The Life and Lies of Elyse Roche

Two

I wake up to the morning light and my screaming alarm clock. It screams and shrieks while dancing on my bedside table. It looks just like the ones in the movies. 

"Turn that off, will you?" Elyse asks me. I half heartedly try to turn it off by slapping the top of the clock but it keeps hollering. In the end, I pick it up and throw it across the room. The alarm clock hits one of the posters on the wall and falls to the floor with it.  

"Problem solved." I tell my roomate and go back to sleeping. 

"Thank you," Elyse shoves her head under her pillow and goes out like a light. But not before her alarm goes off. Hers has a more musical and pleasant tone to it, compared to mine. "Ugh, I hate these mornings."

"Come on, it's a Wednesday. How bad can it be?" I ask her, getting out of the maroon bed. 

"Wednesdays are in the middle of the week." She groans, flopping over and putting a hand on her head. 

"And Wednesday means-" I start horrified. 

"Test day!" Elyse screams and finishes my sentence. We both scramble out and sprint into the bathroom. I brush my teeth while she does my hair and then we switch. Then we both take two minute cold showers before slipping into our uniforms. 

"I hate these uniforms!" I complain and adjust my skirt. All girls have to wear a white blouse and the same maroon and plum plad skirts. A tan cardigan is optional and so are stockings. The only control we have over the dress code is our shoes. Some girls prefer heels, other sneakers or flats. 

"I know right." Elyse says. "At least we don't have the ties like the boys."

"But it's so based on gender. I mean, why can't girls wear pants or anything but skirts?"

"Come back one day, once we've graduated. And sue this place." Elyse advises me. We both grab our bags and run out into the stream of girls. There are two buildings on either side of Clearwater Prep, one for girls and the other for boys. The girls building is called The Inferno (hell), and the boys building is called Haven (heaven). I think they should switch the names. 

At the last minute, Elyse and I burst into the mess hall and sit down at a table for three in the corner. "We barely made it." I sigh. 

"Time to study." Elyse pulls out flashcards from her bag and we start quizzing each other in our weakest subjects. Mine being French and hers being math in general. "What's this? Bonjour, comment-allez vous, Je m'appelle Elyse Roche et j'ai seize ans?"

"Uh," I start racking my brain. "Hello-"

"Wrong, good morning." French had always been Elyse's favorite and easiest subject since she's French. I only joined because you took a seven day trip to France in junior year and the food we sometimes try in class is amazing.

"Okay then. Good morning... um, how's your day going?"

"No," Elyse slaps her forehead while munching on a blueberry muffin. "Good morning, how are you?"

"That's what I said."

"Whatever, continue."

"Good morning, how are you? My name is Elyse Roche and I'm sixteen years old."

"Yes!" Elyse cheers. "That was the only the first one though. You have nine more sentences to mermorize."

"What's the next one?"

One Hour Later

"Bonjour comment-allez vous? Je m'appelle Amelia Crawford et j'ai seize ans. Je vais a Clearwater Prep in Caroline du Nord, auz Etats-Unis. Je suis en dixieme annee. Je n'ai pas de freres at soeurs et pas de gateau. J'adore manger des animaux." I say in one big breath. I stand at the front of the French classroom. Madame Marie de la Brian stands next to me, holding her breath. The rest of the class sits and stares at me trip over my words and trying to not laugh. 

"You may sit down, Mlle Crawford." Madame de la Brain tells me. I feel my face turn a shade of beet red as I walk down the rows of desks to my seat. "Monsieur Davies," The boy sitting in the desk in front of me gets up and starts giving the speaking part of his test. 

"How did I do?" I ask Mildred, the girl who sits diagonal to me. Her dark brown hair is pulled back neatly with a pearl barrette. 

"You said you have no cake and love to eat pets." She gives me a tight smile. 

"Shit! I mixed them up again!" I curse. 

"It's okay. She'll probably give you a ninety." Mildred comforts me and turns her attention back to Madame de la Brian. 

"Perfect Monsieur Davies," The teacher purrs. "Tu peux t'asseoir." The boy nods and complies. I growl and clench my teeth because now I can't see anything because of his head of fluffy blond hair. 

"Do you mind moving, Chase?" I almost forgot his name. He just stares at me with a stupid look on his face. He looks just as stupid as the question I asked him. "I mean, could you move your head a teeny bit to the right so I can focus a bit more?" 

He has eyes the color of chocolate, I notice. 

His hair is the color of honey.

He has muscles on his arms, and I think I can see a full on six pack.

 I don't know why I'm noticing this. 

"Sure, I guess." He says in a low voice and turns back around quickly. I sigh internally and start doodling in my French notebook. 

I draw the word 'love', but the 'o' is in the shape of a broken heart. I draw a smiley face next to it. I look up at the person currently speaking, Manny Ferdinand, and my hand continues to draw a person's face. Poor soul, he studied less than I did and he'll probably get at most a seventy on his speaking test. I go back to drawing. 

"What the hell?" I whisper, looking at my paper. I've drawn a face all right, but it's not a face I imagined I would draw. 

It's the face of Chase Davies. 

The school's most popular, baddie, smart guy. 

I rip out the page loudly and crumple it up. Also loudly. Mildred stares at me and so do the other people surrounding me. I shove the wrinkled ball into my bag and stare straight, not looking at anybody. I can tell that my cheeks are heating up. 

"Madame de la Brian?" I raise my hand and ask loudly. 

Exasperated, the teacher uses English to answer me. "What now, Miss Amelia Crawford?"

"May I- May I go to the bathroom?" I falter and slowly grab the paper ball out of my bag.

"Yes, but be quick." She snaps. I ran out into the hallway and down the stairs. I pass two seniors making out casually as they kiss their way into a janitor's closet. 

I find the calculus room and peer through the little window on the door. Sure enough, Elyse is sitting in the desk in the corner of the room, closest to it. I knock twice three times quietly. Elyse looks up at me. 

"Come with me!" I whisper and motion for her to get out. She nods and raises her hand to ask the teacher something, but he doesn't notice her. "Elyse!" Finally, she comes out. 

"What?" Elyse hisses. "I'm missing class time for your nonsense. This better be worth it."

"I have to show you something!" We hurry into the nearest girls bathroom. I sit on the counter between two silver sinks and smooth the paper out. 

"What's this?" Elyse looks at the word with the broken heart. 

"Not that!" I gesture wildly at the face in the corner. 

"Holy crap! I didn't know you were that good of an artist!"

"No! Not that!" My eyes stare at Elyse and the face of Chase Davies. And back and forth and back and forth. 

"What the hell?" She gapes at it. "Why are you drawing Chase-"

"Shh!" A girl, probably a freshman, comes out of one of the stalls and gives us the side eye. "Nothing to see here, just keep walking." I tell her and smile. 

"Why are you drawing Chase Davies in French?" Elyse asks me, horrified and confused. 

"Elyse," I say slowly. I don't believe the words that come out of my mouth next. "I think I'm falling in love."