Finding love in the lies of Greenhill Valley

1 | Kings and Queens

1992

Ellie Delarose. Commonly called Eleanor due to the more sophisticated hierarchy-ness that it held. And my was she true to her name. She ruled every inch of Luxford high school and no one dared to step in her tracks; not even her band of beauty queens who had toenail insurance or the pack of jocks strung to her belt.

The way her dark blonde hair bounced down the squeaky hallways had everyone envy every cell of of her body, and her immaculate wardrobe which she had never had an outfit repeat for the past two years. Two years ago was the day that all hell broke loose in Greenhill Valley. Cliques were formed, drugs and alcohol were abused but most of all it was the day that Miss Eleanor arrived.

The day that I arrived.

Yes, this isn't some story about the time a geek befriended the high school Miss Popular. But in fact it is about me, Eleanor Delarose and how my seemingly perfect high school dream fell apart when I found out the secrets that were woven in every crack of this dammed town.

Plowing down the hallways was a carer of mine, ever since I moved here. I had moved to Greenhill from a deserted village in northern Canada when I was at the peaking age of 16. And fell into line at some mediocre high school with trashy teachers. You'd think that with all the wealth my family runs on I'd be sent to a prestigious school, but Luxford was the only school around here for at least tens of miles. I had been smart before popularity became who I was. There were a lot of things I missed in fact; but being perfect ran in every vessel of my body and had imprinted my soul.

--

Summer break had been nothing short of boring. My parents didn't let me out of town to go drink and live my teenage years the right way, due to the fear of my Mom losing her pristine reputation. She was an actress and was never around which left my Dad and I eating take out each night. But I'm not complaining, it's my waistline that is.

I turned on the heating of my car whilst waiting outside Ariels house to take her to school. It was still summer but Greenhill never saw a ray of sunshine all year, even in late July my windscreen had a thin layer of frost. After what seemed hours I saw a flash of red hair walking towards my car.

"Heya Ellie!" She exclaimed, too bright and cheerful for this time of morning.
I grunted in response.

Ariel was not her real name, she'd picked it up sometime in sophomore year; probably something a former jock boyfriend called her. But it stuck. She had deep red hair hence the name, but I'd never found the time to ask if it was natural.

The five of seven parking spaces that belonged to my group were not filled yet, so a glimmer of hope that summer had not altered the food chain simmered in my gut.

The pale faced freshmen and their parents littered the car park, almost mowing a few down in my path. My timetable was mediocre and on top of that no one I knew were in my classes. Seeing as I knew practically the whole school I was surprised and let down that I wouldn't be able to feast on any summer gossip today.

School was a drag. Isn't it always? Even life on the top doesn't get me out of assignments and awful small talk between people you wish were never born. Especially Sebastian.

I'd hoped that his parents had found his stash of drugs over summer and shipped him off to boot camp. But the result was not in my favour. I hadn't talked to him for months. So much for being prom king and queen.