Amazing Grace

Chapter 1

This room was incredibly quiet, unreasonably quiet. Scary quiet. It was only me in here, all alone. Unless you count the small figurine of mother Mary, who looked like she was staring into my soul telling me to run. Even the clock was yelling at me to leave. The constant tick was like a timer warning of the explosion that was about to hit...

*BOOM*

Sister Rose waltzed into the room as the heavy office door slammed behind her. She took a seat at her desk in front of me.

"Good afternoon Miss Grace...erm...Sullivan, I see this is your first day with us at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School for Girls"

I nodded in response.

"Well, unfortunately, I have brought you in here because one of the sisters addressed some concerns about your skirt length." She says, reiterating dress code rules and how the uniform skirt length must fall below the fingertips.

I tried to argue by informing the principal that my arms are simply too long and if I got a larger size, I would then have to spend copious amounts of money to get the longer skirt tailored to fit my waist. Sister Rose did not buy into my speech but rather stood there with her arms crossed and sighed.

"Your mother is already on her way with an outfit that will be appropriate for the rest of the school day. Oh and, you will report to detention after school held by Father Rick. Please recite three Hail Mary's independently before returning to class." She said sternly before leaving me alone in her office once again.

Outside St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School for Girls, my mom pulls up in her minivan and marches out of the car slamming the door behind her and gripping a pair of khakis.

"Well, that was an interesting call to receive in the middle of my meeting."

"I'm sorry mom, but you and I both know that this dress code is bullsh-"

She gave me a death glare that immediately silenced my cussing.

"Hey, it's your genes that gave me my height and long arms okay? It's not all my fault."

"I never said anything was your fault Grace, but is it so unrealistic for me to hope that on your first day at a new school I don't get emergency calls from Sister Rose?"

"No..." I sighed

"Well here's your pants" she uncrossed her arms and handed them to me.

She gave me my pants and then pulled me in for a hug, she knew I was frustrated.

"Please try to stay out of trouble okay? I want what's best for you, that's all!"

She got back into her car and rolled down the window.

"And don't forget you have math tutoring during your study hall today!"

"Looking forward to it!" I smile sarcastically.

I wave as she drives away.

I stood outside the front of my school staring at the passing cars on the road. At this moment I truly contemplated walking into traffic. The second I turned around and walked back into school, all the stress would begin again. I have to figure out where the locker rooms are to change, find the lunchroom- if there's even have time for me to eat at this point. And on top of navigating the terrific life of being a senior in a new catholic school, I have given up my study hall for MATH tutoring. Although parent of me really hopes the tutoring helps, if my grades improve it will keep my mom off my back. I don't want a repeat of last year.

I took a few deep breaths and looked at the boy's campus across the street. From there it extended into the sports fields that wrapped around connecting to the girl's campus. The cafeteria building sat in between the two, so the girls and guys could have lunch together. I heard laughing in the outdoor eating area, one table of guys was being especially loud. I focused on this one boy looking in my direction, he had curly blondish hair and a noticeably sharp jawline. We made eye contact and he immediately looked away. I wonder if he saw my mom hand me my khakis, that would be embarrassing.