Heartbreak Hotel: This Place Hotel

Chapter 15: Doleful Child

When I became a junior in high school I was offered a chance to go to one of the most popular musical schools in Brooklyn. My piano teacher at the school I attended saw potential in me and spoke to Sasha about the programs it had to offer. Of course, Sasha was reluctant to let me go because I would have to take a subway on my own to get there. I was only fifteen years old, and she didn't think I could handle the responsibility, but after Liana had talked to her, she decided to let me go. It would be a good opportunity for me, she said. She has too much talent to just throw it all away, she said. It wasn't really a decision for either of them to make. It was mine, and because I hated the school I went to, I decided that performing arts would have been better for me.

I remember the first day of my favorite class, Creative Writing I. The class only consisted of fifteen student including myself, and we were all females. Our teacher was a young woman petite woman, with thick brown hair, fair skin, and high cheek bones. She wore a skirt and a suit jacket with a colorful scarf that was stuffed inside, and she would always have a pencil stuck behind her right ear. She was a friendly woman, but she has her boundaries. No talking while she's talking was the biggest one. She used to always sit at her desk with her short legs crossed in front of the other and a clipboard in her lap. And she always had a smile on her face as she looked at us as if she had known us personally all our lives.

"We are going to start by introducing ourselves," She said in a sing-song voice. She slid off her desk and straightened her skirt. "My name is Susan Kelly," She wrote it out on the chalk board in fancy cursive letters. " My favorite color is blue, I write well, and I am here because I love to teach." She them turned to is and gave a quick smile. "Now it is your turn. Tell us your name, age, what you do well, and why you are here." It was then that her eyes fell on to me. She walked up to my desk and smiled down at me. "You're new here?"

Slowly, I made eye contact with her. I only nodded my head.

"Why don't you go first," She offered.

It was at that moment that I hated for being seated on front of the class. That way I was usually looked over. No one noticed me if I sat there quietly enough. As I stood up, I heard whispers coming from some of the other girls in the room. One of them, a blonde whispered to her friend, "She dresses like a boy." I ignored the comment and walked in front of the class.

I remember all the curious eyes of each one of the girls in the room. All looked like rich preppy girls who had money and fancy cars. Nothing that I could relate to. I looked back at Miss. Kelly and she mouthed the words "go on" to me. I shook my head and sighed. " My name is Aj. I am-"

"What kind of name is Aj?" Asked the blonde who said I looked like a girl.

I turned my head towards her, giving her an annoyed look. " It's a name," I told her.

"What's your real name, Aj?" Miss Kelly asked me.

I let out a long sigh, rolling my eyes towards the ceiling. "It's Aaliyah. Aaliyah Haughton."

"Aaliyah," she nodded, with an impressed look on her face. "Very different name. How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen," I said. "I play piano well, and I don't know why I'm here."

I started back towards my desk but she stopped. " Wait. What do you mean?"

"By what?"

"Why don't you know why you're here?"

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. "Like I said, I don't know."

"Well, you said that you play piano well. You must be really good at it if you got into this school."