Chapter 1
Charlotte’s P.O.V.
I looked at the dimly lit room where a bunch of girls were sleeping. Girls just like me. Girls whose parents abandoned them, or girls with dead parents. Maybe even girls who have been kicked out because of their sexuality, but that’s a story for another day, don’t you agree?
“Your only free bed is the one besides Elise’s”, said the old woman with a fond smile, talking so slow that you’d think that I have mental disabilities. “The wake up call is at six AM, be ready or you’ll miss breakfast”, she gestured with her hands, trying to imitate some kind of sign language, and I fought off the urge to sneer.
She turned and shut the door, the loud sound disturbing the eerie silence. Quietly, I walked towards the window, clenching my fists quite painfully if I say so myself, and regretting that I didn’t cut my nails.
To say that I was angry would be an understandment, I was fucking furious! I could feel my blood boiling; so what if I come from Italy? So what if I didn’t speak a word since I was saved from that wrenched car-crash? So what if the first thing that I did when I arrived to this goddamn place was to show my middle finger to that bitch?
I sighed, hopping on the windowsill and taking the English version of ’Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” out of my backpack. It seems that I won’t sleep this night either.
***
“Hello! What’s your name? Mine is Elise. I heard from Miss Higgs that you don’t speak English, but it doesn’t matter! I’ll teach you everything that you need to know! Oh, here! You can write your name!“. The girl named ‘Elise’ rambled, stretching out to me a notebook and a pencil.
I was very tempted to choke the girl with the pen and shove the notebook down Miss H.’s ass, but instead I scoffed and turned around, leaving the not-so-comfortable-dormitory to do some shit chores or whatever.
I could see people jumping out of my way, as if I was a ghost chasing them to the grave. They’ve been this way even before the old bat made the introductions in the dormitory. I’m an albino, not some vampire, for fucks sake! The only person that talked to me was that annoying Elise girl. The psycho wouldn’t leave me alone since breakfast!
“H-hey! Wait up!“, she shouted. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. “You need to have a guide, hmm... Since you won’t tell me your name, I’ll call you... Bunny! Yes! It suits you perfectly, with your white hair and red eyes!”
“...Scimmunita...“*, I mumbled under my breath, while giving myself a well deserved face-palm.
“Eh? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.“.
I bit my lip, falling silent. How dumb can this girl be? The old hag repeated like five times that I can’t speak English, and even if it’s total bull, trying to speak Italian to a German would be a very dumb move.
“Come on, Bunny! We still have some time before we must do the chores, so I want to teach you some English words!“, she grabbed my hand and dragged me outside, in the warm August sun. Great, now I’m gonna end up with sunburn, too.
“Bunny, look! This is called ‘sun’! Repeat after me! ‘Sun’.“, she pointed at the sky, her black eyes lit up with determination. After trying to make me speak various words, I plopped down on the ground, bored. Of course, Lady Chatterbox had to lay down right next to me. Great.
“You know, I’m quite curious of your age. I’m nine. You look around twelve.”
Wrong. I’m actually the same age as you. I’m just tall. Stop judging without an ounce of knowledge. It’s annoying.
“Did you have a pet? I had once an albino bunny. He looked just like you, Bunny.”
Surprise, surprise. I would’ve never guessed it.
“One day she wondered into my neighbor’s backyard and was slaughtered by his pitbull. I watched it all.“, said Elise, with a dead-like expression on her face.
“You know what, Bunny? I really like you. I just told you something really depressing and you didn’t throw a pity party. You also didn’t approach me just to gain benefits from my goody-two-shoes position. I talk to you right now just because I know that you can’t understand me. It’s kinda relaxing, you know? God, if you understood my every word today and you were just playing a trick on me I’d die from shame. I’d still like to know your name though...”
Huh? So... She was just unleashing herself? Well, that explains a lot. But I still don’t like her.
“Oh, blueberries! If we don’t hurry up we’ll be punished for not doing the chores on time!”
Great. Just another round of dragging Charlotte around. Don’t mind my flesh and bones, I’m just a rag doll.
***
“Bunny? Are you alright? Your face is all red, and you look quite nauseous. You haven’t eaten breakfast, here.“, Elise gave me a quite large peanut butter sandwich wrapped carefully in a white tissue. I rose an eyebrow at her.
“What? I just saw you all pouty with your food untouched, and I thought that you’ll be hungry later.”
This girl is driving me fucking crazy. I split the sandwich in two, keeping the tissue (because not all of us are OCD free) and gave her the other half. Her eyes watered.
“B-Bunny! Y-you w-want me t-to eat h-half?! E-even though y-you haven’t eaten all day? Waaaaaaaa! You’re the most selfless person here! Let’s be friends! Don’t say anything if you agree.“. I tried saying something but my throat was dry, as a result of not speaking for three days and working all day in the garden (I’m sure that I’m gonna be sunburned by the end of the day, badly) without an ounce of water.
“Great! From this day forward, we’ll be the best of friends, Bunny!”
This little...Devil! She plays all nice in order to lower your guard and then strikes you in a sore spot.
“Now, let’s eat, shall we?“, Elise says in a rich french accent.
I half smile and catch myself before nodding. I don’t need to be bombarded with useless, annoying questions.
My half is dry and tasteless, but I choke it all down, my throat feeling sore. I could’ve refused it and give it back, but it would’ve been very impolite and it would’ve hurt Elise’s feelings. Plus, it would’ve been a waste. If all the food here is as bad as this, might as well get used to it.
“Did you like it? It was my first time making food for a friend.”
I hum in response. I don’t wanna mislead her, but I don’t wanna crush her hopes either. Plus, I couldn’t taste much due to my now sore throat.
“You have a beautiful voice, you know? I’d like to hear you speak, it doesn’t matter which language, I always wanted to hear how Italian sounds. Maybe I could teach you words in English and you could teach me Italian words. What do you say?“, she said in an excited tone.
I rose an eyebrow at her, again. I think that it’s gonna become my signature look.
“Oh... That’s right... You don’t understand English. I almost forgot for a second...“. A dejected look appeared on her face. I almost felt sorry for not talking to her.
I cleared my throat, and with a finger pointing at the sky I said: “Cielo.”
“W-what? You mean the sky, right? Right?“. She started rambling for the nth time today, giving my head a spitting headache and making me regret my decision while retreating into the comforting shadows.
***
As it was nearing lunch, I saw the old hag coming towards us. I accidentally pricked my finger in one of the roses’ thorns and swore under my breath.
“Elise, would you please come by the bench with me? I have something to discuss with you.“, said the ever annoying Miss H.
“Of course, Miss Higgs!“, responded the brunette goody-two-shoes.
“As for you, Miss Rossetti, I don’t care what that swear word meant, but keep this attitude and your only meal will be dinner and I will double your chores. Understood?“, the bitch practically spit me in the face.
“Cagna**“, I said with a radiant smile and a cheerful voice.
“Miss Higgs, I’m sure that everything was a misunderstanding. Bun-Miss Rossetti was merely telling me the Italian word for rose, rosa, but she is very shy around people and her voice is usually barley audible. I think that she is so confident around you because she knew you longer. So, you see, there is no need for such an outrageous punishment.“, Elise defended me in one breath. I owe you one, girl.
“Hmph! The gesture that Miss Rossetti did yesterday when she met me was quite bold, and very rude, so I suggest you to be careful around Miss Rossetti, Elise. As for our talk, if you may ?”
The old bat and Elise went over to the bench, out of my hearing range so I used this beautiful moment to relax on the ground and close my eyes just for a little bit. Sweat is dripping down my body, soaking my black long-sleeved shirt. My face burns, due to my sensible skin and I’d kill for a bottle of water, and let’s not talk about the fact that I could fall asleep within a second.
So I open my eyes just to see an angry Elise walking towards me, grabbing my arm and leading the way into the maze made of corridors.
“Let’s go to the bathroom. We could both use a shower and I need to pee”, she said, while running trough the halls with me. She must be really pissed off to forget to bring new clothes. Oh, well. Luckily, I still have those two emergency outfits from yesterday.
We enter a room whose walls were once white and wet tiles. I could hear the water running from three showers, seven remaining unoccupied. I could spot a lonely toilet into the corner. This place stinks. It’s unbelievable that I didn’t need to use the toilet until now. Probably from the lack of liquids.
I drop my bag at the door in order to keep it dry and clean and I start undressing myself. I sigh relieved as my sticky wet clothes drop to the floor. The clod water of the shower is like a cold breeze on a hot summer, caressing my skin as I rub every inch of my body off.
The soap here it’s very cheap, like the one that you’d get from a dollar store. It doesn’t smell unpleasant, but it’s too plain for my tastes. Only when my hair is soaked I realize that there’s no shampoo, so I rub my hands on the soap stick until they are covered in bubbles and wash my hair.
I exit the shower and open my bag, taking out a towel and drying myself off.
“Uh...Bunny?“, I hear Elise’s voice from the last stall.
“Do you think that you could go back to the dorm and take a set of clean clothes from under my pillow? Oh, blueberries! I forgot again that you don’t speak English...”
Sighing, I take the second row of clothes from my bag (better be safe than sorry, right?) and hand them to her, the towel being secured around my head.
“Oh, thanks! Wait... Are these your clothes? Eeeek! They’re so cute!...Huh?... What are those on your arms? They look like...scars. And is that a bruise?” Blah,blah, blah, blah, blah, I can sing until I’m dead, and none of you’ll remember a single thing I said. I think that this song lyric really suits her.
I sigh for the nth time today and turn around to get dressed. Or, change my shirt since my friend over there kinda stole my spare pants. Oooh! I almost forgot about these fingerless gloves.
“I... Don’t think that your stile suits me, Bunny, but it looks amazing on you!“, rambled Lady Chatterbox.
“Eh, the hoodie and jeans look good enough, but if we don’t hurry we’ll be late to lunch and Miss Higgs doesn’t-“, she stops herself, a fierce look appearing on her face. Maybe that fight with the old bat still buggers her off. “You know what? Who in the world cares what that hag likes and dislikes? Bunny, we’ll be staying in our room during lunch just to show her that she’s not some kind of divinity!”
Oh, hell no! I might not be a fan of the food here, but I need my 2 liters of water a day, so get your head out of your ass, Elise!
“Hey! Wha-! Bunny! I thought that we were friends! This is betrayal!“, she cried, being over-dramatic.
I pull her towards the dining room (which I surprisingly still remember the way to) and we both plop down on a chair. Singular. Why? Because the annoying brat is sitting on my lap.
“He, he! This is revenge, Bunny!”
But I already stop listening to her as I shove down my throat half a liter of water at once. I see from the corner of my eye that Elise is eating my soup. Great.
” Miss Rossetti! Miss Turner! What is the meaning of this?!“, screeched the old hag as I nearly choked on my water, so I gave her the middle finger. Again. I could see her face growing three shades redder.
"Oh, Miss Higgs! You see, Miss Rossetti and I were just very thirsty after staying into the hot sun all day.", said charmingly the black-eyed girl, but I could see her fists clenching under the table.
"But why in the world are you straddling Miss Rossetti?"
Because we're going to watch erotica while making out later, that's why.
"Because there weren't any chairs left next to her. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't stay within 10 meters of my friend?" God, that sounded just so fucking wrong!
"Very well, then I expect you to not exit the orphanage for the remaining of the summer. And since you are so attached to your friend," She practically spit the word as she inspected me,"I expect that you will show her around the school as well as make her understand the teachings."
"No way! We're in the same classes?! Does that mean that we have the same age? Wow, Bunny, you're tall! Anyways, Miss Higgs, we'll be going, bye!"
Kiddo, you need to learn how to be more polite with tall people, no joke. And I'm sure that dragging people around all day is very impolite.
***
I watched trough the darkness at the black hair enveloping my neighbor's pillow. Should I do it? If I do it, then I'll be stuck with a permanent headache.
But still, there's a slim chance that she won't call me Bunny anymore. And, as much as I want to deny it, sometimes I could've liked participating in her one sided conversations. Taking in a deep breath, I tested the waters.
"Elise?", my voice was coarse, so I cleared my throat.
"Hmmm...?", I could hear her mutter half-asleep trough the pillow.
"My name's Charlotte, and by your standards, I was 'pranking' you all day long, so I'd appreciate if you'd stop calling me Bunny."
