Boarding School Beginnings
Chapter 1
Melinda raced into the dance studio, panting from her sprint across the Hartfield campus. Two girls were standing beside the door on the opposite side of the Black Box, a windowless room with black walls and ceiling. Not recognizing either of them, Melinda plopped her bag in the opposite corner of the room and sat beside it. After removing her dress to reveal her leotard, she strapped her tap shoes to her feet and began stretching.
“Can I join you?”
Melinda looked up to see a girl she sort of recognized. “Yeah, sure.”
The girl sat with a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. I hate not knowing anyone. You’re Melinda, right?”
Melinda nodded, opening her legs into a straddle. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I forgot your name.”
“Natalie. We had ballet together yesterday.”
Melinda grabbed her ankle and lowered her nose to her knee as she tried to place the girl. Natalie had been the only other new student in their ballet class the day before. Unlike Melinda, she had been taking ballet for years and had not had any trouble following the teacher.
“Yeah, I remember you. You danced really well yesterday.”
Natalie shrugged. “I’ve been doing ballet for like, five years. I was really excited that I could take it as my sport this term.”
“Yeah. I felt the same way. I’ve been dancing since I was two, but I quit ballet a few years ago. I had the worst teacher in the studio. Yesterday was so hard.”
Before Natalie could respond, another girl bounced beside them, turning to Melinda as she plopped herself on the floor. “Hi. I’m Bella. I think you live on my floor.”
Melinda nodded as she stretched her opposite leg. “Yeah. Melinda.”
“Your roommate’s the one trying to learn everyone’s name, right?”
Melinda giggled. “Yeah. A friend dared her to do it.”
“How’s she doing?”
“I think she knows the name of everyone in her classes. She’s determined to learn the rest of the third form before Wednesday.”
Natalie shook her head. “I could never do that. I can’t even remember the name of everyone in our ballet class yesterday. And there were only, what? Eight of us?”
Bella turned to her. “Well, I’m Bella. Nice to meet you. You don't live on our floor, do you?”
Natalie shook her head. “Nah. I’m a day student. I—”
Natalie was interrupted by a clapping of hands. Melinda looked to the center of the room to see a short, muscular woman looking at the assembled students. “Good afternoon. It’s lovely to see so many new faces this year. My name is Miss Serena. Please join me in the center to stretch.”
Melinda followed her nine classmates to form a circle with their instructor. After they all introduced themselves, the students removed a portable barre from a closet in the back of the room. Miss Serena led them in a series of warm ups that Melinda found herself able to perform with ease.
For the first time all week, Melinda could feel a glimmer of confidence that had been sorely missing ever since she had stepped foot on the Hartfield campus a week ago. In every class, she had wondered if perhaps she was not talented or smart enough to attend a school as challenging as Hartfield. Even ballet had been difficult, even though she had been dancing for most of her life.
But there was something about tap class that was different. While Miss Serena was correcting everyone else’s form or tempo, she had nothing but praise for Melinda. By the time they began performing movements across the floor, Melinda felt that she was finally in a situation where she could succeed. Unfortunately, that confidence did not last long.
~~
“Great job, everyone,” Miss Serena praised at the end of class. “Have a great weekend and I’ll see you all on Monday.”
Melinda sighed as she headed to her dance bag. It might be Friday, but her weekend wouldn’t start for another twenty hours. Since she had classes in the morning, she was facing yet another long night of homework assignments.
“So, are you heading home now?” Bella asked Natalie as they changed back into their sneakers.
Natalie shook her head. “Nah. I have to wait for my brother to get off work before he can pick me up. I was gonna head over to the TRAC to shower.”
Melinda sent her a confused look. “Why would you shower on the track? Isn’t there a locker room somewhere?”
She was less than thrilled when both girls started giggling. At least Natalie explained why. “Not like the running track. The athletic center. The Theodore Rodgers Athletic Center. T-R-A-C. TRAC.”
“I should have known that, huh?” Melinda could feel her cheeks grow warm as she followed her classmates out the studio door and up the stairs.
“It’s okay. I didn't know either. My brother had to tell me. And he doesn’t even go here.”
“He doesn’t?” Bella held the door for the girls to exit into the Art Center courtyard.
“Nope. He didn’t want to go to private school. He’s a junior at Ashton High.”
“Where’s that?” Melinda had grown up on the Connecticut shoreline and was very unfamiliar with the towns in the northeast corner where her school was located.
Natalie pointed in the vague direction of the science center. “Next town over.”
“Well, since you have to wait for him, you should come shower in our dorm. You can join my friends and me for dinner, too, if you want.”
“Oh, that sounds great.”
Melinda turned to Bella as they led the way back to the dorm. “You can join us, too.”
“I would love that. I’ve been sitting with my sister. She's a sixth former and all she and her friends are talking about are which colleges they’re all going to apply to.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I am so glad we don’t have to think about that for a few years. I mean, I have a few schools in mind, but the whole application thing? So not looking forward to that.”
Melinda had no idea how she was supposed to respond. It wasn't the first time someone had mentioned college this week, but she was still surprised that it was such a popular subject. She was still adjusting to the fact that she was currently attending Hartfield instead of her local public school. How was she supposed to know where she wanted to go to college four years from now?
Unfortunately, as they crossed the road, Bella changed the topic of conversation to their classes. “Did you guys have vocabulary quizzes today, too?”
Natalie nodded. “Yeah. I thought it was going to be much harder.”
“I know, right?”
Melinda made a non-committal sound as the girls continued to compare some of their other classes. Melinda had thought the vocabulary test extremely difficult. It wasn't like the spelling test she was used to in her old school. Her teacher had handed her a sheet of paper with ten words written on each side. She had just enough room to write the definition and use the word in a sentence. She had struggled to remember the definitions for at least half of them and wasn't confident in her sentences, either.
But, she couldn’t do anything about it right now, she decided as she headed up the front steps to her dorm. Now that she knew what to expect, she would just study harder for the next test. For now, she was going to focus on making it to the weekend.
~~
After her shower, Melinda quickly dressed and packed her backpack while she waited for Natalie to return from the bathroom. Melinda’s roommate returned from field hockey practice and was able to get in a quick shower before it was time to go to dinner. Melinda introduced her to Natalie and Bella as they made their way to the dining hall. Bella waited until they were entering the building before pointing to Melinda’s backpack.
“Why did you bring that thing to dinner?”
“I like to study in the library. It’s less distracting.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yeah. It has nothing to do with the fact that boys aren’t allowed in the dorms during study hours.”
“What boy?” Natalie looked between Sarah and Melinda.
Thankfully, Melinda was able to escape to the servery without answering. She wandered the small room, exploring her dinner options before settling on a hot entrée. Her mouth watered as she watched the server place two stuffed shells on a plate and drizzle them with warm marinara sauce. After grabbing a couple of glasses of water from the beverage island in the center of the servery, she led her new friends to her usual table.
“Hey, everyone. This is Natalie and Bella. They’re in my dance classes. This is everyone.”
Melinda made the mistake of naming each of the twelve people around the table. Some of her friends waved while others already recognized one or both of the girls from classes they shared. By the time Melinda was done, she was out of breath and her pasta had grown too cold to enjoy.
As was usual when they were all together, the large table broke into smaller conversations as everyone compared their class day and began making plans for the weekend. When Natalie excused herself to meet her ride, everyone else took it as their cue that dinner was over.
Melinda and Walter were the last two to leave the table. They both carried their trays to the servery before returning to their table to retrieve their heavy backpacks. As they passed through the senior section, a girl Melinda didn’t recognize left her table to swing an arm around Walter. He sounded annoyed as he greeted her.
“Hey, Chloe. What’s going on?”
“Just checking up on you.”
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Where you going?”
“The library. It’s almost study hours.”
Chloe paused as she stopped by the main entrance. “You know? That’s a good idea. I should go work on my college applications. Just need to grab my laptop.”
Walter nodded. “You do that. I’ll see you later.”
Melinda followed Walter out a side entrance that connected the dining hall building to the library. She waited until they had passed through the two-storied quiet study area before speaking.
“Who was that?”
To Melinda’s surprise, Walter turned the color of a tomato as he shook his head. “A friend of my sister’s.”
“Oh. Your sister goes here too?”
“No. She graduated. But, Chloe’s a sixth-former still. Hey. How’d you do on your vocabulary quiz?”
Melinda knew Walter was trying to change the subject. She just rolled her eyes as she followed him up the stairs to their usual study room on the second floor. Through the windows, Melinda could just see her dormitory across the street. She looked longing at the two very comfortable wing-back chairs nestled into the corner of the room before emptying the contents of her bag onto the study table.
Walter pointed a pencil at her as he sat across from her. “You didn’t answer me. How was your quiz?”
“Horrible. I forgot like, half of the definitions. And then completely blanked out on the sentences.”
Walter shook his head. “I’m sure you did better than you think.” He opened his math book, setting it between them. “I forgot my protractor. Can I borrow yours?”
Melinda sighed as she passed it to him. Unable to complete the assignment without it, she stared at the assignments she had copied into her assignment book. The amount was overwhelming. She knew she would be able to complete her math with Walter and probably Latin. If they were lucky, she might get her physics done as well. Thankfully, her English teacher had a Saturday free day, so she wouldn’t have to worry about that subject. But she still had to complete a drawing for her first-period art class. And she had left her portfolio in her room.
Melinda wanted to cry. She was in way over her head. She glanced across the table.
“Walter?”
He didn’t look up. “Hmm?”
“What happens if I fail all my classes? Do they kick me out at the end of the first term?”
Walter looked at her with a sigh. “You’re not going to fail your classes.”
“I am. But, I just want to know how long I have before I’m kicked out.”
Walter passed her the protractor. “Here. Do your math. I’ll finish mine later.”
“I wasn’t asking for my protractor back.”
“I know you weren’t. I’m showing you that the math isn’t hard and you’re not going to fail. Besides, a bunch of these don’t actually need it. Now, hurry up so I can check my answers.”
Melinda frowned as she looked at the first problem. Walter was right. The first problem wasn’t that difficult for her. Neither was the second. When she finished the problem set, Walter took her paper and immediately began comparing their answers. He circled a couple on each of the pages before returning it.
She glanced at problem fifteen. “I did that right.”
He shook his head. “What's five minus three?”
Melinda rolled her eyes. “Two.” She looked at her page. She had written eight. “Ugh! I told you. I’m going to fail.”
“You just need to be more careful. Okay. Done. Latin or physics?”
~~
Despite her frustration, Melinda found herself in a comfortable study mode and became very irked when the library flicked its lights just after nine to indicate it would be closing shortly. After packing her bag, she followed Walter to their neighboring dorms, the din on the baseball field increasing with each step.
Five dormitories and a handful of senior houses surrounded a baseball field, which many students believed to be the ideal location to spend the forty-five-minute break between the two mandatory evening study hours. Melinda didn’t understand why. The one night she had spent on the field with her friends, she ended up being unable to finish her homework before lights out. While Sarah slept peacefully on the other side of the room, Melinda had been up past drawing arrows for physics class. Even though she was up past midnight, she was unable to get them to line up properly and was grateful that her teacher hadn’t collected the assignment.
Melinda didn’t realize she had lost Walter until she reached the entrance to her dorm. She wasn't even sure if he had stopped at Stanton or gone to the field. Annoyed with herself for allowing her irritation to cause her to ignore her friend, she decided she would work on her art project while at least pretending to be social.
She grabbed her art portfolio, a large brown envelope half her size, and lugged it to the common room. Sarah and Bella were sitting in a corner talking with Larry and his roommate, Andy. When Melinda plopped herself in a chair facing them, Bella smiled at her.
“Ooh! Are you an artist?”
Melinda shook her head as she took her sketch pad and pencil out of the case. “Not in the slightest. I’m not sure how I ended up in this class. I can't draw a straight line with a ruler.”
“Can I see?”
Melinda passed her the book with a shrug. While Bella flipped through the pages, Melinda scanned the room for something to draw. She had just settled on an abandoned bottle of soda sitting on the coffee table in front of her when Bella turned the sketch pad upside down.
“What’s this supposed to be?”
Melinda rolled her eyes as she took the book away from her friend. “There are these weird sculptures on the wall in the Art Center gallery. I was trying to draw one of those after class.”
Sarah pursed her lips at Bella. “I didn't think it was that bad. I mean, that’s pretty much what the sculpture looks like. It's not your fault. It’s the artist.”
Melinda gave a small smile. She didn’t agree with Sarah in the slightest, but she knew her roommate was trying to make her feel better. Listening to her friends discuss their favorite music, Melinda sketched a rough outline of the bottle before lighting marking the logo and other key features. She was just about to start darkening it using the shading scale she had made in class when, without warning, Larry grabbed the bottle, took a sip, and held it in his lap instead of returning it to the table.
Melinda glared at him. “Hey!”
“What?” He sent her a confused look, bouncing the foot that was resting on his opposite knee. He took another swig from the bottle as he waited for Melinda to explain her outburst.
Melinda realized that her shout had come out a little louder and a lot ruder than she had intended. She sighed, softening her tone.
“Sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I was using that. I didn’t realize anyone was still drinking it.” Melinda hoped her apologetic smile would convey her sincerity.
It must have, since Larry grinned brightly. “Oh! I saw you drawing, but it didn't click. There you go!”
With a flourish, Larry returned the bottle to the table, turning it slightly until he thought it was in the exact position Melinda had been using. When he turned to talk to Sarah, Melinda adjusted the bottle to the correct orientation and completed her drawing. She even found she had ten minutes to just sit and chat with her friends before the first-floor prefect started kicking out the boys and sending the girls up to their rooms for the second study hours.
Although Melinda appreciated the break, she returned to her room to find her overstuffed backpack sitting on her bed. With a sigh, she slowly unpacked her books, hoping she would finish her physics problems before her prefect announced lights out.
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