Chapter One
What is one word you would use to describe yourself? Stubborn. What is one word that describes you the least? Shallow. That was my first assignment at Royale High, a school I never wanted to attend.
As a child, I always thought of everyone in the world as nice and caring people who always tried their best to help each other. My elementary school life was carefree and fun, where I was always surrounded by many friends. I was always looking for fun and wanted to live an adventurous life that was only obtained in fantasy.
In middle school, I soon maneuvered my attention toward other things such as the dream of a boyfriend, but nothing of that sort ever happened due to my shy nature. I later discovered that my favorite part of the day was the night. I was one of those types of people who dreamed every night and remembered my dreams. My dreams always involved my childhood friends, most of whom had moved away or attended a different school than me, where we would embark on a thrilling mission together.
At the end of eighth grade, I was quite pleased. Our family lived nicely through my father's newly-prospering business, I had made many new friends, my grades were rather high, and I was soon to enter high school—a co-ed school. I felt that for thirteen years, I had lived my life in isolation. I was quite devastated when my mother informed me that I would not be attending Baltic Academy, but instead, Royale High Academy, a very prestigious high school attended entirely by the rich and snobby.
"We can afford it," my mother told me, "and it's time you started focusing on your studies more."
Of course, I refused to attend Royale High. At Baltic, I would be reunited with many of my older friends, which included my best friend, Ruby Ann. Soon, disaster struck again when a few bad investments led our company to bankruptcy.
To my sobbing mother I said, "We'll live on just fine. I'll get a part time job as soon as I turn fourteen. Don't you even worry about my school tuition; I'll go to Baltic Academy."
But to my surprise, my mother had different thoughts. "You'll go to Royale—and get a good education, so you won't be like your father. We'll sell our house and all our luxuries and move into an apartment! I'll be sure to keep every last penny so you can go to school at Royale."
No matter how unwilling I was to attend Royale, my mother was determined to send me to Royal, and there was nothing I could do about it.
When I first stepped into Royale High, I felt an awkwardly unwelcoming atmosphere. Everything about Royale High emitted a wealthy and rich aura—except for me, the plain girl who was broke. At Royale, no one talked to me nor did they even really notice I was there; even months after the school year had begun. Even though we were in uniforms, I seemed considerably plain and poor, while all the other girls carried around designer handbags and wore extravagant makeup and fragrances.
"That girl is awfully plain," I would hear from whispers behind my back. "She looks so poor, and what is wrong with her hair?" I figured that if I could live through these boring four years of high school (perhaps graduate early), then I could leave this place and be free to make my own decisions. I only had to wait for time to pass, which it did at such slow paces.
Royale High was a fairly large for a private school with roughly one thousand students, so I was not acquainted with people that I did not have class with. Even so, I knew our school's social classes well. At the very bottom were people who were known for doing something bad or simply hated by the most powerful of the students. Then came a very small group of students that just did not fit well with Royale (I was in this group). The majority of the school belonged with the group that always followed around the most popular kids, always sucking up to them and doing everything that was asked of them. At the very top consisted of two groups: Jasper's Clique and the Rich Clique (also known as the "Richies.")
Jasper's father owns a whole string of five star hotels. Her group held the snottiest girls ever, including her two henchmen, Victoria and Shea. These girls were always chasing after the Richies.
The Richies, literally, were the richest boys at Royale. They held absolute power, and their word was final. They were the type of people who could kill someone and get away with it because of their enormous wealth. The Richies were a group of three gorgeous Asians that the entire school was completely infatuated with. I had never seen any Richie in person, but I would surely recognize them if I saw them.
Just as I began attending Royale, I began working at small private shop downtown. Ruby Ann recommended me to the store owner, so we began to work there together. Everything at Haini's Vintage Jewelry was beautiful, but of course the items were expensive. I didn't mind working; it was fun and I could talk to Ruby.
"You really should have come to Baltic," she told me. "I really wish we went to the same school."
"This sucks," I said. "All everyone at our school ever talks about is the latest Marc Jacobs fashions, Luis Vuitton, Chanel and whatnot, or they chatter nonsensically standing like one foot away from me saying, 'Look at that poor girl!' It's such an irritating place to be at!"
"Well, maybe you'll find yourself a rich boyfriend, and all will be solved," she said jokingly.
"Hah," I sardonically replied. "That's the last thing that would happen. People don't even bother talking to you unless you're wearing or holding at least one designer object."
That night I dreamt that I was with my three closest friends: Ruby; her brother, Sean; Sean's best friend, David. Although we all attended separate schools, we were all kidnapped and sent to the same location. Working as a group together, we took on many hardships and eventually escaped and successfully avenged ourselves. I woke up that night with tears streaming down my face, reminiscing my many childhood memories. I missed how we used to meet often, where we would go wild, engaging in exciting games. David moved across the country during the middle of sixth grade, and after he moved, Sean slowly shied away from me and began to associate more and more with his guy friends. Even though we would get back together during the summer, as soon as school started, everything would end.
The long days continued; Father's business wasn't looking any better; we lived quite cramped in a two room apartment. Everyday was pretty much the same: wake up, school, homework, job, house chores, homework, sleep. And so, my life at Royale continued on.