School Beasts

prologue

     "Lana, hurry up and come get breakfast before I take you to your new school! This will be your last breakfast in this house until summer!" My dad shouted up the stairs at me.

     I opened my door and shouted back down to him "Im not ready yet, Pops! I'll be down in a bit!" I shut my door and went back to my mirror, first staring at my short curly mass of blue auburn and pink hair, moving to observe my oddly long elf-like ears,  wandering to my strange eyes, one a bright red with a scar which if i was normal would have most likely made me blind out of it and the other a purpleish color, and finally rested on the large, jagged X shaped scar in the middle of my face. I still remembered what had happened the last time i had dared to go to an actual school like my older brother, Ethan,  did. I had begged to go. What happened there left me wishing that I never would go to school again.. This time I was being sent to a school by my dad. I just wish I could stay home and nev-

    "LANA GET DOWN HERE AND EAT OR YOU'LL BE LATE!" I heard my dad holler,  shocking me out of my trance. 

     I quickly put in my eyebrow rings, which I had meant to do in the first place, and ran down the stairs, almost falling on my face. 

     "sorry sorry sorry!" I said plopping down into my seat across from my older brother, setting my bag down next to me,  and grabbed the box of cereal.

     "There's no time to make cereal, grab some toast and come on." My dad said, grabbing the box from me.

     "But this is my last breakfast sitting across from Ethan and his gross eating habits!" I fake pouted at my dad and Ethan scoffed at me.

     "Peanut butter and Pickle toast is the perfect breakfast food and you can't change my mind!" He shot back at me, running one of his hands through his stupidly blond hair and chomping a bite out of one of his peices of toast. 

     "I repeat: gross!" I shook my head at him, grabbing two normal peices of peanut butter toast from the plate on the table.

     "Pickled or non-pickled toast aside, just get in the car already Lana." My dad said, shaking his head at me and my brother's playful bickering.

     "I'm coming!" I said, rushing to the door.

     "Lana!"

     I turned back around to see Ethan holding my bag up, smirking. "You forgetting something?"

     "Oops!" I ran back over to him and went to grab my bag, only to have Ethan envelope me in a hug.

     "I'll miss you, brat."

     " I'll miss you, too, but can you let me go?  You smell like your gross pickles and peanut butter toast and its not pleasant."

     He chuckled softly and let me go almost reluctantly.

    I looked up at him and noticed that he was trying not to cry. His extreamly ordinary brown eyes were glazed over and he had a sad smile.

     "Oh no don't cry bubba! If you cry, I'll cry!" He hugged me again, wrapping me tightly in his arms.

    "If anyone ever tries to hurt you or upset you ot even if you just cant stand being there anymore or miss your family, you get on the first bus back, ya hear?" He said with a quiver in his voice, making my tears overflow.  "I'll welcome you home with open arms even if Pops is upset with you."

     "Okay Bubba. I love you so much and I'll miss you." I said as he let go of me. I wiped my eyes as I turned around and walked back to the front door, this time with my bag in hand.

     My dad had went to the car while me and Ethan had been hugging. I hopped into the passenger seat,  hoping he wouldn't be too mad at me for taking so long.

     He didn't say a word to me as he started driving, and soon enough the silence became practically unbearable.

     "What school am I even going to?" I asked him, suddenly.

     He immediately tossed a pamphlet at me and simply said "The one where you belong."

    I stared down at the pamphlet and felt all hope that he might actually care about me die right then when i read the school name:

Mrs. Harpers Boarding School for Beasts.