I slowly entered my new home, and gasped when I took a look around. Morgan clearly already knew that we would be sharing, as I noticed that my side of the room was already lightly decorated with plants and books. Morgan and I haven’t always been close cousins, but we did spend a fair share of time together growing up, so she knew of my interests when I was a kid which seemed to work out. She even went as far to get me moon colored bedsheets which were light shades of dark purples, blues and whites.
“I remembered you we’re obsessed with things like this as a kid,” she says, almost shyly, “I hope it’s okay.”
“I absolutely love it, and I appreciate the fact that you tried to make it feel like home as soon as I got here,” I say, flashing her a genuine smile. I seemed to be feeling okay since being surrounded by these new faces, and it felt good.
“Do you ladies need anything before I head back downstairs?” Silas interrupts, a huge grin on his face.
“I’m good, thanks for the help Silas,” I said sweetly. He smiles at me again, causing a flurry of butterflies to erupt in my stomach.
“For you, Little Red, anything,” he says as he turns on the balls of his feet and heads out of the room. I’m pretty sure I heard Morgan whimper a little when he smiled, but she remained quiet throughout the rest of our interaction. As soon as he was gone, I couldn’t help but turn my attention back to my cousin who was looking down at her feet.
“You’ve got a crush on Silas!” I say, trying to stifle my giggle.
“What! No! There’s no way!” she says defensively.
“Then what was that all about, Morgan?” I ask, laughing as I point at her from head to toe.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she says, putting her hands on her hips. I bat my eyes, bringing my enclosed hands to my face, pretending to swoon over Silas, “It’s not like that!”
“Sure, sureee. Could have fooled me Morgan,” I say, rolling my eyes at her. There was no way I was going to let this go yet.
“Whatever, it’s not a real crush. It’s more like- “she starts before I could interrupt her.
“The inticing aura that surrounds the most popular guy at Windamere Academy?” I say pointily.
“Exactly! That! Except, he doesn’t even come close to the top of that list,” she says, her voice getting quieter as she speaks, “Jace and his boys have those top spots.”
As soon as she speaks his name, my body feels as if it was going into overdrive. Somehow, I just knew that she was talking about the boy in the alcove, and the guys in the hallway.
“Jace?” I ask questioningly, even though I already knew my answer.
“Jace Quinn. There really are no words to explain Jace Quinn, except. Well, you saw him in the hall,” Morgan says. Butterflies have begun to swarm all around my stomach thinking about the way his breathe was fanning my face. How close he was to me, how he made me feel calm, but thrilled and excited at the same time.
“He was one of the guys we saw in the hallway. The really hot one with the scar on his neck,” she says.
“You mean the ones who completely ignored us when they walked by?” I ask, raising a brow, “What’s their deals anyways?”
“Oh, that. Don’t take it personally, he’s just... Jace,” she laughs, “His father basically owns Windamere.”
“Whatever that means, seems like an understatement,” I huff, pulling my suitcases into the middle of the room, “Why is he like that?”
“That’s a long-complicated question, and I don’t really want to spend all night trying to explain it,” she says, as she walks towards the mini fridge. She pulls out a bottle of water and tosses it towards me. I let out a relieved sigh as I open the cold bottle and take a long drink. The cold water soothes my dry mouth, as I feel it travel down my throat.
“So, I figured that your wardrobe from California wasn’t going to work here, so I bought you a couple of outfits,” she says as she points to the large closet on my side of the room. Lined up inside, was several jackets, long sleeve shirts, and uniforms. In the dresser below, it was lined with fleece leggings, and jeans, while snow boots lined the floor.
“Um, Morgan, you didn’t really have to do this,” I said, eyeing up the closet full of new clothes and shoes.
“It’s really no big deal, it was just your uniforms and some extra clothes, so you don’t freeze when you have to go to classes,” she says, almost looking embarrassed.
“I appreciate this so much. Not freezing to death is high on my priority list,” I say back, chuckling as I try to lighten the mood.
“I figured,” she says, laughing with me, “I don’t know if you saw, but I also got you a couple pairs of my favorite thermal underwear and wool socks. Moving here is definitely a culture shock, so I didn’t want it to be harder then it already was.”
I never remembered Morgan being so thoughtful, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was being a spoiled brat. She had gone out of her way to make sure I was comfortable, and here I was making snippy comments. Tears began to well in my eyes, but I blinked them away as soon as they started. Morgan notices and she’s across the room in seconds, pulling me into a hug.
I open my arms and let her comfort me. She has been nothing but kind to me and I can’t let her think I didn’t notice. “This whole situation sucks, and I wish I could make it better for you,” she whispers while still holding me. A deep lump has settled in my throat, so all I can do is nod against her shoulder.
I wish I could find the words to tell her how I really felt, but they just wouldn’t come. I wish I could tell her that I didn’t want to leave home to come here because my parents are dead. I wish I could tell her that I didn't get to say goodbye to my parents, not knowing that it was the last time I was going to get to see them. But instead of spilling all of my secrets, I just nodded against her shoulder and let a couple of tears flow down my cheeks.
“Are you okay?” Morgan said, pushing me away from her so she can look into my eyes.
“I’m most definitely not okay,” I chuckle, wiping away the stray tear that had fallen from my eyes.
“Well, admitting it has to count for something, right?” she says, giving me a dry smile.
“That’s what Doctor Simon keeps saying,” I admit, trying to mimic her smile.
“I want you to know, that if you ever need to talk or whatever, that I am 100% here for you,” she says, “I know that I don’t really know what you’re going through, but I am here to try.”
I look up into Morgan’s eyes and can see the sincerity in them. She’s known what it’s like to be alone, and I can feel that emotion through the way she’s looking at me. I pull my eyes away from her and notice the three untouched suitcases sitting on the floor. One thing I hate more then people treating me as if I’m weak, is unpacking. I sigh at them in distaste, and Morgan lets out a playful chuckle.
"Let's get you unpacked, shall we?"
“Let me help you! Why don’t you go take a shower and get into some comfies?” Morgan says, gleefully as she springs around the room. For someone who’s close to my age, she sure was hyper.“Actually, a shower sounds like the best thing I’ve ever heard of right now,” I say thinking about the chill I’ve had ever since I walked into this school. Morgan playfully shoos me into the bathroom connected to our room, and I can’t help but feel a little relieved at the solitude.Once alone in the confines of the bathroom, I strip off what feels like a thousand layers of thick clothing. On one side there’s a huge shower/tub combo which begged to be used. It looked very luxurious for a castle, but I wasn’t going to complain. I walked over to the vanity on the other side of the room and stared at my reflection in the mirror.Although my light blue eyes were a little bloodshot, which was probably from the je
The way he said my name sends goosebumps raising across my skin. His voice wasn’t pleasant sounding at all, and all I wanted to do was run away from these two who were clearly looking to cause trouble for me.“Umm, how do you know my name?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at the two brooding men who look between each other and laugh, as if I'd just told the worlds best joke. Their eyes were dark and menacing, making the knot in my stomach wrap tighter around itself.“Everyone at Windamere knows that you’re the new girl around here. No one new ever comes here without being noticed,” he says as he takes another step closer to me. He takes in a big breathe, almost as if he were sniffing me just like Jace had done earlier.“Well, since we’re here why don’t you tell me what you’re doing out of bed?” he says, folding his arms across his chest and raising an eyebrow as if he was a concerned parent. The s
Briar and Liam both move closer to me, and that’s when their plan hits me. My body realized I was in danger, before my mind, as the lump in my throat begins to build. My adrenaline kicks into high gear as I try and make it up the stairs past them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough or big enough, and Briar grabs my wrist before I even make it up a step.“Let me go!” I scream louder then I thought, trying to wiggle out of his grasp. He’s so strong that I can barely get any leverage against him. I turn my head back to him and sink my teeth deep into his arm triyng to get him to let go. Although I could see the blood forming, he doesn’t let me go and instead just tightens his grip on me causing me to let out a whimper. This is not good. There’s no way I can go outside in the cold. He pulls me closer to him, so that I’m wiggling against his chest. I give as much fight as my tiny frame can handle, but it's no use against him. He sta
Both boys nod, but don’t wait for another second before sprinting off down one of the hallways in the opposite direction, leaving Jace and I alone in the empty school foyer. Jace turns his attention back to me but doesn’t say anything as his eyes scan my body. His eyes are so intense as they trail over every inch, making goosebumps flash across my skin.“Nice jammies,” he says rubbing the hem of my pj shirt between his fingers. I let out a small chuckle but could feel my already rosy cheeks redden even more from his words.“Don’t you hate it when that happens? Getting caught in the hallway in your pjs?" I say, trying to make light of the situation, and getting caught in this awkward situation, “Do you always rescue girls in the hallway?”“Only girls who don’t take my advice and stay in their rooms,” he says smirking down at me. I look away from his face, unable to meet his eyes. There’s some
Have you ever felt a pain that consumed your entire being? A pain that latched onto your heart and felt as if it shattered it into a million pieces? A pain that you try to shove down deep, but in the end, you weep until your eyes run dry and there should be nothing left inside of you? And yet, you somehow come out unscathed. You’re still alive to see another day, to sleep, to eat and to live.The pain I am referring to is a pain like no other.The pain of losing your parents.My entire world came crashing down around me when I heard about my parents’ brutal car accident. It’s been three months, and I’ve been living a walking nightmare ever since. Day after day, week after week, wondering what I did to deserve such a harsh punishment.I’ve learned that showing how much pain I’m in is useless. Everyone else moves on, leaving me behind in the darkness. No one wants to hang out with the “sad” girl who lost her p
I couldn’t help but eagerly nod and follow as she walked past the vast tapestries into what looked like common room. We passed many students on the way in, staring at me. I could feel a harsh blush form across my pale cheeks, as I met each set of eyes. Something about the looks they were giving me set me on edge, but I tried to shake it off as I followed closely behind Morgan.“Don’t worry about them, they’re just curious about you. You’re the new girl, after all,” Morgan said, as if reading my thoughts.“What happens if the new girl doesn’t want to be checked out?” I mumble out loud, trying to duck my head so I wouldn’t have to see the staring eyes. I was never someone who wanted to be the centre of attention, but I guess that’s what I get since I’m so shiny and new here.The common room is exactly what it sounded like. There was only one photo on the walls, and it was a portrait of a man h
“I should go,” I said after a few seconds of awkwardness, wanting to be anywhere else but here in this moment. “Yeah, you should. The front door is that way,” he said, pointing through to the common room where I had come from. My eyes immediately rose to meet his face. His response was quite rude and unexpected, and I couldn’t help but feel offended that he just told me to leave. Who does this guy think he is?I was getting angrier by the second being in the presence of this guy, especially when his response was to just shrug his shoulders after a comment like that. “As long as you leave and never come back, it doesn’t really matter to me." My anger was building as each word left this guy’s mouth, burning away any amount of sadness or anxiety that floated throughout me. Anger wasn’t an emotion that I had felt since my parents deaths, but this guy made my blood boil in the first five minutes of meeting him. “Who the hell do you think you are? Wh
It felt like an eternity that we stared into each others’ eyes. Every breathe of his fanning across my face but soothing the anger and animosity right out of my body. It felt as if the anger had fizzled out and was replaced by a sense of calmness. My once furiously beating heart had now steadied, being replaced by a gentle thud against my chest. He reached out and grabbed a lock of my long red hair, twirling it between his fingers.His actions made me forget how to breathe, causing a flurry of butterflies swarming through my stomach all over again. All I wanted was to get off this roller coaster ride of emotions. One second, he was acting like a complete jerk, and now he was standing inches away from me, twirling my hair in between his fingers as if I were the most delicate flower he has ever seen. I raised my hands to his shoulders and try to push him away, to give myself just an inch of space between us before I melt into a puddle of goo, but I am met with resistance.