My High School Adventure

Chapter 5

Jack's POV
Alex and I were walking to Advanced English behind Tori and her old, England friends after lunch. I don't think they saw us though because they didn't even glance in our direction. They were laughing and talking when they turned into the classroom. We were about to, when we heard Margaret yell, "Leave us alone, you traitor and jerk!" We pause, looking at each other. Nodding, we hide under a window so we can listen and watch without being caught. "How can you call me a traitor when you are the one who started the fight?" we hear Winston say. Alex and I peek at them and see Winston bringing his hands down on Margaret. Tori winces, but quickly moves and covers Margaret, closing her eyes. Before Winston hits her though, Alastair steps in front of Tori and grabs Winston's hands. Tori looks over at them and turns to Winston. She glares at him and growls, "I know I wasn't strong enough to stop you then, but I am now, so don't try that on anyone again." We hear laughs around the corner and get up. We see "the geeks" round the corner and with them, we walk into the classroom. Tension laced throughout the room. Tori turns, ignoring the rest of us after a little wave and wipes Margaret's tears away and they whisper back and forth. They all sit down, and I catch a glimpse of Tori's eyes. They're not as clear as usual, but they look like a stormy sea calming down. Her and Jessie give each other weird looks and then get to work. I glance back at Winston, who's glaring at Alastair. Alastair, is staring at Tori, who's trying her hardest to get to work. I need to figure out what's happening and fast. Before I lose her.
Tori's POV
Ring! Ring! The bell! Finally! I get up, gathering my things and head to the giant tree at the front of the school. When I get there, I climb to the tallest branch I can and sit down. Soon after me, Jack, Alex, Katelyn, Lacey, Jessie, Marge and Al show up. We all talk and eventually, Jack, Alex, and Al climb into the tree with me. After about half an hour, Jennifer, Megan and Taylor walk up to us, with Winston hot on their trail. "Hello... Alex, Jack, Geeks. Oh, and hi Margaret. Alastair!" Jennifer greets. "You know Margaret, Alastair, you're hanging out with the wrong people. Actually, you're all hanging out with the wrong person," Jennifer continues, staring bullets at me. Everybody turns a little and realize what she meant. "She's not who you think she is. Why did she move here? What is Dove Heights? Why is she so mad at Winston? What happened to her parents? Who is her legal guardian?" Jennifer stops, looking at every single one of my friends. "See, the point is, you don't really know her. You can ask her these questions yourselves, but if you want honest answers, come to us. Winston, here, has known her for a while." She smiles and walks off, giggling with her posse. Everything's silent until I was done with it. I jumped from my branch, grabbing onto a vine. After spiraling down, I say, "Okay, I admit, I haven't really explained a lot about myself yet. If you all have questions about me, come to my house tonight. Do not invite anybody else." With that, I grab my stuff and head to my last class.
~Time Skip to After School~
When I get home, I find a note on the island from Rupert, saying that he had some business to attend to in the big city. I throw the note away and go to finish my homework. After I'm done, I grab a banana from the kitchen. I clean up the kitchen and then the living room, preparing it for my friends. Around 6:30, I hear my doorbell. I open the door to see all of my friends. I let them in and we all get settled in the living room. "Okay, to make this easier, I'm gonna tell you the story of why I moved here. Then, I'll answer any additional questions," I inform them, preparing myself to tell my life story. "I lived in New York City until I was 10. Then my parents, who were professors, got a promotion in London, so we moved there. My parents were paid well, so they hired a butler to watch over me when they worked late shifts or went on trips. I loved living there. I had good friends, including Al and Marge, I was popular, I had an amazing boyfriend, Winston. My life couldn't seem to be better. That's when it all fell apart." I pause, taking a deep breath. Marge, knowing what came next, sat next to me and grabbed my hand, leaning her head on my shoulder to comfort me. I continued, "A few weeks after my birthday, my parents went missing. They didn't show up for weeks. To make matters worse, Winston would get mad at me for spending my nights with my friends or studying, so whenever I would do something to aggravate him, he'd hurt me. When I told my friends, he found out and spread a rumor that I just claimed my parents were missing for publicity and pity. Because I was popular, most people believed him and I was an outcast to the school. A girl, who I thought was my friend, helped him spread the rumor because she was jealous of me. I eventually didn't go to school anymore and Rupert decided to move us here, to give us a new life." I take another deep breath after that. I finalize my story, stating, "I broke up with Winston soon after the rumor began spreading. That's why he's so mad at me." I take a deep breath, clapping my hands together. "So, any other questions?" I ask. Lacey raises her hand and says, "Why did Alastair, Margaret and Winston move here?" I hesitate, not knowing the answer to that question myself. Alastair takes a deep breath before telling us, "After Marge and I found out that Vic moved because of the rumor and because of what Winston was doing to her, we were furious. Marge confronted the girl who helped Winston, Madeline, and they started yelling at each other at lunch. Madeline threw a punch and before I knew it, they started an all out brawl. Winston stepped in and almost hit Marge but I hit him first. The principal came out in the middle of it all, and we all got expelled. Our parents thought it was best that we moved too, so we moved here. Madeline, luckily, didn't. She moved to Hollywood." I nod, smiling. "Thanks guys," I say, side hugging them. "Any others?" I ask. Nobody says anything. "Great, then who wants to watch a movie? Rupert won't be back for a while and it's a Friday!" Everybody nods and we start watching Avengers: The Age of Ultron. At around 11pm, I hear the sound of the mail flap opening. I run and see a letter on the ground, addressed to me. Almost everybody's asleep, so I open it and the first page reads, "Dear Victoria Summers, we regret to inform you that your parents, Casey and Daniel Summers, were found dead in an alley. They seemed to have died to stab wounds after a mugging. We are still searching for the criminals and will inform you as soon as possible when we have an update. We are sorry for your loss." Tears come to my eyes. I choke a sob as I slide to the floor. No. No. No! This can't be happening! I bang my head against the wall, waking a few people up. "Vic?" Marge whispers. I see her form and Al's round the corner into the kitchen. "Oh! Vic! What happened!?!" Marge cries, running and crouching next to me. "Th-They're, they're dead!" I choke. Marge reads the first page of the letter. "I'm so sorry Vic! This is horrible! I have no idea what you're going through!" Marge cries, louder than last time, waking everybody else up. I sob into her shoulder as I feel the walls that I tried to hard to build crumple. Behind my sobs and the heaving of my breath, I hear people asking what's wrong, but Al explains it to them and they all fall silent. After a few minutes, I regain composure and build my walls back up. I get up and say, "Honestly, I don't know what else I thought could've happened to them. I mean, I knew deep down that they weren't coming back." Everybody says they're "I'm sorry"s and leave. I go up to my room with the letter and fall asleep, crying into my pillow.