Chapter Two
Orientation was the same as every year. Headmaster Blake spent the whole assembly going on about rules that no one would adhere to. She finally realized this as she sent us away while giving us a final warning that she would not tolerate any wild parties tonight. It was clearly a waste of breath.
“So, I just got word that the boy’s dorm has invited us to a party.” Yuri said hooking her arm in mine. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “It’s going to be at the reservoir.”
“God, can’t they be more original.” Every year the boy’s dorm held their annual back to school party just outside the gates of the academy. When I was a freshman, I couldn’t wait to party with the upperclassmen. But now that I was the upperclassmen, this party was no longer my scene. I turned to Yuri to suggest that we skip it, but when I looked at her expression, I knew she wanted to go. “Fine.” I sighed.
Yuri gripped me tighter as we headed to our dorm to get ready. The girl’s dorm was in frenzy as they ran back and forth out of each other’s room exchanging outfits. You would think they were about to go to prom the way they were acting. Yuri scanned her key card and we both entered the room, shutting the door behind us. Yuri went to her closet as I went to go check my email for any messages. I signed into my account and waited for the page to load. Once the page was loaded, I saw the email I had been waiting for and clicked on it.
Don’t be a nuisance at school this year.
Mom.
I deleted the email and slammed my laptop closed in frustration. It was typical mother. No words of encouragement or any signs of affection, only warnings. It was times like this that made me ache for my father. Sensing the direction my thoughts were going to take, I hopped off my bed and headed over to my closet. This party wouldn’t be what I wanted, but it was exactly what I needed.
Twenty minutes later, Yuri and I were dressed and headed out to the reservoir with the other girls from our dorm. On our way there, we passed a couple of guards who only gave us stern looks, but didn’t bother us. The guards knew the way things played out here. They would let us have our little party as they do every year and in return, our families would put a little extra in their bank account. Headmaster Blake was the only one that was out of this particular loop, but she was in plenty others.
The reservoir was located just behind the school where the forest started and was guarded by the school’s fence. At first glance, the fence near the forest was in perfect condition. However, the closer you got, the closer you could see where some of the stones were no longer aligned perfectly. One push of the stone will reveal a big enough hole to climb through. The last person in your group was always the one to fix the stones back into place and no one was the wiser.
Our group quickly climbed through the hole as Yuri instructed a freshman on how to fix the wall properly. Once she was done, we headed down the trail of the forest until we could hear the sounds of music and laughter. Stepping through the clearing, I stared around at the large number of people that had made it. There was a group of students in the middle dancing around with plastic red cups as the sounds of the latest tunes could be heard blaring from someone’s radio. There was a group of freshman off to the side of the group that stood huddled together, their eyes darting around nervously. I felt for them. I knew what it was like to attend your first big party and not know how to act. Eventually, they will find a way to introduce themselves into the world of Baldwin Academy. Hearing a burst of loud laughter, I turned to see a group of girls that I’d recognize from the first floor of our dorm. They stood behind Mark and some other boys from the dorm as they tortured a poor freshman.
I turned to give Yuri a pointed look as she sighed. “I’ll be back.”
I watch her march over to Mark and say a couple of words. He and his friends put down the boy as the kid wasted no time getting lost. Mark threw an arm around Yuri’s neck and before long they were making out. I shook my head in disgust. It was sickening.
“Hi.”
I turned my head to the left to see a girl with curly red hair standing there smiling at me. I turned around to see if it was possible that she could be talking to someone else, but there was no one behind me. Turning back, I looked her up and down. “Do I know you?”
“Oh I’m sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Heather Watson. I’m a new transfer this year.”
She stuck out her hand as I gave it a glance. I looked from it and back to her cheerful face before taking it into mine. As I shook her hand, I grimaced at how sweaty her hand was. “I’m Autumn.”
“I know.” She said happily. “I mean, I saw your picture on the school’s website. You’re the Senior Club President.”
I frowned at the thought about my picture being on the website. Every year before school is out Headmaster Blake picks an African American student as the Senior Student President. This year it was me. My mother thought I should be thankful to get the chance to show how diverse our school was, but who would really be happy being known as the token.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
Heather’s voice took me away from my thoughts as I stared at her. She was an aggressive little runt. She was no taller than five foot two and had arms as long as her legs. Her face was covered in blotches that seemed to be mostly hidden under her black frame glasses. Her hair reminded me of curly fries dipped in ketchup and her eyes were a sparkly green that seemed to twinkle like an anime character. She wore a plaid shirt over a white tank and a pair of blue jeans that seemed to be dingy at the knee. If I was any other girl at this school, I would have shooed her away and then turned my back on her. But as I looked at her desperate expression, I realized she was only trying to make friends, and somehow she did something no other freshman here seemed to have the courage to do. She’d walked right up to the school’s most popular girl and introduced herself. It was risky, but I liked it.
“Sure, I could use a drink.”
The two of us headed over towards the cooler as she fixed us two cups of punch. Once she handed me my cup, I quickly down the contents, enjoying the hidden taste of alcohol. It never ceased to amaze me how the guy’s snuck alcohol into the school without the guards knowing. As it were, I ended up hanging with Heather all night. I’m not sad to say I corrupted her a bit. By four cups, she was in a daze and was flirting up a senior guy who was too drunk to notice her appearance.
I also found myself attached to some guy’s hip as we danced until I could feel my lungs start to burn. All my pain of this summer and my mother’s abandonment flew away as I lost myself in the music and some unknown guy. All too soon, the party was over.
Yuri and I stumbled up the hill as we both help to carry a unconscious Heather back to the dorm. As we climbed up the hill, I wondered if Yuri had ingested some illegal drugs. She was giggling way too much.
“Will you be quiet?” I hissed. “You’re going to get us caught.”
“Sorry. Hey did you hear about the new guy transfer at our school.”
“No. Why?”
“No reason. I just heard from the girls that he’s extremely gorgeous, though he may be on the geeky side.” This for some reason sent Yuri into a fit of giggles. She was so busy laughing that she didn’t see the rock in front of her. As it were, her foot caught on the rock and over she went, taking us with her.
“Damn it Yuri.” I said pushing up from the ground. I was just about to reach over and slap her when I heard someone in front of us. Peering up I stared at the figure and froze. “Headmaster Blake.”
Headmaster Blake placed her hands on her hips as her stern face stared down at us. “Hello girls.”