The bare empty room made me smile. It wasn't like back home, dark and dingy, a mattress on the floor and a dresser that was missing two of its draws.
No.
Everton Private Academy presented its students with a clean barren room, fresh sheets and plenty of light. The school was a bit pretentious, the buildings old and gothic with vast lawns and cobbled courtyards. One of America's finest they claimed.
Not the sort meant for a girl from the Glades. The address on my official scholarship application claimed I lived on the respectable Kennedy Road and a decent enough neighborhood to ensure the school board they weren't planting a bad seed among their elite.
Hacking proved to be a profitable hobby.
There was never much to bring from home. I'd always been thankful for the donated uniform. All my clothes were on the ratty side, hand-me downs that had never even seen the good days. Most of them came from Roy's older sister, who was particularly more well-endowed than myself.
Roy Harper. He was one of the few I missed. School had never agreed with him, not much agreed with him really. The boy had a temper that could set fire to the earth. Crack-pot mums never bred the most emotionally secure children though my own wasn't exactly Betty Crocker. Neither of us knew where our dads were, his took off a decade back, while mine was a shady figure in some Las Vegas night club who never left a name or number.
A duffle bag was enough to contain my entire life. A laptop, a few beloved books, and the essentials. I kept a good collection of poetry and a decent selection of Douglas Adams.
The rest of the school kids were still on the lawn taking part in prolonged goodbyes and greetings. My friends here were a limited two, not that I minded, quality over quantity and all that. Sara Lance and I were destined as the two charity cases. She was strong and athletically built and the scholarship was a ploy to get her on the sports teams and expand the school's success beyond rowing and tennis.
The looks of a cheerleader were hardened by girl with a bad streak. I loved her for it. Sara was the sort that took care of bullies in a less adult approved way. We were outcasts among the rich and elite and roommates in our first year. There was an instant liking to the other, she had a tendency to fall into trouble and I became an expert at getting her out of it.
Barry Allen was a new edition. He was the youngest son of the British ambassador. The accent should have had the girls drooling but he was the sort of person who stumbled through life and failed to impress the high standards of cool expected of our peers. The boy came from aristocracy but we didn't hold that against him, though there was a tendency to make him pay for pizza. He was good to talk to about the things Sara never much cared about, like theoretical physics and mathematics. Chemistry was the boys strong point, but like me he wasn't limited.
They were good friends, the type I intended to keep, but like Roy said, they weren't the sort to understand the Glades. Only kids from the Glades really got it. The drugs, the murders, the beatings, the rapes. The stuff you consider normal after a decade of living there. I was six the first time I got a black eye. It wasn't my last but I eventually learned how to throw one back. Being pretty and being noticed wasn't a good thing in the Glades so I made a conscious decision not to be either.
Technically I was a Las Vegas girl but Ma pissed to many people off to make staying their a viable option. Luckily for us, every large city has a sleazy upscale bar in need of a cocktail waitress with no reservations of removing clothing to keep the clients happy. My mother had a side job that I was fully aware of, it made home particularly unpleasant for the most part.
It was better at the school. Logically I knew that. School rules put a temporary end to my black beanie and usual hoodies, but an arched neck downwards came instinctually. Turns out that position here often singles you out rather than allowing you to blend in.
I was lying on my back staring at the ceiling, happy just not to be home, when my room mate came barreling. She was talking at break neck speed to a suited man carrying her luggage.
An "Oh" popped out when she saw me.
On my side there was no need for introductions.
Thea Queen. Her name reflected her title. The girl came from prestige and the closest Starling city got to royalty, I wouldn't even blink if they asked me to pay taxes.
She didn't know who I was, that was sure quick to see. Didn't matter that we'd taken AP English together, I was a pleb in her eyes.
"Who are you?" Thea spurted out, eyeing me up and down as I raised myself to a sitting position.
"Felicity Smoak, your new room mate apparently"
She looked me up and down before breaking into a smile.
"Well, I'm Thea Queen, and I think I'll be great friends"
My stomach sank at that thought but I still smiled back. Sara hated Miss Queen, and I had done so by proxy for the past year. The girl had a cruel streak in her, as did her elder brother, and Sara had been on the receiving end more than once.
"You're new here?" She enquired, making me shake my head with a sad smile.
"We were in most of the same classes last year, except IT cause that's not really your thing, I mean it could be, I'm not saying you're bad with computers, it just didn't seem to be you" I outwardly cringed as my babbling talked me into a hole. Thea stared at me for a full minute, in which I was positive I'd made a new enemy until she let out a full laugh and bounced onto my bed.
"You're pretty cute Felicity Smoak, need a bit of work in the look department, but I think a year with me will do you good"
I always knew that Thea had a mouth on her but over the next two hours I discovered how much the girl really could talk. It was a quarter to five, when she became distracted by arriving friends that I slipped away.
Finding Sara had never been a problem as the places where she, Barry, and me hid away were limited. Our favorite spot was under an old oak tree, the single disturbance on the vast sea of green lawn.
Barry was already there, a science textbook sprawled out in front of him while Sara tapped away at her phone. She looked up with a grin as I approached.
"About time Smokey Bear, we were about to send out a search party"
No matter how much I hated the name 'Smokey Bear' Sara could always get away with it. Her mischievous happiness was contagious in the worst way and got me in far more trouble than I ever intended.
"New room mate" I said plopping myself on the grass. The light was fading fast but we weren't eager to be returning indoors, particularly for the socially stratified dinning experience.
"Yeah?" Barry prompted, looking up from his book.
"Thea Queen" My explanation would suffice and both my friends winced.
"Shit, here I thought it bad with Helena Bertinelli, though Barry has it rough with Merlyn, the asshat and not wizard."
I shot my gangly friend a look of pity. Tommy had been his roommate last year and Barry ended up sleeping on the common room couch more than once. Tommy was indiscrete when it came to flings.
Both of my friends were nearly two years older than me, though Barry always came across as younger. He was painfully shy and easily got himself flustered when the out of ordinary occurred. Tommy upset his routine as a sport just to watch Barry flounder. At sixteen, my friend looked more like a ten year old who had an unexpected growth spurt. Nothing about him seemed to come natural. I found it endearing and in my own social awkwardness could sympathize.
The group dynamic was odd, maybe not me and Barry so much, but Sara and her staggering confidence pushed us into the mishap territory.
Sara glanced at her watch.
"We better get going back, can't afford any misbehavior this year"
I rolled my eyes, knowing better "That's what you said last time, right before the great skinny dipping escapade"
Barry let out a snort in agreement, it was suppose to be in disproval but I could see a smile lifting up his eyes. Sara made both our lives more interesting. She was a mix of cool and collect that could barely contain a far too adventurous nature. The confidence was unfaltering in herself and us.
We walked to the dining hall, Sara linking her arm into mine her head leaning on my shoulder. It was her way of saying she missed me. Summer holidays were apparently uneventful in the Lance household, she had an older sister, just a year above us, but the two were fire and ice with no force on earth powerful enough to get them to agree.
The dining hall was divided into the four long tables and supervised by a matron who had yet to realize the world had moved past Spanish court ceremony, even the Habsburgs considered it old in 1770. We ducked in and took our place in the kitchen line another group of late comers on our tails.
Thea Queen's voice came before I saw her and Sara's mouth pinched together at the sound, the popular crowd was coming near.
If America had nobility, these were their offspring. The Queen siblings stood at its helm, staying true to their name, though it was their self-assurance and confidence that made them leaders. Oliver's lackeys were never far behind, particularly Tommy Merlyn, whose father's company was the only true competitor of Queen consolidated. The only non-billionaire in their vicious circle of friends was Laurel. Laurel Lance. Unlike Sara, the world of the high and mighty suited the girl despite her air of righteousness. I didn't hate Laurel. She always offered a smile in my direction even if she couldn't remember my name. Though I was closer to Sara's age, they'd placed me in the higher year group for particular classes such as mathematics and much of the sciences. A fourteen year old stuck with the seventeen year olds, not the best idea on school's part, meant that my timetable was bit of a mess and there was little interaction with anyone my age. Sara and Barry were never too bothered by the fact I was fourteen, I'd never been very good at being young and aside from a slight height disadvantage is was generally forgotten.
Truth was, I wasn't as much of a genius as it sounds, just spent a lot of time studying, not much else to do in the long summer holidays.
'Ollie, this is her, my new roommate, Felicity Smoak. Cute, huh?'
For the first time, Oliver Queen looked at me, his eyebrow slightly raised.
'What are you doing here? Aren't you like twelve?'
My head bowed; even through I knew Sara was praying for me to keep it up.
'Fourteen actually' I felt Sara move around me, her back straightening.
'You got a problem with geniuses, Queen? We sure as hell know you ain't one'
Oliver's face softened at Sara's stand, turning into the smirk that liked to settle on his face.
'Why don't you guys sit with us?' He offered in treaty 'Let Thea get to know Felicity… and me to know you'
Laurel gave him a sharp elbow in the ribs, 'muttering that's my sister', as Sara let out a scoff. But as she did it her eyes lifted up and a light blush hinted at her cheeks. Barry seemed lost in the whole situation, following us blindly to the head of the middle table, a spot we never thought we'd occupy.
The year seemed to have set its sights on being different.