The Rich Boy in a Rock Band

Song 4 ♪ Welcome To The Boarding School

They decided to let me change to Trinity.

They decided.

As if they were the ones giving me the opportunity. Or as if they were not going to save a ton of money thanks to it.

Ma's real concern had been about what she'd do when she was short of a girl for a job, but she perked right up when she read the part in the letter that said I was free to go home on weekends. The gringo remained silent throughout the whole thing, but I could tell he was pleased with the life twist. With me gone they were free to pretend they were a real, wholesome family. Except for the drinking problem, but at that moment I didn't give a shit about those details.

Because I was in! Starting September I'd be wearing the school uniform of an elite school that for sure was going to get me admitted to a good university on the opposite coast of the country. A dream come true.

Leti was mad at me. I didn't know if it was because she found out I asked DeAndre to ask her out or if it was because she was still feeling betrayed that I thought Trinity was a better school and that I was ditching her for it. And I did think it was a way better school, she just refused to understand I didn't think its kids were better than us. But that was her problem and not mine, and this was my time to shine.

My ma helped me pack on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Sunday was my official move-in date into the dorms. According to the package they sent along with the acceptance letter, new students had to arrive at least two days before class start for a few mandatory orientation activities. Returning students had just to arrive the day before.

I felt like I was going to freaking Hogwarts.

It didn't help that the school looked all classic and sober on the outside. It was like someone had dumped a British castle in the middle of Central Florida, but it didn't look out of place in the area surrounded by $5 million dollar houses. As ma drove me over to the school on Sunday, I had to refrain myself from squealing every 30 seconds and also from waving goodbye at the fancy houses I hoped to stop cleaning pretty soon. I was so gonna stick to my plan of not leaving the school on weekends. Visiting the barrio wouldn't at all be like going on a field trip to Hogsmeade.

There was a short line of cars entering the school. Each one was being checked by a guard. When I squinted I could see it was the same guy who led me into the school for my interview a few weeks ago. He leaned down to ma's window level when it was our turn and recognized me right away.

"You made it!" He looked delighted. Like I wished my own mother did. "Welcome to Holy Trinity High School, I'm glad they let you in, kiddo."

I beamed. "Thank you."

He still checked our info before letting us in, which didn't amuse my ma.

"If he already knew you, why did he have to check all our papers like he was working for la migra?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Probably because they care about keeping rich kids safe, I don't know."

Our car was the most rundown in the entire parking lot. The old little Corolla couldn't hold a candle to any of the cars with brands so expensive that I had trouble pronouncing. My tongue always got twisted on all the Italian cars, and was it JAGuar or JaGUAR?

We got out of the car and debated whether to bring my one suitcase in with us, or if to wait. We went for the latter, and that was a good thing. As soon as we stepped into the building we were ushered into a large room along with the rest of the parents and new kids. I counted about thirty kids for what I assumed was mostly the freshman class and maybe a handful of new students for the other school years. Class sizes were small, which helped the impression of exclusivity.