Previously…

I was just about to look in the third door when something caught my eye. It was sitting on top of my desk looking really bulky. I picked it up and opened it. (It had my name on it. It’s not illegal.) As I read it my eyes went wide. I dropped it and fell to the floor with a thud.

Chapter 3: Surprises

Dear April,

By the time you read this you will be in your dorm at Cheshire Academy. We’re so sorry that you had to find out this way but it was the only way you would be safe. Your Dad and I have run away with everything. We became bankrupt and this is why we arranged this marriage well before we became bankrupt but we had a feeling it was all going to change. I know you’re probably feeling very overwhelmed but I hope that you can go on with your life. We will try to contact you as soon as we’re settled in at your grandma’s in France. For us, please try to live your life as if you never knew about this.

With all our love,

Mom and Dad

I reread this over and over again trying to figure out what this meant. My family has no money?! They’re across the world?! They ran away?! No wonder they made me take everything. I knew that stain on the carpet looked familiar! Ugh! I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming. All those times I heard them worrying about the stocks going down. There was more reason behind it then I knew! This all makes sense now. The plane tickets to France, the whispering behind my back. I just thought that they were keeping the arranged marriage a secret! Oh no, oh no. I thought pacing back and forth on my carpet on my bedroom floor. I jumped when I heard somebody knock on my door. That’s when I realized that I still had the dinner to go to. I glanced at the clock and realized that it had been a little over twenty minutes.

“Uh…in a minute” I yelled running quickly to my suitcases.

“How long a minute is that going to be?” James said sarcastically.

“Ha-ha. Really funny.” I responded with sarcasm flowing in my mouth. I rummaged through my suitcase trying to find a suitable dress to wear to the restaurant. I quickly found my favourite dress and ran to the washroom to change. I tore off my jeans and t-shirt and pulled the dress over my head. It was a sleeveless dress and had ruffles on the bottom. A belt was to go with it so I pulled it tightly around my waist. It was a light gray colour with a bold red to give it a splash of colour. I took out my curler and quickly curled my hair. I took a black headband to keep the curls out of my hair and did my make-up. As soon as I was done, I grabbed a matching purse and put my dorm key, cell phone, and some touch-up make-up, just in case. As I put on my black pumps I opened the door and was surprised to see that James had changed as well.

“You are so slow.” He complained.

“Well, at least I…” I drifted. Shoot! I thought. I can’t think of a comeback! I went back into my room and grabbed a short jacket. “Ok, I’m ready.” Hehe…I’m so clever. I changed the topic!! Smooootthhhh.

He rolled his eyes at me, “Let’s go then.” As I grabbed his arm that he held out for I had a quick glance at what he was wearing. He was wearing a Suit jacket with a dark blue dress top underneath. He was wearing dark blue jeans and the same puma runners from before. “Like what you see?” He said smugly. As we climbed into the car

“Huh? What?” I flushed, embarrassed that he noticed me looking at him.

“Guess you already fell in love with me huh?” He chuckled.

“No!” I said defending myself. He dropped the topic seeing how red in the face I was getting. But I could tell he was enjoying himself. “You know, just because all the girls probably fawn all over you at school doesn’t mean I will!”

“I never said you would.” He said.

“Yeah, but you implied it!” I retorted. He held his hands up, giving up. The rest of the car ride was silent. When we rolled into the parking lot of the restaurant he got out and opened the door. “I never expected you to have manners.” I said.

He smirked at me, “I never expected you wouldn't swoon at the sight of me.”

“Touché.” I said. As we arrived in the restaurant I noticed that the restaurant looked particularly expensive. “I thought you said this was semi-formal?” I whispered.

“It is.” He explained. “For my family, that is.”

I rolled my eyes at this and left the conversation at that. As we walked in the foyer I looked around. The restaurant was rather cozy looking but still very spacious. It was painted red and light brown on the inside. The lights were dim to make it look very private. You could hear the clattering of the knives and spoons inside the kitchen, mixed with the quiet whispers of the people sitting in the restaurant.

“Reservations are under Ackerman?” He said as if it was a question rather than a statement. The hostess lead us to our table and left to serve the other customers. I noticed we were the first at the table of eight.

“How big is your family anyways?” I asked astounded by the size of the table.

“Nine.” He said as if it was normal to have such a big family.

“But there’s only eight chairs.” I pointed out.

“My older brother couldn’t make it.” He scoffed.

“So, are you the middle child?” I asked, trying to make a civil conversation without having to fight.

“No.” He sounded irritated so I didn’t push it any further. By the time everyone had arrived I had met everybody but one. There was his oldest sister Elizabeth who was twenty-one and was learning at the university at the school. I had met the twins, Sebastian and Summer who were both –obviously- a year younger than me. I had met the parents who had insisted I call them Julie and Brandon. I was introduced to the youngest of them, Lacey, who was five and went to the primary school at Cheshire Academy. The last one I had met was Thomas, who hadn’t said a word the whole we were eating dinner. I did however, learn that he was fourteen and was in his first year of high school at Cheshire Academy. After our delicious dinner me and James walked back to his car, slightly more at ease with each other. But I still thought he was a butt for being so rude to me this morning. As I walked into my room I had noticed that he came in with me.

“What are you doing?” I raise my eyebrows at him looking as if he was mental.

“I’m going to my room.” He said as if it were obvious.

“But this is my room.” I emphasized the my by spreading my arms over the bed.

He shrugged and said, “I know.” He just kept walking and walked over to the door I hadn’t opened yet.

“Why are you opening that door?” I asked.

“I thought I told you already.” He said exasperated with me. “I’m going to my room.”

“Then why are you opening that door.” My brain was confused.

“It’s a shortcut.” He explained.

“A shortcut to what?” I asked

“A shortcut to my room.” He breathed.

“Why is the shortcut to your room in my room?” I asked.

“Because we’re arranged to be married so they added this in.”

“Well, that’s weird. Is there a lock on that door?” I asked yet another question.

“Nope.” He answered.

“But what if you walk in and I’m changing?” I argue.

“Then I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad thing huh?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Gross…” I muttered. He then took his cue and opened the door and walked through, shutting it behind him.

The next morning I wake up and rub my eyes. I take a while to remember everything that happened yesterday. I walk to my washroom surprised to see my uniform on the cabinets with a note attached.

Today’s your first day of school. This is your uniform. I was told this was your size.

James

He actually did something decent, I thought. Hopefully he wasn’t being snoopy, looking through my stuff. Yesterday I had slept late unpacking everything. It was easy finding a place for everything. I glanced at the clock and it flashed 7: 53. I only had four hours of sleep? I thought. I quickly took a shower, hoping it would wake me up. I changed into the uniform and it fit me perfectly, clinging to my body perfectly. I walked to my bed and grabbed my black flats. I looked in the mirror and looked at myself. I had worn my hair down, not bothering to put it up. My long brown hair cascaded to the middle of my back and was somewhat wavy. I had big baby blue eyes and really long eyelashes. I was 5”7 and always thought I was pretty average. My uniform was a skirt that fell a couple inches above my knee and I wore a dress shirt with a collar. I wore the uniformed polo vest over it so that it looked slightly better. The school colours were purple and grey so they had made the skirt a dark grey, while the sweater was both purple and grey. As I grabbed my backpack and the textbooks they had supplied me with earlier the day before I grabbed my key and cell phone and walked out the door. As I walked to the high school building I was surprised that people knew my name. They were waving at me as if they were my best friend. When I got to my homeroom I saw surprised to see that I was the first one there. So I grabbed a seat and looked at my timetable. It had Chemistry, P.E, Math, and Science for day 1, and for day 2, I had English, Biography, and two other subjects that I was not familiar with. By the time lunch had rolled around, I had almost memorized the high school building by heart. It was a pretty exclusive boarding school so it had very few students. As I grabbed my lunch tray and waited in line to order I bumped into someone running across the lunch room.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” I cried, as she fell to the floor with a thump!

“Oh its okay.” She said getting up to her feet.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“It’s Missy.” She replied. Just as I was about to say something she interrupted me and said, “-and you’re April. I know.” I gave her a confused look so she continued. “I think everyone has heard about your engagement to James before you did.”

“Huh. No wonder everybody was waving to me today.” That explains a lot, I thought.

“Well, I was wondering since I’m assuming you haven’t made any friends if you would like to sit with me today?” She asked with her eyes lighting up. As I hesitated I saw her eyes slowly dim from it so I decided to take pity on her and joined her and her friends.

“Hi.” I said, trying to look approachable.

“I told her she could sit with us today.” Missy explained to everybody. The rest of the lunch period consisted of them introduction themselves to me as I nodded along trying to remember everybody’s names and faces. When the last bell rang I ran out of there as fast I could and walked to my dorm. As I opened the door I noticed a figure sitting on my couch watching football. I dropped my bag loudly and saw a face I didn’t recognize.

Ok. Sorry it took me forever to update but I wasn't really on on Saturday, and on Sunday....well. I just got lazy. LOL. So I hope you enjoy this chapter. I thought this was pretty boring but maybe the next chapter will be a little more "exciting". Enjoy!:) (Just to get this clear, I am Canadian. Not American. So I am using CANADIAN spelling.)

xoxo -