"Welcome to Eleanor Grove's Academy for Young Ladies," a gravelly, British voice rasped behind me.

I jumped slightly at the sound of the woman's voice then turned away from an unusual painting that was hanging on the wall beside me. I twirled to see two women were walking slowly up to me. The older woman looked to be in her early fifties with graying hair and slight limp in her left leg; the wrinkles deepening on her forehead as her already present scowl intensified while she looked me up and down. I squirmed a little under her intense look of disproval. I could tell she did not like the way I looked or dressed.

My brown curly hair was not pulled back into a neat bun like other girls I had seen walking around earlier. My dress was just a little bit past my knees and the color was apparently too bright for her taste, seeing as the other girls were dressed in grey and were almost covering their shoes. The woman herself was clothed in a dark grey dress that barely hovered above the floor; the woman's graying hair was pulled back so tightly that the woman's skin was being tugged on. That looks really painful, I thought with a grimace.

The younger woman couldn't have been older than twenty five. Her dark brown hair was tied back as well but not as skin pulling as the older woman's. She also had on a dark grey dress that almost touched the floor but hers had shorter selves than the older woman's.

"You must be Clara Scott," the older woman said with a click of her tongue.

The woman took a step towards me and continued giving me a look. The woman's scent immediately attacked my nose; she smelt like peppermint and an odd perfume that I couldn't identify. It took all my willpower not to take a step back.

"Uh, yes," I said.

"Hmm," the woman replied. "My name is Ms. Adams, you may address me as ma'm, head mistress, or ms, nothing else. I am not here to be your friend, motherly figure, or someone you shall look up too. I am here to teach you proper ways of lady and how a lady should act in the presence of a man. I do not expect you to know much about decency, seeing as you are from the…country. But I am very good at my job and I shall make you into a proper lady. Charlotte, go get Tally."

Charlotte curtsey then took off down the long hallway to find this Tally. I played with the selves on my dress but stopped when Ms. Adams gave me a pointed look. I gave her an apologetic smile which in return, Ms. Adams gave her a small glare before turning away. I sighed quietly and stood there until I saw Charlotte coming back down the hall with a girl following.

I watched as a girl, who was about a year older then I was; walk over to Ms. Adams and me. Her fine, light brown hair was pulled pack into a neat bun, not a hair out of place. Her dark grey dress didn't have a single wrinkle on it and her lips were pulled into a straight line. Her icy grey eyes held all of her emotion; I could already tell she didn't like me. I glanced back at Ms. Adams and saw she had a tight smile as Tally walked closer to us. I looked away from Ms. Adams quickly, her smile was quite creepy.

"You called me Head Mistress," Tally said quietly while she avoided all eye contact.

"Ah, Tally," Ms. Adams said. "I would like you to show Miss. Scott around the school, teach her the rules of the academy, and retrieve her uniform. Show her to her room as well. I'll have Charlotte will deliver her schedule later so don't worry about it."

"Of course, Head Mistress," Tally replied with a smile but it disappeared as soon as it came. "Come with me Miss. Scott and we will obtain your uniform first."

With that Tally walked back in the direction in which she came without so much as glancing at me. Oh joy, I thought, I can already tell this school is going to be pleasure to be at. I slightly bowed my head at Ms. Adams, whose uncanny smile had evaporated as soon as I looked her way. I smiled slightly at Charlotte who smile back at me then I scrambled to catch up with Tally. I threw my bag over my shoulder as soon as I caught up with her, she glanced at me with hostility then looked at the bag I was carrying with repulsion.

"What?" I asked.

"You're the scholarship girl, aren't you?" she spat.

"Yes," I said warily.

"I thought so," she said. "Let's get this straight, girls like you don't belong here with girls like me. I believe there have only been five, maybe six, other girls like you who were on scholarships. They only lasted a few weeks at the maximum."

"Trust me, I don't want to be here," I said bitterly after I few moments of silence. "I would rather be back home in Pennsylvania, not here in Manhattan."

Tally rolled her eyes but said nothing and continued walking, speeding up her pace as if she was trying to shake me. I gladly choose to stay a few steps behind her. As we were walking, I looked at all the decorations hanging on the wall and frowned at how scary and depressing they were. They were either of glaring old people or of gloomy night skies; they were all painted of with dark colors. I guess it goes with the theme of the school, I thought, sinister and discouraging.

Tally suddenly stopped in front of me and I barely had enough time to stop so I wouldn't run into her. She opened a large door that was to the left of us and went through it. I tried to follow her but she slammed it in my face before I even had a chance to get in. My face flushed red slightly and I looked around hoping no one saw what happened. I stood awkwardly in the hall, wishing no one would come and ask me what I was doing just standing there.

I saw a chair sitting by the door Tally went into and was going to sit on it when I heard humming coming from down the hall. I shifted my eyes, looking for a place to hide when a girl about my age came barreling down the hall. Her ash-blonde hair was pulled back but strands were falling out, her dress just above the ankles and was a light yellow color. She was about to go down another hallway when she glance in my direction and redirected herself.

"What are you doin' standing in the middle of the hallway," she said, a slight southern draw to her voice. "You lookin' like an idiot just standing there. Who are you anyway? I've never seen you around before."

"That's because I just got here," I said. "I'm Clara."

"Oh, you must be the new scholarship girl everyone has been talking about," the girl exclaimed.

I slightly bristled at the word scholarship and the way she said it. These I could tell Ms. Adams didn't want me here as much as I don't want to be here. Charlotte didn't say a word to me or anyone for that matter, so I didn't know her opinion. Tally flat out told me I didn't belong here and wasn't to kind about it either. These girls are so judgment, I thought harshly.

"What's wrong with that," I asked gruffly.

"I didn't mean it like that, Clara," she said quickly, throwing her hands up in an apologetic manner. "In fact, I'm kinda on scholarship as well. This place was better than the other option they gave me. I'm Felicity, but call me Sunshine, it's what my brother and his friends call me. By the way, why are you just standing here?"

I blinked at Felicity, er, Sunshine, with interest. She seemed nice enough and generally sorry when she thought she struck a nerve, which she had, by using the word scholarship. Maybe she isn't as bad as I thought all the girls were going to be, I thought.

"I'm waiting for…Tally," I said hesitantly, not so sure said girl was coming back.

Sunshine wrinkled her nose in disgust and growled slightly at Tally's name.

"Oh, I didn't know you were friends with her," she scoffed.

"Hardly," I laughed without humor.

Just as Sunshine was about to speak, the door Tally had went through had opened and revealed an annoyed Tally and two other girls that were giggling. The taller of the two new girls had flaming red hair and dark brown eyes, freckles flooded her face. The other one, had soft blonde wavy hair and dark blue eyes. The two girls stopped laughing as soon as the saw Sunshine and I standing in the hallway, their smiles turned to frowns.

"Here," Tally said, shoving a grey dress in my face.

"Thanks," I said, indifferently.

Tally rolled her eyes at me before shifting them on Sunshine who was giving her a death look. Tally's lips curled into a menacing smile then snaked her arm around the blonde girl who was now smirking as if she knew what Tally was going to do.

"Looky here, Savannah," Tally said, imitating Sunshine's accent badly and twirling her hair . "If it ain't Felicity, the girl who thinks her Newsie scum of a brother is gonna come back for her!"

"But Tally," the girl, Savannah, said also imitating a bad southern accent. "He promised he's come back to save her even though it's been over seven months since their parents died."

The three girls laughed loudly but not too loud to get caught not acting ladylike. I blinked in shock at how cruel Tally and her friends were being to someone who had apparently lost her parents less than a year ago. I shifted uncomfortably to my left foot and glanced at Sunshine. To my surprise she didn't show any signs of being hurt by their words.

"At least my parents cared for me," Sunshine said blankly. "If they were alive today, I wouldn't be here unlike you. Your parents got rid of you the second they had a chance."

All the laughing ceased, Tally glared hatefully at Sunshine. Savannah and the other girl gave each other uneasy looks. The room suddenly felt like it dropped a few degrees. I unconsciously took a step back. For a few moments, no one spoke and all was quiet, you could probably hear a pin drop from the other side of the school.

"Savannah, Rebecca," Tally barked at them over her shoulder. "We are leaving." She looked at me. "And you, find your own way around."

Sunshine and I didn't speak even when Tally and her friends were out of sight. She kept staring at the way they went with a glare and frown on her face. I swallowed and kept quiet. Sunshine finally turned around to face me; I saw that she had red rimmed eyes. I guess their comments did get to her, I thought. Sunshine saw the look I gave her so she turned away from me. I had never really been the comforting type of person; especially to someone I had just met but one look in her pain filled sea blues eyes had me wanting to console her.

"Hey, don't listen to them," I said trying to sound cheerful, slowly putting my hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure your brother will come back for you, I mean, who would just leave their sister?"

Sunshine sniffed then shrugged my hand gently off her shoulder. I retraced my hand instantly and felt stupid for trying to comfort a person I didn't even know.

"I know he will," Sunshine said after a few seconds. "I was actually going to met him today at three. We're gonna have a late lunch at a restaurant called Tibby's with a bunch of his friends." Sunshine paused and looked at me. "You know, you can come too. Call me crazy but I think we could become very good friend."

"I-I don't know," I stumbled. Sunshine gave me a sad look before starting to walk away. I bit my lip and took off to catch up with her."You don't think it will be to awkward for your brother and his friends."

"No," Sunshine said bluntly. "They love meeting new people, especially pretty girls like you."

Sunshine winked and smiled at me before taking my free hand and leading me up a staircase. When we got to the top of the stairs I looked around and saw there was a bunch of doors. This is probably where the bedrooms are, I thought. Sunshine guided me to the end of the hallway and opened a door; it creaked a little as it was opened. Inside the room, it was very plain. The walls were painted white with not one decoration hanging except a small mirror. The bed was a little larger than the one I had back home and had a simple head board. There was a three drawer dresser that had a candle sitting on top of it.

"This is your room," Sunshine said. "Hurry and clean up, I don't want to my brother to get impatient. I'll be just across the hall."

As soon as Sunshine left, I just stood in the middle of my new room and taking it all in. Though this place defiantly was a lot nicer than the house I had back in Pennsylvania, it just wasn't home. After a few minutes, I moved towards the mirror and fixed my wild hair then stopped realizing it was stupid to make myself pretty for a bunch of guys I didn't even know. I walked over to the window and looked outside. The yard outside the school looked beautiful with the green thriving grass and endless supply of flowers. Some of the passerby's would look through the gates and point at the things they thought was exquisite then they would be on their way. If only they knew what it was like on the inside, I thought.

I turned away from the window and headed towards the door. I opened my door, went across the hallway, and knocked on Sunshine's door. She opened the door after a few milliseconds. She was still wearing the same yellow dress but her eyes were no longer red.

"Ready?" Sunshine asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Alright, we have to be careful leavin'," she said. "We're not supposed to leave without an escort. We especially can't leave to go see Newsies; Ms. Adams thinks they're improper, "Those boys are nothing but trouble and indecent. I will not have my girls associate with them. ""

I laughed at Sunshine's imitation of Ms. Adams and followed her down the hallway.

What do you guys think? Did you like it? Did you hate it? I'd love to know.

And yes, I did delete this and rewrite it.

XO

RealityIsNegotiable