Freakshow

Chapter 2

Mrs. Metz led us down a long white hallway until it came to an intersection. "Mrs. Vertoga, your room will be down this hallway," she said and pointed down the left hallway, "and Rose, yours will be down this hallway," she said pointing to the right. I nodded and took a cautious step into the hall, half expecting Jamie and Elizabeth to come barreling towards me. But no one came hurtling at me from the end of the hallway. I decided it was safe to keep walking, soon I saw where the dorms were. On each door there was a different name painted on it. They were all painted in different ways that seemed to reflect on the painters personality. I stopped at a door with beautiful wild animals on in along with the name Ian.

I reached up to touch a picture of a bear drinking at a stream when the door swung open and I came face to face with the boy who I presumed was Ian. He was handsome, with wide leaf green eyes and sandy blonde that poked up in just the right ways. He looked shocked to see me standing in his door way as I was shocked when he opened the door. "I-I-I was just admiring your paintings," stammered, "they are very beautiful..." I trailed off, getting lost in his eyes. "Thank you," he said, a bit of pink rising into his cheeks, "are you-are you new here?" I cleared my throat, "Yeah, I uh-I should probably find my room." He nodded, I gave a little wave and started walking away, then I turned back to say something but Ian was gone, I hadn't even heard his door close.

Mine was the only barren door in the hall, besides the white piece of printer paper taped to the door that had my name written on it in choppy print. I slowly opened the door, anxious to see what my room contained and what I saw when I opened the door made my jaw drop. They had made this room look so similar to the room I had in Michigan that I could hardly tell a difference. The shape of the room was wrong and the view out the window was different but other than that it was almost the same.

I walked over to the night stand beside the bed and put my hand on it, still looking around the room taking it in. On the night stand there was the same Bluetooth speaker I had at home, along with a picture of Krista, Naomi and I at the water park in a wooden frame that I made in kindergarten. I picked it up and smiled at the memory of that day. I plopped down on the bed, running my hands over the soft paisley comforter. I had been obsessed with paisley when my mom and I had bought it, but not so much now. The walls were painted the same silvery blue color I had fallen in love with while we were shopping in Menards. I stood and walked over to the closet, excited to see what it had been stocked with. I opened it to find clothes that were exactly my style, just way more expensive. I ran my hand through the hanging clothes, feeling the soft fabrics. I looked at the window and noticed something out of place, there was a picture on the window sill. I strode over to see what it was of and when I saw the person in the picture, my blood boiled. It was my dad, my dad who had left my mother and I behind, my dad who had abandoned me because of something I couldn't yet control. But he wasn't my dad any more. I slammed the picture face down in anger.

I heard the crack of glass and picked it back up. My father's handsome face was marred and twisted, just like his heart, I thought. I gently laid the picture back down and jumped onto my bed. I laid on my back and stared up at the ceiling, imagining what might happen to me here, and day dreaming about Ian. Soon, sleep overtook me and I drifted off.