Academy of Excellence in Academics (School)

Chapter 1: Hailey

"Good morning Grandpa, Father,  Mother, and same to you, brothers." Hailey greeted cheerfully as she exited the lift, wearing a pastel pink dress made of silk. Her grandpa was answering a call, while her Father was reading the newspaper as usual, while her Mother was watching the television. Her older brothers were reading silently in the corner, but Hailey knew that the youngest Brother was secretly using his phone. Soon, the maids rang the breakfast bell, so the family of 7 made their way to the dining room. The breakfast of the day was scrambled eggs, hash browns, some seafood, and a pudding. Hailey nodded curtly to each of her family members and sat down politely at the end of the table, since she was the youngest of the family.
After a tense breakfast with little chattering whatsoever, Hailey got ready for lessons in her study room. Hailey lived in a beautiful mansion. In fact, her house was bigger than a mansion. She had a whole level of rooms to herself. Each family member did. That was why they needed a lift for the house. She had a dance room, a study room, a bed room, a closet room, a gardening room, a toys room, a gaming room and even her own pets room. She had a little golden retriever, and a rabbit which she took pride in always grooming them. They were adorable!
Shortly, her first teacher came in. Mrs Jones, the English Literature teacher. Hailey sat up straight and greeted her. Mrs Jones' lessons were always boring, but she had to sit through them. Otherwise, her parents would get mad. That morning, Mrs Jones looked stern and fuming, slamming a piece of paper onto the table and pointed at it. Oh. She failed another test. Not a surprise. Hailey was a disciplined student. She always did her homework on time, even doing extra practise papers, but none of the information ever enters her brain. She was considered a disappointment to her family, and she always wanted to do better, but these poor grades never surprised her. She just didn't seem to be able to do well. "WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH YOU??" Mrs Jones hollered. Yes, Hailey was starting to get better at English, but she still couldn't do well at it. Not good enough at least. This was the exact reason why she was homeschooled. Her family didn't want her to disgrace the family in private schools. Her family had a high social status. They couldn't afford for anyone to know that their Daughter was failing in school, for it would hurt their reputation greatly.
After 2 hours of exhausting English, lessons continued on and on, and it finally came to break time, the only time she could relax. She went to her bedroom and flopped onto the beanbag. She had failed all of her subjects, again. She was so sad that she had failed her parents. What would happen now? She hoped her parents would forgive her, but she couldn't bear to see their disappointed faces again.
That night, she was called into her parents' study as usual. They wanted to check in on her academics and what happened. Hailey stood at attention in front of the table while Hailey's Mother sat at the side, and Hailey's Father sitting behind the table. Everything in this room was pure wooden. From the chairs and table, to the stationery. Everything was made of wood, which gave off a stern feel. Just then, her tutors all came in with a file and stood in a row behind Hailey. Her Father stared at Hailey and raised an eye brown. This was her cue to start speaking. "Well Father, I had a wonderful time during lessons today. I learnt about narratives in English, photosynthesis in science,..." She went on and on. Then, her Father looked up at the Teachers, in case they had anything to add on. "Well...she has just finished a test and we all have her papers.." the Math teacher spoke. One by one, they took a step forward to hand Father the file of exam papers. All of them had a big F on top in red. Hailey grew more and more frightened as her Father was fuming by the time he read through all the papers. First, he fired all the tutors since they did not do their job well seeing that Hailey still failed. Then, he gave Hailey her punishment.
"Hailey. I'm disappointed. Did you even try? Go stand in that corner for 15 minutes, then come to me again." Father ordered. Hailey ran to the corner and started sobbing, while her Father and Mother left the room. By the time Hailey was ready to find Father, her parents were in a discussion. Upon noticing Hailey, they nodded, as if agreeing to something. Father then took a ruler and hit Hailey on the palm 30 times, and on her calf 30 times. Hailey hated the sting that she felt, and she begged her Father to stop, but it only made him hit her harder. When her punishment was over, Hailey was about to run back to her room when her Father stopped her. "Have I dismissed you yet? No. We have something to tell you. We are going to send you, to AEA, Academy of excellence in Academics. Hopefully you can learn to be smarter." Hailey stared at them in shock. While AEA was famous, it was a harsh and brutal place. Furthermore, it was a boarding school. Her parents... didn't want her anymore?