Chapter One
1428 Words
~Ellie~
"What do you mean I have more bills to pay?"
"As exactly as it sounds, or do you have a hard time processing what I said?"
I ignored the insult, already used to these shenanigans that came with dealing with these rich people. I had only been at StoneBridge Elite for a month, but it had only taken them one glance at me for them to realize my status.
I was one of them. The scholarship students.
The way the word 'scholarship' came out of their mouths sounded like trash. There were more scholarship students at school, but everyone avoided me like I was the plague.
It was a bit lonely, but I didn't mind. I could survive anything that was thrown at me, even if it meant having no friends.
The receptionist cleared her throat and I stared back at her. With as much pride as I had, I asked, "Can I have a list of everything I have to clear?"
"Like you can pay for anything." The receptionist mumbled under her breath, but I heard her clearly.
Her words did hit home. I didn't have the means to pay, but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of her seeing how much her words had affected me.
She printed out everything and handed it to me. I didn't bother opening the envelope right there. I had a feeling that if I did, I would end up breaking down, which would only humiliate me.
Thankfully, I didn't have any other classes so I marched straight to my dorm and then into my room.
Yes. I had my own room. Though it was currently empty and lacking of items to make it feel welcome, I loved it. I had my own bathroom, kitchen area and best of all, a tiny walk in closet. It was the closest thing I had to a luxury home.
I took off my shoes and immediately threw myself on my bed, face first. Turning over, I lay on my back and stared at the envelope on my back.
"Just how much was I gonna need?
I sat up and cut it open.
With each item I read, my eyes widened at the prices laid out.
Two sets of uniform- $600
A set of cutlery-$200
Allowance fees- >= $2000
Trip fees- $10,000
The price came to a total of $12,800.
I felt a headache start to come on. How was I going to raise such a sum in such a short time. According to the receptionist, the trip fees and the two extra sets of uniforms were complusory while everything else wasn't.
Even so, I barely had a few hundred dollars on me. What was I going to do?
"I think it's high time I found a job."
Hours later I matched out of the principle's office, almost grief-stricken and with absolutely no clue of how I was going to get myself out of this situation.
"No student of StoneBridge will be seen hanging out in the local stores and hunting for a job. We hold our reputation highly and we expect to keep it that way, for every student involved. I'll not allow you to do such a thing, unless of course you'd like to retire from your scholarship?
The headmistress' words still rang clear in my head. I had been fortunate enough to visit first, and I don't know what could have happened if I had sought the job without the knowledge I held now.
Even though I knew that now, I couldn't help but feel stumped. I felt so helpless. What was I going to do now? I couldn't even get a job.
My eyes began to water, but I held back my tears. If I was going to cry, at least I would have to do it privately. I dragged myself back to my room.
I got a sense of dejaVu as I slumped onto my bed as I earlier had. This time, I crawled myself into a fetal position and let the tears fall. I had gone through quite a number of things in my life, but I had always managed to find a solution for everything.
This time, I couldn't even come up with anything to get me out of this situation. I felt so useless and I curled myself further in my covers.
After hours of crying, I rose from my bed to find something to eat. I had tried to fend off my hunger as I sulked, but eventually, my body had won and I had eventually given in.
I changed out of my uniform, had a brief shower and then wore a pair of shorts and a grey sweatshirt.
I grabbed my purse and headed to exit my room, but my foot crunched on something on the floor. I bent, and picked up the thing. It was an envelope and it had my name on it.
I frowned. I had no idea what this was doing here. I definitely didn't know anyone here yet and so I didn't expect to receive anything from anyone. All school related information was passed on through the personal mail and when I had checked my mail box this morning, it had been empty.
So what was this?
I walked to my desk and stared at the envelope. After much pondering, I gave into my curiosity. I tore it open, and poured out the contents inside.
It was a cheque. I picked at up and as I slowly read everything written on it, I gasped not believing what was before my eyes. My eyes trembled as I held the cheque.
I was the sole recepient of a sum of fifty thousand dollars, but the donor was anonymous although the cheque was already signed and stamped.
Not believing what I held, I grabbed the cheque and stuffed it back inside the envelope and tossed it into my drawer. I wasn't going to entertain any pranks being played on me.
However. . .
A few days later, I stood in the midst of the bank that had been mentioned on the cheque. If this was a cruel game that someone was playing on me, then I wouldn't stop until I found out who they were.
That said, I was desperate and that's why I stood in line at the bank. After a few hours, I walked out of there, with the money in my arms. Without wasting time, I hailed a cab and told the driver where I was going.
Nothing about this felt surreal and I felt like had just jumped into a fever dream. I had fifty thousand grand and it was all mine.
I smiled as I thought about all the possible things I could do with the money. I would definitely touch up my room a little, but new clothes to replace the old ones, buy text books and more scholastic materials I required but best of all, I would be able to pay for my trips and also send some to my mom. I would even have enough saved up to sustain for a while.
Tears pooled in my eyes as I realised my good fortune, and I was definitely going not to take this for granted.
Life had completely gone a little bit better for me.
It was the fourth month since I had joined StoneBridge Academy and I had just come back from my classes. As I had expected, I found another cheque sitting on my desk.
I smiled, although deep down, I still wasn't aware of the generous person that kept on sending the money my way. I was still living on the first two cheques that had been sent, and the third one was still untouched. And now I had a fourth cheque.
Never in my life had I ever expected to see or own such a large amount of money. But I guess things did really change.
I hope that one day I would really meet this generous person.
Suddenly there was a knock on my door. Weird. It was shortly after 10 in the night and nobody was allowed to roam through the halls of dorm. Aside from the dorm patron who else could it be?
I marched to my door and flung it open and came face to face with someone. Only that it wasn't the dorm warden. It was someone I had clearly never expected to cross paths with and certainly not at the footsteps of my dorm room.
The golden Prince of StoneBridge Academy, Advil King.
- Writer
