The Secret Of The Crystal Palace

1. That Night...

Hello, my name is Livi. This is my story. It may seem a bit lame and cliché at first but if you have the perseverance then you will be sure to carry on.

I used to live in a lovely manor house in Kent. It was all ok until I got offered a place at an amazing boarding school in a miniscule village in Dorset . I took it and was forced to move away from my family for months. It was an amazing life. For some. It just wasn't for me.

On my first day I was so scared until i met my room mate ,Belle, and she took care of me right away.

She was very confident and witty, but I soon got used to her. We used to hang out together all of the time until she had to leave.

Her parents were getting divorced so she had to move to London to live with her mother. I was heartbroken and so was she. We decided to keep in touch and exchanged phone numbers.

I soon made friends with another girl called Elena. We were close, but I always missed Belle. Within the two years that Belle left to go to London and I made friends with Elena, I had also met a boy.

He was called Louis, and we were going out. He was so kind and was always there for me if i needed to talk to him about anything.

One day I woke up early as normal at school and went downstairs in my dorm to have breakfast. I was just walking down the stairs deep in conversation with Elena when the head teacher (Ms Taylor) said i needed to go to her office.

I was frightened, immediatly thinking I had done something seriously wrong. Ms Taylor was really young. She had to be 21 at least. This made it extremely hard for some students to obey her. It usually took several shouts in a lesson before students eventually heard her.

Anyway, Ms Taylor said she had recieved a phone call from my parents. I panicked at first, but she told me it was nothing to worry about.

" Your Mother called me and said that she was very tight on money and she couldn't afford you to come back here next term."

I was heartbroken.

Not only because I was going to have to leave my school but also because my family was tight on money.

Tight on money.

I repeated the words in my head over and over again. How could we be.

There was still more news to come. "Your mother also said that they didn't have enough to pay for your house anymore." We had always comfortably had enough to pay for the manor. That was it. My whole future of studying in the best university in the world and becoming a organ surgeon just came crashing down at my feet.

That must have seemed selfish.

I was only thinking about myself.

I haven't said much about him before but my brother was called Michael. He was very intelligent and had big dreams for his future just like me. He was one of the most important people in my life. 

Ms Taylor carried on, explaining that me, Michael and my parents would be moving to London, to buy a cheap apartment. "Your mum will come and pick you up later." I nodded. It still hadn't sunk in.

Later that day, I was called to the gates and I saw a plain black taxi waiting outside. I had already told Elena and she said it was fine and she wishes me the best in the future. The only person i had not told was Louis.

I just didn't know how to.

We had the same lesson when my mum arrived, so when Ms Taylor arrived, I asked if Louis could come too. She said that was fine.

He kept looking at me suspiciously. I gave Elena one final goodbye wave, trying to fight the tears coming up.

On my way to the taxi, I told Louis. I thought he would be angry with me for only telling him now, instead he smiled. "I will always be here for you if you ever need me." I smilied, and so did he.

We were alone in a small waiting room, because Ms Taylor had gone to get my stuff from my dorm. I was excited to see my mum.

Ms Taylor came back with all of my bags and shooed Louis out to his lessons. I saw his eyes glistening as he was trying to choke back the tears. 

When my mum arrived she looked nothing like how I saw her last time. We had both grown up. She looked alot more different. She had damp mascara under her eyes and dark eyeshadow. Her bright red lipstick had run down her face. She was choking back tears. Even though she made our family broke, she was still family I hadnt seen for 6 months. We left rather promptly and the conversation in the car was limited.

When we arrived at the apartment I was shocked. I didn't expect it to look as good as it was. I was imagining a messy, grimy 'flat' down a backstreet in a really dodgy part of London.

Instead I saw a bright apartment that looked like the definition of happiness. With beautiful flowers surrounding the door.

What made it even more prettier was that my Dad and Michael were standing outside. They both ran foward when we arrived and i got buried in hugs. "Thats your room up there." My mum told be gesturing towards the room above the front door with a astounding balcony.

I was even more shocked.

That night, we got a takeaway pizza. I was wondering if we were so broke how could be afford food! My mum must have seen the confusion on my face. "We may have been broke to pay for your school and the manor but we aren't so poor we cant afford happiness and food!" I smiled back.

This felt right.

That night my parents tucked me into bed. "Sweet dreams," they mumbled.

That night was one I had never experienced before.

I hope everyone who is reading is enjoying the first chapter. There is not much action yet, but there will be so please keep reading! A vote and a comment on what you think the secret is would really help me make more chapters. If you want the chapter longer or shorter please comment as well. Thanks x