The School of Rock

Raelyn Harrows

My name is Raelyn Harrows. My life sucks- I'll give you six reasons why;

i) My mother ran away with a French guy when I was 34 days old, leaving me with my father. Not to complain, because Pa was a wonderful man- he really did try to be a Mum and Dad at the same time, and he did well. He really spoilt me and we travelled around a little bit when I was 5.

ii) Pa never remarried or had any other kids. He just seemed so... lonely, sometimes. Almost every night I would catch him staring out the window of our house, into the inky black sky.

iii) We had to move to England, away from the Australian forest we lived in, and I hate it here. I absolutely hate it. Everyone talks funny and nobody likes me. I fail at school here because their spelling is weird, and I just can't get used to it. I got bullied all time, and made no friends. The buildings aren't nearly as modern and home-y as the ones back in Aus. They all look the same- little grey stone boxes. Very depressing. Also 1D 'live' here. 

iv) Pa is dead. He died when we moved to our new house. It was disgusting- like all the other depressing, little, grey, stone boxes- except covered in filth. Rubbish everywhere. A dead cat or two. And a rat. A great big rat. It must have had rabies. It bit Pa numerous times in the jaw and on his hip. He died two months later in hospital. I was moved to an orphanage, until they tracked down my step-grandpa.

v) What the orphanage didn't know was that my grandfather, Henry, is blind, grumpy and not fit to look after a child. He refuses to go to a nursing home or even a doctor to check it out. Thankfully he was left money in Pa's will, which lasted until I was old enough to get a job. And now we have to move again. He won't tell me why, or even where we're going.

vi) I tried to commit suicide, twice. I was going to slit my own wrists and neck and bleed to death in the bath. But I was scared. Too scared to do it. Scared for Henry, scared for me. The second time I got the very same knife, and decided to venture into the house where my father was bitten. Where we were meant to live. But when I got there, after I had dragged Henry all that way, the junk was gone, and a family of four had moved in. See, my plan was to kill the rat, and if I failed, well, I'd get to be with Pa again forever. I didn't think to concider that the house had been cleared away, or that the rat had died. Animals with rabies generally died after 7-10 days. The rat would have been in either Stage 2 or 3, so would only have 6-7 days left anyway.

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"Are you really wearing that shirt again?" Mutters Henry. He may be blind, but he has a knack for knowing what I'm wearing.

"These are my pajamas, Henry."

"But it's 11:00! Why aren't you in your uniform?!"

"It's Sunday, Henry." I mutter.

"Then why are you in here, disturbing my peace?!" He says groggily.

"I want to ask wh-"

"No."

"Henry!" I whine. Why won't he tell me? How hard is it, to tell someone where they might be living for the rest of their life?

"Kitty." He whines, mimicking me. Come on, surely I don't sound like that.

Kitty is a nickname I got stuck with very young, due to my bringing home 7 little kittens from school one day, saying that 'Santa gave them to me'. We had to give them to the shelter that was up the road. Everyday after school, and in the mornings on the weekend, I would go visit them. I cried and cried when I was told that two of them were sold. We moved soon after that. It was about then, I think, that my passion for singing grew. Now my life goal is to be a singer- I don't try to hard to work towards it though, I don't know how to start. I don't have any money, either, since my paycheck from the cafe I work at goes straight towards keeping me and Henry alive. And I know that somewhere along the track, I'm going to need some extra cash.

I walk away, muttering under my breath. Not fair. I had gone through everything I could lay my hands on- nothing. I couldn't find anything! I was not used to not getting what I want before I was thrust into Henry's care. I had to get used to it pretty fast.

We were moving in two days. Two days! And I don't even know which continent we'll be on, let alone a country, city, or town! I need to know. I will die if I don't.

After about two hours of mucking around, listening to music, and pacing, I have an idea.

"Henry... I need to know where we are going. I need to know what clothes to pack," I know, I'm teribble, haven't even packed my bag "and for, uh.... girl stuff." His eyes widen, as I pretend to blush and look embarrassed.

"It will be hot in the Summer, and cold in the Winter." He chuckles and I let out a frustrated scream.

"Come on, Henry! Why won't you tell me!" I groan angrily.

"Raelyn, if I told you.... I don't know how you'd react. Your not exactly the best at handling things." He whispers, suddenly serious.

"Fine!" I huff and stomp off down the hallway, only to hear him chuckle again.

I sit on my bed and sulk. Meany. I look up- God I would miss this tiny, unbearable room. Or maybe not.

I find myself slowly falling asleep, trying to think of a place I would freak about where it's hot in Summer and cold in Winter.

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Okay, this book will be about two people, and my fellow writer and I will be writing in different POV's. Everything written from Raelyn's POV will be written by me. This is just a (very) short chapter to explain everything about Kitty. Happy reading!
BTW, that's (kind of) her at the top. (If that's you, message me and I'll take it down. Just Google searchin' for someone pretty. :D
-Pois0nX