Danai was 11 years old, on her way to the first day of a new school in her father's limo. She and her family had moved to this new city not that long ago. It was a small town, with barely 3,000 people in it, so the limo drew lots of attention.
Her brother was at a different school now, since he was two grades ahead of her, and she didn't feel comfortable without having him there with her. She clutched her new backpack and bit her lip. 'What if I don't make any friends' she thought 'What if nobody likes me.'
"Hank! What if nobody likes me!" she cried to her driver.
"Oh Miss Danai, they're bound to love you there, your a very charming young lady." The driver chuckled as he turned the corner. Danai was always worried about what others thought of her. He and Dante spent most of the day yesterday assuring her that everything would go smoothly today. He just hoped that was the truth. He turned the final corner and pulled up in front of the school.
"Would you like me to walk you in Miss Danai?" he asked, as he opened the door for her. They were just a few minutes late, on purpose of course, so nobody would stare at her the very first day.
"No thank you Hank," she said and grabbed her backpack. She stepped out of the car and smoothed her uniform down before putting it over her shoulder. "I got it." She smiled cheerfully and kissed him on the cheek, as she always did.
Little did he know, it was the last little chipper kiss he would ever get.
"Okay Miss Danai, have a good day, and I'll be here at three'o'clock to pick you up." he patted her head and she giggled.
Hank made sure she made it safely to the front desk to ask where her room was then pulled out his cell phone and called the Manor.
"She made it safely." he said to a voice on the other line.
"Good." A older female voice said back. "There was no trouble on the way?"
"None that I saw, Mrs. Everson." he stated simply.
"Thank you Hank" Then a click.
Danai was walked to her class by the schools secretary Ms. Hattie. She was a pleasent lady, with brown eyes and mousy brown hair. Danai liked herimmediately, because she didn't get angry at her when she walked in late. Danai told them her first and last name and Ms. Hattie said that it was okay to be late on the first day. Then she walked her down to room number 13, because Danai thought she might get lost.
Ms. Hattie opened the door to room 13 and a simply dressed man was at the front of the class, taking roll.
"Mr. Lark. This is Danai Everson. She was just a bit late this morning." She nodded for Danai to enter the room.
"Hello there Danai, we just called your name, why don't you have a seat next to Nora since that's the only seat left." He smiled and Danai sat in the chair. She set her backpack down on the ground and pulled out a notebook full of blank paper.
After Mr. Tenson finished calling roll, he said to introduce their selves to the other students around them. Danai turned to her left first and met a boy named Felix, who seemed to talk way too much for her liking, then to Nora.
"Hi, my name is Dana.i" She said and smiled.
Nora smiled and introduced herself in return. She didn't talk too much, she wasn't too quiet. She was perfect for a friend, Danai thought.
After school was over Danai and Nora exchanged phone numbers, and when Nora's mom was there to pick her up, they waited until the limo showed up. Hank stepped out and talked to Nora's mom, thanking her for waiting with Danai until he got here.
Nora's mouth hung open. "That's YOUR car?" she exclaimed.
"No, its my parents car, Hank just drives me around in it." she replied as Hank opened the door for her. "Call me later!" she said before he shut it. Nora nodded and got into her own car, a minivan in very good condition.
"How was your first day, Miss Danai." Hank asked her looking in the rearview mirror.
"It was fine, Hank" she said smiling. she didn't want to tell how great it was, and jinx the next day.
"Thats wonderful." he winked at her and then put her favorite radio station on, knowing she wasn't the most talkative 11 year old girl.
They turned the corned to the street The Manor was on and Danai gasped. There was about a dozen or more police cars outside of her house, along with a firetruck, and two ambulances. She looked at Hank's worried face in the rearview mirror and went to open her door.
"Stay in this limo, Miss Danai." He said as he got out and locked the car doors.
She watched in a daze as he went to talk to the police, and saw the pain on his face when the cop told him that her parents had been murdered. She was in that same daze when Hank had to tell her, and when Dante got back from school and almost destroyed his wing of the house after Hank told him.
Nora did call that night, she had heard what happened to Danai's parents, but the housekeepers answered and told her Danai couldn't talk at that moment. She never returned to school. Hank hired a tutor for her and Dante to school them at home. And her life was very quiet from then on.
Until her 19th birthday, when she inherited the families secret