by Tia KENZIE
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Chapter 3.
PRESENT
Beep…beep…beep.
I wake with a start, shit! Damn alarm clocks are seriously, the worst noise ever invented! Pulling the covers off my face, my eyes slowly adjust to my surroundings. It takes me a few seconds to remember where I am.
I’m in my new dorm room at my swanky new school, Grace Glory Academy, in Southern California. It’s a break so the school is virtually deserted, as most students are visiting with family. I decided to get up early so I could get a good look around the place. Arriving late yesterday, I didn’t really get the chance.
I get changed into skinny jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and slip on my sparkly flip-flops. I whip my long, white-blonde hair into a messy up-do, line my silver- grey eyes with black pencil and I’m set. I don’t bother with lip gloss as to be fair, they’re pink and pouty all on their own!
Walking past reception, I’m stopped by Miss Margaret, the elderly lady who booked me in when I arrived yesterday. She’s a sweet thing, reminds me of my Nan, who passed away nearly 5 years ago now.
“Luna dear, a package arrived for you early this morning. I was going to send it up to your room, but you may as well take it now.” She rushes over to me, holding out a small brown box.
I take it with a smile, “thanks Miss Margaret. I’m going to the cafeteria, so I’ll look at it there.” I grab a coffee and full breakfast, because I’m famished and full board (so it’s free food), then settle into a spot hidden away at the back, even though the place is mostly empty. Old habits die hard, I guess.
The package is addressed to Miss Luna Monroe, that’s me. I tear it open to find a bank card in my name, a new iPhone and a typed letter.
Luna, glad you made it here okay. The bank card is yours, for necessities. The phone is yours also, it has my number already programmed. Please, ONLY contact me, by text, in emergencies. I’ll be in touch soon. Yours, Prince.
Huh! Who the hell is Prince? Who the hell do they think they are, only text, not call? I call the number, as you do, obviously it rings out. 30 seconds later a text appears.
Prince: Luna, firstly I said text, not call. Secondly, is this an emergency?
Me: Well, hello to you too Prince. Why can’t I call you? And who the hell are you? And yes, it’s an emergency! I need to know what’s happening.
5 minutes pass, which I spend finishing my coffee and re-filling it. My phone beeps.
Prince: I can’t give my identity, just know that I will be looking after you from now on.
Me: Why? Who am I to you? Also, nobody looked after me before, so why start now?
Prince: I’m sorry your last guardian made such a mess of things. Consider me your new one and I will do everything to help you.
Me: Help how? Why wait nearly 5 years to help??
Prince: Luna, all I want is for you to be happy, which is what you deserve. It’s taken so long because I didn’t know where you were. I’m sorry sweetheart, I truly didn’t know. If I had, I would have brought you home before now. God knows, I tried to find you long enough. It killed me to hear what you went through.
Fuck! I turn the phone off and throw it back in the box. I feel so frustrated that tears are pooling in my eyes. I am so fucking mad! Who the hell could it be? I knew I had a guardian who ignored me all this time, they just threw me away, but to know there was someone else out there too. Who cared? That’s just fucked up! All that time I thought I had nobody.
All the nights I prayed and prayed for someone, anyone, to turn up and save me. I honestly thought I was alone. I’m not sure how to feel now, to be honest. I knew I had a guardian, obviously, but nobody at the school would tell me anything.
My mind drifts back to my life before…. How when I was young, my Mom dragged me all over the US and Europe with her latest boyfriend, where we would settle for a while, only for her to find a new man (or men) and move us on again.
How I never knew my father, he was not a subject Mom would discuss. She left me at my Nans when I was 9 while she went to Asia to find herself – and never returned as she was killed in a vehicle accident.
How my Nan kept me with her and home- schooled me at her beach house in Harley Bay, California. Which is how I met and fell in love with my best friend Dante Wilder, who lived next door.
How I then lived with Dante, his mom and older brother Colt for 2 months after my nan passed away. Where I hoped I would be staying until Social Care turned up one day at Dante’s home, to inform us an unknown person had come forward to claim guardianship of me and had arranged for me to be moved away to a boarding school.
Apparently, they had decided due to my ‘issues ‘, this was in my best interests and I wasn’t told who this person was. Neither were the Wilders allowed to know where I was going either. All apparently, in my best interests. I call bullshit!
Oh…. And as for my issues? I was too quiet. Yes, that’s right, I was too fucking quiet - and immensely shy. I’d always spoken softly, more like a whisper, it wasn’t something I did intentionally, it was just me. But kids mocked me for it, so I learnt early on to bite my lip and stay mute. I liked to float through life quietly, without drawing attention to myself. Guess you could say I was socially awkward. Hence the reason I’d always been home schooled, as I struggled to make friends. Not something that warrants being shipped off to a school for kids with behavior issues. I was fucking shy!
Thinking about it all, I have an idea….
Me: Are you my Dad? I mean, it would make sense if you were.
Prince: No Luna, I’m not your Dad. I’m just someone who cares about you and wants you to be happy.
Me: I call bullshit! If you care that much then you would be here in person, to see me. Which you obviously don’t, or you wouldn’t have stuck me in another school in the dorms! I get it, you just want to feel good about yourself… and maybe you feel a bit guilty after finding out someone tried to kill me!! Well fuck you. I. Don’t. Want. Your. Help! Oh, and I am not happy. I am far from fucking happy!
I press send. I can see the message has been read but they don’t reply. Great! I’ve managed to piss off the only person I could get answers from.
I check my wrists to make sure the bandages are out of view. Just thinking about what happened makes me feel mad, and so stupid.
I’d been invited to a party by Tori, a new girl who I’d become quite friendly with. Or so I thought. I should have realized though, seeing as everyone (apart from Max) avoided me, preferring to make fun of me instead.
But no, stupid me thought the popular new girl really was trying to be nice, which is why I didn’t question the invite. I’d had a couple of drinks and the next thing I knew; I was waking up in hospital. Apparently, I’d been found early morning in the gymnasium, unconscious due to blood loss, curtesy of slashed wrists. The caretaker had found me and called an ambulance – he saved my life. I just know that it was Tori who did it, the unbelievable look she gave me when I returned from the hospital still alive, told me all I needed to know.
There is NO fucking way I did it to myself, but that’s what everyone believed, no matter how many times I told them of my suspicions. Anyhow - silver lining - the school deemed it unsuitable for me to remain in their care, after my ‘suicide attempt’. Yeah, right. They just wanted me out of the way and the entire thing brushing under the carpet.
Next thing I know, a week later, the principal informs me I am returning to the US. Destination – to be divulged on arrival!
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A shadow falls over the table. Looking up, I find there’s a girl about my age. She’s tall and willowy with wild, auburn curls and pale, green eyes. She’s smiling and seems friendly enough.
“Hi, I’m Talia. Do you mind if I join you?” Not waiting for an answer, she takes a seat across from me.
I raise my eyebrows, Okaaaay. “Sure, I mean, there’s lots of empty seats, but whatever.” My phone beeps with a message, which I ignore.
I push my breakfast a
way; I’ve lost my appetite.
“I’m sorry, look full disclosure, Miss Margaret asked me to check on you. Said for me to look out for the sweet, pretty girl, who’d just arrived. Seems she’s got a soft spot for you.” She starts fiddling with her hair, twirling it round and round her finger. She seems kinda jumpy.
I look at her for a few seconds, with a shrug, “I’m fairly sure Miss Margaret has a soft spot for everyone. She seems the type.” I say with a laugh.
Talia starts laughing. “No way. She looks like butter wouldn’t melt, but she definitely doesn’t like everyone. She is a good judge of character though and if she likes you then,” she shrugs, “that’s good enough for me. Look, I know it’s not easy when you’re new, so, I wondered if you’d like to take a drive with me and maybe grab a smoothie?” More hair twiddling.
Cautious by nature, I try to decide if this is a wind up. I’m not the best, socially. I’ve improved a lot in the past few years, but then the Tori incident happened. I have got to be careful and make better choices.
I see Miss Margaret at the counter, refilling her coffee. She waves over at us and we both wave back. Talia’s story seems to check out and that gives me the confidence to accept.
“Sure, I guess, that would be great. It would be nice to see outside the school.”
Talia leads me to her car, which is parked in the student lot. It’s a cute little bright yellow BMW.
“Wow”, I say in awe, “this is nice.”
“Oh, thanks. I know right, I love it! It’s a birthday present from Dad. He was fed up with me asking for lifts, so it suits him too, I guess.” She says with a shrug.
I have a thought, “So, are you in the dorms like me then? Or do you commute from home? It’s just, with you mentioning lifts. I assumed you were in the dorms, you know, with you being here during the holidays.”
She doesn’t answer me right away. We get in the car and Talia starts the engine. But she makes no attempt to pull away. She sighs out a long breath, turning to look at me. “Look, I’m sorry. God, I’m rubbish at this,” she leans back in her seat, more deep breathing. “I’m way too honest for my own good, but here goes. The truth is, I live at home. It’s about 20 minutes from here so it makes sense. Luna, please don’t hate me, but please just listen. I know what happened to you, at your last scho…”
“What?” I shout, cutting her off, my blood has turned to ice, “Who are you? How the hell do you even know? That’s confidential.” I find the door handle, wanting to get out of the car. Talia puts her hand on my arm to stop me.
“Please just listen. Look, full disclosure. All I know is someone contacted the school, in confidence, and explained what had happened to you. They wanted to look out for you. Miss Margaret contacted me, because, well…. I went through something similar.” She pulls the sleeves up of her jumper, showing me faint scars on her wrists.
I feel so angry. This was supposed to be a fresh start, how the hell can I move past it when everyone already knows what happened? I turn to her, wiping tears that are trailing down my face. “Who else knows? Have you told anybody?”
Shaking her head, “God no, never! I am not perfect, but I can promise you I am a good, loyal friend. I would never tell anyone anything about you. Miss Margaret chose me for a reason you know. She helped me after, well, after I did what I did. She was a godsend, if it hadn’t been for her then I would never have come back to school. I was embarrassed and ashamed, but she helped me through it. Look, she is a good person, I’ve no doubt that she meant well, she probably thought I’d be the best person to help you. So, what do you say, do you still want to go for a smoothie?” She gives me a big smile.
I wipe my face and nod, “yeah okay. But just so you know, I didn’t do this,” pointing to my bandages, “someone did it to me”.
“Say what the fuck now!” she shouts. “Tell me more, please...” She puts the car in drive and after 10 minutes we pull up at a beach side diner, called The Reef. I’ve told her about, well basically, I’ve told her my life story. I’ve not mentioned Dante by name though, I just called him a boy. He’s mine and I don’t feel comfortable sharing that part of me yet. It feels like if I speak his name out loud then I’ll lose a bit of him. I want to keep him all inside me. Weird right?
She asks me if I've thought about applying to any colleges, I inform her that no, that's been the last thing on my mind. But I know I should give it some thought. I won't have any issues achieving my diploma because I'm already way in front in that department. Being stuck in a boarding school, away from everyyone, kinda has that effect on you. There wasn't much to do other than schoolwork!
She told me she likes my quiet voice; says I sound like a ‘sexy bitch’ because it’s a bit husky sounding! As expected, she’s horrified by what happened and how I got shipped away. And extremely interested to know who my mystery Prince is!
We settle into a booth and both order strawberry smoothies. Talia rummages around in her purse, placing a small bundle on the table. “Look, I thought you might like these.”
“What are they?” I ask, opening them out to find what looks like a bundle of rags.
She picks one out, showing me. “These are wrist cuffs, you know, to hide the bandages. I used to use them all the time, but not so much anymore. When Miss Margaret asked for my help, they were the first things I thought about. But it’s totally up to you, it’s just an idea.” She shrugs. “The last thing you want, especially when starting a new school, is anyone seeing bandages on your wrists. This way you can hide them.”
I pick out a brown leather one to try on. It wraps round once, fastening with a press stud. The top has a flower made of the same leather. “Wow, these are gorgeous. Thank you. I’ve never heard of them before, but wow, I love them.”
There must be 10 different cuffs, all in different colors and materials. I feel emotional, can sense tears are on the way. I’ve not had anyone to care for me like this since, well, since Nan and the Wilder family. I’ve got to be honest, it’s a nice feeling.
Talia puts her arms around my shoulders, shushing me. “I’m happy to help. Honestly, I think we’re going to be BFF’s. That is if you ignore my craziness, I can get a bit excitable!” She giggles, I join in laughing too. I feel like she could be right, about being friends, and her craziness! I can’t believe I’ve known her less than 2 hours and already, I just know, she is a good person. I feel better about my move here already.
We’ve been here about an hour. I’m having fun, which is a definite rarity. I find Talia easy to talk to, she never shuts up, which is nice, seen as how I don’t like talking too much. Well, normally I don’t. But with Talia, it just feels so natural.
Her friend Molly, who is a waitress here, joins us for her break. Molly is a student at Grace Glory too. She’s there on a partial scholarship, hence her job as a waitress.
“So then”, Molly looks at me, “there’s a bonfire party on the beach tonight. Why don’t you come with us?” I shake my head, “I don’t think so. I think I’d rather get an early night.”
Talia looks at me questioningly, she reaches over and whispers, “I promise you will be safe. We don’t need to drink, but I really want you to come. It will be a great way to meet everyone before school starts back up. Come on, pleeeease,” she whines, fluttering her eyelashes, “for little ole me.” She obviously knows I’m worried about touching alcohol, due to what happened at the last party I went to.
I laugh at her, “okay then, but not for long.” We chat a bit longer, then decide we need to start getting ready soon for the party. I’m worried already, knowing I’ve not got much in the way of clothes to choose from. What I have are hand me downs from girls at the last school, curtesy of the lost and found box. Don’t judge, I was desperate! My guardian never thought to provide me with any cash to buy anything for myself.
“Hey, I say, “what should I be wearing? I don’t really have much to be honest. I’ve got a credit card, but I’ve not had chance to go shopping yet.” Damn, I was star
ting to like the idea of a party now.
Talia hugs me into her side, “don’t worry, you’re fine as you are. Only the skanks get dressed up, the rest of us go in warm, comfortable clothing. Just throw on a hoody and you’ll be fine.” She taps her nails on the table, “fancy going shopping tomorrow? I mean, you’ve got a sugar daddy card so it will be a shame not to use it, don’t you think?” She winks at me.
“He is not a sugar daddy. Be quiet or someone will hear!” I whisper shout. My phone pings with a text, I grab it and we both look. I find 2 new ones.