Worst Decisions
1216 Words
CARIS POV
"There's this boarding school," I said the next morning, cutting into my eggs. "ThornHeart Academy. I applied for a scholarship a while back. It was like a long-shot thing. I didn't even think I'd get in."
I slid the envelope across the table. "But I did."
My mother picked it up and looked at me. "You never mentioned applying anywhere."
"I know. I didn't want to make it a whole thing if nothing came of it." I shrugged, keeping my eyes on my plate. "But with everything happening, I think it might actually be good timing.”
That last part was the real card to play, and I knew it the moment she pressed her lips together.
"Let me look it up," she said.
She disappeared with her phone for ten minutes while I drank my orange juice and waited.
When she came back, she sat down slowly. "It's a real school," she said, sounding surprised.
I nodded. I had already done my research the night before.
"It looks... very prestigious." She turned the phone to show me the website. “And it’s a boarding school, I don’t know how to feel about it.”
I reached forward and squeezed her hand. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Mom. I might never get a chance like this again.”
She looked at me for a long moment, then at the letter again. Then she sighed. "Okay."
After breakfast, I went upstairs to pack. I called the admissions office early this morning, and I was to leave tonight.
It was strange how they wanted me to leave at night, but what was even stranger was the location.
The old train station was fifteen minutes from the house. I always assumed the place wasn’t working anymore.
My train of thoughts came to a halt when my phone lit up.
Zara had tagged me in a post. Despite my brain telling me to ignore it, I swiped open to see it was a photo.
Richard had his arm around Zara, his lips pressed against her cheek while she grinned brightly.
The caption read “My world” with a small red heart, and there were already forty-seven comments.
I scrolled through the comments, and they were all some version of,
‘Omg you two are so cute!’
‘I KNEW IT!’
‘Relationship goals. Riza forever.’
I flung my phone and the screen split right down the middle with a crack that was genuinely satisfying.
"Okay," I said to no one, stepped over it and kept packing.
When I told my mother about my breakup and how it happened, she launched into a lecture about why men could not be trusted.
If I had the opportunity, I would have avoided the conversation entirely, but since she was driving me to the train station, I had no choice.
“We’re here!”
She turned off the ignition but didn't move. "Caris, I know you might feel betrayed by Richard, but don’t start a rebound and-“
“Mom!” I groaned, shooting her a glare.
"I'm just saying.” She rolled her eyes. “You guys have been together for a long time. The best way to get him out of your mind is through s*x and-“
"Mom." I grabbed my bags from the back seat. "I will be fine. I will not do anything you would disapprove of."
She got out of the car anyway and followed me to the platform. There was a magnificent looking train already waiting there.
The doors opened automatically, and a tall man stepped out.
"Miss Fisher," he dipped his head in something close to a small bow. "Welcome. It's an honor to have you with us this evening. You look absolutely radiant, if I may say so."
I raised a brow. "I'm in a hoodie."
"And you wear it magnificently." He gestured toward the doors. "Shall we?"
“I’ll miss you, baby,” my mother whispered as her arms came around me. “Call me when you get settled.”
I nodded against her shoulder. “I will. I promise.
She released me and I picked up my bags and walked up the steps.
The inside of the train was almost overwhelming. It looked like somewhere that should cost more per journey than my family made in a month.
And I was the only person in it.
I sat down, put my bags on the seat across from me and looked out the window.
My mother was waving, and I waved back until her figure disappeared while the train moved.
I pressed my forehead against the cool glass and his words echoed in my ear again.
“You're exhausting, Caris.”
“Forget them.” I muttered to myself, pushing all thoughts of those two betrayers off my mind, I fell asleep.
The driver was the one who woke me hours later to tell me we had arrived. When I looked out the window, I noticed two things.
First, it was already daylight. And second, the school looked like something straight out of Hogwarts.
The building sat on a hill and there was a stone path from the train platform through an arched gate and up toward the main entrance, flanked on both sides by old trees so tall their branches met overhead in a canopy.
I stepped off the train with my bags and just stood there for a moment, my neck tilted back, taking it in.
The other students moving up the path were something else too. I noticed how beautiful they looked, with flawless skin and hair.
I pulled my hoodie a little tighter.
"Your tour guide will be along shortly," the driver said from behind me. "Please wait by the gate."
I nodded while he turned back toward the train. But I had never been good at waiting, which was something my mother used to tease me about.
So when I spotted a smaller path curving off between the buildings, I made a decision that was probably not smart.
I followed the path until I ended up in a small garden alive with flowers and butterflies. I stepped further inside, wanting to touch the flowers when I noticed them.
There, on a blanket spread out under the willow tree, were two people locked in the throes of passion.
She was on her back, her sundress hiked up around her waist, while he was above her.
He had dark hair and his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a toned chest slick with sweat, and his jeans were shoved down to his knees.
I should have turned away but I couldn't. My feet rooted to the spot as heat flooded my body.
My n*****s hardened against my blouse, and a familiar ache built between my thighs. I watched as he gripped her thighs and drove deeper.
“Harder,” she whimpered, and he obliged, pounding into her with a rhythm that made wet slapping sounds echo through the garden.
Then, as if sensing my presence, he turned to glance over his shoulder. His eyes locked onto mine, a smirk curled his lips, and then he winked.
I spun around so fast I nearly twisted my ankle, and then I was out of the garden, my heart racing.
- Writer
