LUXURY

＂ Ｔｈｅ Ｆａｋｅ Ａｎｄ Ｔｈｅ Ｃｒａｚｅｄ ＂ (1/5)

The ear-splitting sound of the East Hampton Military School trumpet sent Erika Felix jolting upright, the horribly grey dorm room and the light shedding in through the divided window over her bed greeting her tired vision.

As usual, she had a series of emotions that might as well have been a yoga vinyasa.

1. The 'Where the Hell is she,' panic which consisted of short, quickened breaths and hyperventilating.

2. The 'Oh my gosh, I'm still in military school,' realization in which Erika Felix went into a simulation of cardiac arrest.

And finally, three; the 'I'm in military school and no one is coming to get me,' acceptance which Erika practically forced herself to hurdle through as she staggered out of bed, nearly falling face first on the wooden floor.

She used Cash Caldwell's equally dull bed sheets to pick herself up, her roommate's bed tidy and perfectly made like a meticulously-wrapped Christmas present. It was no surprise that Cash was already on her merry way to First Quarter before the bell even rang but Erika was far too muddled to even consider being a snooping bitch. She felt as if someone had taken the contents of her mind - everything she knew, everything she was certain of - and dumped it all inside a Vitamix Blender.

Begrudgingly, Erika sifted through her bunker until she produced a fresh new tacky uniform, tossing it on her bed and pulling out her boots - that needed a new shining ASAP - up by the shoelaces. Just thinking about wearing the school's dire clothing again made Erika slightly puke in her mouth, however, she had to take a deep breath and remind herself that this was she wanted.

She was no longer Erika Felix, Queen of Beverly Hills, Alabaster Preparatory School, and Rodeo Drive. That was why she hadn't tried to escape back to her kingdom in the first place. She was just a defeated, crazy, bastard, gay child of Matthew Felix and in order to fall with grace, she had to accept her fate - which wasn't working out exactly.

Not when all she could think about was her godawful file and the name Gabrielle Lakemond on the space reserved for Parent/Guardian! Why was Lakemond on her file? And what did that even mean?

Erika had a feeling she knew. In fact, she could feel the answer vividly in the back of her mind but she refused to entertain it.

She couldn't.

Standing upright with her fashion-assaulting clothes and boots, Erika padded out of the room, mechanically joining the busy throng of girls in horrid camouflage emerging from their dorms, lingering in the glossy tudor hallway, or practically running to their classes whilst still jumping into their pants.

Yet despite the hasty mood of the morning, that didn't stop the news of a student escaping to spread like last season's hand-me-downs. However, East Hampton military institute wasn't like Alabaster where gossip was fun, devious, and exciting. The 'cadets' talked like robotic newscasters as if everyone were far too fidgety to share an opinion.

"Jared Hayward got out last night. He still hasn't been caught."

"How unfortunate for the school. "

"They chased him across the field the entire night. Apparently, he took Janitor Edd's uniform and got past the cameras."

"Some might consider that clever or very disappointing."

"Check out the bulletin in the auditorium if you want more information."

Erika shuffled towards the dormitory bathroom, girls shoving her nonchalantly as they passed, all wearing glowers as if to say, 'this is for Cash.' However, Erika felt completely numb to each and every leer. All this time, she'd been fighting her enrollment at this atrocity of an institute and yet now, she'd never felt so rested with surrendering to it.