Total pages in book: 185
Estimated words: 191421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 957(@200wpm)___ 766(@250wpm)___ 638(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 191421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 957(@200wpm)___ 766(@250wpm)___ 638(@300wpm)
But that’s not the point.
The point is that I shouldn’t do this.
I should never have come up with this plan.
“I’m just,” I take a deep but shaky breath, “very afraid.”
I hear her sigh as well. But I can sense that it’s in solidarity rather than in exasperation. “I know. And it’s not crazy to feel that way after everything that you’ve been through. So if you want to back out, we totally can. It’s up to you. Whatever you decide, we’ll stand behind it.”
“We absolutely will.”
This is a second voice.
And it belongs to my second best friend, Poe.
It’s slightly crazy that I’m calling her my best friend when we’ve only just met. I mean, we go to the same school and have had all the same classes for the past two years. But it’s only recently that we started interacting more and realized that we totally missed out on being friends before.
In fact, it’s her bathroom that I’ve shut myself in.
It’s her house.
Ever since I decided to do this, Jupiter and Poe both have stood behind me and supported me wholeheartedly. The fact that we’re here, at Poe’s house, when we aren’t allowed to go anywhere off campus is testament to that support.
It sounds archaic, doesn’t it?
That we aren’t allowed to go anywhere off campus.
But it’s our reality, given our school.
Since it’s a reform school and the girls who go there are all troublemakers, the main goal of St. Mary’s is restoration. So we can rejoin society as responsible citizens, and in order to accomplish that, they have ironclad and rigid rules.
Ranging from the obvious ones such as showing up to classes on time, never missing a homework deadline, and getting good grades, to less apparent ones like you can only watch TV for a certain amount of time in a day; or that every night they switch off the lights at 9:30; or you can only go off campus if you have a signed permission slip, and so on.
Oh, and if you misbehave or if your grades fall below the set minimum, you get punished.
By losing privileges.
TV privileges, going out privileges, telephone privileges.
Alternatively, if you do well in classes and follow all the rules, your privileges are increased.
All of this, however, only applies during regular school months.
During summer school, the rules are even stricter.
Because having to go to summer school — when you’re supposed to be off enjoying summer vacation — in itself is a major red flag. It means you probably didn’t follow enough rules and/or get good enough grades during the regular school months.
It’s summer now.
Meaning we’re in summer school.
What’s even worse is that we’re all seniors.
Or rather still seniors.
We were supposed to graduate last month but… didn’t.
Couldn’t.
Lack of grades, lack of good behavior. Lack of common sense.
Which means I shouldn’t be here, in Poe’s bathroom, at Poe’s big mansion-like house. None of us should be. But Poe has connections and she used them to get us out of St. Mary’s for the weekend.
Because she’s awesome that way, she got Jupiter out too.
And they’re both being awesome right now as well.
Being so supportive and understanding after everything that they’ve already done for me. And I’m aware that I can’t let them do this, not anymore.
There’s a reason why I came up with this plan. A reason why I’m doing this. And yes, doing this might be stupid and reckless, maybe even dangerous for me, but I have to.
So as much as I’d like to stay in here, hidden away like a coward, I can’t.
Taking a deep breath, I come up to my feet and walk over to the door. I open it to reveal my two best friends peering at me with concerned gazes. To put them at ease, I smile and hope that it’s not as shaky as I feel it is.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I’m just being silly. I can do this.”
“Are you sure?” Jupiter asks, her emerald eyes clouded with worry.
“Yeah.”
“Like, absolutely?” Poe asks gently. “Again, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“I know.” I smile again but this one’s calmer; how can it not be when my friends are so amazing? “But I think it’s going to be fine.”
Maybe if I say it enough times, it’s going to be.
They both stare at me for a beat or two before Jupiter nods. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Poe nods as well. “So remember, we’re going to be there the whole time.”
“Right,” I say with determination.
“Which means all of us will have your back.”
All of us, yeah.
Have I mentioned how awesome Poe is?
If I have, then it bears repeating.
Because not only has she supported me herself, she’s recruited other people to support me too: her own friends. Who have all adopted me and Jupiter into their fold like we’ve been friends forever.
Again, they all went to St. Mary’s — they just graduated on time — and we all had the same classes over the years, so I’ve known them from afar. But it’s only recently, ever since summer school started and Poe became my and Jupiter’s friend, that we started to get closer. And when I told Poe of my plan, she gathered everyone to lend me all the support that I could want.