Serendipity

Chapter 4

"Carmen!" Mom says. "Oh, thank goodness! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

It's eleven thirty now, and the house is packed with guests.

I regret wearing red because all the graduates are in red.

"Oh?" I frown.

I hate these events and I hate all the people in South Hampton. Everyone knows I'm rich here, so I don't have any real friends, just fake friends that want their greedy hands on my money.

For the past three years, every time I attend an event, I always think the same thing.

I should've dragged Delaney here.

I'm feeling that now. I wish her and Ari were here.

She has a guy who is roughly my age in a tuxedo on her arm.

Here we go.

I internally groan.

I just wanna get some fucking Dairy Queen and go lay in bed.

"Carmen, do you remember Diane Marks?" she asks.

"Yes." I say.

"This is her son, Anthony. Anthony, this is my daughter, Carmen."

"It's lovely to meet you." Anthony smiles. He kisses the back of my hand.

"You too." I say quietly.

My clutch starts to vibrate.

"Excuse me." I say.

Mom is going to kill me. I turn around and walk away, digging my phone from my purse.

It's Delaney.

I press answer, holding my phone to my ear.

The classical music and the guests are being too loud for me to hold a conversation, so I rush up the staircase to the second floor.

I use my key to unlock my bedroom dor and let myself in.

I shut the door and lock it.

"Hey Del." I sigh.

"Look, I know you're fucking busy and shit, but those guys just broke our door down and I've been at the Dean's office for three hours getting blamed for it, and now I've been expelled."

"What? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No! Ari is in just as deep shit as I am! I lost my fucking scholarship! I need help! I know u hate when people use you, but-"

"No, no, this would be affecting me just as badly if I were there. I was going to tell my Mom anyways. Don't leave campus, I'm going to get my parents right now."

I hear the sound of crying.

"Ari got expelled also! Oh my god!"

"I'll be right back, stay on the phone."

I exit my room, locking it again, and I go back downstairs, my eyes searching the crowd for my mother.

I find her talking to Anthony, probably making an excuse for me.
"Mom, I need to speak with you and Dad."

"Why? Can it wait?" she asks. "I'm busy."

"No, it can't wait."

She nods, worried, and starts to follow me, grabbing Dad along the way.

I go up to my room and unlock the doorand close it behind them.

"Remember how I told you at the beginning of the year that there was guys in the room next door who were harassing me and Ari and Del?"

"Yes." Mom says.

"Well, they've kept it up. They try anything to get us to take our clothes off. The other day they threw a rock through the window! The Dean did nothing!"

Mom's face is of pure disgust, but she nods, patiently waiting for me to continue.

"Then this morning, which is why I was late, they set up some type of trap and poured honey all over me, Del, and Ari. We had to go to the rec center to shower because it she showered at the dorms they'd come in the bathroom and see us naked. Now, Delaney is on the phone, and apparently they literally broke the door down, and they twisted the story so that Ari and Delaney got in trouble, and now they're been expelled from school."

I put Delaney on speaker, but she's been listening and she doesn't say a word.

"Okay. I'll call right away."

She uses the house phone in my bedroom and dials the school number.

"You know the number by heart?"

"Yes, of course!"

I hear Delaney snicker on the other line.

It rings a few times.

"Hi, this is Amelia Schuler. I need to speak with the Dean." There's a short pause. "No, it cannot wait. Yes, Amelia Schuler."

She puts the phone on speaker.

We're all silent, listening in.

"Hello?"

"Is this Dean Michael?"

"Yes. Speaking?"

"This is Amelia Schuler."

I hear the Dean sigh, and I struggle to hold in laughter.

I hear Delaney doing the same thing.

"Yes, I believe you know why I'm calling. My daughter and her two friends are being harassed. This is not okay. I refuse to allow my daughter and her friends to be treated so terribly. I want the boys to get their rightful punishment-"

"Mom, I don't want them expelled." I whisper.

"no expulsion." Mom adds. "I want the door to the dorm room fixed, and I was Delaney and Ariella enrolled back into the school, and I want their scholarships back."

"Ma'am, once the scholarships are gone, I can't get them back. It's a whole other system."

"Then I'll pay the tuition."

"Alright, okay."

"If you fail to oblige to my request, I will be pulling my donation, and I will by the veterinarian hospital off of your hands, since it was my family's money that put it there in the first place."

"Right, yes, I'll do this immediately."

"Thank you very much."

Mom hangs up.

"There sweetie, it's settled."

Her and Dad walk out after I thank her, and then I sit on my bed.

"She just paid our tuition?" Delaney asks quietly.

"Yeah."

"I don't...need charity." She mutters.

"Now you understand how I feel." I whisper.

Silence.
"Wow. Well, tell her thank you."

"I did. I'm gonna be home tomorrow and we'll figure out anything else together."
"Okay. I gotta go, the Dean is calling."

"Alright, love you bitch."

"Love you too, whore."