ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ M A S T E R P I E C E
➥ chapter ONE
| a pot of marigolds  |
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JAYMES HAD SPENT EVERY NIGHT for the past six months waking up feeling as though she had spent the whole night running.

She tossed and turned for more hours than she slept, the nightmares that plagued her, keeping her up. In her dreams, her father would be screaming at her, replaying the life-altering events of April seventh. Then, she would always tell him to stop, calmly, a direct mirroring of her words that night.

When he just kept screaming, refusing to listen to his young daughter's pleas to stop, Jaymes had felt a switch flip. An animalistic cry had burst from her chest, and she crumpled to her knees, her distress too strong to hide any longer.

This happened often to Jaymes, her emotions repeatedly got the best of her, overwhelming her with feelings until she lost her composure and freaked out.

But that night was different.

When she had hit the floor, covering her ears as not to hear her father's vicious words, every single window in the hallway where the fight was taking place, shattered. Glass exploded everywhere, the wave of sharp pieces coating the walls and the ground, along with slicing into Jaymes and her father as it fell.

And every night, the same scene repeated.

Sweat would be pouring from her when she woke up from these horrors, her chest heaving as if she had been screaming outside her mind.

Her father had passed away only a week after this fight, his high blood pressure from his anger causing him to have a heartattack.

Jaymes tried not to blame herself, but it was impossible. After all, the argument had started because she had been discarding her grades, putting too much of her time into her photography, which her father frequently told her would get her nowhere in life.

His wife, Jaymes' poor, overwhelmed mother, Linda, had dragged her daughter to multiple therapy sessions since then, begging for answers as to why her daughter kept having nightmares, and why she had been able to break the windows with merely her emotions and her mind.

Every single doctor and counselor that they saw always gave them the same look of wariness and pity before they sent them away. Some of them even looked scared.

So, Jaymes got no answers along with no sleep, suffering in silence as she tried to readjust to her newfound abilities.

She discovered that she could do more than just break windows. She could lift and move things, just by looking at them and willing them to be closer to her. She first figured this out when she had been cozy in bed and hadn't wanted to get up to get her popcorn from across the room.

Jaymes had always thought that telekinesis and other similar powers such were a myth. She had been taught that they were fiction, something that you read about in superhero comics or watched in a cinema. But now,
she was faced with the very powers that were supposed to be impossible, trying learn how to live with them all on her own.

After a few months of doing her own research, Linda Bishop stumbled upon what she thought would be the perfect fit for her struggling daughter.

Nevermore Academy; a school for outcasts.

Jaymes could see the metel sign coming into view as her mother's small, white sedan made its way down the road, getting closer and closer to the place that she had already decided would be like a prison for her.

She didn't want to 'hone her abilities' or 'find others like her', like the advertisements that her mother forced her to watch had hammered into her brain. She just wanted to be normal again, go back to regular highschool with her friends, and become a wildlife photographer like she had dreamed of since she was a little girl with her first disposable camera taking pictures of butterflies in the garden.

As soon as the car was parked, Jaymes opened the door, stepping out into the comfortable September air. Immediately she was approached by a lively woman, who seemed much too eager to meet her.

"You must be Jaymes." The shorter lady held out her hand, her eyes twinkling from behind her large glasses. She was also holding a small pot of deep-yellow flowers between her hands. "I'm Ms. Thornhill, I was sent to greet you and show you to the office to collect your things."

Jaymes shook the odd lady's hand with a polite smile. "Nice to meet you."

"You as well." Ms. Thornhill moved to give Jaymes' mother a handshake as well. "Linda, it's so nice to finally see you in person. Emails are a blessing, but I've always preferred an old fashioned face-to-face conversation."

"I feel the same way." Linda gushed. "Thank you for accepting Jaymes so quickly, I know that it must be hard to get a new student in the middle of the semester."

Ms. Thornhill waved her off, starting to lead the two into the building. "It's not a problem. It sounded like Jaymes needed some help and that's what we're all about, here at Nevermore."

All three ladies went up a flight of stairs before stopping in front of the headmistress's office. "You can go on in there and talk with Larissa, she's been expecting you." Ms. Thornhill said.

Jaymes' and her mother went to step inside, but they were stopped by their eccentric tour guide. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

Turning back around, Jaymes found Ms. Thornhill holding the pot of flowers that she had been carrying around out to her.

"They're marigolds." She explained as Jaymes took the clay pot into her own hands. "They represent self discovery and inner power. I thought that you'd resonate with them."

"Oh, thanks." Jaymes bent down to sniff the yellow flowers, smiling from the sweet scent.

"Of course. Now, don't let me hold you up anymore, go on inside." Ms. Thornhill spun on her bright red heel and walked off, leaving Jaymes and her mother to go into the office.

The meeting with Principal Larissa Weems went smoothly, and as expected. She went over the school's rules and curfew, along with giving Jaymes her class schedule and dorm key,

Right before she sent Jaymes up to her dorm room so she could unpack her many suitcases, Principal Weems had one final question. "I've been told that you have an interest in photography, is this true?"

Jaymes nodded, confused about how she would know about her favorite hobby. "Yeah, I, uh, I love it, actually."

"Don't worry, nobody is stalking you." Larissa chuckled at the teenage girls' concerned expression. "Your mother and Marilyn have exchanged many emails to get everything set up for you to come here, and you were the main subject of most of them."

Jaymes shot a side-eye glare towards her mother, wishing that she would keep some things to herself sometimes.

"Anyway," Weems went on, scribbling something down on a paper. "I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in taking photos for our student-run newsletter?"

Leaning forward in her seat, Jaymes was officially intrigued. "Wait, there's a school paper?"

"Yes, one of our students started it a few weeks ago." Larissa nodded. "Enid Sinclair. She said she wanted to expand from her blog, and I didn't see any harm in it."

"I'd love to." Jaymes grinned, a newfound excitement bubbling up into her chest. "Take pictures, that is."

Principal Weems smiled at her. "Alright. I'll tell Enid to talk to you sometime soon so you girls can start working together."

"Okay, thank you." Jaymes felt her mother's eyes burning holes into the side of her head, and she already knew that the woman was overjoyed that she seemed more interested in the school now.

"Of course." Principal Weems handed over the last of Jaymes' papers. "You should get to unpacking, I think it might take you a while." She eyed Jaymes' multiple bulging suitcases warily.

"Right." Jaymes stood from her seat. "Thank you again, Principal Weems."

"I hope you settle in quickly, and grow to love this school as much as I do." After one last exchanged polite smile, Jaymes and her mother left the office, stepping back out into the hallway.

When Jaymes turned to look at her mother, she saw that she had tears already pooling in her eyes. "Mom." She groaned.

"I'm just going to miss you, my angel." Her mom threw her arms around her daughter, squeezing her so tightly that Jaymes thought for a second that one of her ribs was surely going to crack.

"I'll miss you too, Mom." Jaymes set her hands on her mother's back lightly, embarrassed of the big public display as students walked all around the two.

"Mom." Jaymes snapped. "Mom, can you please let go, you're embarrassing me. Not to mention you're crushing my organs."

With this, her mother let her go, stepping back but keeping her hands on her daughter's arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she laughed softly, a tear excaping. "I'm leaving now. But I'm going to call you every Sunday night, seven o'clock sharp."

"Alright." Jaymes laughed as her mom crept away from her, walking backwards so that she could keep her eyes on her for longer.

"Bye, angel."

"Bye Mom."

Finally, her mom turned and descended the staircase, leaving Jaymes officially all alone in the strange, unfamiliar school.

•••

HIII!!

sorry for taking so long to update, i got a sinus infection and have only been able to lay in my bed like a dead body for the past few days 💀

also sorry for the fact that this chapter was a tiny bit boring. not a lot happened, and jaymes didn't really meet any important characters yet, but i really wanted to set up her backstory and her mindset in this one, and i promise that next chapter is much more interesting. i've already written it, so i know 🤪

& THIS BOOK'S TROPE IS SLOWBURN FRIENDS TO LOVERS but it's not TOO slowburn and she is meeting xavier in the next chapter!!!!!!

i'm pretty happy with how their first meeting and conversation went, and i can't wait for you guys to read it. i have to edit it and then i'll probably publish it sometime later this week.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! and thanks for all the support on all my books and my profile lately, it means alot!!

follow me to be notified when i update, and vote and comment on this chapter if you'd like, both are much appreciated.

i hope everyone is having a good day!! love you!!

~ catie