The Boy With The Roses

Chapter One| Welcome to SpeareLock

My first look at SpeareLock, I knew that something was special about it. With its tall looming towers, and stone pillars, it looked more like a jail than a private school. It's a beautiful jail, I may add.

It might have been just the fall effect, as my dad would probably say, but I don't think so. I can imagine the school thrust in a winter blizzard, the springtime fragrance, and still with the daunting sight there.

As to when my first look at SpeareLock was. I would say mid-November. The leaves were already changing, and falling to the ground, making a pillow of leaves at the foot of the trees. Moss covered the pillars that were at the side of the doors, and ivy was crawling on the side of the school.

The prestigious school was behind iron gates that locked out the townsfolk who did not dare to come close to the school. Thick pine trees enveloped the school from all sides, and it wasn't until you went through the gates, that you saw the school.

The school itself was huge, and big. It was like a huge thick circle made solely of marble. In the middle of the circle, was a waterfall, and it just so happens to be where the common area was. The common area was outside, and stone seats were under cherry trees. Last time I was there, the trees had not blossemened yet.

And here we are, five months later, driving to SpeareLock for my first year at the school. I was nervous yet I had a gut feeling about this school. I watched as tear-shaped water drops fell from the window of my father's car. We zoomed past the walkers, and bikers, and into the outskirts of the town. The road was less busy now that we were out of town.

"Tessa?" my mom's anxious voice came from the front seat. I sat up straight, as the familiar iron gates came into view. The presence of the school, stuffed my nose, and pulled me in like a magnet. My older brother, Joshua, pulled out his earbuds and stared at the school. My dad stopped the car in front of the gates, assuming that we had to pay some kind of fee, but it didn't matter, because the gates swung wide open. Awed, we drove through. The gates shut behind us, locking us in the property.

My mouth gaped open, at the sight before us. Even though I was here five months ago, it still amazed me how something as simple as a school can hold such beauty. Not the kind of beauty girls have, but the dark mysterious kind. My dad parked the car off to the side of the front doors, and we all got out.

"SpeareLock, huh?" my dad breathed out, his hands on his hips. Joshua whistled. My mother's worried face, looked at the tall school, and then back at me.

"Tessa. Are you sure you want to do this? We can find a different school, maybe a little closer to town, and with a little more social environment?" my mom suggested it for the hundredth time.

The drive to SpeareLock was not the problem. It was more of the environment that she wasn't comfortable with. After I got expelled from my fifth school-yes I said expelled-we decided to move to a small town in Seattle Washington.

I didn't get expelled from hitting someone, or missing school every day, but because I always threw up. I know it's funny. You can laugh now, but I'm warning you. I have this problem that when I touch someone, I have visions of them. Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's not good. Mostly the visions are the person I touch, but sometimes it's about something else. After the visions, I always get this queasy feeling and vomit.

"I'm sure, mom," I said back. I walked around the car, and joined my brother, who was staring at the school.

"Let's go, Tessa," Josh said, in a teasing voice. I stuck out my tongue, and we bounded up the steps of the school.

I took a deep breath, and pushed open the heavy platinum doors. The cool bronze handles left my hands, as the doors automatically swung open the rest of the way. I took a startling step back, and bumped into my dad's chest. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.