INMARCESIBLE

INMARCESIBLE - 1

I stepped out of the car and into the thick hot heat of July in Georgia. Thanks to the humidity, my hair felt like it had tripled in size. And I was not at all fond of the feeling. In front of me, loomed Verona High, the mansion hovered proudly behind enormous creaky iron gates, flanked by row of maple trees, swaying gently to summer wind. Ivy grew through the crevices of the old winding stone path, which led directly to the colossal structure. As a whole, the building looked for all the world like it had grown there rather than be built.

I squinted my eyes at the mansion which was soon going to be my school and boarding home as mom spoke, "Magnificent isn't it, sweetheart. I'm sure you going to enjoy being here."

"Erm...yes. I guess!?" was all I could manage as we reached into my trunk for my stuff. After dad's death, nothing had been the same for us. Mom isolated herself, not being able to deal with the pain of losing dad. And as time passed by, her sorrow grew more profound. I, on the other hand, never felt as powerless as I did then. Unable to soothe mom, unable to fill in the hollowness in her eyes, all I could do was stand and watch as she fell apart.

And one day, mom just got out of bed and came to me in the middle of the night. And said, "Sara, let's move." And I knew what she meant. "Yes, mom. Let's move on." I said, but I didn't know how I could move on from seeing a person's death date.

We moved to Georgia to start things anew. Mom got a job as a real estate agent and I was here, in front of Verona High, pulling out my beat-up trunk out of the car.

"Honey, I know you're gonna love it here." She grabbed my face and kissed my cheeks as I nodded in silence. Mom seemed tired and there were heavy lines around her mouth, lines I'd never seen before. She was almost forty, but she could usually pass for ten years younger. I did not want to stress mom more than she already was. I hated to see her sad. So I smiled, as I kissed her goodbye.

I grabbed my trunk and pulled my duffle bag over my shoulder as I walked towards the giant of an old building. There were people everywhere, students and professors and busy stuff. But all I could see was numbers. I hung my head low as I walked swiftly towards the florescent-lit lobby of Verona High school. There by the lobby, stood a hatchet-faced woman with a clipboard clamped under her thin stick-like arms. Pointy cat-like spectacles hung to the bridge of her nose as she eyed me with unpleasant eyes.

"Name!" Her shrill gritty voice rung in my ears.

"Saraphina Valdez." I answered. I was already regretting coming to this bizarre place. But I didn't have much of a choice. After we moved, we'd seen difficult days. I wanted to give mom a chance to life once more. I thought moving out was the right thing to do. So I did.

"Hmm!" The woman's weasel-like eyes peered over her spectacles, tilting her head downwards to see her clipboard, the light metal frames gliding a few millimeters down her beaky nose. Then she curtly said, "Very well, Miss Valdez, I am Miss Helen and you are in room number 502. Classes start at eight in the morning and late comers are not tolerated in any circumstances. I suppose you've read the school rule handbook?"

Honestly, I didn't. I just was so wound up with everything else that I didn't really have the time to read some stupid handbook. But I nodded nevertheless not wanting to meet her eyes. "Good! Then I suppose you know the rules Verona High abides by. But, let me repeat the absolute rules again; No roaming around the hallways after ten. Students are not allowed to leave the school ground after six and they are absolutely not allowed to go to the west wing of the third floor if they don't want to get expelled." She took a saccharine tone of voice, "Remember, follow the rules and no one gets in trouble." I could tell this woman was an expert in giving people the evil eye. I nodded briskly and she dismissed me with a wave of her hand.