Number One

Prologue

"Xaria! Xaria!" The shrill alarming screams of my name had me jolting off the bed of my room and making a bee line for the door.

"Xaria!" The voice screamed louder with more urgency. My heart palpitated thunderously in my chest as my mind conjured up gruesome possibilities to why my mother was screaming for me in such saturated panic.

"Xaria!"

My sock clad feet glided smoothly off the second descending step of the marble staircase, after the ear piercing cry of my mother rendered my body in a terrified panic. Letting out a squeal, my hands searched my surrounding for an object to support me in the millisecond I was falling.

I landed harshly on my bottom and my lower back cushioned into the square edge of the stairs. I fumbled to get up in my panicked hysteria, the glass banister useless as I have nothing to help me up from the ground. I tumbled slightly struggling to descend the stairs as quickly as possible with my hands in a vice grip on the rail of the stairs.

As I arrived at the bottom, I saw my mother. She was sitting, her knees pressed unto the pristine tiled floor in front of the entrance door. Her face was set in disbelief, eyes wide when she turned to look at me with her mouth slightly agape. Pure paranoia made my body still in dread, my throat became clogged with anxiety just upon looking at the state she was in. She raised her hand, it convulsed violently as she showed me what she held in them. I peered harshly at it, adjusting my glasses as I pushed it up the bridge of my nose. I walked closer to her outstretched hand.

A loud gasp escaped my mouth from the complete shock that circulated my body. I looked back at her.

"Oh, my god," I whispered before inhaling harshly. I dropped to my knees right beside her. If this was her reaction then surely...

With my own trembling hands, I grabbed the letter from her outstretched ones, mentally unable to decide whose hand was most steady. I peered down at the letter, the signet of green embroidered letters 'S' and 'E' printed in the most royal font I'd ever see in a crest, captured all of my attention once more. I looked back at her. She tilted her chin downwards, almost a minute nod, silently instructing me to read it.

I inhaled deeply as my line of sight landed on the first line of the letter, soaking up the information greedily; the letterhead of the school of my dreams. The logo alone making my stomach thrash in anticipation.

St. Elizabeth's Academy

Ubiques     Utiles     Fidelis

Ms. Xaria Arlington

Dear Ms. Arlington

I am delighted to inform you that the Committee of Admissions has admitted you to this years class under the St. Elizabeth's Elite Action Program for Scholars. Please accept my congratulations on behalf of St. Elizabeth's Academy, for your outstanding achievements and acceptance of your application to enroll in our program this year.

This program has garnered approximately three thousand student applicants for the one hundred places in the classes. Faced with many more talented and highly qualified candidates than it has room to admit, the Admissions Committee has taken great care to choose individuals who present extraordinary academic, extracurricular and personal strengths. In making each admission decision, the Committee keeps in mind that the excellence of St. Elizabeth's Academy depends most of all on the talent and promise of the people assembled here, particularly our students.

We were very impressed by the contents of your application, your academic history, your deportment in our interview and the accomplishments you have made thus far. We are pleased to be looking forward to welcoming you to St. Elizabeth's Academy this year. In voting to offer you admission, the Committee has demonstrated its firm belief that you can make important contributions during your years and beyond.

By April, you will receive an invitation to visit St. Elizabeth's Academy on Monday, May, 24th in order to facilitate your enrollment and admissions into the program.

You have until April 1 to respond to our offer. However, we are enclosing with this letter a reply card for your use in case you are unable to inform us of your decision before the April 1 reply date. A complete admission packet will be mailed to you in early April.

We very much hope that you will decide to attend St. Elizabeth's Academy, and we look forward to having you join us in September. We trust that the honor of your acceptance is met with according responsibility and dignity as well as your intentions to reach your full potential. We also hope that you find your St. Elizabeth's experience to be fulfilling, satisfying and everything you hoped it would be. Thank you for choosing to apply with St. Elizabeth's Academy for your continued educational experience.

Yours sincerely,

Alicia M. Soares 

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid

...

"I got in," I whispered to myself in disbelief, blinking to make sure what the letter said was real.

"I got in! I got in!" I shouted as I got up from the ground.

"I got in!" I shouted again as I gripped the letter harshly in my hand, afraid it would disappear from my grasp. My mother sat on the floor still in disbelief.

I would be attending St. Elizabeth's Academy and competing in the Elite Program. 

And I was determined as ever to be Number One.