1st 5 Pages April Workshop - Lynn Rev 2

Talynn Lynn
YA Dystopian
To Find A Way


My stomach knotted and my heart thumped with an irregular pattern. This is not the way I envisioned my first week, already summoned to the office. I should be happy my mom said. Instead, I gripped the gold plated chair arm, letting the cold ride up my arm inch by inch. One glance out the office window and I knew why I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling hanging in the air. The perfect storm dumped massive amounts of rain. Black clouds pushed the wispy white out of the way helping to illuminate the streak of lightning falling from the sky. The spiral-topped concrete buildings sprawled across the valley below, drenched and soaked with water. The bell tower sagged under the weight of the water accumulating on the roof.

The mirror image of prison camp.

Thunder boomed and the windows rattled but I kept telling myself that’s not why I jumped. The school pamphlets I held in my lap fell to the floor. I wanted to crawl under the chairs and disappear as magically as the lightening.

I picked up my papers and walked to the window, watching the rain splatter on the glass. I traced the droplets, guessing which way they’d slide and disappear into a puddle on the outside sill. Today, I wished I could be a raindrop and blend in with the droplets slipping into the pool of rain. I wiped the tear the tickled down my cheek and watched as the sprinkles outside slid away with my tears.

“Miss Jamison?” said a voice from behind. “Hello. I’m Mrs. Tolson.”

I jumped and dropped my papers again. So much for disappearing. Too late now.

“I don’t know why they send all those letters and pamphlets out to new students. We cover everything mentioned in them during orientation and then again during each personal welcome meeting. I’ve always thought it was a waste of money to keep printing them,” she said as she walked over to me and knelt down to pick up the papers. She stood, and handed them back.

“Why don’t we step into my office? I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions.”

Mrs. Tolson's gray hair was pulled back in a severe bun and her suit was frumpy and gray. She had a mole above her left eye. In spite of her looks, her blue eyes could be pretty. Maybe.

I followed her through a door with her name engraved in silver on a nameplate of gold. She motioned toward a red velvet cushioned chair and sat down in a red matching swiveled one. The room was all glass, except for the back wall with the door with just walked through. All the shades were drawn, but the one right behind Mrs. Tolson’s desk was raised. Good. I could still watch the rain splatters roll down the glass.

I wiped my eye with the back of my hand and concentrated on the vanishing drizzle.

For a moment, she examined me, her eyes moving from my head to my toes. She removed her glasses and let them hang loosely from the chain around her neck. The reflection from the swinging light above the desk caught in the glasses and bounced of the window. I concentrated my stare on her eyes to avoid the attraction of shimmer. She cleared her throat and I took that as a sign to say something. Anything to remove the awkward silence.

“Honestly, I don’t have much to say. My biggest question would be who paid for my schooling?”

Mrs. Tolson looked at me with knitted eyebrows. If her job as a school counselor was to be kind, and if this was an act, I’d be able to see right through her. I wanted to know right from the beginning if she could convince me she was on my side. I stretched my legs out in front of me and crossed my arms, never taking my eyes from her face.

“I can't tell you who your benefactor is. That is strictly confidential.”

I raised an eyebrow, but never moved my eyes.

“I’m sure it is. But can you at least tell me why?”

She looked directly in my eyes. “I wasn’t told why. And it's really none of your business. All I know is that you are here and now it’s my job to turn you into a proper socialite who can control her emotions.” Man, she's a prune face.

I dropped my jaw and rose up in the chair.

“What? Turn me into a proper socialite?”

“I’m aware of how difficult it is for a seventeen year old teen to move to a new school, start all over again, make new friends. It’s my job to help smooth the transition and teach you to fit in and be accepted.”

“Really? I’m trying to make sense all this, but this moves beyond my understanding. I am more than capable of making my own friends and fitting in where I need to fit in.” This is unbelievable. Where did she come off thinking I needed to change, be someone else? To fit in? I liked being unnoticed. I don't mind being invisible.

“Please hear me out, Miss Jamison.”

“My name is Prism. Miss Jamison is my mother.”

Mrs. Tolson offered a grim smile, but her eyes became narrow slits. “Very well, Prism. I hope you don’t prove to be a drama queen here at Stony Hill.”

She's so rude. I don't like her. At all.

I placed my hands on my knees and gulped in some fresh air. I couldn't help but look over her head, out the window. Anger boiled inside my chest and thunder boomed like crazy. This time, Mrs. Tolson jumped. She laid her palms flat on the desk and took a deep breath.

She picked up a pen and wrote something on her paper stacked in front of her, and then reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a brown colored envelope. I wasn’t going to let her get away with calling me a drama queen. I couldn’t be farther from her…that type of person. Glancing out the window again, the black opened like a faucet. Lightning flashed.

“Mrs. Tolson, I'm not a drama queen. I’m just surprised at what you are saying. I wasn’t aware this was a charm school of sorts and I certainly didn’t know I was going to have a metamorphosis during my stay here. Maybe I’ve made the wrong decision.”

Mrs. Tolson laid the packet down on her desk. She fumbled with the chain around her neck before placing her glasses back on her face as if they were a magnifying glass.

“Prism, this is the greatest opportunity you will ever have in your life. Someone, a very generous and caring someone, has paid, upfront, for you to obtain the highest education in the state. Not only that, but this person has demanded a complete turn around in your presentation and social standing. This means, you will attend charm classes, you will learn to behave like a socialite and you will learn to dress like one, as well. We have a lot of work to do, and very little time to get it done. I hope to have your complete cooperation. Do I make myself clear?” She finished by pulling her glasses of her face. This gesture was getting on my nerves.

"Sure. Clear as crystal."

Demanded? Well, I’ll show her.