August 24th 2015

Chelsea sat in the chair at the window on the second floor of the school library and gazed out,through her reflection, at the teardrop shaped drive with a pen in her hand and an open writing journal on her lap. Her eyes traced the path her parents' car took around the loop and out towards the public road almost ten years earlier. A few changes had been made along the drive over the years. Recent additions filled the gaps between the buildings with an architectural mix of old stone and modern steel and glass.

Despite a few interior renovations around campus and a new building behind the main hall and academic wing, Chelsea's spot, the chair at the library window and its view of the teardrop shaped drive, remained the same. The book with the golden lettering and colourful forest scenery on its cover no longer followed her around campus but she still sat in her bed and ran her fingers over the embossed cover whenever memories of her parents occupied her thoughts.

She drew in her gaze until her eyes focused on her own reflection. Her auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail as per recommendations in the school's dress code. Her lightly freckled face was free of makeup; no eye shadow or eye liner accented her blue-green eyes. Braces that had closed a slight gap between her upper front teeth were removed over the summer break. Chelsea had the makings of a captivating, flawless smile but kept it hidden behind expressionless lips.

A commotion at a nearby table and an announcement on the PA system didn't register and snap her from the melancholy gaze. The voice of Trevor Leland, however, caught her attention within the first syllable. Her eyes followed him as he moved, along with his friends, past her, towards the exit. A brief look her way by David, one of his friends, was as close to eye contact with Trevor as she could hope.

She averted her gaze and pondered the image of him she had committed to memory. Athletic but not overly muscular, slender, five feet eleven inches, give or take a half inch or so, brown hair naturally styled, clean shaven, blue eyes. He walked with a confident but not an arrogant stride and didn't feel the need to instantly fix the small bunch of hair that would occasionally fall out of place over his forehead. For Chelsea, the finishing touch that made him perfect in her eyes was the ever-present smile that encompassed his entire being. He smiled when he spoke, when he ate, and even when he sat outside the headmaster's office for one of many "meetings." He always seemed to enjoy life, even when he was facing disciplinary measures for his latest breach of school policy.

Just as her gaze sank towards the floor, a teacher approached.

"Chelsea, you should get a move on, the assembly is about to start," the woman said.

Chelsea closed her writing journal then stood up and adjusted the kilt of her uniform as she followed a few other students towards the door. Most of the teenaged girls at the school would take advantage of the school's lax enforcement of the dress code, wearing their blouses with one extra button open and untucked, and hiking up their kilts if they hadn't already been shortened several inches at the hemline. Chelsea was an obvious exception, choosing to wear her uniform by the book even on casual days that allowed skirts and tight leggings, loose tops or tight fitted t-shirts.

Chelsea entered the auditorium and found a seat near the front on the left. She sat alone until other students filled the seats around her. Trevor and his group of friends were seated on the opposite side and near the back. A text message on Trevor's phone fueled the on-going chatter amongst the boys.

"Clay is wondering if we're going to the party this Friday night," Trevor said in a semi-hushed voice.

"Is Trinity going to be there?" David asked.

"You boys need to be quiet," a teacher interrupted as the school's headmaster stepped onto the stage.

Trevor handed his phone down the row with a text message answering the question at hand, 'Trinity and her friends will be there!'

"I'm in!" David said. "Where's Clay, isn't he supposed to be here?"

The headmaster removed the microphone from the podium at the right-hand side of the stage then moved towards the center. Silence filled the auditorium before he had even asked for everyone's attention.

"Hello!" the man said in a commanding but friendly voice. "In case you are new or have forgotten more than just math and science over the summer break, I am headmaster Chambers. I would like to welcome back all of our returning faculty and students and give a warm welcome to all of the new faces here at Well Stone."

The silence of the audience was broken for a moment by applause that faded gently to allow the speech to continue.

"I would like to start off with a big thank you to the returning senior students. Most of our newest students have only been on campus for a day now, maybe two. The seniors returned four days ago to get settled in, tour the campus to get familiar with the changes I will be talking about later on, and to help us bring the new students in. Over this first month, your senior student buddy will be available to help you find your way around and become familiar with Well Stone. If you need help with anything, feel free to contact your buddy or come and see someone in administration."

Chelsea sighed. She had been at the school longer than most other students and, once again, was not assigned to be a buddy to a new student. For the past three years she occupied the same single dorm room. While others complained about the buddy system and coveted a single room, Chelsea quietly wished for a change.

"This is an exciting time for us. A lot has changed over the last couple years. Anyone that has been here for two—" the man droned on.

Chelsea didn't hear most of anything in the headmaster's speech. Her mind was occupied by thoughts of a boy in the opposite corner of the theatre. She looked around, wondering where he was seated. Trevor was also ignoring the speech, occupied by another text message from a friend.

"—and, most of you will remember touring the beautiful new building behind to the main hall and academic building, with state-of-the-art labs and classrooms; home to the Bales Science and Technology wing. These new classrooms—"

Chelsea's attention was now on the headmaster, and she started to become self-conscious after hearing her family name drift through the air over the student body. She wondered if anyone noticed and would ask about her connection to the new section of the school. She hoped it went unnoticed. Maybe, even after living at the school for ten years, nobody knew her last name. Above all, she hoped the headmaster wouldn't point her out and expand on the naming of the wing. The only thing that could make such a thing worse would be if he called her up to the stage while speaking about it.

"—will be able to enjoy these facilities and exciting new courses. This new wing will realize a vision for this school that started even before I began teaching here, thirteen years ago."

Chelsea squirmed in her seat. Surely, he would have warned her if he intended on pointing her out in the audience while mentioning her parents in his speech. She wasn't embarrassed that her parents were being honored by naming the new wing of the school in their memory. When she learned of the new building a year before construction began, she wept with pride as she learned about this vision for the school's future and how it began with her mother and father. She was anything but embarrassed of what they had started. It was purely her feelings of inadequacy and social awkwardness that brought on the anxiety. And, this was about them, what they meant to this school, and what they contributed to it years earlier. Drawing attention to her, while trying to honour them would surely detract from the recognition they deserved.

The headmaster continued to describe exciting things in store for the school and students throughout the year. The air of excitement continued into his next bit of news.

"Now, the Christmas dance recital I mentioned earlier isn't the only thing happening in our newly renovated facilities this year. Well Stone Academy has the privilege of hosting a major technology convention and workshop this coming spring," The headmaster said. 

Students listened with no sign of excitement as the headmaster's speech rambled on about the convention and its participant. Most weren't overly interested in what it meant for the school and its programs and fidgeted in their seats. It's impact on their spring break, however, grabbed their attention immediately.

"Instead of taking our spring break near the end of April, students and staff will have a break from May seventh until May twenty second. That's two full weeks, three full weekends of spring break!" he said with a flare in his voice. "We will also have to change our policy regarding students remaining on premises during the break, as the dormitories will be used to house some of the convention participants. Notices have—"

Many students were delighted with the news of a two-week long break and paid little attention to the part that had them vacating their dorm-rooms. Chelsea didn't share in the excitement. She attempted to comfort herself with her own assurance that there would be an exception made for her. She was sure that, while others packed their things into some storage facility somewhere, she would stay put. After all, this was her home! Her only home. She had only ever been away from Well Stone for holidays like Easter and Christmas in the past, and Thanksgiving usually meant a couple nights at a faculty member's house. She had never been away from the school for much more than a week at a time. They had to make an exception for her!

The assembly continued for another forty-five minutes, but Chelsea's mind continued to churn over what, to her, had been an endless stream of bad news. As students made their way from the theatre she lingered and waited for the headmaster.

"The spring break, is that, ahhh, do I have to—" Chelsea struggled to formulate a coherent question.

"I'll have to talk to you about this some other time, but don't worry, we'll figure something out."

"So, that means I have to leave too?"

The headmaster replied with a nod.

*****

After collecting her class schedule Chelsea spent the remainder of the morning in the library, alone. She was lost in thought and left the library for the cafeteria a little later than planned. To avoid long lines for warm meals and short order items, she grabbed a ready-made sandwich and a glass of milk to speed. Aiding in her quick passage through to her table of choice was the special status she shared with only one other student, the Faculty Family Plan. She didn't carry a standard student meal card and never had to wait in the line at the cashier.

"Thank you, faculty plan," she said as she made her way through the sea of tables.

Three tables in the far corner of the cafeteria were still empty. The one in the corner was Trevor's usual spot where he and his friends had sat every day the year before. The table next to it was where Piper Evans and Emily Pierce used to sit with six of Trevor's adoring fans. Chelsea took her usual spot at the next table, a four-seater butted up against a pillar. Stacy, whose hair colour changed periodically to match that of which ever girl seemed most popular at the time, arrived soon afterwards and sat next to her. With Stacy were two friends Chelsea referred to as 'friends by proxy'; the friends she gained only through association with Stacy.

"Did you hear? Piper broke it off with Tim, that college guy she was dating," Stacy said as she took her seat.

"You know what I heard?" one of the girls started. "She wasn't even dating anyone, she just said that she had a college guy—"

"No, Tim was real," Stacy interrupted.

Trevor and his friends arrived at their table and dove into food and conversation. Just moments earlier, the table between him and Chelsea had been filled to capacity with its usual group. Emily sat closest to Trevor's table and repeatedly turned in her chair to chat with the boys to get details about the house party that weekend and arranged a ride into town. Chelsea's view of Trevor was continually blocked, and the swirl of local conversation made it difficult for her to hear his voice from two tables over. She didn't involve herself in the discussion with Stacy and friends but sat quietly watching Trevor when opportunity allowed.

From her observations and what she overheard at the lunch table she concluded two things. First, everyone else at the three tables, including Stacy, were planning to attend the party in town on Friday, so she would be spending her evening alone in the library. Second, Stacy would trade last year's straight bleach blonde Piper Evans look for Emily's mousey brown wavy style before the end of the week.