1|New Life|
|Noah’s POV|
“Make sure you have packed everything!” Mom shouted from downstairs.
“Yes, mom,” Nicholas replied melancholically, packing the last of his belongings and carefully placing them in his bag.
I stand by the door, a heavy weight of sadness in my heart, fully aware that I’m one of the contributing factors to the decision to change schools.
It’s the middle of the semester, and dad decided to send us off to Bentzel Academy because he feels he and mom both failed as parents. The failure here is me, their daughter.
Well, one would be wondering what I did that made me ‘their failure’. It wasn’t like I was failing my classes or even misbehaving to the point where someone would want to disown me. My only sin is that I like girls.
After gathering the last of our stuff, we headed down. Dad was waiting in the car, while mom made sure we were all prepared. It was only me, my dad, and Nicholas who would be travelling.
The car ride to the airport started off silently. Nick looked out of the window while dad was working on his laptop and I was busy with my phone. Dad coughed a bit to get our attention; he closed his laptop, expecting us to look at him. I did look up but I chose to ignore him and go back to my phone.
“So are y’all excited?” He finally asked. He knew very well, and we hated this decision. Nick looked at him with slightly teary eyes and asked, “Do we really have to go, dad?”
“Yes, it’s for your good, Nick; being in boarding school will help you grow,” he said as he looked at him, ruffling his head. “Look at me, I was too in boarding and I can promise you it is way more fun than your normal school.”
To this, I scoffed a bit without looking at him.
“Noah, do you have something to say?”
“This is ridiculous,” I said with a hint of mockery in my voice.
“You know what’s ridiculous, Noah?”
Oh, I definitely hit a nerve.
“Your behavior!!” He snapped, making everyone in the car jump.
I close my phone and look out of the window. Refusing to look at him. I hated this side of him. He expects everyone to agree with him and his ridiculous opinions.
Trying to control his tone, he continues, “This is a new chapter in your life; try to enjoy it.”
We would be staying at my aunt’s house for a couple of days before we attended school. Dad had managed to persuade Aunt Ava to let us stay with her on weekends or whenever we felt homesick. She can be quite annoying at times, especially given her partiality towards my brother Nick, who happened to be her favourite. In fact, Nicholas was the golden child, while I was the bad apple.
After a three-hour flight and almost an hour-long drive, we finally arrived at Aunt Ava’s house. She was waiting outside. Without a moment’s hesitation, my brother flung the car door open and sprinted towards her.
“HEY THERE, CHAMP! HOW IS MY LIL NICKY DOIN??” Aunt Ava exclaimed as she embraced him, playfully ruffling his hair. Nick looked up at her with a big smile. “GREATT!!”
Friends and family call him Nick, short for Nicholas, and his aunt calls him Nicky.
Finally, my aunt looked up at my dad, her brother. “How was the journey?”
“Somehow it went smoothly; no hiccups,” Dad chimed in, his gaze partly directed at me.
“Go on, say hello to your aunt,” he urged.
“Hi,” I replied, lacking the same enthusiasm as my brother.
“Hi to you too, pumpkin,” she said with a smug smile, well aware of how much I disliked that nickname.
Inside her house, we were welcomed by the familiar sound of my aunt’s dog, Duke, a Great Dane. He rushed over, first to me and then to others, happily sniffing around.
When excited, Duke tends to jump on people. As he was about to jump on Nicholas, my aunt quickly intervened. “DUKE!! Down!” she commanded. Duke. If he stood on his hind legs, he would easily tower over Nick, and such an enthusiastic greeting could have been risky.
With a lowered head, Duke came running over to me. He knew that Aunt Ava wouldn’t stop him from jumping on me. I didn’t mind him jumping on me; in fact, I love it; it’s just that my aunt allows it, thinking all the drools and slobby licks annoy me. It does.
After settling into our rooms and freshening up, we gathered in the living room and began to chat and enjoy our time together. Then Aunt Ava asked the inevitable question.
“So, why are you sending them to Bentzel?”
The room fell silent, and I glanced at Dad, knowing what he was likely to say.
“Well, Rachel and I thought it would be best for their academics. And boarding is quite beneficial,” he replied.
Aunt Ava stared at him for a few moments, seemingly expecting a more detailed explanation.
“Well, it’s mainly for Noah, but we thought Nicholas might as well learn how to grow up like the other boys,” Dad added.
It was clear to Aunt what he meant. Nick here is a shy and introverted kid, which always bothered him. He wants Nick to be like him, bold and loud. She was definitely not pleased with this response, but she chose not to press the issue further. “Hmm... well, I guess we should get dinner,” she said, changing the subject.
The day finally came—the first day at this new hell hole. The three of us left for Bentzel. As we approached the campus, its sheer size became apparent. After all, it was a school attended by children from rich effluent families. There were two buildings that appeared quite old, with one being notably larger than the other. Additionally, there were four newer buildings on the premises.
We got out of the car and were greeted by a lady who escorted us to the principal’s office.
As we entered the room, we were greeted by a brunet, who seemed to be in her early fifties and had one of the most kindest smile I might have ever seen.
“Good morning, Mr. Jackson. I’m Mrs. Bells,” she greeted my dad, motioning for him to take a seat. “And I assume you two lovely kids are Noah and Nicholas,” she said, glancing at me and then at Nick. We both returned her a smile.
Mrs. Bells went on about the schools history and other boring stuff. I tried my best to note down small details, but it was too boring for me to stay up.
I might have dozed off cause, suddenly she spoke up; “So kids!” once grabbing my attention she continued; “I’ve arranged for the top students to give you both a tour and help you settle in.” She picked up her phone and instructed her assistant to send them in.
A girl walked into the room. The girl’s dark brown, curly hair was neatly pulled back into a ponytail, cascading down her tan neck. Her beauty was undeniable; looking at her at first glance you can tell, everyone wants her hell even I want her.
Following her entrance, a guy walked in with black hair that seemed to have a perm. I can’t deny he’s good-looking, but there’s a vibe about him that screams classic douchebag jock.
Both entered the room and greeted her in unison, “Good morning, Ma’am.”
“Kyle, Ezra, please collect their schedules from Mrs. Brown’s desk and show them around the school,” she looked at us motioning for us to follow them out.
The four of us exited the building and stood on the lawn, which was huge but empty.
“Good morning, I’m Ezra Reeves head girl and debate president,” the girl said raising her hand forward for a shake. I decided to make a bold move. I took her hands and brought them to my lips, giving them a small peck. “Good to know someone as pretty as you study here.”
There was a slight blush on her cheeks and took a quick glance at the guy with slight excitement. I look back at the guy, he was clenching his jaws.
Uh oh is that her boyfriend.
I look at the guy introducing myself. “I’m Noah. And you must be kyle?”
“Yea genius” he spoke with anger. Yep definitely her boyfriend.
“Nothing special about you then?” I replied back.
I really hit his ego, “Yes” he snapped, “men’s football captain. And if you don’t spot acting like a smartass, I’m gonna be a real pain in the ass.”
Hey no fair, am suppose to be the trouble kid, the pain in everyone’s asses.
I scoffed at his reply. .“Shall we begin the tour?” Ezra asked trying to diffuse the tension, before it could get out of hand
“I’m not going,” Kyle abruptly announced.
“What do you mean? You’re in charge of showing the boys’ dorm,” Ezra pointed out.
“It’s a waste of time for me,” Kyle retorted.
Ezra rolled her eyes. “Just admit you want to suck Makenzie’s face and—”
“Oh fuck off Reeves, it’s non if your business” he snapped.
So it’s clear, not dating.
While the two students were arguing, I turned my attention to my brother. He isn’t a big fan of confrontation and people getting loud in infront of him makes him go silent. I grabbed his shoulders trying to direct his attention somewhere else.
A passing student caught Kyle’s attention, and he grabbed the kid by his shirt, pulling him back. “This is Noah,” he said, pointing at my brother.
“It’s Nicholas, actually.” Nick tried to correct him, but Kyle just stared at him. “Yeah, fine. Take him around the campus, show him the classes and all,” Kyle said dismissively, pushing him roughly towards my brother, almost causing a collision. I managed to catch the kid before he fell.
“KYLE!” Ezra called out, moving forward to assist the kid.
“Hey, WATCH IT!” I yelled at him. This is a class one jackass.
Kyle simply turned and walked away. “And make sure Bells doesn’t hear about this,” he added, glancing at the kid. “That includes you too, Reeves.”
I stood there, thinking if he’s the top student amongst the boys, then wonder what the rest of them will be like. And here, my dear father sent us to Bentzel to ‘teach us a lesson’.
The younger boy looked at us and timidly introduced himself, “Hi, I’m Jack Morris.”
Ezra looked at him sympathetically and asked, “Won’t you be missing classes?”
“It’s alright; I can tell the dorm supervisor that I was sick and couldn’t attend,” Jack replied.
The two boys walked away, leaving me with the opportunity to voice what I had been thinking all along.
“He seems like a fine dickhead,” I finally said.
