One Little Favor

Chapter 1

I opened the small letter, gasping as I read the words written in bold. My excited mother breathed down my neck as my eyes followed the script. I gulped several times as I read the first sentence.

You have been accepted.

Accepted, I have been accepted to the private high school. I don't even know why I applied.

Wrong, I didn't apply, it was my mother. She hadn't stopped nagging about how a new school would get me away from my past, she also continued to ask me my plans for the nearing future, but I honestly didn't have much of an idea of what that would be. The school was close enough that if I rode my bike it would only take an hour, but something inside me told me that I was nervous for other reasons.

"Mom," I paused looking back at her wide grin, "I got acc-"

"Oh my gosh honey! You are the first of our family to get into a prestigous school! I know you only got in based on a scholarship but consider yourself lucky." she beamed, cupping my shoulders to rub them to soothe my nerves. I blinked blankly only to fold back up the letter and tuck it into the envelope.

"I know mom." I thought aloud, she was so happy that they accepted my grades, if only Icould some how take this letter back though. I couldn't fit alongside those students, I was poor, and unless majority of them got in on an acceptance letter I would be an outcast. I shrugged my shoulders to throw off the idea and walked away an into my room. Starting Monday, I would attend Underwood Private School. Mother said we would pick up my uniform from the dry cleaners tomorrow and hang them up. Only two days until I began school again.

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I huffed as my mom picked up the small plaid skirt. I thought they only wore those in movies for the girls to look attractive, my medium frame made the skirt hug my waist. The blue fabric brushing my mid-thigh. I looked into the mirror beside me, nearly throwing up. My brown hair which had been swept into a side pony, was loose and the no longer tight curls threatened to become frizzy. My black jacket had golden buttons down the center, along with a golden emblem that marked the breast of the jacket. I sighed, I looked like a cartoon character. My mom smiled, she was only happy I'd get a better education than if I were to go to a local public school. I'd have to make new friends now, and God knows what else I'd have to face. My mother left for a minute to rummage through her closet, before appearing with two long black pieces of cotton. She held them up. Socks. I slid them up past my knee, annoyed at the silly outfit I would have to wear but decided I better get used to it.

After cluing myself in to what I was wearing tomorrow, I decided to know the route I would be taking on my bike. I walked around to the back of my small house, unlocking the shed to pull out my dusty bike. It was rusted since I normally walked to my high school, but eleventh grade would be different, Underwood would be different. I tugged on the wheels and guided the handles to the front lawn, hopping on before I pedaled down the many streets. It was a little past noon so I could be seen by drivers and I didn't have the fear of being out til dark. It was a far way but I managed to get there in thirty five minutes, thankfully enough to catch my breath. I Looked up at the enormous walls that made up the stone building.

It looks more like a college or court house than a school.

A small fountain was off to each side, along with benches and a path leading down to a garden. This honestly was not a school. I pulled my bike over to the statue resting in the middle of the water, leaning my bike against the fountain because the kick-stand was broken. I sat down, pulling out my phone to take a picture for my friends at my old school. I nearly jumped ten feet when someone cleared their throat only feet behind me. I sprung off the bench, whirling around to see a guy about my age standing with his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets. He had on a graphic t-shirt that read 'Bad Boy' making me roll my eyes before meeting his.