Arlene sprang up with a start. Her eyes flew to her window and the sudden intrusion of the light rays almost blinded her sight. Morning already?! She never had an alarm clock and her phone battery was drained. Muttering inaudible curses, she rushed out of bed and headed for her miserly bathroom.
Everything about Arlene Harris was pitiable, except for a very few things like Delaney. She lived with her step mom and her step sister, both of whom she'd learned to endure their maltreatment. After her mom died when she was barely three, her dad remarried. Her life has remained an exotic hell as her dad was barely around. He was always on one business trip or the other.
Her step mom was really something else. She forced Arlene to have the store for her bedroom. Arlene was only lucky that there was a spare bathroom there. The door having been eaten into mishap, hung loosely on its hinges, threatening to fall upon application of extra pressure. The room was shabby, but it was clean. Her step mom dated almost every man in their neighborhood; they were already making sexual advances towards Arlene too. Arlene was a beautiful girl. Her brown eyes were really alluring. She wasn't that curvy, but she had them. She was bold and kinda sassy, one wouldn't dare step on her feet.
Quickly putting on her favorite hoodie to complement her clothes, she strapped her backpack and ran out.
"Where to?" The voice she dreaded most asked.
"Uhmm...I...I". Arlene stuttered.
"Spare me your sickening excuses. Your Dad already left. This morning." She said, walking out of the sitting room.
Arlene secretly heaved a sigh. She wasn't ready to tell her step mom that she's attending college...yet. Maybe later.
Not wasting any more time, she scurried out of the house. She flagged down to cab on getting to the bus stop. "Cadazelle, please''.
Finally arriving at the school's gate, she alighted and paid the cab driver. She took slow strides into the school, visibly awestruck. The school was better than it appeared on the internet last night.
Even after trying to sleep yesterday, the excitement from attending college made her stay up till late at night, checking the school's info. The school was in one word; phenomenal.
"You lost?" A voice asked from behind. Its owner walked to face her.
"Hi. I'm Keith." He introduced with an outstretched palm, giving Arlene a sweet smile.
Arlene took a glance at the extended palm before taking it. "Arlene. Uhmm...do you know where I can find the Main Office?" She asked, raising her head slightly. He was a bit taller than she was.
"Yeah. I'll lead the way." He nudged, taking a particular direction. Arlene followed, reluctantly tho. "You seem new, are you?"
"Yes." Came her curt response. She was few steps behind him and had to increase her pace.
She studied him briefly. "Aren't there lessons today?" She asked, letting her gaze roam the school's surrounding for a while. Few students loitered around- she could tell the caliber already.
A smirk graced his face. "There is."
"And you're out here 'cause..." She let her words hang deliberately.
Keith smiled. "You really won't want to know."
With a slight shrug, she shoved it off. He wasn't her problem now.
He threw her a quick side glance. "Are you forgetting something?" He asked, taking his gaze to her hands again.
'Was there anything she was supposed to be with?' She questioned herself inwardly. However, she kept quiet till they got to a door. He knocked on it and there were some weird noises inside. Keith chuckled knowingly and Arlene stared at him, a bit confused.
"Uh...come in." A voice croaked from inside, clearing its throat thereafter. Keith pushed the door open and walked in, Arlene coming in right after. A sudden chill crept her skin, causing her gaze to roam round the office till it met a fan that spun fiercely.
"Sir." Keith called. Arlene took her gaze to the man. He was sweaty and looked ruffled. 'Too much paper work, I guess,' she thought. "Arlene here is a new student." He continued, referring to her. She took a step forward, standing closer to Keith.
"I'm Arlene Harris, sir."
The man gazed at her briefly before taking his gaze to the computer on his desk. "Why are you resuming now? You're one week late."
Arlene looked slightly startled. "I saw the letter yesterday." She confessed. 'So that letter had been in there for a week now?!' She yelled in her mind. The man took his gaze from the computer to look at her. Not uttering another word, he extended some papers to her.
"Here. You're in room thirty-two. You sh...where are your belongings?" He abruptly asked, looking at Arlene who only had her backpack, a sliver of annoyance crossing his eyes.
"My belongings?" She asked, visibly befuddled.
Delaney never said it was a boarding school; the school's info said nothing about it too.
What exactly is happening?