Chapter 1

A Chapter by estellenorean

Shock crossed me; everyone else was frozen. Only when Vira shook me, was when I was finally able to process what happened. I pointed to myself and said with disbelief, “I’m the scholarship grantee?!!”

Chapter 1

In front of me was a tall structure I’ve never seen before in my entire life. A gigantic and metallic gate, a wide lawn, a huge fountain, a beautiful garden, a well landscaped view, a wide garage filled with a few of the latest and most expensive cars, and a 3-story building expanding over a lot of land. I’m sure many of you would’ve wanted this, a huge mansion all to yourselves. But even for a moment, I couldn’t jump for joy when I found out that all this was supposed to be mine. It came to my mind; I use to live in a small house that was only 1/16 of this place. A week ago, I was a girl who ONLY believed that she got an international scholarship to an elite school. That was true but it isn’t easy for me to accept that the life I’ve been living isn’t the one I was supposed to be living.

I was raised in a small but capable family in Atlanta, Georgia. I lived and studied there for the past 17 years of my life. My father was a lawyer, my mother was an employee in the supermarket and I had a younger sister who went to the same school as I did. It isn’t everyday that you get an unexpected scholarship coming from another part of the world and that a bunch of black guys picked you up and took you to a place where you’ve never been before. And that place was where I was now. I was told that I AM the daughter of the owner of one of the top hotel chains all over the world. And I couldn’t just accept that. How can a girl like me come to be someone like this at all? Let’s take it back from when my life still made some sense.

Today was 4^th week of summer and I was up and early to await the school’s first ever scholarship program. This was the first one to ever happen. Our school seemed to be luckily chosen as the recipient to some funds. My watch read 7 am. I was in no hurry to get to school anyway. I went downstairs to see my mom cooking breakfast. Dad was also sitting by the table.

“Morning Mom! Morning Dad!” I greeted them. I sat down and mom gave me a plate of bacon, eggs and toast.

“So, dad, are you really going to my school later?” I asked him. My dad is a lawyer. He spends most of his time in the office. But today he’s going to spend his entire time in my school.

“Yes. You’d be lucky if you got a scholarship too, Hailey,” he pointed his toast at me. He was always troubled by my funds.

“I’ll try my best dad,” I continued eating. My mom cooked another batch and prepared some for my sister. My mother is a simple woman. She works at the supermarket nearby. My sister is a freshman. She goes to the same school as I do. And she’s not even up right now.

“At what time are we leaving?” I asked him.

He looked at his watch. “In about a few minutes. You better change already. We don’t want to be late.”

I went back up again. I took a quick bath and had changed in a few casual clothes. I got my favorite necklace engraved with my name on it. It glittered. I didn’t know why but I looked at it more closely. There was a small switch at the back. I clicked it. My pedant snapped open. “Hailey! Hurry up!” My dad broke me from my train of thoughts. I didn’t even get to see what was in my pendant. I ran downstairs. I waved my mom goodbye and went with my dad outside towards the car. I went in and he drove towards school. It wasn’t that long of a ride but it took a long time.

“So, um, dad, exactly what are the scholarships available? And since you’re managing it, who are the students?”

“For the Scholarships, I don’t plan to tell you. But for the students, the school will be choosing them,” he answered me.

“Who’s the sponsor of these scholarships?”

“Some are from the government, and other from small businesses here, but the major scholarship is sponsored by Evanson Companies,” he drove into the schools parking lot. He found a space and parked his car. The Parking lot was filled with students, some being dropped off and some merely driving themselves here. Dad and I got out of the car then.

I spotted a few friends who were waving at me. Dad insisted I go with them instead. He waved me to go to them. He turned around and approached the nearest teacher around.

“Hailey!!!” my friend Vira hugged me. She was with Matthew, James and Kathryn. Vira lives in my street. We were always classmates when we were little and we were really close friends. We used to play frequently with each other. She would wear pigtails on her light brown hair, but now she wears them down. Matthew was also one of my childhood friends, though we don’t play as frequently compared to the way Vira and I did. Matthew is a really good volleyball player. He’s even made it to the school’s team. James is Matthew’s friend and Vira’s boyfriend. He’s also in the school’s volleyball team. Kathryn however, is a friend but not a close one. She used to make Vira cry but how they got along with each other is a complete mystery. And her attitude isn’t very good as well. Aside from that, she is also currently the top student in this school and I am sure she is willing to get her hands on that major scholarship.

“Hi guys,” I smiled at them. Matthew gave me a high-5. Then he moved his head towards the school building and said, “Let’s go,”

The school, just like any other school day was filled with students. Most of them seemed excited. All high school years levels were here though I can’t say that all students are here. Others stayed in the hallways and others like us were already heading to the school gym to look for seats and make sure we actually have some later.

Fortunately we found some. We sat down and waited. I saw dad talking with the teachers but somehow he wore such a worried expression. He scratched his head. Dad, what’s wrong?

“Hailey, I was wondering, what are the available scholarships?” Vira asked. All ears turned to me then.

I moved my hands to tell them no. “Sorry, my dad won’t tell me. Even parents keep secrets from children. Hehe,”

“Awwww, I sure wanted to find out. There could be something exciting there. But have you seen those cars outside?” Vira sat back.

I tilted my head. So did the two boys. We showed puzzled expressions. Kathryn rolled her eyes and pointed towards the windows. “Those cars,” We looked outside. Honestly I didn’t see these cars at all. They were limousines. And no doubt rich kids ride in those kinds of cars. But I don’t recall any students in this school who can possibly afford such a ride. It seemed suspicious though, why were they here?

“Girls have such great eyesight; they sure notice something good when they see it,” James commented. Matthew laughed. And the two girls glared at them. I just shrugged it off. As we waited in our seats more students flocked in. Since the seats were only limited others had to sit on the bleachers or stand the whole time.

“Good Morning to everyone. We apologize for the inconvenience but please settle down for the program is about to start.” The announcement was made from behind the stage. The people in the gym were whispering to each other continuously. It was Mostly about the scholarships.

“Hello everyone. This is Principal Clark. I would like to welcome you all to the school’s first ever scholarship program. I’m sure all of you are excited and right now we will start with the announcements,” the principal stood at the podium and called in some people. They held envelopes and announce students’ names. There was a range of kinds of scholarships; there were sports, academics, lottery, and exchange student scholarships. Matthew and James both got sport scholarships. Sadly, Vira, Kathryn and I didn’t get anything. We were all fine, but as for Kathryn, she took it more than she should have. She totally crushed a water bottle with all her might.

Just as we were about to leave because we thought the program already ended, the speaker made another announcement. “Everyone please stay in your seats, the best part of the program is yet to happen. We would like to request everyone to stay.”

We sat down again. “What is this about? Hailey do you know anything about this?” Matthew eyed me.

“Wait, what?! Do you think I have anything to do with this? I’m only a student here. And beside didn’t I tell you my dad won’t tell me anything?” I punched his arm.

“Yeah, but I’m sure he told you a little information. It’s not as if he’s excited yet he won’t even say a word about it,” he thought.

I tried to recall things in my head. Dad did say some information. “He might’ve mentioned about a major scholarship. I think it was sponsored by a company. Wait, um, it was Evan-something. I forgot-“

James cut me off. “Is it Evanson Companies?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I said. “Why what about Evanson Companies?”

“Well, it’s one of the famous companies around the world. They mainly have hotels and let me say there are a lot of them and they’re high class too. Not only do they engage in hotel business but also in small industries. So if they sponsored this scholarship, it won’t just be in this school alone,”

“What do you mean by that?”

It was Kathryn who spoke up this time. “It won’t be such a small deal. This scholarship can get you to one of the richest schools in the world,” Her eyes sparkled and she smiled a dark smile. “This one I like,” The two boys’ hands met their faces. And I’m wondering even more. Why am I friends with her again? I’m not even like her.

“Well everyone, I’d like you to meet the students of Simone Clarenze University. We have Ms. Kylie Simone, Devon Kitsveere, and Charles Emerald.”

Three students showed up on the stage. The students from our school were amazed. Everyone started talking and chit-chatting about those three. The girls seemed to like those two boys. And the boys, now this is much worse, drooled over Ms. Kylie Simone.

Kylie Simone was the first to step on the stage. She wore her hair in a ponytail. Her dark auburn hair reached her waist. She was dazzling. She has a beautiful face and if described from a boy’s point of view, she was perfect. Her smiled dazzled us all. She didn’t even seem to be wearing any make up at all. The clothes she was wearing gave me the impression that that was their school uniform. A white buttoned shirt with a black jacket with their school’s seal on it. The skirt was above the knee and was plain black. The shoes however were boots; black, shiny and expensive looking boots.

The next to step on the stage was Devon Kitsveere. He has jet black hair and a handsome face. But he wore glasses. And that somehow increased his appeal to the ladies. The girls were swooning, even Vira and Kathryn. He also wore a black uniform. A black buttoned shirt and a white jacket with their school’s seal. And last black pants.

The last was Charles Emerald. He wore the same uniform as Devon. He had blonde hair and attracted more ladies than Devon. Even teachers drooled. Are rich people always like this?

“These students are representatives of their School and are given the honor to award the scholarship grantee her requirements. With a full scholarship and a certified apartment we hope this student will study hard. And we would just like to add that all these are guaranteed to be free of charge. That already includes the free plane ticket all the way to England,” The principal added with great pleasure. The crowd erupted in applause. They were getting excited now.

“James was right,” Matthew said. “If only we could get that scholarship. It’d be nice if I studied by Kylie’s side,”

“As if you can. I’m sure she wouldn’t even talk to you because of your status,” Kathryn rolled her eyes at him.

“You sound as if you’re much better than me. How confident are you? I doubt you’ll breathe the same air as she does,” Matthew shot back. At this Kathryn got so offended. She shut up for good. Matthew seemed to have felt better.

“And our lucky scholar is going to be in the junior year next year,” as the principal announced; the juniors cheered. “She is a student with good grades and is an honor student as well,” at the mention of ‘she’ boys groaned. I laughed. There goes their dream of Kylie.

“That student,” girls crossed their fingers. Kathryn prayed. Then the principal continued, “Is no other than… our very own Hailey Alla Summers!”

Shock crossed me. And everyone else was frozen. My eyes opened wide. Only when Vira shook me, was when I was finally able to process what happened. I pointed to myself and said with disbelief, “I’m the scholarship grantee???!!!”

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