The Inheritance Book 1

Ch 11 Opponents: Hannah Frost [Friday, Week One]

Hannah checked her bathroom supply tote, making sure she had her shampoo and all the stuff she needed to get ready for bed.

Luckily, no one else was in the bathroom. She turned on the shower and brushed her teeth while she waited for the water to get warm.

She rinsed out her mouth, placed her dirty clothes in a neat pile on the bench and stepped into the wide, white marble shower. It only took a couple of minutes to wash up, but she didn't want to get out yet. A long shower was a perfect time to reflect and recover.

As the soothing hot water coursed through her hair, she closed her eyes and thought about her experiences here at Trecorin.

It was like being in a weird dream. The castle itself was a luxurious mountain resort. Tiny Aunt Allora was a sweet little old lady who literally seemed to float across the floor in her long, flowing dresses. She had a habit of sliding that huge crystal pendant back and forth on its chain. Sometimes Hannah had to stop herself from staring at Allora's missing finger. She was curious to know how she lost it.

Bryce, of course, had rudely asked her about it during dinner once. She had responded by saying something about not giving a baby steak until it has teeth. Hannah interpreted that as a sort-of good-natured insult toward Bryce. Maybe one of these days, Allora would tell them the story.

Hannah was on the fence about Miss Haversham. She seemed tired and grumpy all the time, like she wasn't happy about all these kids being at the castle. But Hannah kind of understood. Some of the kids were annoying, and Haversham was the one who had to deal with them.

Mr. and Mrs. Carter and Kara seemed nice so far, and were good at their jobs around Trecorin. The castle was always clean, the gardens were lush and beautiful, the food was amazing. Their son Austin was super creepy, though Mirabelle would probably disagree. Hannah overheard her bragging that he was checking her out, and going on about how hot he was. The dude was 18 and had already graduated high school! Too old to be messing with a 15-year-old!

Aside from all that, everyone seemed to be settling into the castle life. All the whining and complaining about not having their phones, games, shows, and internet had died down quite a bit. With each passing day, the adjustment got a little easier. Meals, chores, and activities kept them all busy for a good chunk of the day. But for Hannah, the evening free time hours were when the struggle was the hardest. Not only did she miss the technology, but that's when her loneliness and homesickness kicked in.

It was a competition, which made them all opponents. But in spite of that, everyone besides Hannah and Bryce seemed to have made a friend or two. And Bryce obviously didn't want any. He buzzed around like a pesky fly, taking pleasure in annoying people. If he wanted friends, he would be normal and nice, not a jerk.

Averi and Graehm, the two little dorks, were often together in the parlor, reading, chatting or playing chess. Hannah liked them, but their quirkiness was slightly different from hers. Hannah was athletic and extremely--though she kept it to herself--competitive.

The two stars of the castle, Sione and Jarrett, along with their cheerleader, Elizabeth claimed the loft and the music room as their hang-out spots. The boys were often playing the instruments and singing. They had some talent and sounded pretty good. Apparently Sione was teaching Jarrett how to play the ukulele. If they weren't in the music room or the loft, they were at the pool or out with the horses. Hannah had seen Elizabeth riding one of them bareback, which she had to admit was impressive.

If not for Elizabeth, Hannah would probably gravitate toward Sione and Jarrett. She had three brothers, and was more comfortable around boys. Elizabeth was not someone she could relate to at all. She was a stuck-up rich girl who dressed and did her makeup like a model even to do chores, and checked herself out in every reflective surface she encountered.

Hannah wore her thick, black hair up in a ponytail most of the time. Her closet consisted of sport shorts, t-shirts, and a couple pairs of jeans. She didn't even own a single dress, piece of makeup or a purse.

Mirabelle had latched onto Kellyn and now they were joined at the hip. At first, Hannah had kinda wanted to be their friend too, even though Mirabelle was not the kind of person she would normally hang out with. Kellyn seemed really nice though.

Hannah couldn't believe that after one tiny mistake, Mirabelle hated her so much. And it wasn't even a mistake, really. All she had done was whisper a comment and Kellyn had laughed. That was it! She hadn't even been talking about Mirabelle, but that's what she automatically assumed. And now she had an enemy--for no reason at all!

If things didn't change, a very long and lonely June stretched ahead of her.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door.

Hannah felt bad for taking so much time, even though the person could just as easily go use the upstairs bathroom.

"I'll be out in a minute!" She turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel.

The bathroom was filled with steam so she turned on the fan. By the time she opened the door, the person was gone.

"Sorry," she called out loudly, to whoever it was. The next time she wanted to take a long, hot shower, Hannah would brave the eerie emptiness of the third floor and use the bathrooms up there instead.

As soon as she got to the corridor, the castle lights in the foyer down below went off then on again. That meant lights out in five minutes.

Hannah wasn't at all tired, but there was nothing else to do, so she tucked herself into her big comfy bed. The moon's gentle glow through the gap in the curtains was like a soft yellow spotlight highlighting the glass pineapple on her dresser. It was impossible to be sad when looking at a pineapple, Hannah decided. If all was not well socially, at least she could retreat at the end of the day into her cheerful pineapple room.

She flopped onto her belly and closed her eyes. Her thoughts drifted to her real life back home. To SBJ, her club volleyball team. They were getting ready for nationals without her, and her school team had already started scrimmaging the other schools.

If she didn't bring home a top three win in the Trecorin Trials, she probably wouldn't be able to play club ever again. The little bit of life insurance money from when her dad died three years ago was pretty much gone now. Her mom's job as a grocery store cashier barely covered the bills, let alone the thousands of dollars for club volleyball.

One of her mom's common sayings popped into her mind: Money might not guarantee happiness, but misery was guaranteed without it.

Stay focused, Hannah told herself. The things going on with the other kids didn't matter. She was here to win the Trecorin Trials and bring home the $25,000. She hoped to also be named the heir, but she couldn't worry about that now. Aunt Allora wouldn't make that decision for two more years yet.