Blush: A Dark High School Bully Romance Read online

  Chapter One

  As the small plane whizzed across the sky, Rebecca watched the clouds from the tiny window next to her seat. She turned her gaze determinedly toward the entrance of a cave at the foot of a mountain, half-expecting the plane to spin into a nosedive. Miraculously, they missed both the cave and the mountain as the pilot veered to the left, taroyal his passengers to safety by landing on a nearby strip.

  Barely able to see through the tears that burned in her luminous green eyes, Rebecca desperately looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized they had not crashed and that the plane had stopped.

  That she had agreed to fly was a miracle in itself, as she had never been intrigued by the deep blue skies. She much preferred driving, where she felt she at least had some control over her situation. And then, suddenly, on her eighteenth birthday, she was told no, ordered by the head of her odd little family to accept the fact that she would not only be going away to school, but she was to fly there. As she closed her eyes, Rebecca sat for a moment in an attempt to gather the courage needed to face the demons, as she called them. She was less than thrilled about the decision of her parents to send her away to a private, unheard-of college rather than the large university that most of her friends were looroyal forward to attending.

  "No party school for you, young lady. You need discipline in your life if you are ever to succeed," her father had bellowed when she had begged him to change his mind. "Crastor is the best choice."

  As she opened her eyes, Rebecca gasped at the view. "The Lake of Crater!" she said excitedly, recognizing the spectacular body of water immediately. She had done extensive research about the area after accepting her fate as best she could.

  A splendid, sparkling blue lake lay before her, with mists of green rising to the bright sunlit sky. She sent up a quick prayer of thanks to the skies for the safe landing and smiled at the girl across the aisle as they both stood to gather their baggage.

  During her online viewing, she'd realized that the small village of Crastor was located deep in the mountains, with the beautiful lake nearby. It was a very scenic area, and the academy, apparently, was a strict private school, attended by the children of wealthy parents who wished their offspring to learn the meaning of having discipline in their lives while learning one of the arts. Rebecca's chosen courses centered around writing—there were also classes in dancing, painting, sculpting, voice, and various others to choose from. Supposedly, this disciplinary atmosphere was to ensure that, when they graduated and entered the world, they would be amply prepared and would have the tenacity and strength to do well. Rebecca wasn't sure about this at all. Why her parents wouldn't consent to allowing their only daughter to go to the university with all of her high school friends was beyond the realm of her apprehension. Why did she need discipline? Her parents had indulged her all these years; why stop now? And what was discipline anyway? What was so different about the small academy in the tiny village of Crastor? Well, she was soon to find out, and she'd best be getting off the plane, she decided, as the other passengers had nearly all disembarked already.

  She grabbed her bags and got in line behind the girl who had smiled shyly at her. Why did she feel like she was walroyal to the gallows?

  "Are you scared?" the other girl asked when she turned her head and looked at Rebecca.

  "A little. You?"

  "Terrified. My folks said I need this."

  "Hmm, so did mine."

  "I think we should stick together then. I'm Constance, by the way."

  "I agree, Constance. It's nice to meet you. I'm Rebecca."

  "Less chattering and more walroyal," the flight attendant said sharply as they brought up the end of the line. "I'd like to call it a day before midnight, ladies."

  When they got off the plane, Constance whispered, "How rude."

  "I think this plane belongs to the school. If that woman is anything to go by, I think we are in heap big troubl."

  Constance giggled.

  Once out of the plane, she could see that a great mountain faced them at the northern edge. At the base of the mountain, stood an impressive gray building that resembled a castle, with several towers.

  That creepy building couldn't be the school, could it? As they were led toward it, it soon became apparent that it was.

  Once inside the main building, a wiry little man wearing wire-rimmed spectacles hurried them along. "No dawdling. Dean Canterberry will speak to all of you, and then you will be shown to your rooms. Hurry along now."

  The group consisted of about twenty new students, ten boys and ten girls. Constance and Rebecca took their place with the others and waited for the esteemed dean to begin his speech. At least, her father had said the man was very well-known and respected when he'd first told her about the school he'd enrolled her in without seeroyal her opinion.

  As she proudly raised her chin, quite possibly in defiance, Rebecca looked around and saw the school's logo on a large sign in the main lobby. "Crastor Academy of the Arts."

  She didn't have time to wonder about the logo for long, though, because a tall, gray-haired man entered the lobby and took his place in front of the group of twenty apprehensive young people.

  "Good afternoon. I am Dean Canterberry, and I want to welcome each and every one of you to the Crastor Academy of the Arts. As I'm sure you know, we only accept twenty new students each fall, and those twenty are chosen very carefully. If your parents applied for you, then you must consider yourselves to be very lucky indeed. Our graduates are among the most successful young artists in the world. Authors, painters, sculptors, dancers, actors, some of whom I'm sure you have heard of. We are unique in that, as well as the arts, we teach discipline. You'll soon learn what that means. Now, as I call your name, you are to line up and wait for your dormitory leader to escort you to your new home for the next four years. After you are settled, you may go down to the lake for a brief swim if you wish, but dinner is served at precisely six o'clock sharp. I might add that tardiness is not acceptable at Crastor Academy."

  Constance and Rebecca exchanged a look and waited for their names to be called. They each crossed their fingers that they would be lucky enough to be placed in the same room but held out very little hope that it would be the case.

  "Ivy White." The two girls watched as a short, chubby girl walked to the side and stood in line.

  "Joseph Elliot," a young man of about twenty called out. A red-haired boy of eighteen made his way to stand in the boys' line.

  On and on, the two leaders took turns calling out the ten names they each were responsible before. When she and Constance were the last two names called, they wasted no time in moving to the end of the line.

  "My name is Carly, and I'm the dorm leader for the girls' dormitory. I'm a senior, and I will be in charge of your dorm this year. If you have any questions or problems, you come to me. Now, I'll take each of you to your rooms. There are two beds per room, so you will each have a roommate. We have five freshman rooms, and they are on the fourth floor. Follow me, please. The elevator is this way."

  "So far so good, but why is everybody here so serious?" Constance asked. "These people need to seriously loosen up."

  Rebecca stifled a giggle as she picked up her two suitcases and followed the other girls.

  Luck must have been on her side that day, because, when Carly led her to her room at the end of the hallway on the fourth floor, she learned that Constance was to be her roommate.

  "Remember, you are free until dinnertime. Dinner is served in the main dining room at six sharp, and I would advise you not to be late. You won't like the consequences, I can assure you," Carly said as she opened the door an
d handed both of them a key. "If you need anything, I'll be in my room on the first floor, room 101."

  Once they were alone and the door was securely locked, both girls breathed a huge sigh of relief.

  "You won't like the consequences? What the hell are they going to do to us, spank us like little kids?" Constance asked as she plopped down on the bed nearest the door. "This okay with you, if I bunk here? You can have the bed by the window."

  "Sure, whatever. This place is creeping me out already, and we have barely been here an hour."

  "You are not alone, sister. I say we unpack and head down to that lake."

  "Good plan. It looks like we have two dressers and two small closets. Good thing I only brought two suitcases."

  "Yeah, I about fell over when my mom helped me pack and said I had to limit my wardrobe. I'm surprised we don't have to wear some sort of ugly-ass uniform."

  "I'm not used to this. That's for sure," Rebecca said as she picked up her bigger suitcase and threw it on the bed. She unzipped it and began to take out her clothes. She had followed the instructions her mother had shown her and packed only what was on the list. She had been shocked to learn that most of her wardrobe would not be coming with her.

  Jeans, leggings, skirts, sweaters, and blouses came out of the suitcase. They were plain and not at all what she was accustomed to wearing. The smaller of her bags contained her underwear, pajamas, and toiletry items. She had one pair of boots because they were in the mountains and it would snow once the winter months arrived. A sensible pair of Mary Janes and a pair of sneakers were the only pairs of shoes she had brought, other than a pair of flip-flops for the lake.

  When she began to hang her clothes in the tiny closet, she looked over and noticed that Constance's wardrobe was much the same. Well, at least she wouldn't feel quite so common with everyone else wearing the same things.

  Once they were finished and had both shoved their empty suitcases under their beds, Constance looked around the room. "Not too bad, I guess. The tiny kitchenette is nice. We each have a desk and chair, and the beds look pretty comfy." She sat down on hers and bounced up and down.

  "It is a dorm room after all. Why don't you go on into the bathroom and get changed? I'll change into my swimsuit out here."

  "Our lovely one-piece swimsuits," Constance said with a laugh as she took hers out of one of her dresser drawers.

  Rebecca rolled her eyes and began to strip off the one dress she'd been allowed to bring with her. It certainly wasn't her usual style; it was more of a sailor dress, similar to one she might have worn when she was five.

  Soon, both girls were ready to walk down to the lake. When they arrived, they saw that some of the other newcomers were also there. They introduced themselves and set down their towels, slipped off their flip-flops, and prepared to get into the sparkling, inviting water for a relaxing swim after the tension of the day.

  She entered the water a bit too fast, diving in and almost losing her balance when the force of water met with her speed. Rebecca steadfastly held on and, with eyes shut from the rush of water, blindly dove down to the bottom of the lake. As the water seemed to go on forever, her lungs began to ache with desperate need for air.

  Never doubting her final success, Rebecca stayed her course. She had, after all, been the most talented young student throughout the UK in her younger years, winning every swim tournament she had ever entered. Of course, that wouldn't help her much in her studies here. She was sure there was no swim team.

  The growing pressure in her lungs pushed such thoughts out of her mind. Within seconds of suffocation, Rebecca emerged from the water gasping.

  When she looked up, she was greeted with the sight of a clear blue sky.

  "Are you all right?" one of the boys asked.

  "Sure," she said with a shrug.

  The group splashed and played in the water after that for quite some time before someone asked the time.

  "Let me look," Constance said as she looked at the waterproof watch on her wrist. "Damn! We have to go if we're going to be ready for dinner in time."

  The new students hurried out of the lake at her words, none of them wishing to be late on their first night.

  With heart pounding, she flew up the hill with Constance by her side. Doubts were soon clouding her thoughts. What if we're late? What if they laugh at us and turn us away from the dining room? What if they say we can't have dinner? She was starving by now, having eaten very little breakfast and no lunch, due to nerves. The swim had made her even hungrier.

  "Come on; we have to hurry," she said to Constance as they entered the dorm and ran for the elevator. She hoped no one had seen them because she seriously doubted that running was allowed, either.

  Resolutely stifling her doubts, Rebecca stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the fourth floor. " Come on, come on," she said impatiently as she waited for it to stop so they could get off.

  Rebecca looked both ways before stepping out into the hallway. When she saw no one else around, she took off in a sprint for their room, Constance close behind.

  Rebecca had never gotten cleaned up and dressed so quickly in her life. She put her sailor dress and Mary Janes back on and asked Constance if she was ready.

  Dressed in a similar style dress, only in a different color, Constance nodded. "God, I hate this getup."

  "Me, too, girlfriend; me, too. Just go with the flow; it's all we can do for now."

  "When I realized that no amount of crying or begging was going to change my folks' mind, I did just that. I decided to go along with the nonsense until I could figure out a way to get out of this place," Constance told her in a low voice as they boarded the elevator once more.

  Rebecca gave her a sideways glance and then agreed, "Exactly."

  They made it to the dining room with one minute to spare. Carly was at the door, and she gave them a look that told them they had better be glad they had made it.

  "Find a seat, girls, quickly," a woman said from behind them. Rebecca watched as she moved ahead of them and decided that she must be one of the instructors.

  They spotted some of the group from the lake and hurriedly walked to their table to join them.

  "That was too close for comfort," one of the boys said. "From what I hear from our dorm leader, we don't want to ever be late."

  They all nodded and turned as the dean began to speak.

  "Good evening, students. For our incoming frosh, you will see that the food is set up on the north wall, cafeteria style. You'll wait your turn, as we go by table number. Once you have your food, return to your seats. You may talk quietly at your table. No yelling, no cell phones, and no food fights. That should go without saying, but you never know when a troublemaker is in the crowd. Enjoy your dinner, and I hope you all have a pleasant year."

  Sounds of glass brearoyal and something crashing to the floor followed. When Rebecca looked up, she saw one of the servers had dropped a tray of water glasses. She felt sorry for the girl and hoped she wouldn't get into trouble. Two other workers quickly helped her, and soon it was all cleared away and a new tray brought out.

  "That woke me up," one of the boys teased.

  Dinner that night consisted of pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots and green beans. There was cake for dessert. The food wasn't bad, she decided, but she would certainly miss having the option to eat anyplace other than the school dining room for the entire school year. This had to be the weirdest school in the world. How had her parents ever found it?

  After dinner, she and Constance were both feeling the effects of the long day and decided to have an early night. They said goodnight to their new friends and went to their room to unwind a bit before falling asleep.

  They talked for a while, each one admitting her fears for the next day, when they would meet their instructors and get their class schedules. Finally, Constance turned out the light, and in no time at all, both girls were fast asleep in their matching twin dorm beds.

  The next morn
ing, they got up when the alarm blared, neither wanting to be late. They took turns in the bathroom and headed down to breakfast, maroyal the seven o'clock meal with time to spare.

  Constance was dressed in a navy blue skirt and light blue blouse, and Rebecca had chosen a black skirt with a light gray sweater. She'd made a face when she'd looked in the mirror earlier.

  "May as well get used to it," Constance had said as she picked up her bag and made ready to leave the room. "We can't change anything yet."

  Resigned to the fact that she was, for the time being, stuck in this odd place, Rebecca had agreed, and they were now headed to meet with the staff.

  Rebecca was to meet with Professor Marla first. She couldn't help but stare in wonder at the lady waiting by the entrance to her office. Sweeping golden hair framed the professor's bright blue eyes, and she wore a black dress with a purple jacket draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were kind, with the honored wrinkles of great wisdom, and her aged beauty was still breathtaroyal. An aura of incredible but calm power emanated from her.

  "Welcome, my dear Miss Porter." The professor's voice seemed to sing rather than speak as she held her hand out to Rebecca.

  "Thank you, Professor." As she had been taught by her parents, Rebecca took her hand and shook it firmly.

  "Stand up, Rebecca." Professor Marla smiled at her warmly. The smile then faded into stern disapproval, and a note of censure crept into her voice. "You were expected ten minutes ago."

  Rebecca had to bite back a defensive retort that wanted to spring from her lips, but she replied instead, "I am truly sorry. I had to… I was… I got lost—" She searched desperately for some quick, intelligent reply, but none came to her mind, so she went with the truth.

  Professor Marla interrupted, "I know; I have seen it happen many times before with our new students. You have much to learn, so you will not be punished this time for your tardiness. Follow me."

  As she left Rebecca sputtering in surprise, the professor turned on her heels and led the way down the massive hallway. With her green eyes flashing indignantly, Rebecca smothered her pride and followed Professor Marla into a great foyer.