The Virginity Pact

10 - yellow brick road

Rise and shine, early birds. We all have dreams. Some good, some bad. Some fun and Freudian. And some are the dreams we've had our whole lives.

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I've been spending a lot of time at The Annabelle. Mr. Frasier doesn't mind me lurking around when I'm out of uniform, since I'm "friends" with Holden and Tyler, and he's close to aunt Lindsey and Derek.

The hotel has sort of become a second home, between work and me staying here for no real purpose other than not wanting to go home. I guess you can say I've let Ainsley push me out of my own home. I don't want to be anywhere near her. I need to avoid confrontation and focus on college. It was now November, and I need to get ready to send my application in.

But I also need to think about how to become more popular. That's why I had called Salima this morning, expressing my interest to walk in her show next week, which she loved. Apparently Salima has a thing for putting it-girls in her show, or girls she believes she can turn into an it-girl. That's also why I had taken that picture of Jake and Ainsley, though I've yet to do anything with it.

"You'll never be queen, because you're just too nice," Lydia's voice rings in my head.

I could expose Jake as a cheater, Ainsley as a bad friend/person, and embarress Lydia all with one picture. As shown by Lydia, you can't be queen without getting back at those who've wronged you. You could say that they all actually deserve it, but I just can't do it. Maybe I am too nice.

What's wrong with being nice?

I sigh, shifting in the armchair with my computer on my lap.

"Hey," a voice startles me, and I look up to see Tyler.

"Hey," I smile.

He plops down in the armchair beside me. The Annabelle had several secluded sitting areas all throughout the hotel. They were my favorite places to do homework and study.

"What are you writing?" Tyler asks, glancing at my computer screen. "Or not writing," he corrects teasingly.

The only thing I had typed was the date and my name.

"My college application essay," I sigh.

My essay from last year was perfect. I wish I could just copy exactly what I had written then. This has to be perfect too. With this application I'm basically laying my yellow brick road to the rest of my life.

He nods. "Yale, right?"

"Yeah," I sigh. "How'd you know?"

"I heard about the Lydia thing. Even though I've graduated from Lockwood I still seem to be in line for the whisper-down-the-lane of drama. I guess I will be until I get thrown into the adult world of drama, somewhere around 25," Tyler says.

My eyebrows furrow. "There's adult drama too?" I ask.

"Oh yeah," Tyler chuckles. "But it's way deeper than the high school drama. It's all about business and politics and affairs."

I nod. This place is so dramatic, so extra.

"You know, you don't have to do a typical essay where you talk about how much you love the history of Yale and how it's such a great school. Just write about why you really want to go there. Write how you feel," Tyler suggests.