Rose POV

I had attended Saint Anna's Academy on a scholarship for about two months now. Let's just say the Academy is a living hell for any scholarship girl. Saint Anna's was a very prestigious school for rich girl's with fancy names. In order to keep up the school's grades as well as image, they give out scholarships for the arts to keep up their academic levels. It made it seem like it was actually possible to seem and act rich if you weren't, that all you had to be was intelligent and pretty. Except they gave people the wrong perspective. It was impossible to blend in at Saint Anna's all-girl Academy when the conversation was a constant blabber about what your parents owned, what your parents gave you as gifts, or which country you visited over the weekend. How could it possibly matter if you were smart when the first thing they want to know is how many numbers follow your name? It wasn't like I wasn't pretty. It was the fact that the word scholarship was tacked to my name.

Within my first week of attending the Academy, I received several threats, people spit wherever I would go (which was odd since these girls were supposed to be the face of polite and proper), they put hair dye in my shampoo, and even went so low as to take my clothes and scatter them around campus. Yet I stayed nonetheless because they couldn't scare me off. They were surprised I had lasted so long, but thank god I did because then I would have left the only other scholarship girl at the Academy, Mia. Apparently she had it worse than me, to the point where they 'tripped' her and somehow she managed to break her arm and collarbone. Now the torture from these girls was divided between the two of us.

Mia was on scholarship for painting, and I was on scholarship for music. We were the only two students who could withstand the harshness of the Academy. In fact, Mia only stayed because her parents couldn't take her back since the Academy could provide her so much more than what they could. It was quite an awful thought if you think of what horrid conditions must lie at home that her parents couldn't accept her back although they knew what had happened to her. Plus, the snobs who put her through everything would easily get off from punishment with a little extra cash. Oddly enough, Saint Vladimir's Academy, the neighboring all-boys school didn't have any issues with scholarship students from what I had learned of from Lissa, my roommate.

Lissa was the sweetheart of the school. No one could ever hate her. She was rich, yes, but she was the opposite of a snob and I was lucky to have her as my roommate. She was blonde and perky and by far one of my best friends. She was one of the main reasons I stay at the Academy. Plus there is Mia, and then there is my music teacher, Alberta Petrov. Alberta is an internationally ranked music prodigy and I was one of the few selected to be personally taught by her, which of course is why I had received a scholarship.

"Hey Rose," Lissa said, snapping me out of my trance. "You should really get ready for the arrival banquet tonight! What do you think I should wear?"

I replied, "I don't think I'm going to go. Just wear whatever you want to wear!"

"I can't just wear whatever! This is the big arrival party where Christian comes back from touring the Eastern side of Europe! And you have to go, you have to judge whether Christian is worthy of me or not!" Lissa exclaimed in a frenzy.

Of course, I thought. Christian was Lissa's big crush. They had begun talking right before the end of last year and Lissa had been dying to see him again but he was on the Starboard trip that toured part of Europe. Lissa swore that I would like Christian and that people from the Starboard trip weren't too awful. She also told me that Christian was nice and not like the rest of the guys from Saint Vladimir's who were all lonely and horny and didn't mind if you were there on a scholarship as long as you gave them some. I still had to witness whether he was worthy of her or not.

"Hey Missy! I do what I want!" I tell her, "Fine, wear the pink one! It compliments your hair! But then, what would I wear?"

The pink was a light spring color and perfect for both her bleach blonde hair and personality. However, I looked awful in spring colors. I could pull off metallic colors barely but half my wardrobe was dark with a few items that were white here and there. I was hardly the one to own a dress too. Knowing this, Lissa went to the closet and pulled out a white dress.

"We've been through this, I don't look good in white!" I replied.

Lissa rolled her eyes at me. "Liar. You just don't like light colors. But you're putting this on because I won't let you wear anything else!"

The finality in her voice told me I had lost this battle and would be wearing a white dress that draped over one of my shoulders. I put in dangle earrings and left knowing I did look gorgeous but that wouldn't matter. No one would see me as I first appeared after they get word that I'm a scholarship student. We stumbled over to the pavilion where the reception was being held. I was greeted with the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. Everything was lit up with white Christmas lights. All the table cloths were black and clearly this theme was spring. Yet other than the white lights, there was no other sign of white. I would stick out like a sore thumb.

Lissa ran off to catch up with some other people on the Starboard trip and also to find Christian. I danced with fellow newbies and after four guys, word had gotten around that I was a scholarship student. Finally Lissa ran up to me with a boy who had brilliant blue eyes and black hair, saying, "This is Christian! Christian, this is Rose!"

Lissa's enthusiasm was contageous and I had to show some energy now. "Nice to meet you," I smiled.

"I have only heard of great things about you, Rose." Christian greeted.

Wow, he was really a genuine gentleman, I thought. But I guess I shouldn't expect any less of a guy for Lissa to pick than him.

"Oh, Lissa, Rose, this is my sister Tasha, and my friend Dimitri. The one I was telling you about, Liss." Christian grinned.

Tasha had black hair to match Christian's looks. They must be twins. She clung to Dimitri like their lives depended on it and shot me a loook when Dimitri who was about 6 foot 5, looked down to see who I was. I stuck my hand out for him to shake it and both him and Tasha ignored my gesture. Then Lissa mentioned something about being thirsty, so as a group we walked over to get drinks. Christian had poured Lissa, then me a drink. As he was handing me whatever was in the punch bowl, a feminine hand knocked the drink and it landed all over me. Dimitri chuckled lightly and I shot him a glare. Tasha seemed to have moved and that's when I realized she was the one who ruined the dress. Somehow, Tasha and Dimitri quickly made an excuse to leave. Christian excused himself and followed Dimitri.

"Lissa, I met Christian. He seems perfect for you! But really, I'm done being here! I'm sorry that the dress got ruined! I'm not even sure what happened. I'll pay to have it cleaned or restored or whatever you want!" I yelled over the music.

Lissa pulled me into a hug. "Oh don't be ridiculous! It wasn't your fault! And I'm sure Tasha didn't mean it. Be safe and I"ll see you back in the room."

Then I left. On my way back to my dorm, I became intrigued at a conversation being held nearby. I stopped before I could reveal myself to whoever was talking.

"Why couldn't you have acted civilized towards her? Just because she's a scholarship student doesn't mean everyone is like him. She seems really nice too!" Christian's voice rang out.

I knew he had to be talking to Dimitri. "I don't care. I can't. I just can't trust anyone like that after what happened."

I didn't know what 'that' was but I didn't like how he was such a jerk and immediately assumed I was bad news. With that, I walked away, furious with what he just assumed I was.

The plot is inspired by Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom & Prejudice.

This acted more like a prologue, commonly I will have more dialogue. I'm sorry that I kind of repeat the idea of the scholarships and such but it's a major part to grasp and if you forget about scholarships then the point is lost. If you have any questions, PM or review! :)

-avariella