Enchanted ways

Chapter 1 - The Rose

Chapter 1 - The Rose

I was standing in the living room when my mother asked for the third time, “Well honey, what is it going to be? Harvard or Community College?” I looked up from the letter that had come about a month after the acceptance letter to Harvard.

I said “I’m not sure yet.” I handed her the letter I had stared at for the past 5 minutes without comprehending what it said. I had only seen the first six words,

“We are pleased to inform you.”

The sentence that could give me either a partial, or a full ride to Harvard. She read the letter three times before she looked up at me and smiled. “You did it honey! A full ride, you’re going to Harvard.”

This memory was the only thing that kept me going. I was 17 back then, having started school a year earlier than my classmates did. I was therefore younger than the rest of the students at Harvard. It had never bothered me being the youngest in my class, but it was the extra activities I had been forced to undertake after I turned eighteen.

The night before I turned eighteen, I had been invited to dinner by the people I had received my scholarship from, Charles Heartworth Armstad and his mother Megan Heartworth Armstad. It was a black tie event and I was nervous. Would the other recipients of the Heartworth scholarship be smarter and better than me? Would they change their minds and take away their money? All of these thoughts ran through my head as I looked in the mirror above my dresser. I had long black hair, all the way down to my waist. I had bright blue eyes. I was about 5 foot 2 inches and slim. I walked out of my dorm and walked around the corner and headed to the spot where I had parked my piece of crap Ford. I didn’t notice the limousine that was parked along the edge of the lot just a few feet from me until a man’s voice spoke to me.  “Sandra Davis?” the man asked.

I stared because I hadn’t noticed him at all. He had been leaning against the limo. “Yes?” I said and swallowed back a scream.

“My name is John and I will be your driver for the evening.” He said and walked a couple of feet backwards and opened the door of the backseat.

“Sorry.” I said and took one tentative step forward. John was a short black man with a friendly smile. His eyes were dark brown and his hair was short and curly.

“Mr. Armstad thought you might need a ride, I have a letter for you here.” He said and put his hand in his pocket. When he removed it, he had a small white envelope in his hand. I walked over, took the letter, and started to read it.

Dear Miss Davis,

My driver John is here to drive you to our house, because it is very remote and hard to find. Do not be alarmed and enjoy the VIP treatment.

Charles Heartworth Armstad

When I finished reading the letter, I smiled at John and got into the limo. John had been nice. He had put out a bottle of Coca Cola and a big bowl of skittles. I don’t know how he had known about my sugar addiction. I had been always satisfied with Coca Cola and skittles. My mother had introduced me to skittles when I was five, she had given me a bag of them when after my teacher had suggested to move me up from kindergarten to the first grade. “There are glasses on the little shelf under the cooler.” John said interrupting my thoughts and pointed at the cupboard where the Cola was cooling in a low tub of ice.

I did not touch any of it. I hoped he wouldn’t take it the wrong way; I had some doubts about the reason for this meeting. Charles had a reputation around campus as a notorious playboy that invited his young female recipients to dinner and then threaten them to take away their scholarship if they didn’t sleep with him. It was just a rumour. No one could mention any names, and since no one in the administration knew anything about the Heartworth Armstad foundation because it was the first time they had any students with a Heartworth scholarship, I had taken it with a grain of salt until the day I had received the invitation.