Chapter 1
Mariyah's POV
I woke up to the morning sun peeking through the curtain and landing on my face. I reached out for my glasses on the bedside table and wore them.
Upon realising that I woke up first, I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a shower. My hair probably needed a wash so I used the lavender scented shampoo, that I was supposed to share with the girls, and washed my hair and then proceeded to using the hairdryer which I also had to share with the girls.It was surely a blessing to be the first to wake up, especially when it's a weekend!
I stepped out of the bathroom and made my way towards my wardrobe, which I also, so happened to be sharing with the girls, and opened it. I watched as the pile of clothes I had no time to arrange, slowly collapsed, making poodle of clothes beneath me. I sighed, obviously I was the one with the messy wardrobe, even though every other thing I owned/ shared, was neatly arranged.
Now I had two options: a black t-shirt or a blue t-shirt.
A blue t-shirt.
Now I had another two options: a black pair of cargo shorts or a short black skirt.
A black pair of cargo shorts.
Now to complete my look: An oversized black shirt or an oversized black and blue plaided shirt... It wasn't there. But I could swear I-
Rheeason! She took my favourite oversized black and blue plaided shirt!
*Deep breaths*
But you know. It's the weekend and the start of the summer holiday. She's younger than me...so calm down.
I calmed down and settled for my black oversized t-shirt. I shifted my attention to my shoes. Finally! Something I don't have to share with the girls. I picked my black mid-lenght socks and my blue all-star converse . I was almost done with tying my shoulaces when I heard a familiar yawn. Looking towards my right, I saw Jenna sitting upright on her bed, her half blond half black bob cut hair and bangs in a disheveled mess as she got off from her bed and made her way towards the bathroom.
I know, I know, I know. Any normal person who has never met, spoken to or come across Jenna would ask.
'Hey Mariyah, why does your roommate have half blonde half black bob cut hair?'
And I'd answer with.
' You see,it all started when she wanted to dye her hair black from her natural blonde. She started dying half of it and then got unmotivated and stopped. Then she thought it looked good that way so she left it and dyed her bangs'
Or I'd just be chill and say.
' She just wanted it that way'.
My thoughts were disrupted when I heard the bathroom door creak open. I look up from tying my shoelaces to see Jenna standing in front of the bathroom door with a towel tyed round her waist.
"Did you wash your hair?" She said, holding up the shampoo bottle.
"Yeah, but it still remains right?"
"A little . Hopefully Rheeason doesn't want to wash her hair to". She said before slipping into the bathroom.
I got up and stood in front of the standing mirror, but something was... missing.
My hair! It got dry after I washed it and I forgot to cream it. I rushed to my bedside drawer and pulled out my lavender scented hair cream that works wonders! One that I chipped into my allowance to buy only for myself.
I applied the cream to my long waist-length dark brown hair, before putting it back into the drawer. I winked at my reflection before slipping out of the room and making my way out of the girl's campus and into the grand, open canteen. And yeah, there was a fence separating the entire orphanage from the school, but, people still used the canteen in the orphanage because there was none in the school.
I know, I know, you have a lot of questions like...why am I still living in an orphanage at 17? Why is a school sharing the same canteen as an orphanage? And, who the heck am I?
Well, I'd answer all your questions by simply introducing myself...
Hello world, my name is Mariyah Carson. I'm 17 years old and I've been living in this orphanage with my younger brother for the past 10 years.
See, you've gotten your answers but not all of them I suppose.
Well, this orphanage I've been living in is the largest in the country and continent but second largest in the world ( some orphanage was a thousand square metres larger but got abandoned after 5 years). The guy who built it, James Willow is a stinking rich billionaire. He owns hospitals, businesses and yeah, also this orphanage. This orphanage, The Fountain of Life orphanage was built right next to the school with the same name. He did it so the children would have an education before they got adopted or before they graduated. The school was built for the children in the orphanage and that is because there are roughly a thousand children in the orphanage, so no other children except those in the orphanage can go to the school.
I know you'd be asking the same question I am. How did this guy, James Willow get so rich and the truth is, I have no idea. And just like you and me, even the police began suspecting how a man in his 80's managed to accumulate so much wealth to build 2 hospitals, 3 smoothly running businesses, and orphanage and a school for roughly a thousand children and he's still got a lot of cash on the side. But unfortunately, he passed away soon before the police began digging deep and his son who's also a wealthy attorney, managed to free him of all the charges before too much dirt spoiled his name.
His son, George Willow, took over the orphanage and school and decided to make some extra strict changes, such as, reducing our monthly allowance ( all children begin getting an allowance of $150 by the time they're 13 to teach them how to responsibly handle money, by the time they're 16, their allowance increases to $ 400 because by that time, you're already paying for everything except your feeding and and fees. You'll be buying your own clothes, toiletries a d other necessities) by $ 200 , which is totally unfair if you ask me.
He also decided to add some life management classes to those from the 10th grade and above. I mean this change was actually pretty helpful, but why during summer school? I was perfectly fine closing by 5pm during working days.
I soon spotted Mason and Dexton at our usual table and headed there. Mason, my annoying yet genius younger brother skipped two grades at 14. While Dexton, who's a year older than Mason, is his roommate and close friend, except, there's a slight problem...
"Hey Mariyah, looking gorgeous as always". He said with a goofy smile, his eyes not leaving my face while I sat down. Did I forget to mention that Dexton has had a crush on me for like 2 years ? Well, maybe I did, but I've been telling him since then that it's never going to work, but it seems he'll keep trying anyway.
" Yeah... don't say that again", Mason said, giving Dexton a stink eye before turning to look at me, " where's Rheeason and Jenna?" He said, glancing around the canteen.
" They'd be here soon. So, what's for breakfast?" It wasn't like I didn't know. They just kept changing the menu every 3 months and I was too lazy to actually memorize it.
" Toast and omelette, with a side of almost expired yogurt". Mason said, flashing a fake smile as he pushed his tray closer for me to see.
" Amusing. I'd go grab myself a tray". I said as I got up from my seat and made my way towards the lunch lady. And to my expectations , Mason was right, the yogurt was about to expire soon. I grabbed my tray and made my way back towards the table, and also to my expectations, Rheeason and Jenna were also approaching the table.
Since I haven't described Rheeason yet, I'd show you a glimpse of what she looks like. She's taller than me, yeah I know I'm the shortest. She's half Nigerian, half British, has puffy type 4a hair that the ends are dyed blonde. Her skin was light brown .And yeah, that's it, other than the fact that she was wearing my oversized black and blue plaided shirt!
" Hey Rheeason". I said through gritted teeth as I glared at her.
" What? Nice way to say good morning". She said as she was about to approach her seat but then I stopped her.
" Not. So. Fast. You're wearing my shirt. The one that you borrowed 3 weeks ago!" I said, glaring at her.
She looked away, scratching her hair slightly. "Well, you know, you might probably have to wait for another 2 days to get it back since I have to take it to the laundry ". She said not meeting my eyes.
I rolled my eyes. " What else would I expect from you. Come, have breakfast". I said as I put my hand over her shoulder and led her to the table as we both sat down. Jenna also approached the table with two trays.
" One for you, and one for me". Jenna said as she sat down, placing one tray in front of Rheeason and one in front of herself.
" Aww, Thank you". Rheeason said, glancing towards Jenna.
I began eating my breakfast as the table slowly began coming together with conversations. Dexton couldn't stay too long because he had early soccer practice. Classes started later that day, but before that I had singing practice for The Formals/ graduation day. Rheeason had dance practice, also for The Formals. And Jenna had theatre classes. Mason was the only one who didn't have an activity before class, and well, got the opportunity to watch Dexton's match.
