A Home for the Holidays

Two: The Academy: Introductions

Hey everyone! Real quick I would like to say thank you to everyone who voted on my first chapter! Over 30 votes in less than a day since I published the book is pretty amazing, at least to me. You guys rock!This chapter is dedicated to anon2404 for being the first one to comment and helping me realize I accidentally left a reference for you guys! You're amaze-balls!

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Sitting on shiny silver gift paper is a beautiful necklace with three charms on it. The middle charm is a pink "S" and the other two smaller charms are a pink rose and a music note. I smile. The rose is to represent Mrs. Rose, obviously, and the music note is for me, because I love music. Plus, my name is literally Sang, as in "I sang a song."

I carefully take out the gift paper so I don't rip it, looking to make sure nothing else is there, and find a little card tucked at the bottom. It reads:

"Dearest Sang,
I am so glad you are getting away from your family. Although you never told me, I knew they were mistreating you. In fact, I was the one who called child protective services on them. When that didn't work, I told my alma matter about you. Yes, that's right, I went to Greyson Academy too. I know you're probably pretty nervous right now, but don't worry, you'll love it there. At the Academy, you'll find a family that truly cares about you. See you soon!
Love,
Mrs. Rose"

What did she mean by I'd find a family there? Maybe everyone there is super spirited and it's like one big family or something. I wouldn't be surprised, as Mrs. Rose is quite the firecracker herself, despite being mute. She's been like that for as long as I've known her, a little over a year, and I can imagine she was always like that. My eyes well up a bit thinking about the first day I met her.

~*~

I was being lectured by my mom for accidentally knocking over a glass and breaking it. Marie, my older sister, had pushed me into the counter in her effort to make me look bad and I bumped the glass, causing it to shatter on the floor in front of my whole family. My mom blamed it on me, because Marie was her little saint and could do nothing wrong, and I was punished for it. She got out the rice and spread it across the floor, yanking my arm along as she moved, and forced me down on to it. I remember crying out, as it was my first time with this new punishment, but quickly silencing myself when my mother yelled at me to shut up and start bowing down to her. I put my hands in the rice too, the sharp grains biting into my flesh, and was about to lower my head when the doorbell rang.

Marie, who had been standing silently behind the counter, exchanged a panicked glance with my mom, who then yanked me up, almost pulling my arm out of the socket. "Clean this mess up now!" She shouted at me, as if it were my fault she had spilled the rice. I quickly moved to the closet and got out a broom as my mom and Marie went to answer the door. I swept all of the rice and the broken glass into a dustpan and dumped it into the trash, just as I heard my mom tell whoever was at the front door that she couldn't understand them. Curious, I wandered into the front hall to see who was at the door.

An elderly woman, probably in her sixties, was trying to sign something to my mom and sister, who were looking confused and fairly annoyed. "She's speaking sign language," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. Everyone turned to look at me, my family's faces reflecting anger and the woman's face looking astonished and a little bit proud.

"What?" my mother snapped, annoyance clear in her tone.

"She's speaking sign language," I repeated, louder this time. "I would tell you what she's saying, but I only know the alphabet." This part I directed towards the woman. She smiled at me, revealing perfect white teeth, and signed a single word.