𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 ; Angus Tully

ONE

  "Do I have to?" Lola mumbled, looking out of the window of the old brown Chevy and out into the dreary New England weather.

  "Lola, this is a big deal," Her mother said, "Not every day someone is picked to be the first girl at a very nice academy, isn't that right dear?"

  Her father nodded, "That's right. Think of all those amazing offers you'll get after school. You're bound to find a great office job!"

  Lola scrunched up her nose at the thought as she crossed her arms over her red sweater. A pit in her stomach set as her father pulled into the long driveway to the school's main building. She watched old and young teenage boys walk around the campus, her eyes stopped on a fairly new-looking building, which must've been the new girl's dorms they had been building.

  She held her breath until the very last stop was felt, her father and mother turned, as the car was switched off. She watched her parents get out of the car before she climbed out. Slowly she made her way to the trunk where her clothes and other school supplies waited.

  Lola wanted to cry at this point. She didn't want to leave her family and friends and everyone else to embark on the new school. She hated the thought of all the teenage boys, hell she could hardly handle the few at her old high school so she didn't know how she was going to do this.

  The worry must've been etched on her face, as her mother took her hand, "Lola, you are going to be just fine, okay? You're gonna knock this school year outta the park!"

  Lola didn't say anything as she offered a tight smile.

  Her father handed her, her books and backpack as he pulled the suitcases out, "You'll be fine Lola-Bear! You're the smartest girl I know," He ruffled her hair.

  Lola stifled a small laugh at the nickname he's used on her since she was a small child, "I'll be fine. It's just I'm gonna miss you. All of you."

  "And your father and I," She nodded towards the taller man, "And your brothers and sister will all miss you dearly!"

  Lola hugged both of them, saying her goodbyes as they made their separate ways: hers to the Headmasters and theirs to drop her stuff off and head home.

  She quickly rushed towards the main building, basically jogging to escape the chilly weather. She threw one last glance from her parent's fleeting car and began her first steps into Barton, which was awful, terrible, and every other negative adjective she could think of. The building was beautiful but the feeling of loneliness soon set in as she quickly made her way through the hallway, books held close to her chest.

  "A girl?"

  "Who is she?"

  "Why is she here?"

  "Maybe she's a secretary?"

  Remarks and comments being whispered as she rushed to the headmaster's office, trying to get as far away from the other students as possible.

  As fast as she could she thanked the headmaster for his time, thanked him for the scholarship and opportunity to attend the school, and thanked him for her schedule, and just like that she was out of there.

  She had followed a Miss Crane to where she was staying, a small dormitory with two floors, she stopped in front of her room, the entire building all to herself. Miss Crane offered her a sweet smile as she left her to finish unpacking and get settled in for her big day tomorrow.

  Lola hated it. She hated all of it. She cursed at her parents for making her attend the school, she didn't care how big of a deal it was she hated it so much. The building was so quiet it freaked her out, chills ran down her arm as she checked to make sure her door was locked.

  The sun was still out but it was bound to be setting soon. She was hungry, starving from the car ride up here but she didn't want to face whatever was waiting for her at the dinning hall.

  Lola shuddered as she reached down for the finale suitcase, filled with winter clothes and a few shoes she had packed. She slowly filled the small wardrobe up with sweaters and jackets as she placed her shoes on the floor. The last thing in the bag made her frown.

  A small note with a scratchy "we love you" her father must have written, she flipped it over to a picture of her family. Her mom and dad sat in the middle, Lola sat directly in the middle of her them, as her four elder brothers and eldest sister surrounded them.

  A loud yell made her drop the photo as she picked it up she watched a group of older boys toss a football around. They seemed to have noticed her as a boy with long blonde hair waved and smiled up at her. She slowly raised her hand in a small wave as the boys laughed and continued on to what she assumed was the dinning hall.

  Deciding then and there she was not going to dinner and would rather go to bed hungry then converse with a large group of immature boys.

  As she lay in bed she kept telling herself tomorrow morning would be a better day.