Chapter 3
824 Words
No one stopped me. Not like they could, I doubt Mr Laurent will allow that.
Not when the assembly ended.
Not when the whispers followed me down the hallway.
Not even when I walked past the lockers where it had all happened just hours ago.
It was strange.
How a place that once felt suffocating could suddenly feel… distant.
Like I had already left.
Even though I was still there.
My hands moved automatically as I gathered my things.
A few books.
A worn-out bag.
A uniform I wouldn’t be wearing again.
That was it.
Years of my life reduced to something that fit in my arms.
I paused for a second, looking around the empty classroom.
The same desks.
The same walls.
The same silence.
Nothing had changed.
Except me.
Or maybe…
Just the way they saw me.
My gaze drifted briefly to the back row.
The seat I always took.
Not because I wanted to but because no one else ever did.
Invisible.
Convenient.
Forgettable.
A soft knock came from the door.
“Zara?”
I turned.
One of the staff members stood there, slightly hesitant.
“They’re waiting for you outside.”
Of course they were.
I nodded once.
No goodbye.
No one to say it to anyway.
And just like that I walked out.
The sun felt too bright when I stepped outside.
Too normal.
Like the world hadn’t shifted completely beneath my feet.
Outside the building, a black car waited.
Sleek, beautiful, nothing like what I would have ever imagined a few hours ago.
It felt like it had been there all along.
Waiting.
For me.
Just like my new life.
The driver stepped out the moment he saw me. I wonder where Mr Laurent went.
“Miss Voss.”
He opened the door for me without another word.
I hesitated.
Just for a second. It felt strange, having someone do something as little as opening the door for me, all my life I've had to struggle for everything, even the bare minimum.
My fate was really changing, is this the type of luxury I'll experience in my new life. I thought.
It feels so strange, in a good way.
“Your guardian has been informed,” the driver added. I just nodded, certain that Manny won't wait to reach out to milk out of me.
I let out a quiet breath.
A small part of me had expected something.
Maybe Manny coming to meet me, to see me off or something. I don't even know why I expected that, she has been nothing but cruel to me.
To think I actually believed she cared for me initially, when she came to our doorsteps to take me with her that faithful day, she looked nothing like mother.
I can't let Manny or mother cloud my thoughts today of all days, my day was already a lot.
I got into the car.
The door closed softly behind me.
Sealing it.
The past.
That life.
Everything.
The driver told me that Mr Laurent wasn't following us, but I'll meet him when I get to where we're going.
The ride was quiet.
Too quiet.
I watched the streets pass by through the tinted window.
Familiar places turning unfamiliar the further we went.
People walked past.
Laughing. Talking. Living.
Unaware that someone like me could just… disappear.
And it wouldn’t change anything.
“You’ll be transferred immediately,” the driver said after a while.
“Transferred where?” I asked.
A brief pause.
“Vale Academy.”
“I’ve never heard of it.” I said.
“That’s not unusual,” he replied calmly.
Something about that answer made me look at him.
But his eyes stayed on the road.
Like he wasn’t meant to explain.
Like I wasn’t meant to ask.
The rest of the ride passed in silence.
Until, the gates appeared.
Tall.
Black.
Imposing.
They didn’t look like something meant to keep people out.
They looked like something meant to keep people in. I felt a bit frightened, what have I gotten myself into.
The car slowed.
Then stopped.
For a second nothing happened.
Then the gates began to open.
Slowly.
Smoothly.
Like they had been expecting me.
My chest tightened slightly.
This didn't look like a school for an ordinary person like me.
It was something else.
Something bigger, so much bigger. I hope I'll be invisible here, I really hope so.
The car moved forward.
And as we crossed the gates, I felt it.
Fear, excitement, confusion. Every emotion was passing through me at once.
It seemed like I had just stepped into a place where the rules were already written and I was the only one who didn’t know them.
I didn’t know what Vale Academy had in store for me, but something told me It was where everything was about to change.
Again.
And this time…
I wasn’t sure I would survive it the same way.
- Writer
