Sunwell Academy

Changes

"Serafina Marie Jacobs."

I look up from my laptop to my mother who gave me a stern look that would have made me flinch, if I wasn't used to it by now. Giving her a smile, I closed my laptop and pushed my glasses up to their place on the bridge of my nose.

"Ms. Jacobs, I called you two in here today regarding another student," Dr. Clair, my principal, says. "It seems as though she called another girl an inappropriate name and the girl ran away crying."

"All I said was that she shouldn't be spreading rumors about others if she thinks everyone is saying she's a whore behind her back," I explain, leaning back in my chair and looking out the window. "It looks bad on her."

"How do you know she thinks that?" Dr. Clair asks.

I roll my eyes, "She said it at some point because I heard her say it."

"It's still not ok to use that word," my mother chimes in. "I can't believe this is happening again. I don't want to keep coming down here."

"Then why are you here again, mom? You could just let me sit in detention and tell them you'll deal with me at home," I say, looking over at her.

Her eyes widened, "What did you just say to me?"

The look on her face scared me, it wasn't anger, it was shock, "I-I di-"

"Serafina, go get your things out of your locker," She says. "I'll meet you outside."

I furrow my brows, "Why?"

"Just do what I asked," She says with a sigh.

"Fine," I groan and stand up, giving a little salute to Dr. Clair before stepping out. I head to my locker and start shoving my things into my bag. Once my locker was empty I giggled. It had been trashed so quickly.

I head outside to see my mom waiting with her arms crossed, "Let's go home, we need to get you packed."

"Packed? For what?" I asked.

She sighs, "You're moving schools, it's a boarding school so you'll need to pack your things."

"You're sending me away?! The school year only started a week ago! I always knew you were a strict mom but I didn't think you'd go so far as to do this," I say, crossing my arms as I stomp towards her car.

"It's for your own good," she says, getting in the car. "And hopefully safety."

I scoff, "Oh, of course, because shipping me off to some boarding school where you don't have to deal with me is totally for my safety."

We drive home in complete silence except for the obnoxious whispers coming from the radio. I tried to turn it off but it wouldn't. As soon as we got home I ran up to my room and got my suitcase out. If she wanted me gone so bad then fine, I'll let her send me away.

Once I had everything packed, I lugged it down the stairs and looked around. I wonder if I'll get homesick. My mother walks in and sighs, tucking my hair behind my ear. My glasses refused to share their spot behind my ear so the curly mess fell back into my face.

I brush my hair out of my face, "Why are we leaving today?"

"Because you need to be there by tonight at least," she says.

"So where is this mysterious boarding school?" I ask.

She grabs the suitcase from me, "It's called Sunwell Academy, it's  in Washington."

"That's so far away," I say, starting to wish I hadn't gone along with it.

She sighs as we walk out to the car, "It's only a few states away from here."