The take-back of Ravenshire Prep {UNDER REVISION}

chapter 5

The sun woke me up that morning, which sounds a heckuva more romantic then it actually is. Imagine birds twittering, perched on your windowsill, a dove giving you a letter from a suitor and waking up with perfect hair. Now let reality slap you across the face as you wake up at 6 in the morning from the blinding sun when you don't have any curtains yet because home was never this bright. That's my life now. I didn't get up on the wrong side of the bed- I literally rolled off the side of my bed and fell right on the hardwood floor in the morning. I got no help from Ollie who was happily snoozing on the foot of my bed. Lazy dog.

I had the biggest bedroom out of all four(thank god we didn't live in an apartment anymore) and I loved it. It was actually meant to be an attic, but I decided to take advantage of the space. We lived where there was an old farmhouse, but was redesigned as a barn the size of a mansion by some crafty architect. So when people pass by, they think it's a barn at first glance and don't think of building neighboring houses nearby. But it's close enough so that I can walk to my bus stop without having to walk a mile. The front entrance had a few cubbies by the door to put shoes, then opened to the kitchen that Artie instantly fell in love with because it was freaking ginormous. Three stools were on the side of the counter and then there was the dining table. Then there was the staircase but underneath it was a foyer and to the left under it was a bathroom. Then go up the stairs and the first door down the hallway is Mum's craft studio, where she designed sets and costumes and other awesome stuff. Further to the left was another bathroom, go through the second door in the bathroom and you enter Mum and William's room. Then it opens to another hallway with Artie's room, yet ANOTHER bathroom, and a guest room. The hall ended there. But wait. Pull down the rope attached to the weird ceiling tile and a ladder will pop out, leading you to my bedroom! Or, if you're a dog and can't climb a ladder, open the odd door that's concealing a spiral staircase that will open right up to the music corner. My piano, keyboard, guitar, and some of my other odd instruments were in one corner of the room, with loose papers and moving boxes all around. Now that my feet were back on the ground, I could start writing songs again, but lately I hadn't felt like it. My desk and study space was in the other corner, drawings and posters all pinned on the wall, playbills and funko pop figures in all their glory. My reading nook was in the corner closest to the door, with bookshelves holding the most insane titles, an egg chair, and an old sofa. Most of what was in my bookshelves were the scripts of musicals. What can I say, I'm a theater kid. And in the last corner was my bed, an old four poster we found at the salvation army that had the colors of the night as bedsheets. I had a giant trunk where I kept all sorts of costumes and disguises at the foot of my bed. My mahogany dresser faced the entrance, with a ladder running up to the long rafters that made an ultimate hide and seek spot that was also awesome to use when you wanted to feel alone. There was a tiny door that I named the 'hobbit door' for it's size(all five feet and four inches of me had to duck to avoid getting a bruise the size of a line to a one directions concert-it was a phase that I am not proud of, you don't want to go down that rabbit hole). It opened to my balcony where I could overlook the lake. Now, this my family knew about. But what they didn't know about was the hidden crawlspace that led to a different ladder that led to a trap door that led to the roof. Did I tell my family about this? No. Could I die if I fell? Probably. Was it awesome for stargazing and sneaking off in the middle of the night? Yeah, it was.

The roof was flat but had a good fence around the border so when I brought Ollie up he couldn't run off and die or something. He's a really weird dog sometimes-you never know. I managed to grab some pillows and blankets for comfort, but then remembered 'oh yeah it rains here' so I grabbed the old tent I made my mum get at a yard sale for 10 dollars because we were going to go camping in Canada someday, but since I knew that probably wasn't going to happen, I decided I could use it for scrap material. And voila, a tent. My polaroid telescope joined the party for perfect stargazing conditions. After getting up, too lazy to get out of my pjs-The Pyjama Game musical pjs-best thing ever- I walked down the hallway and slid down the banister with Ollie running down the stairs, nails clicking and barking for in on the fun. "Morning, Artie!" "Morning Quinn." Me and my brother were named after Artie Abrams and Quinn Fabray from Glee, aka the best show in the world that isn't technically a musical. Mum named us after the characters he liked best. Actually, the characters with the best names. She liked Artie because it was better than Noah, Finn, Sam, or Jake Probably should have named him Kurt or Blaine instead, if you know what I mean. "No daughter of mine is going to be named Brittany, Rachel, Sugar, or Emma. Quinn. The best name, even if it was never really hers." So Lucy's my middle name. Funny, isn't it? Unless you never watched Glee. Then you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Artie was stirring pancake batter, smiling in his apron I made for him when I was ten. I was learning to sew at an afterschool program, so I tried to embroider in red stitching a smiley face. I wasn't able to finish it before the club ended(the teacher got fired because she was spending too much time playing words with friends 2 instead of supervising kids working needle-jabbing death machines) so I worked on it at home, finishing it just in time for christmas. He still wears it all the time, even though it looks more like a middle finger then a smiley face.
I opened the fridge to grab my daily fix of Tazo chai mix and milk. "Hey, where's the cups?" "Over there." Artie pointed with his whisk, somehow not spilling a single drop on the floor. I opened a cupboard but no luck. I kept poking around as he plugged in the griddle. "Excited for school?" "Can't wait." Artie was an expert chef, a talent he had ever since he was young. He was going to be captain of River View high's first baking program, so they could participate in the annual baking competition (I didn't know it was a thing either). "What pancake shape do you want?" "Make me Ollie's face." "Ooh, a challenge! Let's see..." He grabbed some of his batter bottles that looked like ketchup bottles but were actually meant for art. As he was mixing the dyes I grabbed a stool to keep looking for the damn cups. "Are you excited for school?" "I guess. It's gonna be way different from home." "Excited for the uniforms? I know how much you like wearing t-shirts from musicals and bands." "I HAVE TO WEAR A GODDAMN UNIFORM?!" "Well yeah, it's a private school. They're pretty strict on what their students wear." I banged my head on the stainless steel fridge. "Whyyyyyyy-" "I know, it sucks." "Do I have to wear a skirt?" "Mum left your uniform by the entrance, I think." I ran to the front entrance and spotted a black garment bag. I proceeded to tear it open, praying I would not have to wear a skirt.

I'm glad we didn't have any neighboors to call the police because right there and then everywhere in a 5 house radius would have heard me scream bloody murder.

When mum got home I gave her a death stare. She sighed and set her bags down on the table. "It's mandatory." I was about to banter more until I saw her worn face. Ever since we had to move here, she'd been working long-distance at a different office. And for a Broadway producer, that isn't easy. Our dynamic was really messed up most of the time.
I picked up the bags of groceries and started putting them away. I could feel her smile and started to put them away with me. "Rough day?" Her mascara smudged as she rubbed her eyes-dog allergies-I had no idea how I convinced her to get Ollie, actually. She had to wear quite a bit of makeup to keep up appearances, even though she was beautiful on her own. Dark brown-black long, curly hair, dark red lips, high cheekbones, a hot pink blazer, skirt, high stilettos that tapped like pop rocks. Basically Shelby from Glee. "I'm going to lie down...let me know if you need anything, sweetheart." She kissed me on the forehead but I could tell she was sad. She still wasn't over dad, even though she married Ben. He seemed to make her so happy, the way I never could. Memories flashed in my mind like a movie reel as she left the room.

Flashing lights from the police cars. Kids crying and teachers yelling. The school with broken windows and cars scattered all over. When mom arrived at the scene and turned to stone looking at you being carried away. My lips were cracked from my tears as I whispered your name over and over and over again. Where were you when I needed you most?

And things were never the same. But I was told not to dwell on those bad feelings from the counslor I had to see. She also was pretty homophobic though so it wasn't like I lived by her words either. I tried to stay positive for mum so we wouldn't be reminded of him, but it was pretty hard. Even though it was five years ago. But I kept my head up and wiped the tears from my eyes as I brought the uniform up to my room and tried it on. It fit perfectly, the gold, green, and navy school colors looked nice on me. Button up dress t-shirt with the crest on the breast pocket, suspenders with gold colored buckles, navy tie with a black jacket, they even had a hair clip colored accordingly. But of course. We had to wear skirts. I tried it on nevertheless, and it fit. They may try to cage me. But they can never stop the power of rock and nose rings. Hit me with your best shot, Ravenshire prep, I smirked.

Fire away.