Beyond All Rules ✔️

Chapter One

KENNEDY

My wrist moves fluidly with ease as I guide a paint brush over the canvas in gentle strokes only taking breaks to dip it into my palette for more paint. The painting comes to life, my inspiration smiling back at me as the sun rises in the horizon. I have the perfect view from my balcony and these quiet tranquil mornings have become my favorite over the course of the six weeks I've been locked up here.

I love painting sunsets as well, trees and landscapes too but there's just something about sunrises that gets to me. It feels like God is giving us a good morning kiss, a whole new chance to start afresh all over again with each new dawn.

My alarm clock rings in my bedroom ruining my perfect moment. I quickly tune it out so I can finish up. I've been awake for more than half the night painting unable to sleep because of panic.

Six weeks are over and today I join Pine View High School as a senior. To say that I am worried will be an understatement. I've had six weeks to wrap my head around the matter and yet my nerves still get the better of me every time I think about it.

Everything changes today.

I cannot avoid facing my day any longer when my alarm rings again ten minutes later.

"This will have to wait." I relent as I set aside my painting for some other time and get up to tidy up.

A portrait of my sister captures my attention and I smile. After she helped me dye my hair six weeks ago she's come two more times to check up on me and once I convinced her to model for me. Her advice grounded me to find myself thus why I've painted more in the last six weeks than I've ever since I fell in love with art when I signed up for art classes at Oakland Preparatory during my freshman year. I've always made pretty good doodles but I only started taking art seriously when I joined highschool. Over the past six weeks it's become my clutch and coping mechanism otherwise I'd have gone stir crazy locked up in my room like a criminal.

A long hot shower barely helps with my nerves but it's refreshing enough. I swipe my hand over my fogged up mirror and my reflection glares back at me. I manage a smile because my hair has grown out and the roots match the rest of my long locks. Im so glad I decided to go back to being a red head.

I am the odd duckling in my family looking nothing like either of my parents apart from getting my mom's blue eyes. I have freckles all over my body but especially my face that my mom taught me to hide with make up but I will never do that again. I've been working on my self esteem and now that my red hair is back I will embrace all other parts of me as well. The ones that my mom taught me to hate.

I dry my hair and it falls in wild red curls reaching my waist. After I moisturize, I do my eyes with winged eye liner and a bit of eye shadow. To top it off I add pink lip gloss but I do nothing to the rest of my face wanting to show off my freckles.

At Oak Preparatory we wore uniforms but that's not the case at Pine View so I settle for a patch pocket denim dungaree jumpsuit over a long sleeved back sweatshirt and a pair of black Dr. Marten boots. I want to fit in at Pine View so I can't dress like I come from the upper east side. All I intend to do is keep my head down, blend into the background like an unnoticed wall flower and finish my senior year with no fuss or muss.

All my books and accessories were pre packed a week ago in a tote bag so I pick it up, leave my room and head downstairs to get some breakfast before I leave for my first day of my new hell on earth.

I am surprised to find my parents in the dining room since they left for Paris the same night they decreed my new reality. I'm past being angry at them, I was for the first two weeks but then I resolved to accept my new fate and embracing the new me.