Next To You

Hill Crest Academy

Heather's luggage was packed into the limousine. Mya was there to say goodbye. They hugged each other and Mya was in tears.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without my best friend. You'd better call me at least once a week, Heather, or I'll never forgive you," she smiled through her tears.

Heather smiled and used her sleeve to wipe Mya's tears, "I promise I will. All of you will look out for Tristan for me, won't you?"

"Of course. He has friends now, whether he likes it or not," Mya beamed.

"Thank you. I feel really bad I didn't get to say goodbye to Ivan and everyone else, you'll have to tell them for me," she glanced over at Connelly, he tapped his watch and she nodded. "I guess this is it, time for me to go."

Mya started crying again and hugged her tight. Heather had done pretty well keeping herself together, but that last hug hit her hard and a couple of tears escaped her. Mya saw them and knew whatever sadness she felt, it had to be ten times worse for Heather if she was crying in front of her.

Fiona came walking out of the house with a tall suited woman wearing the same type of glasses Connelly wore. She had her black hair pulled back into a bun. She looked over at Connelly and smirked at him as if she knew who he was.

"Heather, this is Serenity Logan, she'll be taking over Connelly's duties while you're attending Hill Crest Academy. We can't be too careful," Fiona gestured for her to open the door for Heather.

"Wait, you mean she's coming with me?" She sized up Serenity, wondering if the woman would follow her around everywhere like Connelly had.

"Of course she's coming with you. She'll be boarding with you and handling your security needs. We still have that deal going on, there's a lot of unhappy people concerning that, some of them could be psychopaths," Fiona answered casually.

"Gee, that's reassuring," Heather said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

Mya watched on curiously, she wasn't happy about it, that much was clear. She exchanged looks with Mya, then waved to her as she got into the car. Mya stood on the steps with Connelly and Fiona as Serenity got into the driver's seat and drove away.

Before Mya left, Fiona turned to her, "I hope you haven't taken part in this media fiasco, Mya, it would surely destroy Heather."

Mya's anger flared at such an accusation, but just smiled politely, "I would never Mrs. O'Reilly, the very idea is ridiculous. I adore Heather and would never stoop so low. Good day to you." As she walked down the driveway, she pulled out her phone and called Eoin, "I don't think Mrs. O'Reilly did it, Eoin. She almost accused me of doing it, I have no idea why."

Eoin sighed, "that's good, I guess. Time to get back to the drawing board then, I'll call up Tristan, you call Ivan, we'll meet at the diner."

"Okay, see you later," she hung up and stared back up the driveway, struck with a thought as she spotted Connelly getting into a dark van off to the side. "I really hope it's not you, Connelly."

She waited outside the gates as the van came pulling out. Connelly was in the passenger seat on a cell phone. Something was off about it, but what did it mean?

As they approached the gates of HCA, it hit her hard. She wouldn't know anyone, except Gregory. She cringed at the thought of him. She hoped she wouldn't see him that day.

Serenity parked in front of the ladies' dormitory and opened the door for Heather. She stepped out and looked around, still trying to accept it as her new school. She didn't see anyone around.

Heather reached for her suitcase, but Serenity stopped her, "allow me, Ms. Heather, just lead the way."

Heather walked in and was greeted by an older woman, "good morning, you must be Heather O'Reilly. I am Ms. Voss, the housemother. If you ever need anything or just a friendly person to talk to, that's what I do. I'll show you to your room."

She showed them the common room where all the girls sat to study or socialize outside of classes. The dormitory housed all girls, all years. The third and fourth years all lived on the top level, which seemed to have the nicer washrooms and abodes. Everything was decorated in Victorian era designs. Heather had to admit it was a beautiful old school, even though it felt cold and over starched. Ms. Voss finally stopped at the end of the hall, on the top floor.

"It looks like you're going to be neighbors with Willamina Arch. She's a quiet girl, but brilliant. Who knows, maybe you two will become good friends," Ms. Voss said cheerfully as she unlocked Heather's room, then handed her the key. "Linens and hygiene products are well-stocked and kept up, but if you notice anything getting low, just ring this bell and one of the housekeepers will see to it. Any questions?"

Heather glimpsed around the room, "no, thank you. I think I'd just like to get settled, maybe rest up a bit."

"Of course dear. Oh, your student handbook is on the desk here, it has all of our policies and regulations in it, you should definitely study it. Ms. Logan, we'll put you in this adjoining room down here..." Ms. Voss trailed off as she led Serenity down the hall.

Serenity had set Heather's luggage down next to her bed and followed after her. Heather looked across the hall and saw a pair of steely blue eyes peeking at her from a c***k in the door.

She walked over in an attempt to introduce herself, only to have the door shut in her face, "okay then, nice to meet you too."

A bit further up the hall, another girl popped her head out and smiled, "snubbed by the Ice Queen, I see. You'll have to excuse her, she's not much for socializing. I'm Victoria Townsend, you must be Heather O'Reilly. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She daintily held out her hand and Heather shook it awkwardly, "it's a pleasure to meet you too. Are there a lot of girls like that here?"

"No, in spite of all the rich girl stereotypes, we're really very congenial. I'm meeting some friends in the common room for tea, would you care to join us?" Victoria asked hopefully.

"Oh, okay," she locked her room, then followed her downstairs.

When they reached the common room, she saw there were girls sitting around a tea table in the middle of the room. Victoria introduced them to her.

"This is Jane Upton and Cordelia Henney, both third years. Ladies, this is our new addition, Heather O'Reilly," Victoria beamed excitedly.

"Absolutely a pleasure, Heather," Cordelia said.

"We're sure to become good friends," Jane chimed in.

Heather felt a little better meeting some friendly girls. They chatted happily as they enjoyed some tea together. Serenity had taken a seat out of sight and watched her with a smile.

She stepped outside and made a phone call, "hey you, I know you were concerned about her, but I think she's going to be just fine. Did you look into those map coordinates yet?"

She could hear the relief in his voice, "that's good. I sent the coordinates to an expert on the matter, I should hear back soon. Keep looking out for her Serenity, and thanks, I really appreciate your help."

Serenity smiled, "anything for an old comrade. I'll update you soon."

Heather returned to her room and fell back onto her bed. Tea was a nice distraction, but now that she was back within the confines of her room, she was lonely again.

Serenity came to check on her, "how was tea, Ms. Heather?"

"It was nice, the tea was good," Heather answered vaguely.

"How do you like your new schoolmates so far?"

Heather eyed her suspiciously, but answered her, "they seem nice."

Serenity smiled with amusement, "just nice? Is that the only word you know? And here I thought I was looking after a brilliant young woman."

Serenity wasn't like Connelly at all. She was sarcastic, chatty, and slightly rude. Heather didn't know how to react.

"You know, instead of sitting here pathetically like a bump on a log, we could go for a walk," Serenity suggested.

Heather wanted her to go away, but a walk did sound nice, "okay, but I don't want to talk, so don't think you can get me to open up and pour my heart out to you."

Serenity put her hands up, "I wouldn't expect you to. You ready?"

Heather nodded and followed her out. There was a sweet breeze flowing through, trees were blossoming, and birds were singing. They passed a music hall and heard someone energetically playing a piano. She was a little curious who it could be, but kept walking.

Gregory was standing under a tree with two girls hanging on him and fighting for all his attention. Heather heard his laugh and walked closer to Serenity on instinct. She knew he was looking her way. She noticed a lot of students spread throughout the grounds. They weren't quite as populated as North Ridge, but they made quite a sophisticated crowd.

Gregory was soon joined by some other boys. By the time Heather came back around, she could see his influence on the other students. She secretly pitied the fools.

The following day, Heather was given school uniforms and given her class schedule. The girls she had met on her first day were still the only ones who talked to her.

Right before class started, Victoria turned to her, "you know, if you really want to get to know more people, Gregory Reynolds knows everyone, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to introduce you. He's one of the best students you could associate yourself with, he has lots of connections."

Heather just smiled politely and focused her attention to the front of the lecture hall. She was determined to stay away from Gregory as much as possible. A tall man with long light brown hair walked in with his nose in a book. He had his hair pulled back with a hair tie and started writing on the board.

He failed to notice his new student and jumped right into the lesson. The girls seemed to be entranced by him, but the boys had bored expressions.

Heather tapped Victoria's shoulder and whispered, "what chapter are we on?"

The teacher spun around and pointed his chalk covered finger at her, booming, "there is no talking during my class!"

Heather froze, "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what lesson we're on."

He slammed his book shut and walked over to where she was sitting, "maybe you would if you weren't so preoccupied disrupting my class. Clearly, you do not hold education as a priority."

Thoroughly humiliated, Heather hung her head and tried to figure it out on her own. No one stood up and tried to defend her, not even Victoria. After class, Heather confronted her.

"Why didn't you say anything? Why couldn't you tell him I was new to the class?" Heather was trying not to cry.

"It's best not to get involved, especially when Professor Heathcliff is in one of his moods," Victoria tried to laugh it off.

Heather realized these new classmates of hers were going to be no help to her. She marched right back into the lecture hall and up to the professor.

He made no move to get up from his desk, "papers are due tomorrow morning, five thousand words, no exceptions."

"That's not what I'm here to address," Heather said firmly.

He looked up at her and leaned back in his chair arrogantly, "what is it then Ms. Chatterbox? I don't have all day."

"You're completely wrong about me Professor Heathcliff. My education is the primary reason I'm here. This is my first day in your class. I was just asking Victoria what lesson we were on, I swear I wasn't trying to be disruptive," Heather explained.

"Heathcliff?" He paused and started laughing, "that must be the nickname they've given me, silly school girls. No, it's LeDeaux. My apologies, what's your name?"

"Heather O'Reilly. So wait, LeDeaux? You have the same last name as the headmaster?" she said skeptically.

"Yes, he's my Uncle, on my father's side. Again, I apologize for the way I treated you, I wasn't informed of a new student, I'll clear it up. You should hurry to your next class before you're late," he stood up and sorted some papers on his desk, then he smiled at her, "thank you for correcting my mistake."

Heather stepped into the corridor and glanced down at her schedule, unsure of which way to go. She started to panic when Professor LeDeaux came out and found her there.

"Are you in need of assistance, Ms. O'Reilly? Let me see?" He skimmed over her schedule, "your next class is at the end of this hall to the right, you'd better hurry, Professor Halsey has zero tolerance for tardiness."

Heather thanked him and walked as quickly as she could. She made it right before the bell chimed. She decided not to sit next to Victoria again.

By the end of the day, she was exhausted. When she was on her way back to the dormitory, Gregory strolled up next to her.

"Hello Heather, I've noticed you've been having a bit of a rough day. Anything I can do to make it better?" Gregory had his usual smug expression.

"No, actually, you just being here makes it excessively worse," Heather snipped irritably.

"Come on, don't be like that, we're all equals here," he smirked.

"Since when does Gregory Reynolds have equals? You think you're better than everyone."

He chuckled, "I admire your endurance, Heather. You're completely drained and still manage to express such feistiness."

She wanted to swat at him like he was a fly, she wasn't fooled by his fake smile and his charm like everyone else was. She didn't even understand why he was so obsessed with her. She came to a stop and turned to face him.

"Answer this for me, what exactly is it about me that encourages you to keep pursuing me? I don't like you, and I never will. I have remembered everything you've ever done to me, and you're never going to change," she called him out.

Gregory was taken aback by her words, she really felt that way about him. He broke into a smile, it was a good thing he didn't care what other people thought of him or he'd spend the rest of his life trying to make others happy.

"You really don't get it, do you, O'Reilly? I run things around here, people do what I want them to. They're not simple-minded oafs like North Ridge students, they know a good leader when they see one. You can't waltz in here and turn this into one of your utopias where everyone gets along and respects each other, it doesn't work that way here. Hill Crest Academy is more like the real world than you could ever imagine, every man and woman for themselves here. Good luck finding people who actually give a damn about you, they're all just looking out for their own interests," he sneered as he started walking away. "Come see me when you finally wake up."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? I'm not broken that easily, Gregory Reynolds, I'll fall to ruins before I join the likes of you!" she shouted after him.

He just chuckled as he walked away, "always a pleasure, O'Reilly. What fun we will have together."

Heather cringed inwardly and walked in a separate direction. She walked past the music hall and heard the piano music again. She peeked into the dim building and saw a beautiful girl sitting at the piano, dramatically playing, as if she were the only one in the world. It fascinated Heather and she was drawn in, suddenly finding herself next to the piano. The girl glared up at her, but still continued playing until the song was finished.

She slammed it closed when she was done and grabbed her books from the bench she was seated on, when she spoke, it was a heavy british accent, "it's impolite to gawk at people. Don't you have something better to do?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just so moved by your playing," Heather smiled in an attempt to win her over, then she saw her steely blue eyes, the same ones that peeked at her from across the hall the day before, "that's a bit hypocritical though, don't you think? You're Willamina Arch, aren't you?"

Willamina brushed her off and walked away. Heather was sure there had to be more to her than that. She followed after her.

"I'm Heather O'Reilly, I saw you spying on me from your dorm room yesterday. What year are you?" she pursued her awkwardly, wanting to know more about her.

"I'm a third year, what's it to you?" Willamina's words seemed to be full of spite.

"I'm just curious, I think we could have a lot in common. I play piano too," she persisted, but seemed to be having difficulty keeping up with her. Willamina had the art of walking fast mastered.

She scoffed, "this is HCA, everyone knows how to play the piano at some level, there's nothing special about it, least of all, being something to base our acquaintance on."

"I play lots of instruments actually, but I meant to say I've never seen anyone play piano like you do. You seem to put a lot of feeling into it. I've always said that's the best kind of music," Heather finally caught up to her and matched her pace. "I used to be just like you at my old school, but I met some amazing people that taught me it's okay to be me, and loved me for it."

"How nice for you, but I highly doubt you were ever like me. If these people were so wonderful, how is it you came to be transferred here?" Willamina asked rheutorically, meaning it as a tool to push her away.

"Well, I was kind of forced into it. Some things happened that made it difficult for me to continue attending that school. I really didn't want to leave," Heather was finding it difficult to continue keeping up with her, but they finally reached the dormitory.

Willamina rolled her eyes and flipped her platinum blonde hair, "I really couldn't care."

Heather had to stop to catch her breath, and watched her walk upstairs. She wondered if this was how Eoin had felt when he was trying to get to know her before. She instantly felt guilty about it. She climbed up the stairs to her floor, then went to her room. Willamina was already in hers.

She unlocked her door and kicked her shoes off as she tossed her books into an armchair, then went to her desk and turned her laptop on. She was pleased to see she had emails from some of her friends, even Eoin. She read his first: "Dear Ms. Librarian..." she read to herself, she was already forgetting the trials of the day.

By the time she finished reading all of them, she felt so much lighter. She emailed both Mya and Eoin, telling them how her first day had gone, how she was disappointed with Victoria, how the gruff professor surprised her with his kindness, and the things Gregory said, then about Willamina Arch, the quiet girl who was hiding behind an aloof exterior that she was determined to c***k. She apologized to Eoin about how difficult she had been when they first met, finally understanding the lengths he actually went to, just to be her friend.

She woke up revived the next morning and ready to take on HCA once again. She was going to make it better than the previous day, and she was going to try even harder. She had completed the five thousand word essay for her english class, even though she wasn't required to, and handed it in to Professor LeDeaux confidently. He looked up at her, clearly taken by surprise. He looked forward to reading it and learning what type of student Heather was.

She took all of her other classes by storm too. It was nice to be challenged, even if she did resent being there, but she wasn't about to let it change the way she did things. She gave Gregory a look of spite as she passed him in the hall. He just smiled and took amusement from it, he admitted to himself he preferred a Heather O'Reilly with a fight in her, secretly impressed by her drive.

Benny watched her from the back of the room, and Gregory saw it, he spoke quietly to him, "you see something you like, Benny boy?"

Benny jumped with a start, "uh, no, should I?"

"Hmph. That girl you're obviously so starry-eyed over is Heather O'Reilly, I've known her for a long time," he said deviously.

"Oh, she's one of those," Benny looked disappointed.

He was aware of the type of girls Gregory hung around with, and the longer he knew him, the more things he had done with them. He just assumed that Heather was one of those girls that he only shared a physical relationship with.

Gregory laughed, "no, she's not, but she is my intended."

Benny knew that meant she was completely off limits. He was sure she'd never be attracted to someone like him anyway. He saw her in the library that afternoon, contently browsing the shelves. Before he realized it, she had appeared next to him. He wasn't very tall and was having a difficult time reaching a book off of one of the higher shelves. She stood on her tiptoes and snatched it down for him.

"Here you go," she said with a smile.

He turned beet red, "Th-thank you."

He quickly hid himself from her and resumed watching her from a distance. Heather found it strange, but just shrugged it off and went back to looking through the shelves. She was anxious to get back to her room so she could see if she had any new emails.

Sure enough, there was another one from Eoin:

"Dear Ms. Librarian,

Yes, you were a challenge to get close to, but I enjoyed every moment of it. I'm sorry you had such a frustrating first day, but I know you'll get the hang of things in no time. I thought you'd like to know how Tristan is doing. He's still struggling with kick-boxing, but I've made sure to see to it those seniors don't bully him anymore. He sits with me and the guys at lunch, and you'll be pleased to hear he has found some great kids with the same musical aspirations as him. Mya misses you like crazy, she still hangs out with me and her other friends, but you can tell it's not the same. I'm sure this is pointless now, but I just want to say, keep your head up and stick to your goals. I miss your face.

Love always, Eoin"

Heather finished reading it to herself and sighed. She composed another email telling him about her day, then shut her computer off. She turned to her studying, she had to keep herself busy or she would break down, she was sure of it. Not being able to see Eoin was becoming more of a challenge she wasn't sure she was prepared to face. Her days somehow seemed to drag on more, and her assignments required more time and attention than she had originally perceived.