Puppeteer

ONE.

Birds chirped out the window as Darling's alarm rang. She groaned, turning around in her bed and hitting the snooze button. Her maid came in the room and cast the curtains aside, the bright rays of the sun waking her. The steady smell of bacon and eggs wafted to her room, making her drool. Her blue eyes fluttered open to the prospect of breakfast-

Hah, if only it was like that.

Instead, a raven cackled on its perch by her bed, replacing her actual alarm clock that had proved to be useless in waking her up. Her parents bought her the raven as a Christmas present, explaining that she needed a companion. It was actually to wake her up in the mornings. Darling groggily got out of her bed and stomped over to the window, pushing the curtains out of her way.

"MY EYES!" Darling screamed. "IT'S TOO BRIGHT!" The stormy clouds rumbled as the rain pounded on her window. Her parents burst into her room.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Janette Storm's Hollywood blowout curls bounced as she walked. Her tons of jewellery were on display for the whole world to see whenever she went shopping. "Is the storm bothering you? We can't have you getting soaked on your first day of school!"  Her father, Jason Storm, looked at his watch and rolled his eyes.

"You're going to be late if you don't get ready at this point.  You have three minutes to brush your teeth, ten for your maids to get you ready, and seventeen to eat breakfast and to get in the car.  You know what to do.  Your time starts now," her father said.

Darling scurried into the bathroom and started brushing her teeth.  In three minutes, her maids whisked her into her outfit for the day and started doing her hair and makeup.

A/N: What I imagine her to look like up there ^ 

After the ten minutes were up, she skipped down the stairs and into the dining room.  Her father sat at the head of the table, Janette on his right side.  Darling's place at the table was to be at his left side.  Immediately the servers brought out platters of food.  One held bacon, one held eggs, and some held fruit.

"Oh look at my daughter!  Out of tutoring and into school!"  Janette wiped imaginary tears from her eyes and smiled at her.  Darling faked a smile and quickly ate her breakfast.  Fifteen minutes later she grabbed her bag and kissed her parents goodbye.

"Wait!  I'm coming with you.  I want to see my daughter off!"  Janette quickly drank some tea and rushed after her.  Darling rolled her eyes.  She wasn't a child anymore.

The chauffeur opened the limo's door open for her and her mother.  The drive to the school was uncomfortable.  Janette shifted beside her.

"I know you will make a lot of friends," her mother said.  Darling turned her eyes to the window.  Gods, this was awkward.

"Yeah sure."  She wasn't interested in friends.  The rain turned to a light sprinkle as the limo stopped just outside the school.  Darling looked back at her mother and hugged her.  Janette couldn't stop the surprise from showing on her face.  "Bye mother."  Her mother nodded and Darling left the car.  The rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out from the clouds.  Darling had worn a simple white blouse tucked into some skinny jeans and ankle boots.  The hairdresser curled her hair and put it into a simple side ponytail.  Then they added a touch of mascara and lip gloss.

It felt weird knowing that she joined the school halfway through when she could've joined at the beginning of the semester.  She looked at all the students staring at her.  No emotion showed on her face.  Almost immediately, music reached her ears.  She turned and saw a girl playing her violin to a crowd.  Amazed, Darling stopped and listened.  She almost lost herself to it and gazed at the brick building in awe.  That violin song was certainly enchanting, to say the least.

"This school is full of talented people."  The velvety voice raised goosebumps along her arms and she inwardly shivered.  Darling felt a presence beside her and dared to look up.  A boy around her age stood next to her and smiled politely.  The sun reflected off his brown eyes, resembling a pool of honey.  He stared at her but then she realized something with a jolt.  He wasn't staring at her, he was looking at something behind her.

Darling turned around.  She frowned.  Nothing was there.  Only the slight gust of wind moved the leaves on the ground.  It was as if something, or someone, was staring right at her.  Darling focused a bit more, her hands itching.  Her fingers twitched, and a burning feeling erupted within her.

"Hey, stop that!  You're hurting him!"  The boy quickly took her hands and examined them.  The burning stopped and he quickly dropped them.  

"Who was I hurting?" she asked.  She quickly looked around but saw no one in pain.

"I'm Enri, by the way."  Darling found it quite weird that he was introducing him to her now, but she dropped it.

"I'm Darling," she said.

"Nice name," Enri said.

The bell rang and Darling froze.  She forgot to get her schedule!  She bade Enri a quick goodbye and made her way to the office.  Surprisingly, Enri kept up with her.

"I think it's better if I stick with you," Enri said.

"Sure.  As long as you don't bother me, you're fine."  She shouldered her bag and entered the office.  There were already three students waiting and she sighed.

I better get in line.

A/N: I usually hate writing in third person yet here I am, writing in third person.  I'm always up for trying new things.

Happy New Years Eve!

:)