Rags to Riches

I impatiently bounced my knee as I sat on the bench outside, my eyes darting from left to right as I waited for the white Benz that would be my ride home. I was outside my school (if I can really call it a school and not boot camp for young ladies), Diana C. Rothenberg's Preparatory Academy for Girls. A mouthful to say, of course, so we just called it Rothenberg Prep. I was freezing in my uniform, which was pretty much exactly what you would expect a student of a private all-girls school to be wearing. A knee-length plaid red skirt, a white button up shirt, a red cardigan with the schools crest embellished on the pocket, and simple black flats.

The skirt didn't do much to defend me against the cold wind, and I shuddered, pulling it down. It was eerily quiet, and I was about ready for some schoolgirl fetish pervert to jump out at me. Not long later, the Benz pulled up next to me and I slung my leather bag over my shoulder, climbing into the passenger seat. My best friend Avia was in the driver's seat, grimacing as she took in my uniform. I realized that she had changed into a short, tight skirt and sequined tank top.

"You left me here to go home and change?" I frowned.

"Callie, I hope you know you aren't going to Mel's party wearing that. There are going to be boys there. Boys. Girls like us don't have a very big selection of boys to choose from," Avia complained, reaching into her bag and tossing me a pretty revealing cocktail dress.

"I thought we were studying," I furrowed my brow, holding up the flashy gold dress. It didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Studying on a night like this?" Avia rolled her eyes. "No, I let you stay here and study until now. It's five now. It's time to party. When will your dad be home?"

"He should be home around nine or ten," I shrugged. Dad always worked late, but I suppose he did what he needed to so I could go to a school like Rothenberg Prep. And here I was, lying to him about studying to go to some party hosted by someone who didn't even talk to me.

"Put that on," she ordered.

I reluctantly did as she said, squirming a bit in the dress. It showed a bit too much of my butt than I would've liked. Avia threw me some heavy makeup and told me to put it on, which I reluctantly did as well. By the time we got to the house, I looked like a hooker. I had practice walking in high heels due to the fancy parties my mother and father liked to host, but somehow, I didn't feel confident anyways. There were girls from my school intertwined with boys from some all boys prep up in the city. Literally intertwined. It was disgusting.

It didn't take Avia very long to find a boy to romance, leaving me alone with my drink in my hand, full because I wasn't exactly into underage drinking. I glanced at my reflection in a mirror, nearly bursting into tears. How did I get to that point of desperation in my life, dressed like a slut so people alk to me. My long brown hair was down rather than up in its usual ponytail, falling all the way down to my waist. My once pretty blue eyes were dirtied by the "smoky eye" black makeup that looked so skanky on my face.

My thoughts were interrupted by a hand on my waist, which made me jump. I glanced in the mirror to find some stranger boy standing behind me with both his hands on my hips, pulling me back to him. He definitely fell under the category of tall, dark, and handsome, but he was also very clearly intoxicated.

"Wow, you are gorgeous," he muttered, brushing my hair over one of my shoulders. "I saw you from across the room and thought, 'wow, I need to get to know her'."

I froze when he pressed his lips against my neck, unsure of what to do. I had never even kissed a boy, let alone be handled by one the way he was. Terrified, I shoved him away, backing up into a table where I caught everyone around's attention. The boy didn't hesitate to move on to another girl, a little luckier with that one. So much for being the only beautiful girl in his eyes. I kicked my heels off, picking them up and storming out the front door. Avis's car was locked so I couldn't get to my uniform or bag. I'd have to get them later. There was no way I was going back in there.

I pulled out my phone and searched through my contacts. Should I call my parents? No, they would kill me. I decided on my older brother, though he would probably be too busy with his girlfriend to answer. Thankfully, he was alone that night.

"Hello? Connor?" I squeaked.

"Yeah, Callie, is that you?" he sounded concerned. "Where are you? I can hear the bass pumping through the phone."

"I made a mistake. I need you to come and get me," I said, quickly explaining everything. He stayed quiet for a few moments before responding.

"I'll bring you some clothes and get you from there," he sighed.

"Bring makeup remover, too. Ella has some, doesn't she?"

"You want me to steal my girlfriends makeup remover and clothing?"

He stayed quiet on the other end for a moment to make sure I was serious before finally sighing in defeat.

"Fine, text me the address and try not to get raped."

And on that bitter tone, he hung up. I sat down on the curb, trying to tune out the booming music behind me and feeling the mascara running down my face. It took half an hour for Connor to pull up in his massive Range Rover, despite the fact that his apartment was only about ten minutes away. He stared at me with wide eyes as I pulled myself up into the passenger seat and snatched the T-shirt and jeans from his hands. Luckily, Ella and I were about the same size.

As I started to wipe off the heavy makeup, Connor finally started heading towards home. He was quiet for the first few minutes, unsure of what to say. He was bad at being comforting, so I was probably better off.

"My friends and I call dresses like that 'I'm trying to get laid tonight' dresses," he finally said. "When they're looking for girls to take home at a club, they look for girls wearing dresses like that."

"What's your point?" I glared at him.

"My point is that I know you well enough to know that you're the equivalent of a nun when it comes to sexual experience. What on earth were you doing wearing that?" he jerked his chin towards the dress that was now on the floor of his car.

"It's a long story. One that I don't want to talk about with my brother."

I left it at that, crossing my arms stubbornly and staying quiet the rest of the ride home. I insisted he just drop me off, but he followed me inside anyways, claiming he had stuff to discuss with Dad. My mother was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine, while our nanny, Liseph, cooked in the kitchen. She dropped her wooden spoon and greeted both of us with a warm hug, lingering a little bit longer on Connor.

Liseph had been a nanny for both Connor and I, though because Connor was the firstborn, she spent a lot more time with him to help our mother than she did with me. Now that we were both grown, she stayed around the house to help cook and clean. We just didn't have the heart to let her go. Mom also stood up from her seat, giving Connor a hug and a kiss on the cheek that he wiped away when she wasn't looking.

"Connor, what a surprise!" she grinned. "I wasn't expecting you until Sunday! And Callie, how was the study party?"

"It was good," I mumbled quickly, leaving to join Liseph in the kitchen before any more questions were asked.

"Is Dad home yet?" Connor asked.

"No, honey. He's running late tonight. Maybe he went out for drinks with his coworkers again," Mom shrugged, knowing that it was probably nothing to worry about. "Sit down, baby. How is everything? How's work, how's Ella? Any track competitions coming up?"

"It's fine, she's fine, and no. Nothing coming up," he mumbled, eyeing the door. "He's probably running late because he knows I'm here. He's avoiding me. I don't even know what I did this time."

"Connor, your father is not mad at you," she rolled her eyes. We had been through this many times before.

"Yeah you're right," he sighed, waiting a few moments before picking up his car keys. "I changed my mind. It can wait."

Almost as if on cue, he bumped into Dad walking in as he headed out. He smiled and backed out the door nervously without a single word, leaving Dad in silent shock. He had his coat slung over his arm with his tie, and the top buttons on his shirt were unbuttoned which meant he had be out somewhere after work. I was used to him going out with coworkers and clients.

"What happened here?" he frowned.

"The usual," Mom answered, sighing and sitting back down on the couch with the magazine.

I could tell Liseph wanted to say something, but she kept quiet as well. Dad shrugged, giving my mother a peck hello and kissing the top of my head. There was something off about him.

"Are you okay?" I said softly.

He rubbed his neck, glancing over his shoulder at Mom and Liseph before muttering the words "code purple" and leaving. Code purple was something he came up with when I was little, that meant he wanted to meet with me in the game room and talk to me one-on-one without Mom or Liseph finding out. It was a game when I was little, but as I grew older I only faced Code Purples when I was in trouble.

I nervously headed to the game room, my heart pounding every step of the way. He found out about the party, didn't he? He knew about the lie. That had to be it. What else could it have been?

When I walked in he was already there, his briefcase next to the plush chair he was sitting in and a game controller in his hand. Video games were a newer interest of his, since Connor moved out and his old games were collecting dust. He handed me the second controller, and we played some game I didn't recognize for a few minutes until he finally spoke up.

"I met someone today. He was your age. A little older," he started.

"And?" I pushed him to continue, realizing that he didn't know about the party. This was about something else.

"He was... troubled. Made some bad decisions because he was in a tough situation," he looked away from the game and at me. "I want you to tell me if there is anything going on, Callie. I don't want you making bad decisions. Okay? Please tell me if there are things going on."

"Of course," I lied right to his face. "What did the guy do?"

"That's his business, and besides the point," he scolded. "I just want to make sure you're okay. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I reassured him, though I couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

I couldn't lie to him anymore.