Like a Lady

Prologue

I was at home, sleeping peacefully in my bedroom, with the glow of the digital clock on my face. Or so my parents thought…..

I wasn’t surrounded by the calm silence of a sleeping household, and my heart wasn’t beating steady as I drifted off into a slumber. Instead I felt it hammer inside of my chest, as if it was drumming along to the rhythm of the music. Around me weren’t the familiar posters of my room; but in its place was a flood of teenagers in every direction that I turned to. 

I pressed the bottle I was holding up to my lips and took in a mouthful of the liquid splashing around inside. A burning sensation covered my throat as the liquid slid down with ease. A satisfying smile crept upon my lips as the surroundings around me became blurry and much more alluring.

“Tori,” a voice slurred.

I spun around on my heels and came face to face with Rebecca, my best friend. Her long auburn hair was tousled and tangled every which way. My eyes flickered to the boy standing next to her; he had his fingers intertwined with hers.

She was out of breath. “You’d never guess who I heard talking about you!”

A wave of curiosity flowed through me. “Who?”

“Dan Trites!”

I grinned, “Oh, really? Where is he?”

She pointed towards a sliding glass door that lead to the balcony. I started towards the door, my feet feeling as though they were gliding with every step I made. Let’s just say that Dan was the guy that every girl wanted, and it was lucky times like this, when he was no longer involved with anything.  No not tonight, it’s my turn now, he was talking about me.

“Well look who it is,” I folded my arms across my chest as he turned around to face me.

“No, look at you,” his glazed eyes trailed down my body as if he was taking a mental picture.

He took a step forward, making the space between us smaller. “I thought you weren’t allowed out.” He smelt like a mixture of cologne and alcohol.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” I said, bumping my arm against his.

“Here is getting so boring though,” he whispered. “How about we ditch this place?”

“Absolutely.”

I knew it was the liquid courage inside of me that was doing a lot of the talking. To be honest, I’m usually a little shy when it comes to guys, especially Dan Trites. Tonight my mind had no filter, and no common sense to guide me, but I guess I threw that away a long time ago. We made our way hand in hand down the street, towards my house, stopping every once in a while to crash our lips together.

My house was just a block down from where the party was being held, so it didn’t take too long to get there. I quietly crept towards my window, which was easy because it was on ground level, and began to shimmy it open. In the state I was in, I thought I was being secretive and quiet, but as soon as we climbed through the window, my bedroom door flew open.  Standing before me were my parents, with angry, disappointed frowns on their faces.

“Get out,” my father‘s voice came out stern and harsh.

My eyes followed Dan as he sunk his head down, trying to hide the look of shock that was plastered across his face. He didn’t even glance up to look at me as he stumbled back out of the window.

“Victoria Lynn Foss.” I cringed at the sound of my full name coming from my mother’s lips.

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” She snapped.

“I-I..um,” I couldn’t think of anything to say. I sat down on my bed, defeated.

“Your mother and I have been discussing what to do about your behaviour lately, and tonight is the final straw.” His words were like acid and his eyes were flashing with anger.

“The crowd you have been hanging around with is nothing but a bad influence to you. So since you refuse to change your friends, we have to step up as parents.”

I nervously bit my lip and I looked from my mother to my father. What could they possibly be thinking?

“Victoria, we’re sending you to boarding school.”

And that was how seven words completely changed my life.