The Lost Girl

Chapter 1

Miss. Gretchen's Home for Girls

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"Wake up girls! Up, up, up!" Miss. Gretchen barges into our room at 6:30 in the morning. She owns Miss Gretchen's Home for Girls, my "home."

I hear everyone groan, and in my head I see the girls getting up out of bed and starting their morning routine. I keep my eyes closed. I think I'll rot here then go through another day with no family, just people telling me what I already know. I'm living in the best place for an orphan like me. I know. I'm well read. I'm a lot better off than Cinderella was.

Sara, the only girl who sincerely likes me, gives me a mock salute and an exasperated smile as she leaves the room. I think Sara and I get along because we don't exactly fit in with the other girls. Sara is better at pretending to be naturally girly girlish than I am though. The other girls are even faker then Sara is. She is a little younger than me, but it doesn't stop us from getting along. We read fairytales together at night before bed. It's one of the only highlights of my day.

"Annabelle, please get up," Miss. Gretchen says, exasperated. I do this basically every early morning. So every day except for weekends.

"Alright I'm going," I yawn, getting out of bed slowly.

I try to sneak out my leggings and sweatshirt, but Miss. Gretchen catches me and gives me a look. I instead pull out a green lace dress which is one of the better (more comfortable) dresses I own. I slip it on and zip it up grimacing. I walk sleeply to the bathroom. I brush my teeth and pull my hair into a fancy updo I wouldn't have bothered to learn unless I lived here.

I head down to breakfast and check my schedule for today. Breakfast, posture, history, English, lunch, knitting, free time, ballet, other activity, dinner, and bedtime. Normal day. I sigh. The only things I ever look forward to is my other activity and bedtime. My other activity is dance; either tap, contemporary, or musical theatre. I take classes at a local dance school, where no one except for the owner of the school knows I'm an orphan. That's pretty great because no one can judge me if they don't know I'm an orphan. Today I have contemporary.

I look forward to bedtime because it's when Sara and I read our stories. We love fairytales and we always talk about going on adventures together, but never when we're around Miss. Gretchen or the other girls. They don't seem to like that sort of thing at all. We're all allowed 15 minutes before bed to read, so that's what we do. I always ask Sara for Peter Pan because I've always wanted to be a Lost Boy, even though I know it's ridiculous to think a girl could be a Lost Boy. We decided a few years ago that we would alternate weeks picking stories.

My day goes by slowly as I wait for contemporary class to come. Ballet finally comes to an end and we all rush to Miss. Gretchen's car to get to our other activities.

"Alright! First stop: Laura's Lovely Ladies!" Miss. Gretchen announces and half the girls cheer. I roll my eyes. Laura's Lovely Ladies is basically a beauty school. You get lessons on how to do your hair, nails, makeup, and on fashion. Things that I'll never care about. Almost half the girls go here. We arrive and we wave at them as they jog inside.

"Next stop: UTA Cheerleaders!" Miss. Gretchen tells us and the rest of the girls do their chant. I share a look with Sara. We have a bit of a hatred for this place because it gives our dance school the most competition. In another life, I might have gotten off at that stop doing that chant. I shiver even thinking about it.

The girls wave at us as they run into the building. Now it's just me, Sara, and Miss. Gretchen left.

"Off we go to Spotlight Dancers!" Miss. Gretchen glances back at the two of us and we smile at her.

We arrive at the one floor building. It isn't much, but it's cozy and nothing could be better. Sara and I head to the bathrooms to change.

"What do you have today Anna?" Sara asks me from her spot at the mirror.

"Contemporary," I respond, "What about you?" I wince as a bobby pin comes out of my hair.

"I have jazz today, but, I've been wanting to ask you this..." Sara trails off, looking at me for approval. I pick up my brush and nod my head, gesturing for her to go on.

"Well, when I see you after class, improvising to a song, you have a look on your face that's like, well, I don't know. That's what I wanted to know. What do you feel when you're improvising?" Sara finally gets out.

I open my mouth, and close it again because I don't know what to say. I put down my brush to think for a moment, and then I say, "Well, I let the music affect what I feel... and then I let my emotions and the music move me, and take control of my body. You'd understand better if you could feel it yourself. It's not exactly something I can explain in words," I finish thoughtfully and begin to brush my hair out again.

"Okay Anna, maybe I'll try it one day," Sara says softly with a peaceful little smile as she walks out of the bathroom.

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So this is my first newly edited chapter! Please comment, vote, and tell your friends if you liked it! I don't know how frequent or often I'll be publishing, but I'll try my best to get edits done quickly. Thanks for giving it a read!
-Rachel