The Academy (Last Attempt)

Chapter 1

When the acceptance letter came in the mail, mother was excited, father was horrified, and I was simply confused. I had never thought my parents would send me off to some boarding school that wasn't even near where I lived. That would mean that I was leaving the small town of Kennewick, Washington and headed towards Portland, Oregon. I had never really been fond of the town but I had friends that I would soon miss. I had a routine, it seemed almost surreal to think that I would truly be leaving the Tri-Cities and my usual activities, but also heartbreaking. 

It was late August when the letter came in the mail. It was labeled from Swarnston Academy. Instantly after receiving the letter, I had googled the school to learn everything I could. From what mom, dad, and the internet told me, the school was a gender neutral school with a high standard of academics and sports. There wasn't much online other than that which surprised me, but also seemed a little frightening. Mom and dad both had told me about their days in the academy which I had never known they'd been, but I soon realized how much they had actually left out about the school.

The first day at this new school was in early September, and it was a day I'll never forget.

Right beyond the entrance to the rather large school, was a small office of registry. I made my way inside the office and up to the line. There were about three people in front of me. A short red-headed girl with a small scar above her brow looked up at me. Her shirt was slightly hanging off her shoulder revealing a bruise and what looked to be a few scratches. Her pants were baggy and hanging a little too low. She smiled, showing off beautifully straight teeth and dimples. "Hi, I'm Scarlett, you must be Kaia?"

I returned the smile, slightly hesitant. "How do you know my name?"

She chuckled as if the answer to my question was obvious and I was just an ignorant child. "Our meeting is at the same time so I was just assuming you were my roommate, and clearly I'm right." Seeing my frustration, she continued. "That's Kyle and Matteo," Scarlett pointed at a blonde boy with strong cheekbones, and a short Hispanic boy. "We're still waiting on Logan, he hasn't come in yet. 

My breath caught in my throat. Well this is what they meant by gender neutral I guess. Clearly they plan to have some pregnant students filling their halls with this setup. I was a lot more frustrated than I've been in a long time. I have never been good around boys my age, I knew that I was awkward and could barely talk to the opposite sex. I needed to figure out how I guess, and soon.

Kyle and Mateo each turned around to talk to Scarlett and I. "Where are you from Kaia?" Kyle asked. His voice was a lot higher pitch than I would have guessed. His smile was a little crooked, and his nose was a little big on his face. He wore a button up shirt and baggy jeans and really large shoes. In a weird sort of way, he was super cute. 

"Kennewick." 

"Really? I've been to the Tri-cities before in a soccer tournament. We kicked their butts!" He smiled as he recalled the memory. "I'm from Troutdale, not too far out from here. If you ever need a tour guide, I'm a great one, I know all the best places."

Scarlett laughed her loud roar and joked, "I don't think so. Obviously I'm showing her around, I know all the best places and it's not Portland. Bridal Veil has the best places to hike around here, like you wouldn't believe." She seemed lost in thought as she started to think to herself, probably planning some adventure to take me on. Guess I found myself a new friend.

"Hiking is so overrated. Don't you want to see the reasons people come to Portland? Like all of the cool shops and the Saturday market?" My parents didn't tell me alot about Portland, I had no idea where they were talking about or where I would want to go.

"It all sounds nice," I responded. Honestly I wasn't so sure. I had never even thought about leaving East Washington and now I was here in the city.

After a few minutes of thinking to myself, the door opening pulled me from my thoughts. In walked a tall boy with a slightly muscular build, dark skin, and bright hazel eyes. He was presumably Logan. I gawked at him, he had a good foot over where I stood at 5'4. He ran his fingers through his dark hair and I swear my eyes could not look away. "You must be Logan?" I asked. "Or maybe not. I don't know. Scarlett told me our other roommate was Logan, you could just be someone else." I wanted to melt into the floor. I have never been great in social situations and this was definitely proving that. 

Presumably Logan chuckled and responded, "Yeah I'm Logan. Sorry I don't know your name."

I stared for a minute before realizing he was waiting for me to answer. "Oh, I'm Kaia! Sorry I didn't start with that." Really wishing I could start this whole conversation over again. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks and I knew if he continued talking to me, I would just make a bigger fool of myself, so I turned my back to him and scooted toward the office doors.

Right on cue, an overweight, middle-aged man peeked out of the office. "Meeting for roommates of dorm 748?" Scarlett nodded and we all followed him to a round table in the center of the room. The room was decorated in an ocean theme, with lots of underwater photos and decals. "Have you guys gotten the chance to meet one another yet?" 

Scarlett nodded. "Yeah and I think we're all a great pairing! Except I'm not entirely sure about Logan yet, he just walked in. But he wasn't rude yet!" Scarlett tapped her nails against the desk as she spoke. 

"Well I'm a good guy, you'll see," Logan added.

"You're right, we will see." She was definitely flirting with Logan, you could see it in the subtle giggles and twirling of the hair. I just wasn't sure yet if this was just her personality or if she had also noticed how attractive he was.

The middle-aged man smiled. "Well good, I'm glad you're getting along. So I've dragged you all here to go over dorm rules for co-ed rooms and answer any questions you might have." Everyone nodded their heads. "Well obviously with co-ed we have a lot more rules for safety reasons. We don't want any unwanted pregnancies." Matteo scoffed. We all obviously knew those rules. "We know that at this age is when a lot of teens experiences hormonal change and that you all are interested in sexual activities, but the dorms are no place for such things. We take that very seriously here." 

"I'm sure we're all very aware of that Mr. B. And I'm sure we don't need to cover this because as you can see we're all friends. I'm also a lesbian, and I'm sure Kaia over here isn't interested in these dorky boys." Well maybe she wasn't flirting with him, guess she's just very charismatic. 

"Whether this applies to you or not, this is a topic that needs to be addressed. You're parents are paying good money for you to go to school here, you don't want to be kicked out do you?" Well knowing me, I'd never have to worry about that. I could barely look at a boy let alone talk to them.

He explained that in case of such scenarios, they had condoms in the infirmary. He explained the rules on parties and alcohol, which they had zero tolerance for. This school was strictly for kids who cared about their academics and nothing else. 

Hey guys! I'm so excited for you guys to read my new version of this book. I think the plot is much better than the original and I really hope that you guys will love my new characters. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions, I love hearing them and I'm always open to changing things up a bit. I haven't exactly made a cover yet either and if anyone wants to make one I would appreciate that so much!

-Applebutt