The Wrong One

1. ditched

The cool breeze of the early morning delicately blew through Kennedy King's blonde wig that was gracefully and cleanly tied up into a sleek ponytail, the tip reaching her mid-back. She idly stood in front of the 8-feet tall reflective doors that stopped her from the entering the prestige institution and was unconsciously staring at her black shoes. Kennedy was chewing on her bottom lip as a knot began to form in her stomach.

When she noticed the time on her watch, she squeezed her eyes shut and released a shaky, anxious sigh and finally mustered up enough courage to step close enough to the doors so that they would automatically slide open and allow her to step onto the polished marble floors of the building. The blast of the air conditioning caressed her face and it was on despite it being autumn.

Once the doors closed behind her, she noticed with amazement that the doors were not mirrors like they were outside but instead see-through, so people could see out but strangers could not see in.

"Miss?"

Startled by the sudden voice, she instantly twirled around to the direction of the voice and widened her eyes when she saw the bald man in all black clothes a few feet away from her, one thumb on his belt as he gave her an amused look. Kennedy's blue eyes traveled to his belt where a gun was hidden in it's pouch and automatically assumed that the man in front of her was a guard.

"Oh, hello," she said timidly, a little embarrassed that she got scared.

"Who are you? Are you a new student? I've never seen you here before," the guard said gruffly. When she nodded, he continued, "Well the office is up those stairs and sweetie you shouldn't be so intimidated. I also noticed you kept idling outside the school like a rock for a whole ten minutes. You're lucky to be attending a school like this."

She smiled slightly at the encouragement but she still felt her heart in her stomach. After a quiet 'thank you,' she hastily made her way towards the grand stairs that led straight up to the office.

From beside the doors, the guard looked at her retreating form with a frown on his face. Rarely does he ever see someone so nervous entering Stronghold Academy. It was the most prestigious school in the world, offering the best of the best resources for those privileged enough to attend which meant one required a lot of money and power to get their children into this school. That, or geniuses smart enough to earn a scholarship to this institution. Usually, kids who have the money to attend this school saunter into the front doors oozing confidence and arrogance, something that just didn't show with poor, shaking Kennedy.

Once reaching the office, another automatic door slid aside and she entered the cream room that had a chandelier in the middle of the room. Once she entered, the eyes of the middle aged woman behind the front desk flickered up to hers and smiled kindly as she stood up to great her.

"Hello there, you must be our recent scholarship recipient," she said as she offered Kennedy a hand to shake. "Kennedy Scott?"

Kennedy's eyebrows furrowed a bit when she said 'Scott' but returned to normal when she quickly remembered that she was using a different last name in this school rather than her real name 'King.' She shook the woman's hand and smiled shyly, "Yes ma'am."

"There is supposed to be a student here to show you around but he's running a little late so you can just have a seat while he gets here." she said, agitation sneaking up on her features. "But here, I already have your schedule ready for you. I really hope you enjoy this school. You are a very lucky girl." She handed Kennedy a thick, white piece paper with one final encouraging smile and then went back to doing her desk work.

Kennedy waited for a little over 10 minutes before she heard the smooth sound of the sliding doors open. She was sitting on the sofa too busy staring at the tiny red ant crawling across the floor to be bothered with taking a glance at who just entered. It wasn't until she felt the tall shadow cast over her did she finally look up and stare into a pair of cold, captivating, grey eyes. She released an inaudible gasp.

He was undeniable attractive, with short, soft-looking, messy, brown hair and a gorgeous face like a model from an A&F campaign. He wore his dark navy blue cashmere vest with the school emblem woven on his breast over his white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His uniform was similar to hers except she had a dark navy blue blazer instead of a vest and she wore the required female dark navy blue skirt.

"You must be the one I'm supposed to show around," he said with a bored look, his eyes scrutinizing Kennedy's body from head to toe.

Before Kennedy could reply, the secretary spoke up first, "You're late, Kade," she scolded. "This is Kennedy Scott, she's an excellent student who got the scholarship this year so you treat her well."

At the word 'scholarship' Kennedy watched nervously as his stormy eyes narrowed causing her to practically imagine daggers flying out of them and at her. "So basically she's poor and her family is nothing, the yearly charity case," he clarified, his voice dripping with disgust.

The secretary gasped in horror. "Kade!"

As his eyes turned cold, Kennedy diverted her sad gaze to the floor and stood up. She pushed her black rimmed glasses up her nose to the right position and readjusted the strap of her book bag. "It's okay miss, I'm not bothered at all. I just want to get this tour over with."

Kade rolled his eyes, turned his back to her and strode out of the room with Kennedy following closely behind. She wasn't short—a mere few inches shorter than Kade—so it wasn't hard to keep up with his long legs because she had a pair of her own.

Kade silently led her through a long glass hallway that connected the office building to the main building where all the classrooms and students spent their time. As they walked to the building she took her time admiring the beautiful gardens that lay outside a few floors below the hanging hallway. They contained freshly planted flowers that were of such vivid colors that made this institution so lively and colorful.

When she finally reached the end of the hallway where there was no more glass to stare out of, she realized that Kade was no longer with her. He had in fact ditched her while she was too busy in a daze to realize.

She began to panic and could practically feel her heart begin to beat faster and harder out of her chest. She didn't know where to go or even have a map of the school. Kade was supposed to be the one to help her but instead he had left her alone and if the other students were anything like Kade—who was disgusted to find out she was a student who came on a scholarship—then they would reject her too.

As she swallowed and stared at the empty hallway of doors in front of her, the bell suddenly rang and a vast amount of students began filling the hall she was in. Girls dressed in the same uniform she was and guys in the same uniform Kade was. As they began to notice her, whispers filled the hall and fingers began to be pointed.

Run

Her face turned red and she became angry. She became angry that people were staring at her and pointing at her like they didn't know what respect was and she was especially angry because of the asshole Kade who ditched her on her first day. She was about to just turn around and go home despite her better judgement but then...

"Do you need help?"