Saint Paul High Misfit

Her First Sincere Prayer

CHAPTER 3: Her First Sincere Prayer

At night, Gale twisted and turned around on top of her bed, unable to sleep. At seven o’clock, they were strictly told to go inside their respective rooms and were forbidden to come out. In addition, there is no entertainment whatsoever. Her cellular phone was taken, she had no one to talk to, and the only books she had are bibles, values books, and educational textbooks. Her roommate, who introduced herself as Kara, was a no-go. She is probably the most boring roommate ever. Kara studied for a bit and then proceeded to sleep as soon as she got out of the shower.

Gale recounted what happened to her so far. First, she slammed a boy’s head into the locker, which resulted in her expulsion. Next, she was transferred to an isolated Catholic school where she was expected to adopt the religion. Then, she was deprived of enjoyment and thrill. Lastly, she wants to cry out of frustration right at this moment.

For the first time in her life, Gale looked back and repented.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered as she reminisced about the fun times she had outside and the bad things she did that resulted in her current situation.

Her life was not this miserable. Sure, it was sad, but not comparable to this.

She is an only child. All the love from her parents should have been garnered by her, but it was not the case at all. Her mom is a workaholic who only cared about money and career, and her dad is a coward who is not capable of showing affection to his daughter. All she had by her side were her babysitters and nannies.

But this can never be an excuse for her attitude. Gale made the lives of everyone she met a living hell. She would pull pranks and would cuss and hurt them. Nobody could tolerate her. She transferred to school after school because of her bullying. She was larger and stronger than most of her peers, so she took advantage of that. Moreover, she was often caught by police vandalizing properties and kicking trash cans. She was a bad person.

And this is probably her karma.

But, unbeknownst to Gale, all of these have nothing to do with why she was sent to this place. This was all predetermined. No matter how the situation turns out, Gale is going to be sent to Saint Paul. Gale is going to Saint Paul.

Morning came and everyone was woken up by the sound of the bell.

Gale kicked off his blanket and hesitantly sat up. She only slept for two hours. She pulled her hair in frustration.

“It’s only 5:30,” she complained in her hoarse voice.

“Good morning,” said Kara, her roommate, who was already done brushing her teeth.

‘How early does this person wake up?’ Gale looked at her in disbelief before she replied. “Morning.”

“Get up. It’s time for the morning prayer.” Kara fixed herself up and grabbed a rosary before kneeling beside her bed.

‘Seriously?! How much do these people pray?’ Gale recalled how many times she witnessed them pray. Four times. Before meal, after meal, before bed, and after bed. ‘That means… they pray at least eight times a day?’

Gale is amazed. She shook her head and pretended to pray, copying her roommate.

“Wow! I’ve never prayed or touched a rosary before,” Gale exclaimed after the prayer.

Kara looked at her unbelievingly. “Really? Well, now you’re going to have to do that every day.”

Gale shrugged and let out a chuckle.

Kara is a petite girl. Standing only about five feet tall, skinny, pale, wears thick glasses and big clothes, and speaks softly. She has short hair that is only up to her ears and has little bumps on her forehead.

Gale changed into her uniform and fixed her hair. She has a different appearance from that of her roommate.

Gale stands 5’6 tall and was not at all skinny nor fat. Her long black wavy hair reaches up to her waist. Her eyes are brown and she has a healthy flush on her face. Her maroon-colored skirt only reaches above her knee instead of lower, and her socks reach up to her ankle instead of them supposedly reaching below the knee. In addition, her blouse fitted her way so well that her figure was showing. She put on her maroon coat that has the words ‘SAINT PAUL’ embroidered on it, tied a ribbon around the collar of her blouse, and tied her hair up to a ponytail. She did not look like a modest Catholic school student like everyone in this school.

Gale and Kara picked up their bags and stormed out of the room. They proceeded to the dining hall to have their breakfast. As expected, Gale received everyone’s attention because of her appearance. And unlike the previous times when they only gave a quick glance, this time, they stared and whispered to each other.

“SILENCE!” The familiar voice of the old lunch lady echoed in the room. Everyone fell silent and bowed their heads.

“Miss Peterson! What do you think you’re doing?!” The old lady almost had smoke come out of her ears and nose because of how furious she looked.

Gale shot a confused look as if saying, ‘What did I do again?’

This only made the lady more furious, but she must wait until the meal is over before scolding the student, so she just stared sharply and muttered some words.

Gale sat beside Kara at the table in the center because it was the only space vacant.

The students didn’t dare to gossip again in the presence of the old lady, but they secretly stole glances. Gale was used to receiving these types of glances, so she did not really mind. What occupied her mind was the thought that the food looked gross to her. At her first meal, she did not mind as she was hungry. But this time, she almost threw up.

“Oh, my god. Are we prisoners?” She whispered under her breath.

Kara, who heard it, laughed quietly. “Technically, yeah,” she whispered, but Gale did not pay attention to it as she was stunned by the quality of the food in front of her.

Gale was fed excellent quality food. Her parents, although not always present, prioritized the health of the family. Gale only ate professionally prepared food by their family chef and never even tried a bit of fast food. She was picky and spoiled rotten.

But now, on her plate is a poorly done sunny side up egg, a plain untoasted bread, some processed cheese, uncut cherry tomatoes, and dry hash browns.

Prayer commenced and students began to eat.

Gale, however, could not round up the courage to even taste the food. For the first time ever, she prayed seriously.

“God, if you can hear me, please make the food here at least half as good as what I used to have.”

…