Chapter 2
When the chauffeur pulled up in front of Tribecca, I thought I was dreaming. It was huge. Even though my house was considered large, it was dwarfed by Tribecca. The entire building looked like it had been made a hundred or so years ago, made completely out of stone. I walked up the path in awe, staring up at the many windows and decorations scattered around the outside, and bumped into someone. My books and suitcases instantly tumbled to the ground and scattered around me. I heard a mumbled apology and looked up at the auburn haired girl kneeling next to me. “It’s my fault,” I said as she stacked my books for me.
“I know,” was the light hearted reply. The girl, about my age, smiled at me and extended a hand. “The name’s Ginger,” she said in a clipped English accent. She was tall and lanky, and her hair was cut into a choppy bob. Her accent, I thought, did not suit her. She seemed like the kind of girl who would always hang out with the boys, who would have a bit of attitude and always talk back to the teachers. She even made the school uniform look rock-chicky.The plain white button up shirt was untucked, and her navy and light blue tie was hung haphazardly around her neck. Her shirt was short and she had black stilletos on underneath. This was not what I pictured the girls here to look like. At all. Trying not to stare too much, I shook her hand and introduced myself.
“Oh, I know who you are, Harper Thomas. There’s been lots of talk about the bad-ass American girl with the rich father coming to stay. But I assure you, this is no ordinary English boarding school like you were expecting. Actually, I’d like to see you try to do half of the stuff we’re taught. But I’ll help you, if you like. I can already tell we’re going to be great friends.” She didn’t say in in a condescending way, just a completely honest one, but I was still a little insulted that she doubted my abilities. Not all rich Americans were princesses.
After I gathered my things, she linked her arm in mine and informed me that I would be staying in her dormitory with her, so I would have to keep everything clean and orderly. She was a strange girl, Ginger. For one, I expected her room to be the biggest mess in the whole place, but apparently not. She also seemed perfectly nice, but she had a way of saying insulting things in a way that they seemed like a compliment. Even though I barely knew her, I could tell she was going to be a good friend. Although her honesty, especially with things that should be left unsaid, was quite shocking. She was probably more real than half of my old friends. I had a feeling that with Ginger, what you saw was what you got.
When I arrived in the dormitory after a brief tour of the school, I was shocked to see how neat and, well, bare it was. It looked as if nobody lived here at all. The bed was made with hospital corners, without a piece of fabric out of place and all that was on her bedside table was an alarm clock and a class schedule. Straight away, I could tell that I would not fit in around here. I dumped my stuff on the floor and lay back on the surprisingly comfortable bed. Ginger was trying to hide a grimace at my messiness already, I could tell. During the tour, she had told me which classes were held in each room as we passed it, and she also recited a bunch of boring history about when it was made and who used to live there. I never understood history, to be honest. I found it pointless to learn about people who have been dead for a hundred years doing things that were, at that time, considered normal. Like: in the olden days, women used to bring all of their clothes outside to wash them by hand in the river. In a hundred or so years, would people find it interesting that we had to carry clothes to the washing machine? No, but they would probably pretend they did just to seem sophisticated.
I sighed and lay on my bed, exhausted already. Even though it was only early morning here, in America it would probably be the middle of the night. I imagined my life here yet again and had to hold back a scowl. Maybe I shouldn't have applied here at all. What felt like hours passed, Ginger coming and going, collecting stuff for me, and all I could do was try not to fall asleep.
As I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling, Ginger gathered all of the papers that I would need for the following day and sat them next to hers for “safe keeping”. As she put them down, one dropped and went under her bed. She didn’t seem to notice, so I walked over and reached under the bed, grasping around to try and find it. When I heard a gasp of surprise and anger, I looked up and pulled out the sheet.
“What are you doing?” Ginger demanded. “You can’t just go through people’s stuff like that. What if I had something really important down there? Not that I do, but honestly. I-” I cut her off by holding up the sheet of paper. “Oh,” she said, looking around guiltily. “Sorry. I just thought- Well, never mind.” As it was now nightfall, she lay in her bed, and I wondered how she didn't feel constricted under the tightness of the sheets. Even though I barely had the energy to move, I didn't feel like sleeping. Rolling onto my side, I started saying something to Ginger, But an announcement cut me off.
"Ladies, as it is now half past nine, we would appreciate it if you all turned off your bedroom lights. Mandy will be coming around to check them at ten, as per usual, and I hope you all sleep well." The announcement ended, and Ginger looked at me, weariness obvious on her face.
"See you tomorrow," she said and rolled away to turn off the light. She didn’t talk to me for the rest of the night after that.
A/N:
I know this isn't exactly that long, but I have been quite busy recently and didn't have the time to make it any longer. I know only a few people are actually reading this book, but in the hopes to get more readers, I'm going to wait until it has 5 votes to upload the next chapter. Sorry to those of you that actually read it, but I am going to try and get more publicity before I continue, so I thought five votes would be fair enough. And if I get them quickly, I'm not going to write up a new chapter straight away. Maybe a few days and then I'll update. Sorry, but patience is a virtue. Bye! :D
~Ella~
