Trinity High (Book 1 of the Trinity Series)

Chapter 3

Props to MickeyFoster for the wicked book cover!

I walked through the empty halls of Trinity High. As I made my way to my room, the echoes of the chatter from the Great Hall faded away. Soon, all I could hear was the crackling of the fire from the torches on the walls and my footsteps.

I pushed open the door to my room and pulled out my suitcase, which I hadn't unpacked yet. I didn't want to get situated; that would make it seem too permanent. And right now, that was what I was afraid of. Staying here, with no one by my side.

For the first time since my mother's death, I felt truly sad. I rummaged through my suitcase and pulled out the framed photograph of us. The picture was taken in Italy. I remembered the day well.

"Mum! Look here! At the camera! This would be a perfect shot!" I cried.

"Oh come off it! You've already taken so many! Let me take some of you, now!" she replied. Her skin was already sallow and limp. She had already begun to show symptoms. She was weak.

"You know how much I hate cameras," I muttered, handing it to her nonetheless.

"I want to capture this moment for myself," she replied. Then, putting her arm around me, she snapped a picture of the two of us, standing in the Mediterranean Sea, our arms around each other, our eyes blinking in the sunlight.

I gazed at the picture, feeling my eyes dampen with tears. I ran my finger over her face, which was smiling up at the camera. In that perfect moment, that moment that that camera somehow caught, she was happy and looked alive. It may have very well been the last of those moments, though. Because soon after, she was gone.

I felt a great pain where my heart was and tucked the frame back into the suitcase. I rolled up in my bed, pulling the covers over me to shield myself from the world so that it wouldn't be able to see me in my weakness.

"I miss you, Mum. I need you here," I whispered to myself before completely breaking down.

                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~

"Get up, would you?! Class starts in ten minutes!" I heard someone shouting. I felt the thump of a pillow over my head before I sat up groggily. I had a headache from crying the night before and my eyes hurt because I had slept with my contacts in. I let out a groan and swung my feet over the edge of the bed.

"You're going to be late!" Abbey said. She was dressed and groomed and already at the door.

"You don't need to wait for me..." I mumbled, dragging out my suitcase and rummaging around for some clothes to wear.

"Oh, I'm not. I had to wake you up. That way, when you're late, at least I can say I did something to try to prevent it from happening," she said. I rolled my eyes. What a suck-up.

"I actually need to talk to you about something," she said. I frowned, rubbing my temples. Whatever it was, I didn't want to hear it.

"What?" I asked, my voice dripping with annoyance.

"Maybe it's because you're new to Trinity and don't know how things work," she began. She looked at me, a challenging expression on her face. "But this is how things are over here. The two most attractive and popular people in the school always go out. And in this case, it's me and Trey," she explained, her tone full of jealous venom. "So back off," she added with a hiss.