"Amelie, at least try to act excited." Her father scorned her from the driver's seat, looking back at his daughter with concerned eyes.
Amelie rolled her honey colored eyes at him, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging her legs tightly. New England was freezing, a lot colder than the Southern warmth she was accustomed to back at home. That explained her much too summer-y clothing; there wasn't ever a need for a jacket back home. It also didn't help that all the windows in the car were down, allowing the salty breeze of the Atlantic to rush over Amelie's bare skin, sending shivers up her spine. She had to admit that the sea air smelled nice and inviting which relaxed her a little. It was better than the rotten smell of manure that she had been surrounded by before.
Amelie shut her eyes tightly and hummed to herself, allowing her entire body to tense up, then relax. There was nothing she could do about her situation except breathe in and out. In and out. Like a mantra. Try as she might, Amelie could not affect her parent's decision to move her nearly across the country. It was all her mother's fault, she seethed to herself silently. She was the one who decided to quit her job to become a free-lance writer. If she hadn't, there wouldn't be anything to worry about and no reason to ship Amelie off to Bullworth. Of course, she knew this wasn't actually the truth- Amelie could find a way to worry about anything, even a stranger on the street noticing that her socks did not match. But she felt like this explanation could provide a good crutch for her anxious thoughts. Like there was a definable, definite thing that brought on the panic attacks and constant over thinking. She wasn't crazy or delusional: it had been someone else's fault all along.
The girl, lost in thought, had suddenly noticed a foul smell coming from the window. It was bad enough to make her parents roll up the windows and caused Amelie's mother to begin wheezing and searching for her inhaler.
"What is that god-awful smell?" Amelie cursed out loud, looking out her window to find the cause. Her father, eyes never taken off the road, drove in silence. Amelie's mother, sucking in artificial air, turned over her shoulder to look at her daughter. The woman gave a sheepish smile to Amelie, then immediately turning her attention to her husband.
"Those are the factories over there, sweetie," her mother directed towards Amelie, still looking at her father. "You don't have to worry about those, we'll be far away from the smell." "Are you positive?" Amelie questioned her mother. Smell was one of those sensitive things that could completely ruin something for her. A highly polluted, smelly city? She would become ill from blackened lungs. Fishy smelling meatloaf surprise in the cafeteria? Instant food poisoning. The slightest smell of body odor? Everyone around Amelie could notice and was staring daggers into her soul.
Amelie's mother turned to her lovingly once more. "Don't worry about it, honey." Oh sure, she thought. Just don't think about it. Because that works so well for me. Her brain was like a hotel and her thoughts were the lights, all turned on at once. A waste of energy, exhausting her brain to the point where it would make sense to simply turn the switch off, except she couldn't find the switches.
As Amelie watched from inside the car, the town of Bullworth flashed around her. There was a nice little city with movies and a museum, a beach not too far from the carnival, and bikes everywhere. She loved riding her bike along an empty road and feeling the rush of wind blowing in between her long, chestnut colored hair. She focused on moving the pedals and nothing else seemed to matter. She would have to remember to take a bike ride around the town as soon as she could.
The family finally crossed over a bridge and appeared a tall black iron gate in front of multiple brick buildings. There it was, in all its glory: Bullworth Academy. Whoop-de-doo. Just another thing to frazzle her already fried brain. The students, the teachers, the coursework, it all overwhelmed her before she even got out of the car. She just knew this school was bad news. As she stepped out of the car onto the concrete, Amelie looked around at her classmates. She saw a few boys in white t-shirts wrestling each other near the parking lot, another group of people with blue argyle sweaters were having some nerds carry their designer suitcases to their dorms. A couple of teenagers in leather jackets were standing around, looking pretty tough. Was there anyone normal at this school?
Brushing a wisp of her brown hair back behind her ear, Amelie gathered her belongings from the back seat. Her parents helped her with the rest of her luggage, standing before Amelie's feet. The bags looked at her expectantly- they demanded to be brought to the dorms, unpacked meticulously and checked for inventory. Amelie sighed as she glanced up at her parents and immediately reached forward and grabbed them both in a hug, tears welling up in her eyes. Wordlessly, she walked with purpose towards the entrance of the gate where a tall, frightening man, who she assumed was headmaster, was watching her with leering eyes.
"Welcome to Bullworth Academy, Miss…" He began with a vicious voice while peering down at Amelie with piercing eyes. Crabblesnitch looked at Amelie expectantly.
The girl became fidgety and forced herself to gulp, trying to lubricate her dry mouth so her words wouldn't come out wrong. "Amelie Engel," she answered trying to hide her nervousness. Crabblesnitch nodded at her like a robot. "Ah, the Engel child? Welcome to Bullworth, young lady. I expect great things from you," he said sternly to her. "Honor roll and spelling bee champion of Florida, no?" he half smiled, Amelie still sensing an evil feeling hidden behind his words.
Amelie forced herself to smile with her teeth as she eagerly nodded at the headmaster, although on the inside she instantly regretted it. Everyone back home had made fun of her relentlessly for her "dorky" nature, AKA the ability to comprehend and enjoy reading. She was a standout at her rural school which lead her to pursue more challenging academic endeavors. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment on the remembrance of her classmates torturing her, leaving her out of everything.
Her mind was drifting off into space as Crabblesnitch rudely snapped his fingers in Amelie's face, disconnecting her from the past and forcing her into reality. Cruel, cruel reality.
"Daydreaming on the first day already, eh? You better find a cure for that quickly, young lady, before you lose track of where you are," he said menacingly to the sixteen year old. Feeling embarrassed, Amelie began to adjust her denim shorts, her legs chilly against the unforgiving New England wind. Dr. Crabblesnitch looked her up and down, taking notice of her outfit.
"You will need an immediate change of clothes, young lady. School uniforms must be worn at all times at campus, no exceptions." he remarked at her as bitingly as he could. Amelie forced the tears in her eyes to subside as she felt insulted by the headmaster, already. Couldn't she do anything right? And she definitely wasn't going to cry on the first day of school.
"Okay, sir," she added with an unconfident voice. "Where can I go to-"
"I do not have time for menial questions, young lady. I shall assign one of our returning students to aid you in your… transition to Bullworth," Crabblesnitch glanced around the courtyard behind him. Students were everywhere- near the fountain, walking along the street, headed to dorms. Crabblesnitch called to a slim, red haired boy with a pink shirt on underneath his sweater vest. He seemed to be out of place, considering he was standing by the entrance of the gates by himself without luggage or classmates around him. Amelie felt better knowing the boy looked more uncomfortable than she probably did.
"Peter," Crabblesnitch called to the boy. He responded by perking his head up and immediately walking up to the headmaster with his eyes wide as could be, almost like a slave owner calling his servant. "Yes, headmaster?" The boy named Peter spoke with an unsure voice. He seemed nervous too, which made Amelie feel less alone. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, she thought to herself.
"Please escort Ms. Amelie to her dorm room and show her around campus. She is a new student here and we want to make our new students feel welcome, do we not?" Crabblesnitch smiled wickedly like he was telling a joke only he understood. Peter looked at Amelie, his eyes gazing her in the eyes with an unreadable look.
"Yes, sir." Peter responded after a few silent moments. He timidly began to take the enormous bag of clothes, books, and other necessities when Amelie stopped him. "I got it," she huffed as she threw the heavy bag over her right shoulder. As soon as the bag had rested on Amelie, the girl lost her balance under the shocking weight and dropped the baggage to the ground. Great, she thought. I try to be normal and carry my bags like everyone else does when, of course, I drop them on the fucking ground right in front of the headmaster. Blowing out a long breath she attempted to pick up the bag again but miserably failed, her arm throbbing in pain. Crabblesnitch sneered at the sorry excuses for students and called out to a nearby student to help.
"I expect to see you bright and early in class tomorrow, bags or not, Ms. Amelie." Crabblesnitch casually remarked as he turned on his heel away from Peter and Amelie and towards another student. He was walking up to a tall, slender boy with dark hair. Amelie could see the unmistakable rage stemming from Crabblesnitch's face as he conversed with the boy. She kept staring until Peter whispered in an almost inaudible voice, "Oh, great. He's back." Looking sadly at the ground, Peter straightened his vest while looking completely fearful.
Amelie turned to look at the red haired boy who had crumpled on to the concrete, chin resting on his arms that were resting precariously on his knees. She crouched down next to Peter in an effort to be sensitive towards the boy's sudden change in demeanor. Amelie lightly reached out her arm and, ever so slightly, touched the boy's arm.
Peter flinched and jumped back at the contact while whipping his head around to look at the girl. Amelie tilted her head while looking at Peter, questions filling her head. She picked the first one that sounded good.
"Who's back?" Amelie asked Peter with worry in her voice. She hadn't even gotten to the dorms yet and already her life was unfolding like a bad TV drama. Her worry intensified as Peter remained silent.
After a full minute, Peter looked straight ahead and uttered one word.
"Gary."
I would love your reviews, this is my first fanfic! Let me know how you like it :)