Barbie Brigade

Barbie Brigade Prologue

Prologue...

Welcome to Bridgemont Boarding School.

You will be put to the absolute test. The smartest people in the world have all been graduates of Bridgemont. You have been selected because you stand out in a field of your choice. Whether it be arts, sports, literature, academics, mathematics... you all have a place here in this school.

Look around you. This is your competition. Score grades below a C and you will be eliminated from this school. There is no error for margin. You are now a student of the most elite boarding school in the world. We only accept students who work hard. Therefore it best be that you make sure you work absolutely sure that you adhere your place within the walls of this school. We only see greatness from here...

We only see perfection.

I look forward to meeting you upon your arrival to this school.

Kind Regards,

Elizabeth Norris, Headmistress of the Girl's Dormitory.

I had read this letter a thousand times since it arrived in the mail, addressed to me. I had never attended a boarding school before, let alone one that was attended by the most prestigious people in the world.

But my mom had remarried, and my stepdad sent my application for the school in the minute he said "I do". I hated him. Well, not really. But I didn't want to go to boarding school. I was an only child. My stepdad didn't have any kids, and my dad died when I was little. In my eyes, I saw that I was destined to be an only child.

Because I really didn't want my mom to have a baby now!

I was fifteen, and packing my belongings to go to some snotty boarding school that I was surprised actually accepted me. I mean me! I was extremely talented as an artist, but that didn't mean I wanted to make it my passion at some school. No way!

But Martin Avery was my stepdad, and he was extremely wealthy. I was Holly Cooper, and I didn't know what being rich was. My mom was certainly no gold digger, and Martin was only in his forties, but this wasn't really how I pictured my life would be. I'd lived in Martin's mansion for two years now, but he and my mom had been together since I was nine. They were truly in love.

Love... what exactly was that?

Either I was too young to know, or just too stupid. Who knew?

As I packed all of my things into suitcases, I blared the tunes of anything and everything in my oversized room that could have just as easily been two bedrooms and still been extremely roomy. But Martin liked big things. Really liked them. Me? No, small suited me. I had grown up with small. And with public school.

But the minute I started junior high, Martin had me enrolled at a private school.

"Oh, she's fine in public school," my mom had argued.

"Natalie, she'll thrive better in private," Martin retaliated. "You know that."

"I know, but it just seems silly that you're spending so much money on my daughter."

"Ah, but I feel like she's mine," he smiled.

"Right," I frowned.

"Well, I've known you for quite a while," he smiled.

This was true. He'd known me for a long time.

Now it was six years... and counting.

As I finished packing, I climbed into my bed for the last time in a long time. Tomorrow I'd be on a plane to Canada, ready to attend this fancy school. It scared me.

But at least it would be something new for me to experience. Though I had no idea what I was in for.