𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 ✰ 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲

one ✰ "am i playing my music too loud?"

the drive to welton academy had been long. john had spent the whole drive telling scarlett all about the school and the memories he had from it. 

he referred to it as "hell-ton", which scarlett found amusing. 

getting out of the car, scarlett took a long, hard look at the school building. it was intimidating to say the least but that didn't scare scarlett.

"welcome to hell-ton, scar. your time here will be extraordinary i am sure of it!" her father said with a giant smile on his face. 

"carpe diem, dad." scarlett said with a giggle. 

families gave scarlett odd looks as they walked into the church. they were dressed in their sunday best, which made scarlett feel uncomfortable in her choice of clothes. her outfit consisted of a maroon sweater, black skirt, tights, and converse. she thought it looked fine this morning, but she now had her doubts. 

"your room is in that building," john began as he pointed at a certain building. "you can go unpack while i attend the beginning of the year assembly." scarlett nodded as she filled her arms with her luggage. 

✰

the room was small yet comfortable. it consisted of two sets of beds, desks, and dressers. she dropped all of her belongings on her bed with a happy sigh. scarlett looked around the dull room and smiled contently. i can make this work. she thought as she set her record player up on her desk. one of her suitcases was filled with her record collection. she pulled out "louder than bombs" by the smiths and set it up on the record player. the familiar sounds of "sheila take a bow" began to fill softly in the room.  with a determined look on her face, scarlett began to unpack.

after a few songs, scarlett heard a knock on the door. she turned to see a girl her age. 

"am i playing my music too loud?" scarlett asked, her cheeks red. 

"uh, no. i am parker mcallister. you must be scarlett, right?" parker said as she extended a hand for scarlett to shake. scarlett nodded with a grin as she shook parker's hand.

"parker? that is an interesting name for  a girl." 

"ah, so it is." she chuckled. "so have you been here long?"

"about an hour or so. do you want to roam around or did you want to unpack now?" 

"yeah let's go see the boys!" parker said as she pulled scarlett by her wrist.

✰

during their walk around campus, scarlett learned that parker's father was the latin professor and that she had a boyfriend back home named everett mitchell.

"we've been together for two years. i guess you could say things are getting serious." parker said with a grin. "he says he is going to marry me someday." 

"sounds dreamy." scarlett smiled. 

as scarlett and parker walked, they noticed another girl gathering her belongings out of her car. 

"that must be the third girl! let's go say hi!" parker dragged scarlett to the car. 

"hi!" parker said in a peppy tone. the mystery girl was startled by parker's presence and almost dropped one of her suitcases.

"uh, hi." she mumbled.

"i am parker mcallister and this is scarlett keating!"

"lorelai peters, but everyone calls me rory." 

parker grins. "rory. that is a cute name! care to join us on our adventure around campus, rory?" 

"i would but my stuff..." rory began. parker reached into the trunk of the car and grabbed a suitcase. 

"we can drop your stuff off in your room." 

parker's kindness made scarlett want to throw up, but she liked the girl nonetheless.

as the girls walked to drop off rory's belongings, scarlett noticed a boy coming out of the church. he closely behind his parents, his brown hair slightly messy. he look almost dead inside. 

he was a mystery, a mystery that scarlett wanted to know.