling boys slowly making their way over to where Meeks was. Lillian smiled coyly.

The sandy haired boy began yelling, "Meeks?! What is that elevated stick I see between your legs?!"