Part I
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I stare up at the Boarding School in front of me. In big black gold letters were the words: St. Rosemary's Boarding School on the big castle, above the entrance.
My social-worker dropped me off 15 minutes ago and yet I can't stop staring. My stomach was plummeting, my head was spinning and my palms were getting sweaty. To say I was nervous would be an understatement but I gulped my fears and looked around.
Nice country-side, river, garden with flowers... That had thongs among them... Weird. There was this one car that got my attention; it was shaped like a oval, with purple strips going down it and—
"You new?" a rich voice jumped me out of my thoughts.
I turn back and see a girl, around my age, doused in make-up, with long brown hair, wearing a slutty school uniform and behind her were several look-a-likes, smirking at me.
"Yeah" I mutter out. All I had with me is a black shoulder bag and a gym bag but it suddenly felt extremely heavy.
"I'm Jenny" she extends her hand out as if I'm supposed to kiss it.
Rightttt. I shake it once, politely and smile sweetly "Carmen" I offer.
She glances at me once, a little too much and I start to feel a little self-conscious.
I hear foot-steps behind me and Jenny looks up, her eyes going dark. I turn and find myself staring at this girl. She's tall, lanky, with short dark hair, wearing skinny jeans, converses, a white wife-beater and a black demin jacket.
Wow. Okay, I'm a little attracted to her. Okay, a lot. There's two girls standing next to her. One has medium length blonde hair and is wearing red dungarees with black shoes and the other had dark shoulder-length hair and wearing a tennis out-fit.
"Shane" Jenny purses her lips like she's tasting something nasty.
Shane puts out her cigarette and the blonde one appears to mumble something in Shane's ear.
"Give it a rest" the blonde mutters out, getting a look from the tennis-player.
"Oh Alice" Jenny grins falsely "I know it's just your undying love for me but please, try not to talk... My ears will bleed to death".
"Oh, I only hope" Alice retorts, smirking.
My phone rings while Jenny continues to make comments and I pull out my Side-Kick and walk away from Jenny, answering it.
"Yeah?" I answer. The only calls I get are from people who have reviewed my resume, my social-worker and Kit. Kit was once my foster-mother. She bought me this phone and made me promise to answer whenever she called.
"Hello?" I repeated. The line crackled and no-one answered. In the back-ground, I could hear Alice and Jenny exchange death-threats.
"Kit?" I asked. Damn this stupid line.
Suddenly, the heavens opened and before I knew it, they were all running to get into the castle. Me on the other hand, didn't want to go in there. I hung up and shoved my phone in my pocket.
I stood there. Like an idiot, just staring at the rain. It was when the thunder and lightning came did I move. I open the black door and turn to find a woman in boots and a pink dress, listening to Jenny tell how Shane, Alice and the tennis girl had threatened them.
Shane was smirking, Alice was rolling her eyes and the tennis girl looked annoyed.
The pink woman turned and frowned at me. Then she smiled. "Carmen!" she pulled a piece of paper out of her jacket pocket and stared "Carmen De La Pica Morales! Welcome, come, you must be soaked" she takes me by surprise with this hug and I still look surprised.
"Miss Causley!" Jenny sounded impatient "Shane threatened to kill me! She did and I have to sleep in the room as them! I can't! I'm scared for my own safety!".
I can't help but laugh and Jenny glares daggers at me "What the hell are you laughing at, Pica?".
"Nothing" I gripped my sides "It's just... You reminded me of a girl I used to know back at my old foster-home..." I paused, smiling "She was 4".
Shane and Alice laugh as well and I find my phone ringing again "Hello?" I answer "Hello?" I hang up, sighing again. What the hell?
"I demand to be moved!" Jenny shrieks "I bet Shane has this plan to tie me up and lock me in the basement... Forever!".
Shane nods in approval and gives her the thumbs up.
"Oh please!" Alice cries "Shane wouldn't have anything to do with you! I bet you have crabs or something!".
"Slander!" Jenny shouts again "Slander!".
"Carmen" Miss Causley interrupts "You can share with Shane and the others... I know you'll just love it there" she pushes me towards the stairs "Go on, Shane, Alice, Dana... Show Carmen up..." she turns to Jenny "Come through Jenny and we'll talk this through".
I follow Shane, Alice and Dana up the stairs. Wow, it's a long climb. My legs feel like they're going to break when I finally reach the top of the attic. The door is half black, half pink.
The top part is black, with pictures of Shane, Alice and Dana on it. There are drawings, tattoos, Jennifer Lopez and a picture of Rosemary's castle with a sign above it that said: Prison. The bottom half was pink, with pictures of Jenny and her friends scattered on it. She had Barbie-Doll pictures and drawing of make-up on it.
Shane opened the door and immediately went to the back of the room and flopped down a bed. I look around. There are two beds at the back, facing down, two beds by the window and a pink bed by the door. I guess that it's Jenny's.
"You're over there" Alice points to an empty bed next to Shane. Alice and Dana take the beds by the window and I have to wonder; how long have they been here?
"Don't even look at me" Jenny has entered the room and slammed the door shut, sitting on her bed.
I walk towards the back of the room and dump my wet bags at the side so I can lie on my bed. I smile in the comfort of the cozy room and feel myself drifting off into sleep when—
"Carmen?" Jenny sits ups.
I'm lying down with my eyes closed but I mutter out "What?".
Silence. She seems confused.
"Nobody is trying to kill you, okay?" I sigh softly.
"Carmen?" she says again.
I sit up and look at Jenny. She has my phone. She's looking at my phone.
"What the fuck?" I growl, storming over and grabbing my phone back.
"Who's Bette?" Jenny smirks, pulling me into her.
"Fuck off" I push her away and storm back to my bed.
"Carmen?" it's Alice this time "Carmen?".
"What!?" I scream.
"Carmen!".
I jerk awake, sweating with confusion. Jenny, Shane, Dana and Alice are staring down at me, frowning.
"What?" I raise my eyebrows.
"Who's Bette?" Jenny looks puzzled.
"Excuse me?" I go defensive.
"Geez" Jenny pulled away, frowning "You were the one mentioning it".
"Yeah, well why don't you keep your fucking slutty ears shut!?" I growl at her and rummage through my bag to find my phone. No messages. No calls. Dammit.
Shane, Dana and Alice slump back to their beds, giving each other's looks. I know. I glance out the small window and sigh. This wasn't a big nightmare. Just reality.
"If you're thinking of escaping, I wouldn't" this is the first time I've heard Shane speak. I love her voice. It's musky, husky, dark and I want to hear more of it.
"What?" I look confused.
Shane sits up "I know what you're thinking... I've thought that. You can't escape. There's not a bus station for 45 miles and the nearest cafe and church is 50 minutes drive... Tops".
"What makes you think I can't pull it off?" I look at her honestly.
She smirks and I want to melt inside "I guess I'll just have to wait and see".
"Could you go and flirt somewhere else?" Jenny drawls from her bed, rolling her eyes.
"Cover for me" I tell the room, shoving my bags under the bed covers.
"Where are you going?" Alice asked.
"To raid the liquor cabinet" I reply, fluffing the pillows up.
"You're crazy" Dana in-puts "You'll get caught".
"What is it with you people and your lack of faith?" I mutter out, changing into a black tank-top and girl boxers. I feel Shane's eyes on me the whole time and I love it.
I roll my hair into a loose messy bun and quickly slip on some blue ankle-socks. I don't trust the floor in this place. At all.
"Wait up" I see Shane shrug off her green jumper, revealing a white wife-beater. She slips out of her jeans and quickly pulls on black girl boxers. Cute.
"Wait Shane" Alice looks worried "What if you get caught?".
Shane shrugs and I follow her out.
"You know where they keep the alcohol?" I whisper.
Shane nods "I practically lived there for the first 3 months".
"Guys, hold it" Jenny's voice announces.
"What?" I sigh.
"You're not leaving me here with those lesbos" Jenny hisses.
"I'm gay" I state.
"You don't even need to ask with me" Shane smirks.
"So? I'm gay too but..." Jenny hisses again "Those two... I don't wanna watch them hook up, do I?".
"Point taken" I mumble out. We slip down the stairs but our heads snap up when Alice and Dana appear.
"We're coming" Alice nearly shouts.
"Alright Al" Shane looks annoyed.
We continue to slip down the stairs until someone's footsteps are heard and I follow Shane round a corner. She grabs my arm shoves us both into a closet.
I don't know where Jenny, Dana and Alice have hid but if they have gotten caught, I pray to god that Jenny doesn't open her big mouth and hang us all out to dry.
Shane's hot breath is on my neck and suddenly all I can think about is pinning her to the wall and playing vacuum-hoover with her mouth.
The footsteps die down and I can roughly see Jenny through the hole in the door. She's looking around, confused.
"Guys?" she whispered.
I open my mouth to speak but Shane's soft hand slaps over my mouth, her body pining me to the wall. My eyes seek hers and her mouth drifts to my neck, to my cheek and finally to my ear.
I see Jenny find Dana and Alice.
"They're probably already down there" Alice frowned. They're talking about us.
"Fine, let's go" Jenny leads the way and Dana and Alice follow her hesitantly.
Shane releases her grip on me and I gasp out breath.
"Let's go" she takes my hand before I can ask what the hell that was about.
"Shane" I stop her "What the fuck?".
"You wanna go drink rum and coke with Miss Malibu and the Hormonal Twins or do you wanna drink some real vodka?" she asks me.
I say nothing and let her lead me to another door. It opens to some narrows steps and we walk up them. She opens another door at the other end and I'm amazed as we walk out onto the roof.
"Shane" I gasp out.
She lets go of my hand and closes the door over. I watch her stride over to a piece of wood that is covering the roof ground. She shoves it off and I watch her wave away some leaves until I can clearly see 5 bottles of Russian Vodka hidden in the dip in the ground.
I glance out at the dark cold night. The country-side looks eerie and haunted, a bit like me and suddenly Shane is calling my name.
"Carmen?" She's sitting down, holding an open vodka bottle.
"Sorry" I shake my head and sit down across from her. She takes a swig and hands me the bottle. I gladly take it and swig down more than I know my body can take. I gasp as I swallow and then I frown.
"You taste like lavender" I tell her, smirking as I hand the bottle back.
Shane smirks back and takes another swig. She grins "You taste like strawberries".
I think we went through at least 3 bottles alone. Somehow, Shane wasn't nearly as drunk as I was. I remember her covering the rest of the bottles back over and then placing her arm around my waist.
"You're not feeling me up, are you?" I laugh loudly.
"Why?" I feel her breath on me again "Do you want me to?" she's a little tipsy.
I remember us stumbling back to the dorm. Jenny, Dana and Alice are passed out on Dana's bed. I feel Shane push me down into my bed after she had shoved my bags on the floor. I laugh and she falls down on top of me.
"Carmen" Shane breathes out.
"Noooo" I shake my head "I'm... So tir—tired" I pull the covers up over us, not realising that she is still lying on top of me.
Suddenly, her head is buried in the crook of my neck and I soundly drift off into sleep.
The next thing I can remember is the shrieking of an alarm clock, Jenny throwing up and the shouting of Dana that something is on fire.