Elite Hearts - Chaennie (gxg)

Twelfth

Rosé

It was Thursday, and I was back in this hellhole. I mean, this amazing and totally cool school. Last week, after talking with some of the school veterans, I discovered two things. First, yes, there are some nice people here—very few, but they do exist. And the probability that these nice people are scholarship holders? Very high. Second, during this first week, there’s literally nothing to do at this school. We won’t have any classes before the trip, which is next week, so there’s no real reason for me to be here. That’s why I went back to the apartment my mom rented for me, which is way too big for just one person. My mom is always extravagant like that. She stayed with me for two days, then returned to our hometown where her record label is based, leaving me alone with a bunch of memorabilia from her shows—autographed souvenirs and such. According to her, people at school would ask for them.

After my mom left, I spent the rest of the week alone. And now, here I am again, just one day before the trip.

The first thing I did was text Lisa. She had also gone home last week, so we agreed to meet when we got back to school. Before she replied, I headed to my room to change into the school uniform. As I walked to the building and opened the door, of course, my bad luck struck—Amber was there.

I walked in without saying a word and went to my bed, only to realize that my posters weren’t there. I looked around and saw them on my desk. I don’t understand why they picked on my Shawn Mendes posters—could be worse, it could be a picture of my mom in her short clothes.

“Why did you guys move my things?” I asked Amber, who was sitting on her bed, eyes glued to her phone. She didn’t even bother to reply. I felt a surge of anger rise inside me. I had been calm all week, but the moment I stepped back into this place, I was already losing it. I marched over to her, grabbed her phone, and held it behind my back as she tried to snatch it back. "Answer my question," I demanded.

She gritted her teeth. "This isn’t just your room. We need to come to an agreement," she said, crossing her arms.

"I don’t want any agreement," I shot back, getting more irritated by the second.

"You’re not going to do whatever you want here," she said, her temper rising too. "Me and my friends are the most popular girls in this school. If I were you, I’d behave."

I couldn’t help but laugh. "Oh, look how scared I am," I said, shaking my hands in mock fear.

"This school has no place for you," she snapped, standing up from her bed. "Do you want to know where my friends are right now? They’re in the director’s office, asking to have you removed from this room."

"I hope they succeed," I said, slipping her phone into my back pocket. Then, I pushed her back down onto her bed, holding her shoulders down as I leaned over her. "You and your friends are so loyal, right? So loyal that you say horrible things about each other when no one’s around," I said, remembering Sarah trash-talking Judy while making out with a girl in this very room, a girl I clearly remembered being called Jennie.

"What are you insinuating?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Ask Sarah what she said about Judy to Jennie," I replied, standing up and letting her go.

"Stop lying. You’re not going to turn us against each other," she said, her face turning red with anger.

"Believe whatever you want," I said, pulling her phone out of my pocket and tossing it onto her bed. I grabbed my clothes and headed to the bathroom to change into my uniform.

Inside the bathroom, I couldn’t help but remember that this was the place where Sarah and Jennie had hooked up. I looked around, wondering how anyone could get in the mood in such an unromantic setting. Shaking off the thought, I decided to take a shower. My hair was a mess, and I spent about 40 minutes fixing it. If I didn’t take care of it, I’d end up looking like Sarah. Once I was dressed in the uniform, I was surprised to see it actually looked good on me. I checked my phone and saw a message from Lisa—she was waiting for me in the cafeteria.