Believe Beyond

I trudged reluctantly into the florescent lit lobby, frowning. This was my new school, a “reform” school as my mom called it. It was just a school for future jailbirds to me. When I entered she saw four other kids standing there, all new apparently.
“Finally the last one is here. About time,” snapped a muscled almost manly looking woman standing off to the side. I cringed a little at her loud voice. I could already tell I was going to hate Scarlett Castle School. “Right over there,” the woman thundered,” is where you will go for your meds.” I tuned her out almost immediately, listening just barely. She pretty much said to be wary of the cameras, take your meds, and lights out is ten o’clock.
I looked at the other newbies. There were three guys and a girl. The girl looked just like I expected everyone here to look like. She had blonde hair with black streaks, heavy black eyeliner, and all black clothes. The one boy also fit my mental image for Scarlett Castle. He had emo-like black hair and radiant green eyes. He was tall and skinny and looked as though he didn’t get much sunlight. He wore a band shirt, jeans, and high tops. The arrogant look on his face made me take a step away from him. The other two guys looked like your average jocks off the street. They both had the football player build and wore simple jeans and a t-shirt. One was a blonde, the other a brunette.
The scary emo boy looked over at me. I looked him over warily. “I’m Virgil.”
“Believe. My name is Believe,” I answered. He made a face and turned back to the lady. I was used to people giving me funny looks for my name, so it didn’t bother me. I returned my attention back to the instructor as well.
“Now, I will call each of you up one at a time to give me your bags. They will be put in your rooms later tonight for you to unpack. If you have any prohibited materials, put them here.” She pointed to a cardboard box. I watched in horror as each kid stepped forward and dumped sharp objects and other things I would never dream of carrying with me into the box. The lady glared at me and I held my hands up innocently, still horrified. Next, she ran a metal detector over us.
I was relieved when she stepped away from me. I still couldn’t believe I was here—I didn’t belong. I hadn’t done anything. My school had been burnt to the ground. All the evidence had led to me, but I hadn’t been the one to do it. The cops and my mom didn’t believe me at all, so I got stuck here. It was either I went here or went to jail. They were letting me off, blaming it on post-traumatic stress from seeing my dad die and because I’ve never caused trouble before. They gave me my two options, and I chose reform school.
“Virgil Ashwood,” the lady called emo kid up. She slapped a sticker with his name on it onto the huge bag he carried.
I cringed, knowing my name was next. “Beyond Believe,” she practically bellowed.
I flinched. “It’s actually Believe Beyond,” I said, dragging my bag forward. It had a smaller bag attached to the strap.
The lady looked down her nose at me while the kids snickered. “Well, let’s hope I don’t have to remember that, Believe Beyond,” she sneered. I put my bag with the Virgil kid’s in her office. I came out and stood a good couple of feet away from him.
“Pandora Crown,” she called the girl in all black. She walked forward with a cocky air. The two jocks were Jason and Alex. She dismissed us after that.
I was the last to leave, afraid of the others. Once I was out in the yard, I saw all the other “students”. Everyone was in the red and black dress code for Scarlett Castle. I personally thought they should have named the place something like Black Castle or Dark Castle because everything was so dark. The place looked exactly like a decrepit castle. The dorm part was newer, not the stone décor of the main building, but still dark and gloomy. The kids were either standing around in groups talking or off playing something. I spotted an open field and made my way towards it.
“So you’re the last new kid,” said a girl appearing in front of me. She had dirty blonde hair cut shoulder-length. She was small but fierce looking, and had eyes like storm clouds. I stepped back in surprise.
“I guess so,” I answered.
“What’s your name? I’m Briar.” She said.
“My name is Believe.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “I like that. It’s uncommon for a name, yet a common word. Are your parents religious?”
“I—No…”
“Oh. Well, it sounds like something lovely little Christians would name their child. So, what did you do to land yourself here with the rest of us?” Her head tilted to the side. I noticed her hair was cut jagged and uneven.
“I didn’t do anything. I got blamed for something I didn’t do,” I answered her.
She smirked. “Spoken like a true new kid. That’s what we all say at first, huh? Oh well, you’ll tell your story eventually.”
I stood there and stared at her, dumbfounded. A bell rang, and her head snapped to the right. “That’d be the lunch bell,” she said and flounced away. I stared after her and watched all the kids pile into the little building in the middle of the campus. I hesitantly walked toward it. This day was moving too quickly.
I walked into the noisy lunchroom. Kids had already grouped together at tables and lined up for lunch. I took a place in line, still observing those around me. I was surprised by how much this looked like a normal high school, dress code and school name aside. There was the Goths, the preppies, the jocks, and the misfits, just like any normal school. I frowned and faced forward, focusing my attention on getting food. The food was all blandly colored. I chose a slice of pizza and chocolate milk. I looked around the lunchroom and then snuck past the teacher and out the door. I sat on the lawn, leaning against the building.
I ate my lunch in silence, relishing the time alone. When I finished, I went back inside and threw out the trash before heading back out. It was hot out, and disgustingly humid. I tugged on the thick fabric of my jeans, wishing for something lighter to wear. The school grounds was scattered with trees, providing plenty of shade, but it didn’t help with the humidity.
“Hello,” someone said to my left, surprising me. I spun towards the person, seeing it was Virgil.
“Hi,” I said warily.
He pushed away from the tree he was leaning on, walking towards me. “You’ve got an interesting name.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, guess so. Yours is unusual too.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I do— “
“Virgil!” The other girl from this morning called, coming towards us. I couldn’t remember her name. It was something like Don or Dora. Virgil looked over at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I was wondering where you went.”
“I couldn’t stand another second in there,” he said.
“Oh, I know. Can’t believe we got stuck here another year!” She said with a laugh. Her midnight blue eyes danced with delight.
My eyebrows furrowed. This was their second year here? The girl then took notice of me. Her wicked smile grew larger. “Ah, you’re talking to the newbie. I remember when we were the sweet innocent ones three years ago. You’ll adjust eventually, sweetheart.” She laughed again. I just looked at the two in surprise. Three years ago? Wow…
“Believe!” Briar said, coming up behind me. I looked back to see her glaring at Virgil and the girl. “Hello Virgil and Pandora.” Oh! That was her name!
“Hello Briar. Fancy meeting you here,” Virgil said in a mocking tone.
She scowled at him, wrapping her hand around my arm. “Come on, Believe.” She dragged me away from the two. I gave her a questioning look. “Those two aren’t worth your time, trust me.”
“Okay…”
She gave me a sidelong glance. “Yep, I’ll keep you around. I could use you. So, I still think you should tell me what you did to get here. I’ll tell you my story in return.”
I really didn’t feel like talking about it, and I definitely didn’t trust this strange Briar girl. What the hell, I thought. “I was accused of burning my school down.”
Her dark grey eyes went wide and then she doubled over in laughter. “So, you’re a pyro? Yeah, I guess that would land you here! Ha ha ha! Well, I was put in here for stealing things the same year those two back there were put in here. I never got to leave.”
“I’m not a pyro,” I mumbled.
She looked at me and sniffed disbelievingly. “Yeah, sure.” I looked at her and chose not to say anything else. Looking at Briar, wondering how everyone was at home. I wanted to be there now, sitting behind a normal desk at a normal school with my friends. I wondered what Karli and Belle were doing. Briar was the opposite of my two friends at home… or at least they had been my friends until the fire. Karli and Belle were borderline preppy, always perfect and girly. They talked a lot, and I was the quiet one. To call Briar girly would be an insult. She wore clothes that pushed the dress code, making her sexy in appearance rather than girly. She had her roughly cut hair, rather than layers either straightened or curled to perfection. There wasn’t a sign of pink anywhere on her.
The afternoon dragged and I was ecstatic when it came time to go to bed, simply to get away from all the people. I found my room, #33, and went in. I frowned when I realized I wouldn’t be in there alone. There was a bright purple throw on the bed on the far side of the room, the bed clearly already claimed. Other things were scattered across the dresser and nightstand on that side of the room.
With a sigh, I went to the bed closest to the door where my stuff sat. I pulled my wolf sheets and comforter, along with the matching pillow from the smaller bag and slowly began unpacking. When I was done the place looked more livable. My books sat on the nightstand (Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games trilogy), along with a little wolf figurine. My clothes were all put away in the armoire (I opened the closet to find it already full) and the dresser. I pinned the only picture I had of home up on the mirror on the armoire. It was of my dad with his arms wrapped around me, and my dog Yuri sat at my feet. Yuri was a massive American pit bull. I loved him so much. I prayed my mother wouldn’t sell him.
I felt a tear rise to the surface as I sat in the middle of what was now my bed. How had I gotten here? How had I gone from sleepovers with Karli and Belle, and morning runs with Dad and Yuri? One second I was living a perfect life, and now I was attending a reform school. I wanted to go home, to be with Mom and Yuri. I wanted my dad back, and I wanted to go back to my silly public school. I wasn’t a juvenile delinquent. I wished I’d never seen what happened to my father…
I breathed deeply, fighting back the tears. When I was back in control of myself, I stood up to but my bags away. Just as I picked them up, something fell out. Frowning, I bent over to retrieve it. It was the stuffed wolf my dad bought for me and Yuri often stole from me. Dad had given it to me on my seventh birthday when I went through my stuffed animal stage. Yuri must have put it in my bag without my noticing, the silly dog. Staring at the gray wolf’s yellow eyes, I felt the dam burst. I crumpled to the floor and sobbed. Oh, how I just wanted to go back a month and start over again.
I was crying so hard, I never heard the door open. “Hey now! What’s this? Come on, it isn’t that bad here,” someone was saying. I cried harder. “Wow, it’s just my luck to get the crybaby,” I heard her mutter. “Shhh, it’s not so bad.” Whoever it was, she sat beside me and rubbed my back. I felt bad, and struggled to get myself back under control. It took a while, but I managed. Looking through puffy eyes, I saw my roommate. Coincidentally, it was Pandora.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.
“Hey, it’s fine. What was that all about?” She asked, still curled up on the floor.
I hesitated before saying, “I just lost someone that mattered to me before I was sent here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were crying because you got stuck here. I was going to say, it really isn’t that bad here.”
I smiled at her a little. I had to admit it wasn’t what I had expected… yet. Pandora stood up and walked over to her bed where she laid down. “You’ll get used to it here. Take care of yourself and watch for the cameras and you’ll be fine.”
“Doesn’t sound so hard,” I mumbled. I climbed onto my bed, clutching the stuffed animal to my chest.
Pandora looked at the animal and frowned. “What’s that? A dog?”
“No. It’s a wolf,” I answered, turning him around so that she could see him. “I named him Pup when I first got him.”
“Oh. So you’re a wolf lover?”
I nodded. She looked at me funny before turning her attention to my picture. “Who’s that? You’re dad?”
“Yeah. And that’s my dog, Yuri. He’s an American pit bull.” I answered.
“He’s a really pretty dog. I like pits. They’re great dogs. People write them up to be these horrible monsters they aren’t. Was your dad the one that brought you here?”
“No. He’s dead.”
Pandora looked like I’d slapped her, but quickly recovered. “Oh. I see.” We sat in silence for a while. “You’re not very talkative, are you?” Pandora commented.
I smiled slightly. “No, I’m not. Sorry. I don’t really like to talk all that much. Sometimes I talk a lot, but not very often.”
She laughed. “I think I’m going to like having you as a roommate. My last one never shut up!”
I smiled. “My best friends back home were like that. They’d talk for hours none stop. I didn’t have to do anything but listen or reassure them.”
“I don’t have any friends back home besides Virgil. Virgil and I grew up together. I’m surprised they keep putting us in the same reform school together, let alone putting us in reform school at all. I’m surprised they don’t just dump us into a jail cell. Tell me about your friends.”
“Well… I only have two—Karli and Belle. They both talk a lot, like I said. They’re both blondes, like me. Karli is a cat freak, and Belle loves romances. They’re both on the girly side, always in pink. They giggle a lot. You could tell them anything and they won’t go blab about it to others. Belle is boy crazy, but Karli tells them all off. Karli sort of has a pixie-like build, while Belle is a bit more… curvaceous.”
“Hmmm… I see,” She said. “What do they think of you going here?”
It felt like she’d just plunged a knife into my stomach and twisted it. “They stopped talking to me and publicly humiliated me.” I looked away from Pandora and stared at the wolves racing across the snow on my comforter.
“No shit… That sucks. Ah, well. You’ll find I’m not the backstabber type. If I have a problem, I’ll tell you. I don’t need to run around spreading rumors. I fight my own battles.”
I smiled and then looked down again.
“I suggest getting a shower now, rather than waiting until morning. And I also suggest doing so as early as possible at night. You run out of hot water fast in the morning and everyone piles in the later you wait at night to brush their teeth and all that. I’m going now if you want to come with.”
I nodded, climbing off of my bed and grabbing my bag of toiletries. I swiped my pajamas (a pair of short shorts and an oversized T-shirt) off of the dresser before following her out of the room. I was horrified when I discovered that the walls to the showers were clear, so you could see right into each one. It was just like in a gym locker room. With a sigh, I walked into one and showered.

At seven o’clock sharp we were all up and in the lunchroom for breakfast. Classes started at seven thirty. When I walked into the class that was on my schedule for first period (it was the classroom I stayed in until lunch), I was pleased to see a few familiar faces from yesterday. Virgil and Pandora lounged along the windows, talking to a group of kids. I then spotted Briar prancing around, talking to everyone. When she walked past Virgil, Virgil tugged on her hair and she turned and snapped something at him that I couldn’t hear.
I walked in slowly and took a seat in the back of the classroom. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as I watched everyone else. “Hey there,” Virgil said, sitting down next to me.
I smiled at him. “Hi.”
“Sit alone often?” he asked with a teasing smile.
“Only when those around me aren’t interesting,” I answered with a smirk.
His eyebrows raised and he chuckled. “You have really light hair,” he said reaching out to touch my hair. I leaned back a little, still wary of him. He gave me a curious look, but didn’t move away. He let the strands fall between his fingers before moving his hand away.
“I was born with almost white hair. It’s always been so light,” I said running a hand through the silky strands. My hair was what I loved about my appearance. It was naturally bleach blonde and soft. If the sunlight hit it just right it reminded me of a silvery halo. I looked at my hair falling over my shoulder in natural waves to my waist.
“I guess you don’t tan then, do you?” Virgil asked.
I shook my head. “I get sun burned easily. My blonde hair and blue eyes work against me there.”
“I’ll bet,” Virgil said, grinning. Pandora and Briar materialized at his shoulders.
“What are you two doing,” Briar questioned. Virgil looked over his shoulder at her but didn’t answer. He only smirked at her.
“Oh, let it be, Briar,” Pandora said, brushing her blonde and black hair over her shoulder. “What do you think of my new roommate?” Pandora asked tauntingly.
“You’re her roommate?” Briar asked me incredulously. I nodded. Everyone was forced into seats then as the teacher came in.
If I thought mornings before were bad, this was terrible. I had the same teacher in the morning all the way up to lunch in the same room. The teacher was an old mustached man that spoke in the same boring tone the whole way through science, history, and calculus. When the bell finally rang for lunch my schools issued notebooks were covered in my artwork and I practically ran from the room. Lunch was the same as the previous day, only now I had Briar to lead me through the lunch line. “Don’t eat the spaghetti, it tastes like shit,” she warned. I was also very quickly becoming accustomed to the foul language the students of Scarlett Castle used.
Following Briar, I ended up sitting outside on the bleachers. It was a nice day outside so there were a lot of kids scattered around eating. It was far less humid. I ate my pizza in silence while Briar told me about each of he kids lounged about on the grass.
“Oh, and that there is Marissa. She’s a bitch. She got put in here for killing her baby sister and breaking and entering. She’s diagnosed as sociopathic,” Briar informed me, making me almost drop my pizza in surprise.
I looked around, and my eyes landed on a group I hadn’t noticed before. There was a blonde in the group, and the two others had brown hair. One girl, two boys. I looked each of them over. The girl was tall and skinny, with the build like the girls I was on track team with back home. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail. The brown haired boy was equally tall, but with more of a jock’s build. He looked to me like a Mexican or an Asian from here. I just couldn’t tell. The blonde was shorter, about my height. He had wide shoulders and his arms were folded across his chest. A pair of Aviators covered his eyes. “Who are they?” I asked Briar.
“Who,” she asked, looking in the direction I was. “Oh. Them. The dark-skinned guy is Everett. The girl is Harmony. The short guy is Jace. Jace is an ass. I’d avoid him at all costs. Thinks he’s something great, whereas in all reality he’s just a freak.”
I frowned. “Oh. They don’t look so bad.”
“Everett isn’t all that bad. I can deal with Harmony, although I’d rather not. But Jace is just intolerable.”
“Oh. I see.” I crammed my last bite of pizza into my mouth and eyed the chocolate pudding warily. It looked a bit too thick, like I could pick it up and use it as a tennis ball.
“Come on,” Briar said when I finished, leading me back into the cafeteria. We walked right past Jace, Harmony, and Everett to get in. I had to admit Jace was awful intimidating.
My second half of the day was spent without Briar, Pandora, or Virgil. I walked into the gym locker room to my assigned locker and reluctantly changed into a pair of black shorts and a red tank top—I was surprised they let us wear them. Looking around I saw I had gym with Harmony.
I traipsed out into the gymnasium as the instructor had ordered. I hoped gym at reform wasn’t worse than at a normal school. The last thing I wanted was to have to do military drills. When the teacher ordered us outside to run laps, I sighed in relief.

I was shocked beyond belief on Saturday when I got to see my mom. She had come over with information about whether or not I was going to have to be medicated or not. Thankfully, I wasn’t. I saw no reason for me to have to be on meds. That was the one thing I would definitely fight. There was just no way she was getting me to take medications.
“Yuri!” I cried as the brindle colored dog just about tackled me to the ground. I laughed, hugging him tightly, enjoying his doggy smell. He gave me a slobbery kiss.
Mom smiled at us sadly. “He’s been lost without you, Believe.”
I frowned, my good mood disappearing just like that. “I won’t be able to come home for a while, Yuri. They aren’t letting me come home. I’ll be back as soon as I can. You know I love you.” He drew his ears back and cocked his head as though he understood me.
“Are they treating you alright, Believe? You aren’t unhappy?” My mom asked, taking me by surprise. I just about gawked at her. I had expected disgust, not concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine, Mom. Don’t worry about me,” I said. I was far from fine, though. I was homesick and miserable.
“We have to go, sweetheart. I really wish I could stay,” Mom said. I frowned up at her. I was hoping to be able to spend a little more time with them. This whole reform thing really sucked. And that fact that I hadn’t done anything made it worse. “Yuri and I have to get home, anyway. He has a vet appointment.”
“Okay,” I said. I buried my face in Yuri’s dark and silky fur, holding him so tightly it probably hurt him. “Love you, Yuri. You be a good dog, okay?” I whispered to him before hugging my mother goodbye. I watched her struggle to get Yuri into the car. He whined and cried, doing everything he possibly could to get to me. He wasn’t dumb. He knew something was wrong. I stood there for a while, locked inside the gates, long after my mother’s black car had vanished from sight.
Sighing I stepped back. To my right I spotted Jace, the boy Briar had said was so horrible. I had yet to find anything really bad about him yet. I had a handful of classes with him. I had yet to work up the nerve to talk to him. He leaned against a tree, a fedora on his head. He wore his sunglasses again, his eyes hidden from view behind the reflective lenses. He had his arms crossed, looking like nothing but trouble. I kept my head down as I walked past him.
“You do realize that stuff like that doesn’t happen all the time?” Jace said when I was in front of him.
I looked up, unsure of how to treat his question. “I know.”
He nodded, not saying anything. Awkwardly, I walked away. He was an odd character. I looked back over my shoulder at him. I couldn’t help but think of a pimp when I looked at him. Holding back a laugh at that idea, while also being very aware of the fact that it could be true because this was a reform school, I continued to walk away. I glanced back one more time only to find myself blushing and practically running towards the dorms. He had seen me looking at him.