Scarlett The Devil's Daughter (14 page)

Falcondell

“I am not sure that this
was such a good idea. Don
’
t ask me why but
I
’
ve got a bad
feeling about this place.
”
Laughing to myself I look at Aunt Sarah as she
fiddles with her hands looking extremely worried. Placing my hand
on hers she visibly relaxes.
“
That
’
s not fair Grace,
you
’
re
cheating.
”
She
admonishes me, but I notice the sparkle in her eyes as she looks
lovingly at me. I am staying with Aunt Sarah because I am running
out of options. I have moved schools several times and I need to
find somewhere to settle down in time for my final exams. Aunt
Sarah
’
s son
Gabe goes here so it was decided that I would be better off in
their care. He would act as my protector and I would make sure that
I kept my head down and worked hard.

We are interrupted by the
door to the Principal
’
s office opening and I am interested to see an older lady
bearing down on us, her hand outstretched. Looking at her she is
just what I would have expected from a Principal, two piece tweed
suit with a silver bun in her hair and glasses. Her features are
severe but I notice a tell tale twinkle in her eyes and I instantly
relax. She shakes hands with Aunt Sarah and then as she turns to me
her smile falters and she looks immediately worried. Coughing
nervously she extends her hand to me and I shake it smiling warmly
at her. Clearing her throat she ushers us into her office and we
wait for her to take her place behind the desk before we sit down.
As she looks at us it strikes me that she looks worried and I
wonder why. However she appears to shake off whatever is bothering
her and proceeds in a businesslike fashion.

“Welcome to Falcondell
High, Miss Gray, my name is Principal Adams and I am sure that you
will be happy here. I can see that you are a grade A student and
have a string of accolades that have followed you from your other
schools.
”
She
then looks directly at me, her dark green eyes piercing right
through me.
“
You will need to keep a clean sheet and work hard to catch
up though. I notice that you haven
’
t studied for a few months now,
is there a reason for that I should know about?
”
Aunt Sarah once again fidgets
nervously beside me.
“
Grace fell ill and was in hospital. It was the result of a
nasty accident but she is fully recovered now and keen to get back
to the books.
”
Looking thoughtful the Principal says,
“
I am sorry to hear that Miss
Gray. If at any stage things become too much for you then you must
seek me out immediately.
”
I smile at her and once again she looks
flustered. I am trying to tone it down but I always have this
affect on people. Grabbing hold of the locket around my neck I
wonder if it will be strong enough. Aunt Sarah sees me and once
again visibly pales. She tried everything to talk my Guardians out
of this placement but they were adamant. It was the best place for
me and they would ensure that I was well protected. Feeling sorry
for her I smile reassuringly at her and once again she frowns.
Sighing I sit back in my chair. There is nothing more that I can
do. I will just bury myself in my studies and keep myself occupied
in my spare time. The time will pass quickly enough and then I can
move on, away from Aunt Sarah and Gabe so that they can relax
again.

Principal Adams passes a
form across the desk for Aunt Sarah to sign.
“
Whilst you complete the
formalities Mrs Rivers I will assign some students to take care of
Grace and show her how things work here. If you will excuse me I
will ask my secretary to send for them.
”
I watch as she
exit
’
s the
room. Aunt Sarah starts filling in the form so I take the time to
study my surroundings. As I look around me I feel quite at home
already. Falcondell High is a good school with a good record. Gabe
has always been happy here and I love living with them in their
cosy home. I love Aunt Sarah dearly and she is everything that I
would imagine a mother to be. My eyes mist over as I think about my
own mother. I miss her so much, even though I can
’
t actually remember much about
her, it
’
s all
just a distant memory to me. I was very young when she was taken
from me and I was raised by a nice couple who were assigned to be
my guardians. Even though they are kind and caring I have spent
most of my life at school and haven
’
t really had a normal
upbringing. I expect that is why I was looking forward to coming
here so much. I will do whatever is necessary to fit in and stay
here as I don
’
t
want to have to move on again, it
’
s too lonely. As soon as I
settle in and make new friends something happens and I am moved
again. This time I will make sure that I am not
discovered.

The door suddenly opens and Principal Adams
returns with two girls about my age. They are dressed in the usual
trademark jeans and sweaters and have huge rucksacks slung across
their backs. One of the girls has the biggest pair of glasses on
and her brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail. The other one
has blonde hair that is held back by an Alice band and she looks
quite pale with the most terrible acne on her forehead. However as
I look at them my heart sinks as I see the horror on their faces.
They are looking at me as if frozen to the spot and once again I
wonder just how good this locket is.

Principal Adams clears
her throat and then looks kindly at me.
“
Grace allow me to introduce
Cally Miller and Piper Young. They will show you how it all works
here and will help you and look after you. If you have any
questions at all they should be able to answer them. Now as the
time is getting on you had better get off to
lessons.
”
I
smile at the two girls and then turn to hug Aunt Sarah. She clings
on to me as if for dear life and I see tears come into her eyes.
She whispers,
“
Be careful honey. Find Gabe as soon as you can. He will
look out for you.
”
Shaking her head as if to clear it she says,
“
Anyway,
I
’
ll pick you
up later as Gabe has practice. Have a good day.
”
Hugging her once again I turn
towards the two girls and smile weakly. I don
’
t want to alienate them so
resolve to keep my eyes lowered and say little.

Following them outside
they turn to me and just stare. Feeling uncomfortable I wonder if
the jeans and white top that I wore is ok. I
haven
’
t put on
any make up and my blonde hair is braided into a plait that hangs
down my back. The two girls look incredulously at each other and
then Cally narrows her eyes as if assessing me.
“
You need a serious make under
girl. I think the first stop should be lost property. We
can
’
t let you
out there loose on the school like this, you won
’
t survive the
day.
”
Piper
looks at me her eyes shining. Suddenly she laughs.
“
This is going to be
an interesting year that
‘
s for sure.
”
Then to my utter surprise they
both link arms with me, one on either side and march me off to what
I assume is the lost property office.

Luckily it
isn
’
t far and
we soon reach a door with a sign outside saying -
Lost Property
Office
. The two girls drag me inside and
then moving away once again stare at me in fascination. Cally is
the first to speak.
“
You are probably the most beautiful girl that I have ever
seen and so all of the other girls will instantly hate
you.
”
Looking
at her in alarm I go to speak but Piper interrupts her.
“
Stop it Cally,
you
’
re scaring
her.
”
Turning
to me she looks apologetic.
“
Look don
’
t worry it
’
s not that bad. Just dress down
like us and keep away from the cool kids and their hangouts. If we
do a good enough job on you they won
’
t give you a second look. They
are all so self obsessed anyway we all may as well be
invisible.
”
She
then turns and starts rummaging through the various boxes on the
shelves behind us. Cally joins in and they pluck a variety of
outfits from the confines of the boxes. Mumbling to themselves they
soon have what they think is a passable outfit. Cally comes over
with a huge checked shirt and tries to put it over my head. The
fact that I am close to 5ft 9
”
in flats doesn
’
t make it possible so I put her
out of her misery and haul it over my head. Piper thrusts a beanie
hat at me.
“
Here pull this down over your head.
”
Then she turns and grabs some
glasses off the counter.
“
You will have to make do with
these until we can get you some with clear lenses. If you tuck your
hair into the hat and then with the glasses you may just pass as
invisible.
”
Both girls step back to view their handiwork. They grin at
each other in triumph and high five each other.
“
Right then Grace;
let
’
s get you
to the first lesson. Do you know what it is?
”
Bemused I consult the schedule
in my hand that I have just been given by Principal Adams.
Squinting through the glasses I can just make out that it is
English.
“
Um,
it says English, room 310.
”
Letting out a breath Cally says,
“
Good,
you
’
re in my
group, I
’
ll
take you. We
’
ll
find your locker later, I think there
’
s one on our block but
we
’
ll have to
wait until first break otherwise we
’
ll be in trouble with Miss
Peters.
”

As I follow them out of
the room I wonder what on earth I
’
m going to find here. They make
it sound awful and I vow to try to shrink into the walls and not
stand out. The last thing I need is trouble.

Cally takes me to room
310 and I follow her inside. I can feel several pairs of eyes
regarding us but I keep my head down and follow her lead. Going up
to the teacher Cally hands her a slip of paper and Miss Peters
looks at me and smiles warmly. Clapping her hands she addresses the
class.
“
Listen
up guys, we have a new student. This is Grace Gray, everyone say
hi.
”
I hear a
few mumbled greetings and just smile weakly and wish for a vacant
chair that I can sink into. Cally pulls me down beside her and I am
grateful that the lesson carries on. Luckily nobody seems bothered
by me and I soon settle into the lesson. English is one of my
favourite subjects and I am pleased to learn that we will be
studying Tess of The D
’
Urbervilles. This is one of my favourite books and I look
forward to reading it again. Because I am keeping my head down I
don
’
t look at
my fellow classmates and hope that I can get through the day
without any problems.

In no time at all it
seems the bell rings and Cally pulls me quickly from the room. She
whispers,
“
Let
’
s
go and grab you a locker and then we can go outside for a
break.
”
Grabbing my schedule she studies it.
“
Ok, maths next. Looks like
you
’
re in
Piper
’
s class
for that. Mr Matthews is the teacher. He
’
s ok but doesn
’
t like any talking and is quite
strict. Anyway come on before the others spill
out.
”
I run
after her as she appears to be on a mission. Reaching a set of
lockers she stares thoughtfully up and down the rows. Finally it
seems that she finds what she is looking for and looks triumphantly
at me.
“
Here
you go; I knew there would be a vacant one here. Jessica Parker
moved schools last week so hers is free. Do you want to put
anything in it?
”
Shaking my head she grabs the key and hands it to
me.
“
Here take
this, mine and Piper
’
s is in the next bank along. Come on let
’
s go and find
her.
”
Before we
can leave though I hear her mumble something under her
breath.
“
Too
late, cool patrol heading this way. Don
’
t say anything just follow my
lead and with any luck they won
’
t even notice
us.
”
Keeping my
head down I walk beside Cally and we soon go to pass the girls. We
almost succeed when one says,
“
Hey, Cally, whose your
friend?
”
Cally
’
s
shoulders sag and pasting a smile on her face she turns to face the
girl.
“
Oh hi
Skylar, this is Grace, she
’
s just
started.
”
Keeping my head down as low as I can I raise my eyes to
look at the girl standing in front of me. She has long jet black
hair and flashing green eyes. She is extremely beautiful and looks
really hot in tight skinny jeans and a black strapless top. I can
see that she is appraising me and obviously coming to the
conclusion that I am no threat she just waves her hand dismissively
saying,
“
Oh
Hi.
”
Seemingly
bored already she turns to her friend and nudges her and they both
snigger and move away. Cally lets out a deep breath and leans back
on to a neighbouring locker.
“
Well that
’
s the first test passed.
Hopefully the rest will be as easy.
”
As we go to find Piper I
say,
“
Who was
she?
”
Cally
raises her eyes.
“
Skylar Banks. Self obsessed doughnut with a brain to match
and queen of the cool gang.
”
Giggling at her description I say,
“
I
’
ve met her type
before.
”
Cally
looks at me with a serious expression.
“
I doubt that very much. Nobody
crosses Skylar. All the time you are invisible to her, no problem,
but as soon as she thinks you
’
re a threat or cross her in any
way, well I wouldn
’
t want to be that person, that
’
s all I
’
m saying.
”
Mystified I say,
“
She
can
’
t be that
bad.
”
Cally
stops suddenly and looks at me with a worried expression.
“
No I mean it Grace,
she
’
s evil
personified. Keep away from her and her cronies. They all form part
of a group that dominates this school. It
’
s why the rest of us try to fade
into the background. You cross their path and you always come off
worse. Steer well clear of her and her friends and
don
’
t even look
at their guys and then you
’
ll be ok.
”