Princess {Currently Being Updated}

Chapter 3

The winter rain was a welcomed distraction to my thoughts. I never understood people who didn't like rain. Too much sun scorches the ground and gives the earth a crusty feeling, like it was fake or overused. It bleached everything it touched and at one point of sunset of a long dry month, everything looked hauntingly pale and hollow. I couldn't imagine how people could learn to like the summer. Winter on the other hand had a redeeming factor that it healed. The days were shorter. The light would be a pale blue, like the light that would peek behind your blinds on a relaxed Sunday afternoon. And then there was rain. Rain that would wash out and restore life to what was once dry and stale. The ground would be buoyant again and the grass a living green color, or at least be on its way.

Anyways, I loved the rain. It had a nice smell after it was gone and the rest of the day would have a nice light, not too bright and not to dark. It was the perfect weather to study, read, or just stroll.

Today it was a comfort to my stress of meeting Dr. Hill.

Her office door was open already, and I could hear her voice from across the hall. She wasn't mad, or yelling. Despite being one of the most prestigious schools in the area, management had obviously cut corners and the hallway carried sounds a little too well. Entering the room, I found another student already seated in one the available seats in front of her desk. I took the one immediate to the door. She was one of the booster club students. I'm not entirely sure how the booster clubs worked in most schools, but at least in this University, they were a type of hierarchy.

You can imagine that in a school this high in the scholastic community, there was more than one level of competition among the families. This was an old school, so there were many old families that had been bred to come to this school. For generations, families had come here, grown up together like some sort cult. There were family rivalries spread through out every activity this school had to offer: academic, sports, clothing, transportation, and the usual family holiday parties. But none so more aggressive than the Booster Club.

In order to have a membership AU's Booster Club, there were several qualifications that seemed to stem from how much money can your family donate to the school. There were other qualifications, I'm sure, since most of their children were high ranking students in the school body, but not many.

I've ventured too much on the subject. She had the booster club cap and oversized T-shirt that covered her shorts and was seated next to me.

"Dr. Hill," I greeted pleasantly and received a short nod. It caught me off guard for sure, given how close we had become in the last semester.

"Well, now that we're all here, we can begin." She folded her hands on her desk and gave the stacks of papers in front of her a hard look. "Whenever something like this happens, I report it quickly. However, I wanted to hear from you two first." She looked us both carefully in the eye, "You both turned in identical papers."

There was an uncomfortable pause. I looked over to the girl sitting next to me, unable to process the information. "Are you sure?" I stuttered.

"Yes."

My thoughts raced back to when I was at the library. I printed my work. I made sure it was mine.

It had my name at the top corner.

Yes.

It had my section number.

Yes.

I didn't use it for any other class.

No.

Okay, I know I had written it and I know the paper I turned in was mine. Right. How do I prove it? I had no idea where my flash drive was.