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Finding Heaven

one


To: kaithlynroth@yahoo.com
Cc: dktforthsworth09@yahoo.com
Subject: FOR THE BAZILLIONTH TIME!!!

Mom and Dad,

Are you still worrying about me? I’m doing well here, I swear. I’ve got loads of friends who are very good to me. I hope I’ll be able to introduce them to you guys soon. And please, please, please stop spamming my email!! It’s already filled with the same messages! Click the SEND button ONCE okay?! Thank you!

I love you both. Miss you.

PS: Tell Joshua I said Hi.

- Dakota


I clicked Send.

My parents are natural worrywarts. They think I’ll do things I shouldn’t once I get here. I’m not like that. I’m old enough to differentiate right from wrong. I can decide for myself, and they know that.

It was 6:40 a.m in the morning now, and classes were about half an hour away. I shut the computer down and went straight for the bathroom.

The warm shower felt pretty damn good in this cold weather. It was in the middle of November, and somehow I hope I could go back home to the countryside to spend Christmas with mom and dad. I’ve always spent it with them, after all.

And now, well, I dunno if I still can.

On the bright side though, Fortsworth looked even better, and was twice as big as in the brochures and pictures. I told mom once I’d send a picture to her but the damn camera was useless—no USB. And I dunno—the camera was old fashioned so it was hard to find accessories for it.

I slipped on my winter uniform, (also included in the tuition fee—and don’t even ask how much it was) a plaid gray and white long skirt paired with a white long-sleeved sweater.

I lived in the dorms, which meant school was a short-distance from here. About five minutes of walking approximately.

Before leaving, I took one last look of myself in the mirror that hung in my closet. For a girl sixteen years of age, I didn’t look as mature as my other classmates were. And I wasn’t that attractive, either.

My red hair was long and curly, making it harder to fix every morning. My eyes, well, they were a dull pair of big and circular charcoal gray. My body, I dunno. It was normal, I guess. Sure, I lacked some womanly curves, but that’s really unnecessary for me since I prefer to wear baggy shirts.

Anyway.

I went out of my room, locked it, and braced myself for the most challenging part every weekday morning of my life.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door next to mine.

The door creaked open, (luckily) revealing a twelve year old brown-haired boy who looked at me lazily as he rubbed his long lashed electric blue eyes. “Dakota?”

“Rise and shine, Max.” I said, preparing to take my leave for school. “Wake your brother up. I’m going on ahead.”

“Alex won’t wake up unless you do it.” Max whined childishly.

“No can do, pal.” I shook my head defiantly. “You do it yourself.”

“Then I’m not going to school!”

And with a loud thud, the door in front of me was slammed shut. Spoiled little—

“Dakota!” A familiar voice called from behind me.

I looked up at Emily Hawkins, who was also an occupant of Dorm A—highly exclusive, no roommates and stuff like that—and greeted her good morning. She beamed in reply.

“Trouble with the Alden brothers again?”

I sighed. “As always.”

We started walking.

“Why do you have to put up with them anyway?” She chuckled briefly. “I mean, they’re not your responsibility anyway.”

“I wish they weren’t,” I smiled without much enthusiasm. “But sadly, they are.”

I almost forgot to mention.

The Alden brothers—Maximillian Alden (12 years old) and Alexandre Alden (16 years old) are the condition.

I still remember Uncle Robert’s preposition as clear as day.

It happened about four months ago when I’d first met Uncle Robert—my father’s best friend. He had this aura of I-am-a-man-of-business around him, but inside, he was a really kind guy. I knew he could help me achieve my dream: to be able to study at Fortsworth.

“I’ll help you,” He promised me. “I’ll pay everything you need for Fortsworth if you pass the scholarship.”

Dad was a bit nervous at first; he didn’t want me to leave him, of course. But he also knew it was for my own good. I couldn’t achieve my dream if I study in countryside public schools.

“There is, however, a condition that your father has already agreed to.” Uncle Robert said before he turned to look at dad for clarification that they’d both agreed.

“You have to help your Uncle Robert’s sons.” Dad stated. “Max is twelve; Alex is the same age as you. Sixteen.”

I looked at the two of them skeptically. What did they mean, help? I mean, in our generation today, help meant a lot of weird things.

“After the death of my wife, Lisell,” Uncle Robert began. “They’ve become a little distant. Always keeping to themselves, putting up on an act, building walls to keep others away except from each other.”

Well, that sounded gay.

I nodded as I processed this, “So what should I do?”

“Befriend them,” He answered. “Make them feel loved.”

“You’re saying I should act like their mother?” I asked dubiously. I mean, come on! What does he expect me to do, nurse his sons or something?

Dad shot me a glare of death which meant,
shut your trap hole, young lady.

“I’m asking you to be their friend,” He pleaded. “They will study at Fortsworth as well and will enter at the same time you will.”

“Oh.” was all I could say.

“Do you agree?”

I thought about it for a moment, and then finally agreed. I was just going to be a friend to them, right? What’s so hard about that?


And that was how it happened.

Months have passed and I still haven’t figured out the Alden brothers. Sure I’d talked to them normally, argued with them, teased each other, and pretty much became a tad bit closer to them than before.

But somehow, they remained distant. I take one step forward; they take two steps back and away from me.

So going back to the present.

“The Alden brothers seem to be nice, though.” Emily said dreamily. ”I mean, Alex is.”

Yeah, pfft. Alex.

Alex was worse than the kid who disrespectfully slammed the door shut right into my good-willed face.

Alex was… well… the root of all evil.

Okay, it happened when I first met them.

They got settled in Fortsworth a month earlier than me, (which frankly, was unfair) and it just-oh-so happened that I had no idea what they looked like. I didn’t know them, and I wasn't really given a detailed description.

During my first night at the dorm, I decided to take a breather outside my balcony—yes, each room in the dorm had their own balconies—when moments later, I heard a heaven-knows-what sound coming from the balcony adjacent to mine.

Because I was deathly afraid of ghosts, I didn’t look and tried to ignore it. Unfortunately I could see something moving—something white—through the corner of my eyes.

“Okay, Dakota,” I mentally calmed myself down, staring straight into the night sky. “There are no such things as ghosts, you hear me? THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOSTS!”

A few seconds later, the white thing vanished and the sound gradually faded. I sighed in relief.

Then, just as I was about to turn back to my room, I saw a floating white piece of blood-stained cloth, which later on, I found out to be ketchup, and the floating thingie was just a stupid effect of my hysteria.

Being the scaredy-cat I was, I screamed. I didn’t care if people would hear me and think I was crazy—I still screamed like hell.

A burst of laughter made me stop abruptly, while tears started forming below my eyes.

“That was epic!” A boy—
whom I now knew as Max—exclaimed like he’d just won the lottery.

The figure beneath the cloth revealed himself, laughing at me and making me feel like a moron. A stupid, cry-baby, scaredy-cat moron.

“Hey, sorry about that,” The older guy—Alex—smirked, obviously not sorry about what he’d done. I stared at him confusingly (which made me look more moronic) and realized that I’d just been Prank’d by two radiant-looking (only because it was dark) strangers.

I glared at him with pure hatred. “You—“

He finally sobered up, and then walked slowly towards me, a smug smile playing on his seemingly-perfect—scratch that; it was dark so I was as blind as a bat, okay—
ABNORMAL, INHUMAN lips. That’s better.

“Name’s Alexandre.” He introduced himself; his eyes scanned me from head to toe like a perverted leech. I blushed—scratch that one again,
I SO DID NOT—and turned my attention to the kid standing on the next door balcony on my left.

“I’m Maximillian,” The younger one said amusingly. I could see him smiling under the moonlight. “We’re the Alden brothers.”

Ah. So these spawns of hell were the supposedly introverted boys Uncle Robert’s told me about. I don’t recall him warning me about them, though.

“You must be…” Alex raised an eyebrow mockingly at me. “Ah, yes, you’re Dako… Dako…” He turned towards Max’s direction, obviously trying to fight back a laugh. “What’s her name again, M?”

“Dakow-
duh!”

And with that, they burst into laughter again.

Ha ha ha. That was a really funny for you morons, wasn’t it? I regret not being able to say this that time. Lucky jerks.

“Uh, you’re spacing out again.” Emily reminded, pulling me back into my senses. I realized we were already walking on the school grounds.

“Sorry, I was just recalling some bad memories.”

We entered the school and walked to our first class—Algebra II—with the most annoying teacher ever. Mr. Fatso.

Naw, I’m kidding. Ha ha. His surname is Patso. Steve Patso, the fat Algebra teacher.

And he’s always early for class, which means his class always starts earlier.

“Ah yes, late for class, my dears. I will not tolerate such tardiness.” He said as soon as we arrived. The class was still half-full, for heaven’s sake!

“We’re not late sir.” I reasoned bravely. “According to schedule, class begins at 7:40. We actually arrived twenty minutes earlier. Is there something wrong with that?”

He scoffed, “According to guidelines, my dear, if you would so responsibly read it, that class begins as soon as the teacher arrives. The teacher dictates, not the schedule.”

I shrugged, “Then what are schedules for? Are you saying that we should just wing them?”

“Well—“ He scratched his shiny almost-bald head, probably thinking of a witty comeback. “I suppose—“

“We’ll be taking our seats then, thank you very much.” I grabbed hold of Emily’s hand and sauntered towards our seat at the back.

“You’re amazing.” Emily whispered shortly after we sat on our respective seats.

“Naw,” I shrugged, grinning widely at her. “When your school life depended on a scholarship, you can’t risk having a bad slate.”
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