Estrella

Chapter One

Brenna
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          I hate being in here, trapped and crowded in this small space. The dean had told me lights were supposed to be off at ten but I swear I can see light peeking from under my door. I shift to my side as I lay in bed, letting my plan playout through my head. I had spent a week and a half here already and I was already behind on it. But I guess I shouldn't have had such high expectations coming into this.
I was the new girl here which meant all eyes and ears were on me. People here were waiting for me to mess up, they wanted to gossip. They would soon, it just wouldn't be what they wanted to hear.
Letting out a sigh I watch as a shadow passes from under my door and then disappears. Alright I was officially done. Lights off at ten my ass. I get off my bed quickly and grab the black sweatshirt that hangs on the back of the chair. The chair lies in the middle of my room, and I let out a groan as I push it back into the desk.
Just having my stuff in here was too much and I didnt even have a lot of things. I seriously thought private schools were supposed to have bigger rooms.
          Letting out a breath I pull my hoodie on then grab my shoes, slipping them on. Before leaving I make sure to grab my phone, gloves, and pocket knife, slipping them into my pocket.
I hear silent laughter from outside my room and I pause, waiting a minute before opening the door. Slipping out I notice a lot of lights in the hall are all on and as I make my way towards the elevators I begin to hear music. It grows louder as I walk closer to the elevators and I roll my eyes, finally realizing that there's a party happening.
          I wonder what the dean would have to say about this.
Smiling I slip my phone out of my pocket and as I get closer towards the room hosting it I slip inside. My jaw almost drops though as I take in what's in front of me. My eyes scan the room as I stand still.
          Unlike my room at the end of the hall this room was large. Not huge but big enough to host most of the party in it. Why didn't I buy something more like this?
Shaking my head I get back to the task on hand. Tonight's plan was going to be tricky but thanks to the person throwing this they helped  make it a lot more easier.
I unlock my phone and go to the camera, pressing play. I video the whole room which involves drinking and dancing. I let it run for ten seconds before cutting it off then turning around, ready to head out.
But someone calls my name and then I feel a hand grab my arm. "Brenna, come on and have a drink, Lakeside wants to see what the new girl is made of," a guy said. I turn around, immediately recognizing him.
I had a couple of classes with him. "I'm alright Dalton, I'm a bit tired. Another time though?" I asked. Dalton looked at me and shook his head. "What the hell did you come here for then," he said laughing.
"Just to see what the noise was" I said as I got my arm out of his grip and made my way out of the room. I turned down the hallway back to where my room was just in case he watched me leave.
I wait next to the door for a minute before making my way past it casually and walking towards the elevators. Once I'm at the bottom floor I make my way outside and pull up my hood. I unlock my phone again and go onto instagram, quickly making a fake account and posting the video I took up in the room online. I add hashtags that will notify the dean that the school's name is being tagged in a post and then the rest will fall into place on its own.
          Walking down the dark and quiet sidewalk it's not long before I reach the small building that holds the dean's office. I get lucky right as I hide behind a bush outside the sight of his cameras that hang around the building, right as he walks out.
I can tell he's angry by the way he walks and I smile as he gets into his car, noticing a campus security guard pass him and head into the direction of my building.
Once the coast is clear I pull up an app I made on my phone a while ago and press the red button. It's a simple app but as I see the cameras around the building turn off, along with any others in a ten mile radius I smile, proud of myself.
I have to work quickly though. I doubt all the campus guards are dealing with that party so it's only a matter of time before they realize the cameras are offline and they send someone to go find and fix the problem.
I make my way up to the building, slipping on my gloves before jiggling the nob. When it doesn't budge I pull the bobby pin I keep hidden above my ear out of my hair and insert it into the door's lock. I've practiced this many times to make sure I was prepared that it takes me less than ten seconds before I hear it click open.
Putting it back into my hair I slip inside, closing the door behind me. I make my way to the end of the hall to where I know his office is and open the door. I keep my laugh at bay. How stupid do you have to be to leave your office unlocked?
Walking up to his desk I pull out the flashdrive I had stuck in the pocket of my sweatpants earlier today and input it into the computer. Turning it on I do my best not to move the keyboard as I type in a password. Over the past couple of months I'd been trying to figure his passwords out. While most of them were easy, the login to his computer was one of the harder ones.
I narrowed it down to three and when the first two didn't work I held my breath as I typed in the last one. Crossing my fingers I pressed enter and watched as the circle moved, then, finally, I was logged in.
Breathing out a breath of relief I wait patiently as the flash drive copies everything from his computer. I watch as the image on the screen moves, minutes passing before showing me that it's seventy two percent done. As the number keeps increasing the more my nerves build and when I hear whispers out in the hallway I freeze.
          It's at ninety eight percent and while the voices are faint, as if they just entered the building I know they will find me if I just keep standing here. I search the room for a place to hide but come up short. The only place that can hide me is under the desk so I wait patiently as the number goes up.
As it reaches ninety nine the footsteps grow closer and their voices become more clear. It sounds like the dean and another guy. I hold my breath, looking out of the office window and seeing them, glad that the window is tinted so I can see them but they can't see me.
As they grow closer I recognize it's the dean and his son. Clenching my jaw I look at the computer. It's still at ninety nine.
          "Come on," I whisper. It would be pretty lame if I got caught this early on. I see the dean reach for the door handle and I hold my breath, accepting that I will be found because even if I did hide he would see the computer on and the flashdrive in it.
But just as I think he might open the door I see his hand lash out, slapping his son. I stand there frozen as his son says something that makes the dean punch him. My stomach churns and when I see the computer say one hundred percent complete just as the dean begins to open his door I snatch it out, turn off the computer, and quickly go underneath his desk. I press my back against the wood of the desk, clutching the flash drive in my hand as I hold my breath.
"You need to stop being a reckless son of a bitch and take pride in who your family is. You're not half the man I was when I was your age," the dean snaps. I hear one of them laugh, probably Garrison, the dean's son.
          "You're right, I'm more," he says. It's the way he said it though that makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise.
"Bullshit," his father snaps. "Your fucking nothing-" he starts but Garrison interupts him. "Father," he says, but it sounds more like a threat. "Without me you wouldn't be here. I can do what I want, when I want. If I want to party I'll do that. If I want to fuck someone I will. If I want to drink and smoke I will. You want to know why?" Garrison says in a flat tone.
"Because I make my decisions. Your opinion and no one else's matter and if you ever lay a hand on me again I won't take it like I did just now. You know how the people you work with operate and I'll gladly do just that to you but I'll make it ten times worse. You hear me?" he says.
I sit there, shocked. This conversation sounds far off from the normal father and son conversations.
"Are you threatening me?" I hear the dean seeth. It's quiet for a moment as if he's thinking of his answer. "Yes," Garrison says.
          I hear a fist slam onto the desk, rattling it. Biting the inside of my cheek I wait for what's next. "You're going to regret that boy," he says.
"Threatening you? I would never regret that," Garrison says. It's quiet, too quiet before I hear some shuffling and than someone hiss.
"You're just talk and once everyone realizes that they'll look at you like you're a joke," his father says before the door to his office opens and shuts. I see shoes appear in front of the desk then disappear.
This happens a couple of times before I realize he's pacing. "Fuck," he shouts as I hear him punch something which I'll guess is the wall.
He breathes hard and the next thing I know he pulls out the chair to the desk and sits in it. I move back quietly as far as I can even though I'm already pressed up against the wood of the back of the desk.
I hear a lighter click then the smell of a cigarette reaches my nose. I roll my eyes, poor boy has daddy issues. If we were friends I'd tell him to check out the song Daddy Issues by The Neighborhood.
I don't have any of those yet and don't expect them either. The less time spent with a friend leaves me with more time to follow through with my plan.
It isn't until a couple minutes later he gets up from the chair and the small chuckle he lets out has me on alert. But then he's gone, leaving the room.