One Last Chance (Chapter 1)
By Emily, age 13, Ohio
As she walked the imprint of the water on her heeled shoes showed on the concrete. Her brown hair flickered with the wind, her green eyes sparkling bright. Two adults and a little boy at her side she approached the building. The manicured hand belonging to her mother reached for the door and twisted the doorknob as they entered the odd building.
"Beth, Raymond, and Ellen Good?" a smiling lady with short curly blonde hair greeted them. Her teeth were yellow and crooked, but other than that she was fairly pretty.
The girl, her brother and her two parents stood up and approached the young lady. "Would you mind to come in here so we can get the paperwork filled out?" she asked.
The Goods stepped into the office. Ellen's green eyes wandered around the small messy office. The blonde threw a stack of papers in front of the family and scavenged through her desk to find a pen, and handed them an old dirty pencil that looked to be at least four years old.
Silently the family filled out all the forms and applications. "Okay, thanks guys. Ellen, you can say goodbye to family and then come with me to your new room."
Ellen looked up and sighed deeply. This was her new school and her new home. Why was she even coming to this boarding school? Oh yeah, to get away from her hometown and the fights. It was time for her to try to live her life again, a second chance.
"I'll miss you Elle bug." The little boy standing beside her gave her a big hug, and leaned his head on her shoulder.
"I already miss you, Kale." She hugged each of her parents. "I'll call every night before bed. Love you guys." Before her parents could start their goodbye scene she rushed off with her bags and took off with the blonde haired lady for her room.
As they walked down the long hall into the dorm section of the large building, Ellen thought about everything she had chosen to leave behind. She thought about her best friends, Annie and Mary, her ex-boyfriend Kyle, her family, and her sports teams. She thought about this for quite a while until they reached her room, room 112.
"This is your room. Hopefully you remember everything from our open house yesterday. If you have any questions please call the main office by dialing 1 on the phone in your dorm. Dinner is at 7:00. Have a nice night and stay out of trouble." The blonde lady smiled as she handed Ellen a purple key, and then turned away, laying Ellen's bag which she had carried on the floor.
The purple key was in the lock, as Ellen turned the doorknob and entered her dorm room. It was still the same purple color it was the day before when she came for the open house. She was happy she had a dorm by herself, so she could decorate it with her own style, and not have to share with anyone, but she really wished she had a friend there.
Ellen collapsed onto her double bed, her black skirt fluttering in the wind, and her white tank top fitting her tight, with her leather jacket over the top. Some people called Ellen a rebel, but Ellen just thought she had a really nice style. Her high-heeled shoes shined reflectively and she saw herself in them. She thought she looked nice so she stood up and decided to explore the campus for a while.
As she walked through the halls, she felt something hit her ankle from behind; she turned to see a green skateboard with red writing. She bent over and rubbed her index fingers up and down the rugged skateboard, and the picked it up in her right hand.
"Hey." A boy (who at that moment was blushing) stood in front of Ellen. "Uh, um, uh." The boy stuttered as he stared at Ellen.
Ellen quickly brushed the brown hair out of her face. "Is this your board?" Her bell like voice reached the boy's ears as he looked up.
"Yeah." The boy reached out for his skateboard, and Ellen sweetly handed it to him, with a smile. "Thanks." He buckled the board under his left arm.
She turned quickly to walk away but accidentally flipped her silky hair into the boy's face. She took a look back, just like she did when she left her home only a couple hours earlier. "I'm Ellen Good." She smiled as she extended her hand for the boy to shake.
He took her soft hand; as he shook it he looked down on her. "I'm Jay Rivers. So, why are you here?" he asked softly, as he leaned against the wall, his skateboard still under his masculine arm.
"What do you mean?" Ellen asked, as she cocked her head in a confused form.
Jay laughed as he looked around the hall. "I can tell you're new," he chuckled one last time before continuing his statement. "Most kids aren't sent to a boarding school just for fun. Almost everybody at Brookwell has done something to get sent here. Now, why are you here?"
Her long hair sitting on her shoulders, she looked Jay right in the eyes. "Well, I guess I didn't do anything wrong. I actually asked to come here. It's on the beach. It's peaceful and it's away from all the drama of Georgia."
"Drama?"
"Yeah, my hometown is full of drama. I lost almost all of my friends because I didn't go to some stupid dance. I came here to make new friends and get away from it all. So far I have no friends." Ellen frowned a little as she pulled out her cell phone to see eight text messages.
There was one message from Annie, one more from Mary asking how the school was. Her nostrils flared as she noticed whom the other six messages were from. Her ex-boyfriend Kyle had texted her asking her back out, asking her where she was, why she left, if she was okay, and if she was mad at him. She quickly typed onto her Blackberry, 'New school, new town, new start, new me. Bye Kyle.'
"Well, that really stinks." Jay's phone abruptly rang. He read a message that flashed over his screen. "Uh hey, there's a party tonight. Do you want to come with me?"
Ellen smiled, as she quickly pulled her hair into a messy bun. "Sure. My room is right there." She pointed to her dorm room. "Meet here around 7?"
"Sure. See you later." Jay started to walk away but Ellen stopped him. She wrote down a number on Jay's hand and then smiled.
"Text me later." Ellen smiled and then walked into her room.
Jay smiled and shook his head to flip his shaggy blonde hair out of his face, as he walked down the hallway back to his room.
