Sadie’s POV
Maplewood Academy was like something from a fairy tale, as if it had been lifted from the pages of a book and set down in the rolling countryside just outside Ashford. Red brick buildings with white trim. Well-manicured lawns lined with ancient oak trees. A wrought-iron gate at the entrance, with the school crest – an open book and a torch – embossed in gold leaf.
I stood at the gate, holding Lily's hand, feeling like a complete outsider in my second-best blouse and scuffed boots.
"Mommy, it looks like a castle," Lily breathed, her eyes wide with wonder.
"It's a school, monkey. Just a school."
"It doesn't look like my old school."
"No," I said softly. "It doesn't."
The old school in Oakhaven had been a squat concrete box with chain-link fences and a playground where the
