Pillars

Chapter 1: New Beginnings (Kelci)

"Lorin, come on get up. It's 6:15," mom huffed. She had already called from the kitchen, then the base of the stairs, and now in the doorway of my sister's room.

"I'm not going!" Lorin yelled, pulling the lavender duvet over her head.

"Oh, yes you are young lady. Get. Up. Now." In one swift motion mom ripped the covers off the bed, balled them up, and tucked them under her arm as she walked out the door. She smiled brightly as she brushed by me in the hallway. "You look nice, honey," she said kissing my forehead before barking towards my sister's door. "We're leaving in 20 minutes, Lorin! I mean it!" 

Already dressed and ready for the first day of school, I sighed deeply before venturing into Lorin's room. Unlike my sister, I was excited for my first day at Grayson's Academy. Not only was I starting high school, but I was going to be at one of the best performing arts academies in the mid-West. 

I had sold Mom on Grayson's by citing their reputation for harvesting the most elite graduates in the nation. Something I pulled off their website. Mom assumed I meant academically elite, which worked out perfectly for my agenda. My eyes were set on their top-notch drama program.

When I was seven I managed to book a small role on a Christmas movie that happened to be shooting in our tiny town of Willow Springs. I ran around with the other kids on set, and told the movie-Santa I wanted an art set for Christmas. It was really not a big deal, but a few days on a working movie set had sparked my dream of becoming a professional actress. A dream which I kept to myself after Lorin had mocked me saying, "Don't forget us little people when you're rich and famous." Truth, I didn't really want to be a Hollywood celebrity. Heck, I didn't even really like being in the spotlight. I just had this insatiable desire to be anyone other than myself. 

Grayson's drama program was my ticket to the stage. I just had to get my sister on board before my mom blew a gasket. So, I braced myself as I walked into Lorin's room. "Why don't you want to go to school?" I asked choosing my words carefully. "I thought you liked school." 

"Oh please! I never liked school. I just liked the idea of getting out of this house and away from mom," Lorin snapped. She stumbled around the room before catching a glimpse of her own fierce gray eyes staring back at her in the mirror. "She's so suffocating. And she has this brilliant plan to rehabilitate me at this stupid artsy smartsy school, and now I'll never see my friends again."

"Artsy smartsy? Is that a real thing?" I laughed.

"It most definitely is a real thing," she insisted. "It's where the cool kids go to die!"

"Really?" I hated to bait the beast, but she really was being a tad bit ridiculous. 

"The lame kids eat their brains," Lorin added wagging her head, proof that she was well aware that I was messing with her.

"No more zombie movies for you." I grinned plopping down the edge of her bed. "Seriously, what's the big deal? You can make new friends." It was always easy for Lorin to make friends. Every where she went she was well liked, and usually at the center of the in crowd. 

"I don't want new friends. I like my old friends. They're broken in and comfortable like a worn pair of jeans."

"I'll tell Val you said so." 

"New friends, especially new friends from Grayson's Academy, will be stiff and starchy like... this stupid skirt!" She winced, holding up a blue and white plaid, box-pleated school skirt. That's what pissed her off the most. At Willow Springs Charter, Lorin was basically fashion royalty. She set the standards for everyone else. Now she would be forced to blend in with the status quo.