Turns out I've fallen asleep as I hear a muffled female voice trying to wake me up. It's already dark outside I suppose hours have passed. Slowly opening my eyes I see the girl from earlier hovering over me repeating my name. Sitting up in my bed and look at her in confusion.
"Clara? Oh you're already awake. You have to get ready for the reception there's no time." explains the girl.
"What? Reception, what are you talking about? Who are you?" I attack her with my questions.
"I'm Brianna your roommate." she smiles brightly at me. "Also I'm talking about the festive dinner we're having here twice a year. It's for funding a charity organization. You should start getting ready."
"But I don't have any clothes for the occasion. Don't tell me we're supposed to wear formal attire." I whisper.
"It's mandatory but in your case I suppose it's not fatal, since you're new here." Brianna responds while picking out a dress.
"Then I guess I can wear my uniform, I hope it does the job." I say while taking it off the clothing rack, all clean and ready to wear.
I go into the dressing room to change and go back to the bedroom. Inside I see Brianna already ready and waiting for me. She walks up to me and smiles.
"Let's go together I will show you where the ceremony hall is." she says while offering me a hand.
"Sure and thank you!" I nod as we both head out.
Entering the hall, I see how festively decorated the whole place is. At the very end there are tables as well as a podium with a performance area. I catch some soft music playing in the background and of course I also notice how formally dressed everyone else is. *I'm definitely going to stand out with that outfit.* Sighing quietly I continue to walk in, slightly hiding behind Brianna.
"Brianna? Where were you, I looked for you everywhere?" complains a boy coming our way.
"I'm here Mike, I had to do something important." she replies looking at me.
"Who's that girl? Is she new here?" he tilts his head to the side.
"Yes she is, meet Clara. Clara this is my friend Mike." Brianna explains.
"Nice to meet you, I hope she hasn't told you anything bad about me." he chuckles.
"I've never heard of you before." I respond blankly.
Awkward silence fills the space between us. *I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood for witty comments.* It would've been so much nicer if I could just go back home but no, what a wonderful opportunity to become more social.
"Anyways, let's go up to our table." Brianna says while trying to ease out the atmosphere.
Taking our seats, I hear someone testing the microphone behind me and I turn around to see, that it is the headmistress Mrs. Brown herself.
She greets us all and begins to talk about the purpose of tonight's dinner. She addresses a few words to the teachers as well as to the founders. After which it all ends with a toast.
"Have a wonderful night everyone!"
she says by getting off the stage.
We all applaud her then start eating. To be honest, I'm not hungry at all, so I take a few small bites and then lean on my arm, slowly closing my eyes. *I wonder if it's okay to call Miss Devon later or is it too soon?* Looking around I hear Mike talking to me.
"By the way, why are you in uniform, didn't you know about the event?" he furrows his eyebrows.
"No I didn't, it caught me by surprise you can say?" I mutter out quickly.
The music suddenly changes and some of the students get up to dance. Brianna and Mike are also eager to join and they try to make me get up as well. I hesitantly agree and we all walk up towards the dancing area. I don't really know how to dance so I just stand up like a pole in the middle of
the hall and stare with a blank expression on my face. At that very moment, I see someone approaching me.
"Don't know how to dance?" the guy says while smirking.
It's the same guy I talked to in the hallway earlier. I still don't even know his name.
"No, not really? How about you?" I ask, looking up at him.
"I'd say I'm pretty good, in my opinion. I can teach you, if you'd like." he says offering me a hand.
"Sure, by the way, what's your name? You never got to tell me." I accept his offer.
"Sorry about that. My name is Steven. And you?" he leans in.
"I'm Clara, and it's alright. I assumed you were busy, since you rushed off pretty quickly." he continues showing me the steps.
"I was, I mean I am a part of-" Steven gets cut off suddenly.
"Partner switch!" yells the headmistress, as everyone finds someone else to dance with.
I turn around and see all the other students already paired up. As I look here and there, a boy appears in front of me and takes a hold of my hands without saying a word. *Wait, isn't that the same silhouette, I saw earlier today?*
YOU ARE READING
The secret in my heart
General FictionAfter Clara's parents move to a different country and let her grandfather look after her, he passes away and she is forced to go to a boarding school. At the age of sixteen, she realizes that her grandfather has been hiding a big secret from her. Wi...
