So...Hey...I'm back...(I'm feeling a bit awkward right now)...Yeah...
Anyways, I have a new story for you guys, and I hope you really enjoy it. :)
Accepted
I shuffle through the mail, flipping through various bills, bills that would never be paid, searching for one thing. The letter. My letter.
My fingers stop at the envelope. Addressed to me, Miss Theresa Gray, the return address reads The London Institute.
It is here. The letter that can change my life. Hands shaking, I pull it out of the pile, and run my hand over the engraved font on the front of the envelope. Taking a deep breath, I slide my index finger under the flap of paper on the back, and carefully rip the letter open. Removing the paper inside of the envelope, I hold it with great caution, both scared and excited for what was inside. I turn it over and over in my hands, and bite my lip.
"Well? You gonna open it?" a voice from behind me hisses, and I spin around to find my brother, Nate standing behind me, watching my every move, "You've been searching the mail for days. Now that you've got it, hurry up and open it. I'm bored."
I sigh, "I'm nervous. What if I don't get in?"
"Then you have to stay here. And remember you only get to go if you got the scholarship. I can't afford to pay for your education at a private school in London. Hell, I can't even pay the bills here," he scowls.
I roll my eyes, "You can't afford it because you spend all of your money drinking and gambling."
His eyes narrow, "Just because you don't get to be as spoiled as when Mom and Dad were alive. Perhaps, if you were allowed to use your inheritance they left you, God knows why they left you more than me, we wouldn't be in this problem. Besides that, I give you food, clothes, and shelter. What else do you want?" He goes into the fridge, and grabs a beer. Uncapping it, he takes a long drink, and when he looked at me again, his eyes were bright.
I try to remember the last time I had bought a new pair of jeans, or had a decent sweater. I couldn't. I stare at the letter in my hands. It was beginning to get damp at the edges, sweaty from my palms.
Closing my eyes, I unfold the paper, and peer at the first lines.
Congratulations, Miss Theresa Gray, you have been accepted into The London Institute on full scholarship...
My breath catches in my throat, and I read the rest of the paper. It lists details about when I start, more information about the semantics of the school.
"Well?" Nate raises an eyebrow at me over his beer bottle, "Yes or no?"
"I got in," I whisper, "I leave tomorrow. There's a plane ticket included in here, with the letter."
"Thank God," he groans, laying his head down on the counter, "One less thing to think about."
I take the letter into my room, and take out my suitcase. Opening it, I begin to pack my belongings.
The London Institute. One of the most prestigious private boarding schools in London. Accepted on full scholarship. Sure, it's a big change, but it will be good to be away from here in New York.
No longer will I be known as the poor girl, The girl who has an alcoholic for a brother. The girl whose parent's death was the biggest scandal of the community. Walking down hallways, I won't have to face all the mean comments, snickering, and insults thrown at me.
It will be a new life.
Away from the bruises, scars, and memories of this one.
A new start.
I find it bittersweet.
The bus ride to the airport is bumpy, but I barely notice it. I'm too deep in my thoughts. What will it be like? Will I make friends? Will people care that I can only attend because I have a scholarship?
I originally didn't want to try out for the scholarship, but Nate forced me too. He told me that if I didn't, he would kick me out of the house. Truthfully, he had been awfully drunk that day, so I'm not sure what he would have done if he had been sober.
At the airport, I quickly find my flight, navigating through the crowds, with my suitcase. I check in, go through security, then sit down in my seat on the plane.
The plane quickly fills up, and it gets crowded. I pull out my book, A Tale Of Two Cities, the only book I had room to bring. Hopefully, there is a library at the Institute that I can check books out from.
I barely notice the chatter and noise around me as I get lost in my book, which I always tend to do. The love triangle in the book is just so beautiful. I adore how they are so selfless, so unlike my last boyfriend, who was abusive and controlling. I finally had had to report him to the police, and while they took care of the problem, I had never been more unpopular at school, for getting him expelled. It only fueled their fire against me.
These last years for me, have been a struggle to avoid depression, and to ignore all the hating I get at school. It has been hard, and now, I will finally be away from them, away from Nate.
But how much better will it be at The London Institute?
When the plane lands, I grab my suitcase and head into the bathroom to try and make myself look presentable. I wore my nicest outfit, a blue blouse, and my best pair of jeans, which are old, but still comfy. Brushing my hair out, I arrange it to fall over my shoulders nicely, and I touch up a little of my makeup.
Exiting the bathroom, I check to see what I am supposed to do now. The letter tells me to wait by the gate I came from, so I make my way back over. Sitting down in a waiting chair, I fiddle with my necklace, a clockwork angel pendant. It is the only possession I still have from my mother, given to her by my father, for their first anniversary.
Within a couple minutes, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, and find myself staring into the eyes of a rather handsome young man. He has Asian features, but is also quite tall, as I find when I stand up to face him. He's slender, but not to the point of skinny, and his hair, mostly black, has one strip of silver in it. I wonder if it might be dyed, but that is an awfully odd way to dye your hair.
He smiles, somewhat awkwardly, and extends a hand out to me, "Theresa Gray? I'm James Carstairs, and I was assigned to come pick you up," he shows me his student ID card, "You can call me Jem. Everyone does."
I take his hand, and shake it, "Tessa. I go by Tessa."
"Oh, well, it's very nice to meet you, Tessa," he replies, and picks up my suitcase, "Follow me." He leads me through the crowd, and out of the airport. At his car, he puts my suitcase into the trunk, and unlocks the passenger side door for me. Letting me in, he goes around to the other side, and slips into the driver's seat.
Backing out of the space, he drives out of the parking structure, maneuvering excellently around other cars in the road.
"So, tell me about yourself," he glances at me, out of the corner of his eye, "Where are you from?"
"New York,' I answer, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt, "There's not really that much to know about me."
"Oh," he replies softly, "I understand. Well, I did hear that you got in on full scholarship. That's extremely rare here. What did you do the entrance essay on? It must have been very, very, good."
I furrow my eyebrows, "It was an analytical essay on some of the classic novels of the world. I wouldn't call that superior, but I did like how it turned out."
"Well, Headmaster Charlotte must have enjoyed it. She's the one who makes those descisions," he informs me, "She picks who gets accepted, and if they get a scholarship."
I nod, understanding, and then ask, "What about you? Tell me about yourself."
"Well, you know my name already. I'm seventeen, and in my last year on schooling, like you. I can also play violin quite well, and it's one of my greatest passions, to be honest," Jem replies, keeping his eyes on the road.
I sigh, "I've always loved music."
"Maybe I can play for you sometime," he smiles, and makes a right turn into a parking structure. The building in front of me is gigantic. With arching windows, and curving balconies, it looks like a castle out of a dream, "Here we are."
"This is...magnificent," I breathe, stepping out of the car. Jem retrieves my belongings from the trunk, and leads me out of the structure, to the front doors of the building.
Upon entering the building, I can't help but stare. The decor is fabulous, in a classic, but still modern way. He brings me to a desk, and picks up a package with my name on it. Taking it, he motions for me to follow him down a hallway.
"Those are all the things you will need immediately," he informs me, "There's a uniform, a phone, I'll help you set that up when we got to your room," We walk through a more open area, and there are lockers lining the walls. I see a tall black haired boy standing by one, and there is a mass of girls around him, all dressed in cheerleader uniforms. As Jem and I pass by, Jem gives the guy a wave, and the boy looks up at us. His gaze goes from Jem, and then to me.
Before I know it, I lock eyes with him, and get lost in his clear blue eyes. He smiles at me, and all the girls around him turn to stare at me. I look away from their scowls, hearing them converse amongst themselves, probably about me, about who I am, and I hurry after Jem, but I can't get the mysterious boy out of my head.
"Who was that?" I ask Jem as soon as we are out of hearing range.
"That's Will. One of my close friends," he answers, dragging my suitcase along, "He's the captain and quarterback of the American football team here at school, and we met during an extra curricular meeting. Each club or sports team or music group has a representative, and since I'm concert master of the orchestra, I went to the meeting to represent the orchestra, and he went to represent the American football team. I'll introduce you to him sometime. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."
He stops outside a door, one of the many in the hallway, and hands me a key, telling me, "You don't have a roommate, at least not right now, because no one needed one, so you have your own room."
"Wow!" I exclaim, putting the key in the lock, "Thanks!"
"It was my pleasure," he replies, entering the room after me, "Where do toy want this?" he gestures at my suitcase.
"Urm," I pause, looking around the room. The room is somewhat divided in half, and there's two beds, two desks, two dressers, and one bathroom, "I'll take the right side of the room. Just bring my suitcase over here,"
He does, and he gently takes the package that I'm still clutching from me, "You want me to open this for you?" he asks, and I nod, so he carefully rips open the paper, and takes out a couple things. There is a a uniform, two of them actually, and a brand new Samsung Galaxy phone. He hands me the phone, and I unwrap the package, "They said you wrote on the application that you didn't have a phone, so they got one for you."
"When do I have to wear the uniform?" I say, turning on the phone, and Jem helps me insert the SIM card, "All the time?"
"Good heavens, no," he exclaims, beginning to blush, and it's adorable, "Only during school. After school, you are allowed to wear mostly anything, so long as it is not too innapropriate. And the school's definition of appropriate can still be pretty innapropriate."
I laugh, and he helps me figure out my phone a bit more, since he has the same kind, and I can't help but feel extremely attracted to him, being so close, physically, to him, and having his hands over mine as he teaches me to use the phone and set up a Google account. It's really quite easy, once you get the hang of it.
Just then, his own phone rings, and he picks it up.
"Hello?...Oh gosh, I forgot...Yes, we'll be right there...She's been settling in well...Of course you can meet her...Yeah, see you," is his conversation from my end, and when he hangs up the phone, he explains, "That was Will. We're late to dinner, and he was wondering where we were. He really wants to meet you."
"I suppose we should go, then," I say, and he agrees, so we head off to the dining hall.
Off to meet the beautiful blue eyed boy.
What did your think of it? The next chapter is going to have more drama, and be more exciting, but I just wanted Tessa to get settled in, and give a little of her background information in this chapter.
Please follow, favorite, and review! It means the world to me, and gives me much more motivation to continue writing.
Have a good day! :)
By the way, those of you who have read my stories before, I have changed my username, which I have wanted to do for awhile.
~Jillessa Heronstairs~