I stared at the photo for a long time before putting it down. A shiver ran down my back blowing tendrils of my long black hair across my face as the breeze blew in from my window. The people in the picture seemed familiar, yet very unfamiliar at the same time. My mother died when I was only ten, and left me with my father. Then one day he just disappeared, and I was alone in the world. My father was the kindest person I knew, but I just couldn't understand why he would abandon me just like that. Although I've lived with a distant relative of mine for the past six years, I never got the feeling of a real family. Richard Maximilian Kingsley Percival Kline III, or "Max" for short was my grandparent's nephew's brother's sister's son, he was incredibly rich and owned many companies across Europe. He was an aging man with thinning gray hair, his ice blue eyes cold and hard. Coming from a middle-class family, Max always glares at me with disdain whenever I get into his line of vision. He used to live alone in his huge forty-two room mansion with an indoor and outdoor pool that he rarely used. Wiith his cold personality, it's no surprise he has no one for company. No one, that is until I moved in. I put the picture down and tried to get some sleep, it was one in the morning after all.
I woke up in the next morning with eyelids drooping over my brown eyes. I got up, out of bed still half-asleep and forced myself to get ready and go to chool. The uniform that the academy issued was made out of the most uncomfortable kind of scratchy ugly blue wool. The skirt was a hideous plaid, paired with the blue shirt, outsiders are bound to think we were from the circus. I'm still surprised my body hasn't broken out in some kind of rash. I absentmindely carried myself down the four flight of stairs to the breakfast table. As I was sitting in the car staring out of the window, my best friend Scarlette tapped on the window knocking me out of my daydreams. "Tap, tap, tap." I smiled and got out of the car and we walked onto the posh academy grounds.
My mind drifted off again as soon as I sat down in class.
"Ms. Taylor! What do you think your doing? Please pay attention in class!" barked the teacher Mr. Krass.
"I-I-I'm s-sorry Mr. Krass, I won't do it again..." I muttered.
"It better not." Mr. Krass said with a frown on his face
Scarlette stared across the room at me with a look of sympathy. She was the only person I trusted. I gave her the nickname Scarlette because of her fierce personality and her bright red hair. She wasn't afraid of what people thought of her and did things her own way, she too had lost her parents and lived with her aunt. Scarlette got into Foreman Academy not from money, but from a scholarship she recieved when she got an award in her previous school. Not only was she generous and nice, she was also extremely smart!
Finally the class ended and Scarlette came running towards me.
"So, any news about your dad?" She asked.
"Nope, nothing yet." I muttered as I sighed in frustration.
I knew my dad was still somewhere in this world because Max accidently told me to go live with him rather than stay here. He quickly covered his mouth and tried to cover up what he said. However I caught on immediately and demanded him to tell me where my father was. Max kept saying "I don't know," but I knew that I wouldn't give up and keep searching. I tried typing his name on the internet but at least half a million "Ash Taylor's" came up. I kept asking Max where he was but Max just wouldn't say anything.
