Sacrifice for a Dream

Chapter 2

The next Saturday afternoon, Gerald and Anne dropped me off in my dorm room. Anne had bought bedding and toiletries for me at Walmart under the watchful eye of Gerald. The school would provide my uniform so all I really needed to pack was my casual clothes for the weekends, my books and a few personal items that I had accumulated over the years at Gerald and Anne's.

Anne helped me unpack and settle in. Gerald went back to the car, to watch videos on his phone so we were left with some privacy.

Once Gerald was out of earshot, Anne handed me a small cell phone, "This is only for emergencies. I programmed my phone number and Theresa's in case you have any problems."

I turned the phone over in my hand. I had never owned a cell phone before. It was small and had buttons with numbers printed on them, so it clearly wasn't a smart phone. Did they even make cell phones like this anymore?

"It's an old phone of mine, but it was free, and I was able to get a sim card for cheap," explained Anne. "Just keep it in your room and I'll try to call you in the evening before bed to say good night. I'll just tell Gerald that the school is letting you use the landline. This won't be for that long."

Anne eyes were moist again, but I just stared at my feet. This was scary but it wasn't the scariest thing I had ever experienced, and I didn't want her to be sad, "It's fine, Anne, I'll be fine."

She nodded, "Where's your schedule? Let's go see if we can walk around and make sure you know where everything is."

I pulled out the schedule and the list of rules from my backpack that was hung over my desk chair. There was a laptop sitting on the desk. I didn't touch it. I didn't know who it belonged to. The closet was also full of school uniforms, and I wondered if I was somehow in the wrong room and if we should have asked before unpacking but Anne had assured me that the dorm mother had told her this was my room when I was unloading the car.

Besides the closet full of school uniforms and the desk with the laptop and lamp, there was a twin-size bed, made up with the cream comforter covered in small purple flowers that we had had brought and that Anne said went well with my complexion. Anne had also gotten a cream-colored clothes hamper for my dirty clothes and a small purple rug that went on the floor near my bed. It was a small room, but it was comfortable and had a large window with a window seat that I lined my favorite books up against, I put the rest in the closet for safekeeping.

As we looked over my schedule, there was a sharp knock at the door. Both Anne and I looked up from reviewing my schedule and list of rules. Anne walked over to the door and opened it. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen was standing there.

She was petite like me, but she had a delicate beauty that I lacked. She was blonde with dark blue eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned, and she wore a soft fuzzy green sweater and blue jeans with gorgeous sparkly high heels. I never wore high heels, one time I had tried and almost sprained my ankle.

"Hi! I'm Glimmer!" the bubbly girl said.

"Hi, Glimmer. I'm Anne and this is my daughter Wren." Anne introduced, I stared at the wall.

Glimmer came up to shake my hand, and I reared backwards. She had on strong perfume and she had been about to touch me. I trembled slightly and ducked behind Anne.

Anne had a worried look on her face, she understood what being here was costing me. But I had made this decision and I needed to stick with it.

"Hello, Glimmer. I'm Wren," I told the shiny girl as I looked her in the eye, I counted to myself. I looked to the wall again.

Anne smiled at Glimmer. "Wren and I were about to check out where her classes are."

Glimmer frowned at me, not knowing what to make of me. I was used to this though. She turned to Anne with the same radiant smile she had on when she first entered my room. "I was told to show Wren around and then bring her to Ms. Merle, the counselor's office. Visiting hours for parents are almost up anyways."