Hogwarts. Yeah, right. She thought. A school of "witchcraft and wizardry"? Totally insane. What an embarrassing thing to ask my parents. How would I even ask? "Hey mum, hey dad, I just got a wonderful invite from a prestigious boarding school. Oh, by the way it's for witches and wizards." How dumb does that sound?
Scarlette held the sealed letter in her hand right. She knew very well she couldn't go. No way she could drop everything to go to some random magic school.
However, she couldn't help herself but entertain the idea of it. Scarlette desperately needed to get out of that house. Her parents obviously hated her and always have. Their faces were always fixed in the same disgusted way whenever they even so much as glanced in her general direction. She and her mum argued every night just after dinner. Then, her dad would come home after work drunk and angry. If he didn't immediately pass out, he took out his frustration on Scarlette. Most nights she cowered, but lately she was thinking of throwing some of her own punches. This was routine. It was just how things went. Scarlette was only able to keep a roof above her head by being smart. She was top of her class and aimed to stay that way. Her parents took a tiny bit of pride in that and her reward was food and board. She never really payed attention in class, mainly because she just never really needed to.
Finally, she worked up the courage to ask about this strange school, which was likely just a scam out of money somehow, and she approached her mother— letter in hand.
"Mum?"
Annoyed, she put down her phone and glared at her daughter. "What now?" She asked, as thought Scarlette had been pestering her all day.
"There's this school. A- A boarding school. It's very prestigious and due to my... academic skills, I've been lucky enough to be offered a spot." Scarlette replied cautiously, holding up the letter showing the fancy seal and praying that her mother wouldn't ask too many questions.
"How does it fare on college applications?" Her mother asked, having picked up her phone again and acting seemingly disinterested.
"Quite well, I'd say." Scarlette knew her chances were to be higher if something was in it for her mother, so she added, "Oh, and I'll only be home during summer."
Barely glancing from her phone, she replied, "Sure, whatever. Tell me when you leave."
Great, she could go to the freak school. There was still a problem, however. "This school is so... academically inclined that they don't believe in technology. So I... won't have a phone on me, by the way."
Her mother barely raised an eyebrow.
"And... I'll need a ride to the train station."

(Apologies for the short chapter length ‪‪❤︎‬)