“That would be lovely,” Mom paused, tossing a glance at me, as if waiting for me to agree with her.
Not going to happen. I figured I’d have to walk, since there was no way in hell I’d ever let my mom drop me off at Midpark in her ancient van on my first day—and because Midpark was too rich for busses. Driving with Ollie might shield me from the cool temperature outside, but that was…just awkward.
I mean, I didn’t really know the man well. I might be living in his house, but knowing him and living in his house were not two mutually coexisting things.
I kept my mouth zipped shut, knowing if I argued, it wouldn’t be good. I wanted my mom to be happy. I wanted her to have a stable life. I loved her, probably more than I loved myself. If there was one person out there I’d do anything for, it was her, hence me zipping my lips and giving Ollie a thankful smile even though he wasn’t paying any attention to me whatsoever.
By the time Ollie’s coffee was done, I had finished eating. I zipped up my jacket and threw my bag around my shoulders. Mom hurried around the island to hug me, enveloping me in her arms. I just stood there, taking it, because there was nothing else I could do at this point.
Make her happy. Be good. Don’t get into any trouble.
Seemed easy, but I knew it would be difficult for me.
“Make some new friends” were Mom’s last parting words to me as I followed Ollie through the kitchen. Make friends. Right. Because it was so easy, you could do it in your sleep.
Becoming friends with rich snobs…might be stereotyping, because I hadn’t stepped foot in Midpark, but kids like that were not the kind of people I wanted to be friends with.
Hey, maybe I’d be wrong. Maybe I’d walk through those doors and everyone would be nice and welcoming and all that. I could have nothing to worry about, just blowing everything out of proportion because it wasn’t what I was used to.
Or I could be right, and Midpark could be filled with snobby rich kids who’d rather turn their noses up at me than help me if I was dying.
The garage was attached to the house, and it held cars that probably cost more than I knew. I’d never seen Ollie drive anything but his big, black Mercedes-Benz SUV. I almost felt too dirty to touch it, which was ridiculous, because at the end of the day it was just a car and I was a person, but still.
Had to get used to feeling out of place, I knew.
I was the first in the car, Ollie climbing in shortly after he put his briefcase in the backseat. He hit the button on the vizor, and the garage door in front of us slowly opened. I tried not to stare at him too much; he was an older gentleman, maybe a few years older than my mom. If I had to guess, he was around fifty, or upper forties, at least. His black hair was greying, his eyes a tired blue.
Yet another lucky son of a bitch when it came to eye color.
Ollie kept to himself mostly when he was home. It wasn’t like we ate meals together. Mom made him his meal, which he usually took to his office upstairs. Mom and I ate at the dining table downstairs, sitting beside each other and wondering who in the world needed such a long table.
The rich, obviously.
The car was silent as Ollie drove us down the driveway, slowing to a halt to wait for Frank, the gate guard, to open the gates.
Yes. This mansion came with twenty-four-hour supervision. No sneaking out for me anymore, not that I snuck out often, but. Well, if I wanted to try it here, I’d have to get creative. Climb a fence or something.
The silence in the car was heavy as Ollie drove me to Midpark. The sun had barely risen in the east, and I would’ve claimed it was too early to do much of anything, but I’d been up for hours, so my mind raced. Had Ollie done this drive countless of times before? If he had kids, if that house had been his for long, surely he did. He wasn’t old enough to have kids that far apart in age from me.
My morbid brain wondered right then: were they dead? Did they die? Did Ollie hold a weight on his shoulders because he thought he was responsible?
As Ollie turned into Midpark High’s parking lot, I studied the parked cars we passed. A lot were probably faculty vehicles, but there was no way there were that many workers here. Probably two hundred cars scattered around the newly-built, modern building with an abundance of windows and cameras pointed every which way. Those fancy cars also belonged to some students here, the ones old enough to drive and have their license. I had mine, but no car.
We’d lived quite a few hours away from here, in a different state, but Midpark did ring some bells in my head. Something had happened here, something that captured the national news for quite a while. I didn’t really pay attention to the news, so I didn’t know details. Didn’t really care to.
Ollie pulled his car up to the front doors, and I glanced outside, at the other students chatting it up, already in their cliques, even though it wasn’t even seven o’clock yet. They wore brand-name jackets with the fancy gold designer names stitched in them, shielding their bodies from the cold but looking cool while doing it.
The girls looked cute all bundled up, their hair done and makeup perfectly blended. None had holes in their jeans like me. Even the guys looked like movie stars in the making—their faces, their clothes, the way they stood.
Well, that was nice. Suddenly I felt very potato-y. Maybe I should’ve gone with that other dress and some tights or something…did I even own tights? I was overthinking it. These kids probably wouldn’t look at me twice.
My stomach felt queasy. I didn’t want to go out there.
Joke was on me, though. I had to.
With a wave to Ollie, I unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbed my bag, and got out. Ollie drove off, and I stared past the kids outside, looking at the front glass doors. I would have to march in, go to the office, get my schedule and locker, and hopefully a map.
Yep. I was going to be the weirdo walking around holding a map because I didn’t know how to navigate the maze that was Midpark. Setting myself up for some mocking, but it had to be done. I could not be late to classes and disappoint my mom. No getting in trouble. No calls to the office. Just sit down and study like a good girl.
I held my head high and walked to the doors, the cold air whipping up a gentle breeze. Whether everyone’s eyes were on me or not, I didn’t notice. Tried not to, anyway. I might’ve made eye contact with one particularly cute blonde boy, but that was neither here nor there. I was sure I wasn’t the type of girl a boy at Midpark would ever want to bring home to meet his parents. Basically a maid’s daughter. If that wasn’t ammunition for ridicule in a place like this, I didn’t know what was.
The front office was right inside and around the first left corner. Thank God there were signs, otherwise I would’ve been wandering and looking even more a fool. Once I got my schedule and my locker combination—and a map—I was good to go.
Midpark wasn’t too confusing of a school. It looked like the cafeteria was smackdab in the center, and there was even some space where students could eat outside if they wanted. Since it was kind of chilly out, I doubted anyone would be outside. There were hallways for the sciences, for the literatures and languages, the maths, and all the electives my old school had to cut because it was too poor and none of the parents wanted to vote for a levy to increase taxes to fund those classes.
Yeah, my old school got rid of art and music and all that. I didn’t miss it much, though there were a few select people I did miss. It wasn’t like I could talk to them, though. The way Mom talked, it was imperative that we moved on completely from that place, wash our hands of it. I did get into a lot of trouble there, so I was trying to turn a new leaf. To be good. To be the daughter she wanted.