Northwood Academy

“I… I didn’t do it.” My voice echoed but no one listened… I shivered… my breath clouding in the cold air as I backed away from the lifeless body beside me. “She killed him!” “No, she’s just a child…please don’t do this!” A woman’s desperate cry pierced the night. “She’s cursed!”“A danger to the pack!” Their voices swelled, louder, harsher, drowning me. “No… please…” My knees buckled. I reached out toward the one person who was supposed to protect me. “Dad?” My voice splintered. “Please… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” His gaze was ice. “You’re no daughter of mine... You’re a curse.” he said, voice colder than the winter wind. It cut deeper than any wound. “kill her....before she curses us all..” “No…! Please!!” I begged, my voice breaking. “I… I didn’t do it.” I didn’t kill him. I couldn’t.. ……… BANG! BANG! BANG! The pounding on my door jolted me out of sleep. My eyes flew open, chest heaving. The forest was gone. No glowing eyes, no snarling teeth. Just the cracked ceiling above me and the faint drip-drip of the leaky pipe outside my door. I pressed my palm against the amulet on my chest, trying to calm the racing thud of my heart. The same nightmare..again “Ariaaa!” Jacob’s voice burst through the thin wood. “Get up! Today’s the day!” I groaned, burying my head under my pillow. “What day?” I mumbled, even though I already knew. “Are you joking?? The Northwood letter!” he said, practically vibrating on the other side. “The results come in this morning….don’t tell me you forgot.” I didn’t… how could I forget??. The letter that would either change my life forever or keep it exactly the same was probably sitting in our mailbox right now, mocking me. “I’m still sleeping,” I lied. “You sound very awake for someone who’s sleeping,” he shot back. I rolled my eyes. “And you sound very annoying for someone who hasn’t even brushed his teeth.” He gasped dramatically. “How dare you!…fine…if you’re not coming out I guess I’ll just break the door down..” I quickly got up and yanked it open before he could make good on the threat, squinting at his too-bright grin. “Ughh…You’re way too excited for something that’s not even your letter.” Jacob slung an arm around my shoulders as we walked toward the mailbox. “Please. If you’re chosen, I’m telling everyone I discovered you. You’re basically my ticket to fame.” I tried to laugh, but my stomach twisted. “And What if I didn’t get in?” “That’s not a problem..we’ll just grow old in the orphanage together. Probably get married. Have, like, nine kids,” he said with an annoyingly wide grin. “Eww..I’d rather be eaten alive.” We stepped out into the crisp morning air, the old porch creaking beneath our feet. Jacob kept talking about how legendary Northwood was….its massive library, the marble halls, the students who looked like they’d stepped out of a magazine….but his words blurred into background noise. I couldn’t stop picturing the envelope in that mailbox. Thick paper. Gold crest. My name printed neatly on the front. Or worse…no crest at all. Just plain white paper and a polite rejection. When we reached the mailbox, my hands hesitated on the metal handle. “You open it,” I said. “Nope,” Jacob grinned. “This is your moment.” The lid creaked as I pulled it open. A small stack of letters sat inside, but right on top…there it was. The envelope with Northwood Academy printed across the front. Jacob’s eyes went huge. “Aria. It’s here.” My heart was in my throat as I slid my finger under the flap. The paper inside was thick and smooth, the kind you just knew was expensive. I unfolded it slowly. The words swam for a second before coming into focus. …….. ‘We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded a full scholarship to Northwood Academy…’ ……… I stared. My breath caught. “I… I..got in.” “YESSSSS!!” Jacob picked me up and swung me around in the air. “I told you! You’re officially a Northwood student!” His voice was so loud the neighbors dog started barking… A laugh bubbled out of me….shaky, almost disbelieving. I pressed the letter to my chest like it might disappear if I let go. All those all-nighters, extra credit, competitions, tears. Every bit of effort i could squeeze out of my worn-out life just to earn a place there. it all paid off. My chance to be more than this sleepy street and these peeling walls. My chance to discover who I really am… The wind tugged at my hair, carrying Jacob’s over-excited voice and the rustle of the paper. Northwood Academy… The most elite, high school in Europe….where the halls gleamed, the uniforms were designer, and the students had last names that could buy countries. And I got in. Me. For the first time in a long time… I believed maybe my life was about to change. ………. The days after the letter passed in a blur. Jacob wouldn’t stop telling everyone……Mrs. Hill in the kitchen, the twins down the hall, even the mailman that I was “the genius of Ashwood Orphanage” and “basically royalty now.” He’d grin every time, and I’d smile back… but what he didn’t know was that I could hear what he really felt. “She’s really leaving. What if she forgets me?” His voice in my head was quieter than his words, but it still made my chest ache. That was the problem…..I could hear and feel things that weren’t mine. Thoughts. Emotions. And sometimes… I can change them. Not on purpose. But if I met someone’s eyes just right, or spoke a little softer, they’d agree with me, trust me, even bend rules for me. Mrs. Hill still thinks it was her idea to let me have extra dessert on my birthday last year. I’d kept it buried for years…but I’m not exactly normal I have golden eyes people find eerie, so I always wear contacts. There’s also this strange birthmark on my back…one of those things people either call a curse or a bad omen. And it’s not just that. I’m faster. Stronger. Quicker than most people. I’ve always known it, in the way I move or how I never seem to get hurt when I should. The occurring nightmares don’t seem to help either… I used to think I was just some kind of genetic mistake. But deep down, I always wondered where I really came from. Who I was. What I was. And now I’m headed to Northwood. A huge part of me is excited but the other part is scared. What if I lose control? What if I hear something I’m not supposed to? Or worse… do something so strange it scares everyone away? I guess I might just be overthinking things…I mean I’ve kept my powers in check all these years So Northwoods should be fine right?