Spirit of the Weeping Willow Swing

Chapter 2

The next day was a Friday which meant I had to go to school. While I contemplated if the military school would be any worse than this hell hole, my door opened and James quickly walked in. He walked over to the drapes and swung them open bringing in the dastardly sunlight. I quickly pulled the covers over my eyes with a groan.

"Young master, please ready yourself for the day. Madame Sterling does not accept tardiness. You will be dressed and ready in 15 minutes. You are to eat a light breakfast with Madame Sterling, and then the chauffeur will drive you to school." After his 'commands' he bowed and showed himself out. "These people are crazy. I gotta find a way to escape without this crazy bitch sending me to some stupid military school." After my statement, I jumped out of bed and did what James asked me to do.

I made my way to the dining room where I saw the old hag sitting at the head of the long oak table. "Good morning, Phoenix. I trust you slept well?" she said with a smile. "Yeah, until your creepy butler dude barged in my room demanding me to do stuff. He even tried to watch me get dressed. I'm tellin' ya' I think you need new staff because I don't need some perverted old guy trying to see me naked." She stared at me for a moment with wide eyes. I tried to hold back a smirk thinking I won this round.

"Young man, what did I say about you being disrespectful. James has served our family for many years. He would never disgrace himself in such an inappropriate manner. Please, do not degrade my staff with such horrible notions. I am a patient woman, but I will not be for long if you continue to act out in this manner. You have 2 more chances to stay in my good graces, Phoenix. Think of it as baseball, if you will. 3 strikes and you're out. Do I make myself clear?" I could only look at her in shock. After a moment of sitting with my mouth hanging open, I nodded. "Crystal, Madame Sterling."

With that, she gracefully got up and exited the room. I sat there for a moment still in shock that my master plan didn't work. 'I guess I'll just bite the bullet and accept my prison sentence.' I thought while shaking my head in disappointment. 5 minutes later James came in announcing the car was outside waiting. I sighed and casually got up grabbing my backpack off the floor and swung it over my left shoulder. I made my way to the car where the chauffeur opened my door. I slid in the car and the chauffeur shut the door and made his way to the driver's seat. As I stared out the window I thought if I would make any friends here. Or will I be the lonely outcast like everywhere else?

I saw we were pulling up to the high school, but what I saw didn't resemble a high school in the slightest. It looked like a prestigious college campus. Huge, expensive-looking buildings covered the area. Though, they all seemed to be connected by breezeways. The car suddenly stopped at a huge wrought iron gate that seemed to go on forever. The chauffeur stepped out, came to my door, and opened it with a slight bow. I thanked him as I made my way out of the car. He nodded as he shut my door, then made his way back to the driver's seat and took off down the driveway.

As always, I stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone stared at me, pointing and whispering. I rolled my eyes as I moved through the crowd of Malibu barbie and Ken look-alikes. I've never seen so much pink in all my life. The sight of these preppy Wanna-Be's made me sick. I never understood why everyone wanted to be the same as everyone else. It doesn't bother me to be myself and have an original style and personality, but they seem to think differently.

A group of jocks was standing around a picnic table hootin' and hollerin' at some cheerleaders walking by. One of the jocks noticed me and smirked. He whispered to a couple of his buddies, then they made their way over to me. It looked like they were trying to intimidate me, but I didn't play into it. I know their type all too well. I found a bench to sit on. I sat down and proceeded to put an air Pod in my ear, as I pulled out my sketchbook to continue a drawing I was working on before I was sentenced to a lifetime in hell.

The trio of jocks finally made their way across the courtyard. The leader spoke up first. "Hey man, my name's Trent." He held out his hand expecting me to shake it. I simply sighed, closed my sketchbook, and looked up at him with an annoyed look. "Congratulations, Trent, you want a trophy or somethin'?" I asked in a sarcastic tone. Trent immediately turned red with anger and grabbed the collar of my shirt pulling me off the bench with swift force.

"Listen here, freak. You really don't want to be on my bad side. I only have to play nice for the audience. I honestly don't want a loser like you in my school, but seeing as your guardian owns most of this town, I, unfortunately, must play nice. So, I suggest you play along as well, or I'll make your life a living hell." He let go roughly. As I fixed my shirt, I shrugged my shoulders letting him know his threats had no effect on me. He only scoffed and walked away with his cronies in tail. "Welcome to hell, Phoenix," I said quietly as I shoved my sketchbook back in my backpack and headed to class.