The 7:30 AM sun cut through the morning mist, casting long, pale blue shadows over the snow-dusted driveway of my family’s house.
Sitting idling at the curb was Aunt Victoria’s sleek white luxury sedan, its exhaust forming thick plumes in the freezing air. Downstairs in the front hallway, two leather suitcases sat by the front door—packed by my mother the night before under strict instructions to prepare me for the flight to Vermont.
I stood in the center of my bedroom, wearing a black wool coat, my favorite worn-in denim jacket layered underneath, and a dark knit beanie pulled down over my ears. My room looked stripped, pristine, and completely hollow. On my mahogany desk sat the signed transfer forms to St. Margaret’s Preparatory Academy, alongside the early application confirmation le
