The Tower

Autumn: Liar

I am a liar. By birth. By choice. By trade. 

My hair, the messy blonde layers that scream, I cut it myself  is a lie. It took a hairdresser an hour to perfect. The clothes I wear in the mornings and evenings when the Addley's Hollow uniform is discarded in a heap on my bed are lies. Even my outfit now, jeans with one leg painted red, a white tube top and a floral cover up shawl is a lie. I hate these clothes. But I still wear them because that is how things are done at Addley's. At every school I've been to before, the idea was to blend in. Follow the styles, don't change too much about yourself too fast, don't stand out. Here, the unique is coveted. I can't stand looking at my eclectic closet, but it proves I belong here. I belong here. That is a lie. 

Hailey is still standing next to me. She has the particular skill of making any silence seem like an awkward one. I've always ben able to tell that she doesn't like me very much, but she pretends to for Stella and Tabby's sake. At least I'm not the only liar in the group. 

A final piano note hangs in the air as Tabby stands. There is a moment of scattered, polite clapping before the common room falls into the dull sound of conversation. Tabby pushes through the crowd to join us. She is dressed in plain jeans and faded t-shirt from some local swim team. Her skin is bronze and her hair is darker, falling in a thick braid over her shoulder. Tabby has always looked... ordinary. That isn't something you find often at Addley's. 

"Tabby, that was great!" I say. 

"Thanks," She replies. "I've been practicing." 

As if she needs the practice. She was playing Flight of the Bumblebee at six years old. I want to say as much, but instead I say, "I can tell. You're definitely getting better." 

On the other side of the room, I see Stella break away from Alexander and come to stand beside us, still wearing his coat. "First period is in half an hour. We should go get ready."

Hailey nods and follows Stella as she leaves the common room, ever the dutiful lapdog. I guess I don't like Hailey very much either. 

That leaves me alone with Tabby. She flashes me a quick smile. "Glen's after school?" 

"I already asked Hailey. She's up for it and Stella always is." 

"Thanks," Tabby sighs. "I would die for a peanut butter milkshake right now."

Our dorms are in the same building, so we walk together, cutting a path through the dewy field. My socks are wet. 

Addley's Hollow Boarding School is shaped like a massive stone "U." The building is four stories tall with windows clouded from age. Arched doorways and columns ornament the building and ivy climbs up the sides of the walls. It neatly surrounds the lake, so all classroom windows look out over the water. The school is closed in by a forest of dark evergreens. The top stories were the original student housing, back when Addley's consisted of just a few hundred kids, but as the school's population increased, the number of dorm rooms had to as well. Stella and Hailey share one of the old dorms. They have the beautiful view of the lake right out of their window and live in the same building as most of their classes while Tabby and I have a long walk. In the icy winter though, it's almost worth it because the old dorms don't have any central heating. 

Finally, our building comes into sight. The new dorms are built surrounding a carefully manicured field. Addley's isn't exactly a sports school. A lot of the students spend their days memorizing and reciting bits of writing like some Dead Poet's Society caricature. These aren't the kids you would expect to chase a ball around the field or have any muscle at all. Still, the field sits expectantly, as if waiting for some theater geek or debate champion to decide to form a football team. 

I hadn't even noticed, but we walked most of the way in complete quiet. Silence with Tabby is different than silence with Hailey. I feel every agonizing second of quiet with Hailey, as both of us try to think of things to say and neither succeeding. Tabby's silence is still and comfortable. I'm not the type to let empty air hang when there is words to fill it, but I've know Tabby long enough to understand that she isn't one for talking. Her friendship sounds like silence. 

She breaks away from me at the first floor and I jog up two more flights of stairs, feeling my hoop earrings jostling against my jaw. A door slams somewhere in the hall and I hear frenzied footsteps run towards me. Charles Taver appears, sprinting down the hallway with his arms full of books, dark hair flopping into his eyes. I have to press myself against the wall to avoid him charging towards me. 

"Sorry, Spring!" He calls over his shoulder before vanishing down the stairs. 

One of the problems with being named after a season is that someone always tries to be clever about it. Charles is the kind of person who automatically assumes everyone likes him. In most cases, he's right. People seem to love his puppy dog personality. Him and Hailey would get along. In my case though, he couldn't be more wrong. I can't stand him and his instance on calling me by whatever season we're in doesn't help. I listen, half hoping to hear him trip and crash down two flights, but I am disappointed. 

Luckily, my roommate is gone when I arrive. Lucy Calen is yet another Addley's student I don't have the patience for. The list is long. 

She's trashed our room. I massively underestimated the amount of damage she could do while I was gone. Lucy is prone to what she calls "fits of artistic madness," or what I call "temper tantrums." When I ask her to explain herself, no doubt she'll say something along the lines of: "I had a flash of inspiration that let me see into heart of my newest role." More likely, she couldn't find a shoe and had a flash of rage that let her see into the heart of her anger issues. 

I hate it here at Addley's. But I would do anything to stay.