They told Lottie she needed to get her mind out of the clouds and focus on her last year of high school. That her grades needed to be the best. She spent almost all her time studying. She stayed up late almost all hours of the night with her nose jammed in her books. She neglected her friendships to study, but even then she was just barely squeaking by in some of her courses.
Lottie still kept with it though, wanting to make her mother and uncle happy. Maybe if they saw how hard she was working they would let her back into the kitchen or relax on some of their plans for her and allow her to take a cooking class. Yet when Lottie failed to graduate high school, she saw her mother and uncle's true colors.
Lottie had known she’d had some grades that weren’t the best, but when she found out she couldn’t graduate because of her math and history grades she couldn’t believe it. The whole way home, she had no idea what she was going to tell her mother and uncle. When she finally found the words and they left her mouth, her mother and uncle nearly exploded on her.
Her uncle threatened to throw Lottie out, saying she was stupid and useless. That she would amount to nothing and he wasn’t going to foot the bill. Her mother ran around the house in anguish, crying that she had wasted her life on being a good mother to an ungrateful child. Her mother said her life was now meaningless because she had a failure for a daughter.
Lottie felt horrible then, the worst she had felt in her entire life. She’d failed her family and she’d failed to make anything of herself. She became depressed, thinking there was little she could do.
However, later that year, Lottie learned that she hadn’t been the only student to fail. Her year had, had over 500 students and not even half graduated. The news began reporting all over the country that students were failing out of school and jobs. Things weren’t looking good.
The government started a new program in order to answer the people's need to improve education and the younger work force. They started up a program called Head Star. All over the country, they opened academies for students 16-24 to take up programs.
The Head Star Academies were set up like a college, except you took the courses you had failed or didn't complete. You would have two to four years, depending on what you needed, to get you into a college or to learn a workable skill.
Lottie's mother and uncle were so ecstatic when they heard the news that they started dancing. Before Lottie could even say a thing, they signed her up for the new program at once. There was such a long list that the government became overwhelmed. They only had so many openings.
To weed down the list, they held interviews for their potential students. Each individual had to show that they had promise, or at least a willingness to give it their all if given a second chance. Each student had to sign a contract that stated they would work hard. At any time if they were shown slacking, or their grades did not stay above a certain standard, they would be dropped from the program so someone else could take their place.
Lottie’s mother and uncle worked hard, getting her ready for her interview. They even let her back into the kitchen, allowing her to make deserts again on the condition that she got into the academy and graduated so that she could once again go to college. Lottie was unsure she would even get in and if she would be able to pass math or history the second time around.
She worried about what would happen if she let her mother and uncle down again. Lottie did her best at her interview, answering all their questions and telling them her life goal of getting a well paying job so she could take care of her family. Nearly a month later she got the acceptance letter in the mail.
Her mother and uncle were proud of her once more. So proud that they threw her a little party to celebrate. After the party, Lottie’s mother sat her down, looked her right in the eyes, and said, "Lottie, I love you. But if you do not fix these grades of yours and get into a good college this time, I will disown you."
Lottie's heart sank. Her mother and uncle were all she had. She'd begged her mother not to do this and Lottie's mother had just held her shoulders, telling her, "I've been too soft on you, dear. Through high school, I had faith and trust that you would do well, but that wasn't enough. Now I need to be hard on you so you'll know what’s at stake. You may think I am being cruel to you now, but honestly honey, someday you'll thank me. You need to grow up and realize the world can be a harsh place. If you don’t have useful skills or a place in this world, you'll be left behind."
Both Lottie’s mother and uncle thought Head Star Academy was really Lottie's last chance.
Perhaps it was the stress, or perhaps it was the fact that Lottie just didn't have the mind for certain things, but she just couldn't grasp certain concepts or remember important facts. Especially when it came to tests. She'd study and study, but her mind would wander.
When she entered the school, she thought she would have another two to four years to improve her grades. That she would have plenty of time to figure it out and just focus on her math and history. However, they made it clear on day one. This was a last chance school. Students could fail one major test, but if they failed the second one they would be dismissed from the class and ultimately dropped from the academy.
Lottie worked hard then to get through math and history. She was able to scrape by on history, but math took her down once again. When she saw she was at the lowest on the scoreboards, she knew she had to do something. Studying just wasn't enough.
She had to find another way. Lottie considered almost everything. She even got a tutor to help her, who was surprised at just how bad she was. For some reason she just kept mixing her numbers and mathematical rules up. In the end, nothing seemed to help. A few days before the test, Lottie realized she was going to fail math again. She wanted to cry. Then she saw a man.
He was standing outside the school gates, smoking a cigarette. She took notice of him because he had long white hair like an old man, but he was her age. His hair was pulled back in a long ponytail and he wore sunglasses in the morning sun. People were buying things from him left and right. Lottie thought he was selling drugs, but found out later from another student that he was selling test answers.
Lottie had to dip into her savings but she was able to by the answers for today’s math test. She sat in the classroom now with them in her pocket. She knew it was wrong but she felt like she didn’t have any other options left to her.
Lottie wiped her nose as the teacher said, "You may now begin."
Her gum had nearly lost all its' flavor as she opened her booklet. She sat there, staring at the words and numbers. Before she cheated, Ivy thought to at least look over the questions. Maybe she didn't need to cheat. Maybe she’d do the work and pick the one she'd choose, then check it against the correct answers to make sure she was right.
Lottie did the first five and then grabbed her piece of paper. She put the gum in the middle. She checked the answers on the paper. She could see all five of her answers were wrong. Her heart sunk and she knew what she had to do. She took her pencil and checked off every one on the answers the cheat sheet gave. Every so often, she lifted her head to make sure no one was looking. When she was done, she crumpled the paper up and sat back in her chair waiting.
The teacher called time and the packets were all turned in. She had a sour feeling in her stomach as she grabbed her bag. Each Head Star student was given a uniform so that they could be told from non-students. They had also been given a briefcase that could become a backpack. At all times they were supposed to carry an ID card that doubled as an access pass, as Head Star Academy was a closed campus.
The Head Star Academy Lottie attended had seven buildings spread out on a patch of land in the in the middle of the city. The buildings were fairly modern and you needed your key card and ID to go just about anywhere. Lottie could barely wait to get outside. She nearly burst out through the main doors needing to get some fresh air.
When the sunshine hit her skin, and the fresh air filled her lungs, the sick feeling slowly faded. She wond
ered if she would ever be able to forgive herself for doing this. She already felt guilty. She knew what she had done wasn’t fair to those who could make the grades. Yet she also knew there wasn’t much else she could do. She just couldn’t fail her mother and uncle once again.
Lottie brushed a strand of her long wavy honey brown hair behind one of her ears and walked to catch her bus home. She was grateful to be done with classes for the week. She wouldn't get the results of the tests until Monday, but knowing the outcome eased her guilt just a little bit. It would be nice not to have to worry if she passed or failed.
As Lottie walked to get to the bus, she passed several other buildings on campus and heard some heavy footsteps behind her. She kept walking, not looking back. She was the only one in the area. She barely heard someone call her name.
"Lottie. Lottie."
Lottie turned around to see who was calling her name. She didn't recognize the voice or who the person was at first. She'd seen him around school a few times but she'd never actually been in a real conversation with him. She knew his name was Ethan and he was the smartest guy in school.
His name was always at the top of the list for every class he was in. Lottie had also heard his name come up in the other girl’s conversations as they talked about him. Lottie thought he looked alright but, given her situation, she didn’t have time to really think about such things.
Lottie now paused as he made his way over to her. She took a moment to actually take him in. He looked a little too thin, and he was several inches taller than her. He had black stringy hair that came to his chin. His skin was a bit pale and almost looked sickly in the daylight. He wore thick black glasses that almost hid his eyes as they reflected the glare of the sun. Lottie supposed he could have been cute or maybe even hot.
She didn’t understand why he was calling to her now, considering they had never really spoken. Though there was that one time when Lottie had asked him if she could borrow a pencil and he hadn’t even looked away from the book he was reading. She tried telling herself he hadn't heard her, but five seconds later another girl had asked if anyone had a pencil she could borrow and he had tossed her one.
Lottie sighed, thinking of it now. Then she wondered what he could possibly want as he finally caught up to her. "How…How did the test go?” He asked sounding a bit winded, like he’d rushed to catch up to her.
"Test?" said Lottie.
"The math exam we just had." said Ethan.
"Oh, yeah." said Lottie. She didn't know he was in her class. She bit her lip, wondering if he had seen her cheating just now. She quickly brushed the thought from her mind, thinking she was just being paranoid. She gave him a friendly smile and said, "It went good."
Then she turned to go back to walking. But before she could take a step, Ethan grabbed her arm, quickly catching it. He squeezed it tightly, perhaps more tightly then he’d intended to. Lottie whirled around looked at him as he hurt her arm. He was oddly strong for his build. Lottie looked to her arm and then to him, wondering just what he was doing.
Ethan had a strange look on his face. His glasses had slipped a bit. Lottie could see his eyes clearly now. They were ice blue, almost piercing. His smile was twisted as he said, “Good, good, so I take it the cheat sheet worked out for you?"
Lottie forgot all about him holding her arm as her heart skipped a beat and her jaw dropped. She looked at him, her big green eyes widened in shock. Lottie’s face paled as if she were a deer caught in headlights. Ethan took advantage of her shocked state to push her back a few feet and pull her into an alley between two of the campus buildings.
Once they were alone with some privacy, he let go of her arm. Lottie’s mind reeled with thoughts as she took a step back. Her back hit a brick wall. When Lottie finally regained herself, she stuttered a bit. “Chh…ch…cheat sheet?”
Lottie knew she had to pretend she knew nothing about it. But, of course, she sucked when it came to lying. Yet she continued, “What? What cheat sheet?"
Ethan smiled, rolling his head around a bit to look up to the sky and then back down at her. He took off his glasses and his ice blue eyes overwhelmed her, even more intense than before. He went from being possibly cute or even hot to dangerously attractive. He looked like he could have been a supermodel. Lottie wondered why he didn’t get contacts.
He took a step closer to her and Lottie remembered he was calling her out on cheating. She could have kicked herself for getting distracted. She bit her lower lip, feeling upset once more. She looked off to the side, thinking of what she could say or do to get out of this. Ethan grabbed Lottie’s chin, placing his thumb on her lower lip.
She stopped biting her lip as he turned her to look at him. His thumb gently rubbed her lower lip as it puffed up. Ethan talked to her quietly, almost whispering in her ear as he leaned up to her. “I’m talking about the cheat sheet, Lottie, that you used on today’s math exam.”
Lottie moved quickly, pulling away from Ethan. She side stepped, sliding along the brick wall until she was free. However she quickly realized that the direction she had chosen in the little alleyway was a dead end. Ethan scratched his head as he sighed.
"You do know, Lottie, that cheating is the ultimate crime at this Academy. After all, this is supposed to be a second chance. You're supposed to work hard and learn from your mistakes."
Lottie looked away, feeling guilty, but he didn't understand her situation. Ethan folded his glasses, putting them in a pocket on his shirt. He took several steps toward Lottie. She kept backing up until she was back against a brick wall once again. Lottie went to side step him again. She wanted to get away. She told herself she didn’t have to answer to him. But he got in her way, blocking her in. After a few attempts to get past him, Lottie realized he wouldn’t let her escape.
He stared deeply into her eyes, almost condescendingly. Lottie felt small and weak. Ethan nearly gritted his teeth as he continued. “Not only will you be kicked out of the Academy for cheating, Lottie, but all of your past tests and grades will come into question. There will be no place for you to finish your education. Some jobs won’t even hire you once you’ve been labeled a cheater.”
"I…" began Lottie, thinking she should explain herself. But she quickly pulled herself together at the last second. How did he know she cheated? How was he sure that she had cheated? "How do you know?"
Ethan smiled now, his mood quickly changing as he stepped up to her. Leaving barely any room between them, he stared at her for a second. Reaching out his hand, he ran it through Lottie’s long hair. She shivered, feeling creeped out. Ethan pulled his hand back then, digging into his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone. Without warning, he nearly shoved it in Lottie’s face. "Pictures are worth a thousand words, Lottie."
Lottie looked at the cell phone screen to see a clear picture of her with the cheat sheet on her desk as she wrote down the answers. She wondered how he’d gotten this angle. How did he take this picture without her or the teacher noticing? Before she could look anymore, Ethan pulled the phone away from her.
"How did-How did you take that!? That angle?" Lottie demanded. The way the photo was taken, a person had to have turned around to take it. Lottie tried to remember who was sitting in front of her, but she couldn’t remember them ever turning around. She’d even looked around the room a few times to make sure no one had seen her.
Ethan pocketed the phone and pulled away, "It doesn't matter how I got it, Lottie. I just did. Anyway, I just wanted to say have a good day. I hope it was worth losing everything for."
Ethan started to walk out of the alleyway then and Lottie saw the look on her mother and uncle’s face in her mind. She pictured the look they would have when they found out. She'd be put out on the streets. She didn't know where she would go or what she'd do. She'd never been good at that sort of thing. At least, she’d never been on her own before.
"Wait!" called Lottie weakly, almost saying it without realizing she had. She stumbled after Ethan as he walked away slowly.
She moved faster, reaching out for him as she caught up with him nearly halfway down the alley.
Ethan's back was turned to her so she didn't see the cruel smile or sigh of relief on his face. He whirled around. Lottie thought she was so stupid for getting caught. She was stupid for doing it in the first place, but she should have at least done a better job at it.
However, now that she had been caught, she had to see if she could fix this, no matter what it took. "What do you want? I don't have much money. I've got a job, but it's sort of a family job so I don't make much. Still, how much would it take to make this go away?" said Lottie, feeling depressed.
Ethan looked at her. Sighing, he looked away from her for a few minutes like he was thinking. Lottie stood in front of him, waiting for his answer. Ethan moved his hands to the bottom of his pressed white school shirt. He pulled it out of his pants, untucking it. Then Ethan loosened his tie, undoing it. He finally spoke without looking at her. “I have money.”
Lottie’s heart sunk as she let her eyes fall to the ground. If Ethan didn’t want money, there really wasn’t much else she could give him. Ethan began to unbutton his shirt and Lottie looked at him, finding it odd that he was slowly undressing in the alleyway. Then she realized what he might be asking for. She quickly stepped back, thinking she had to be wrong.
Yet as she stepped back, he stepped forward until they were both once again at the end of the alleyway blocked off by the wall. Lottie thought she was going to be sick. Yet if this is what it took, if this was what he wanted to not tell…
Without a word Ethan reached out for Lottie’s white academy shirt, nearly tearing it as he ripped it open, causing the buttons to pop off and bounce on the cement ground. Lottie shook as she looked at him. Yet Ethan’s eyes were on her now exposed bra. He ran his hands over it, like she was a present in gift wrapping.
Kept (Bound Book 1) Page 31