My life wasn’t always like this, and I wasn’t always under the suffocating control of Lucinda.  What seems like a long time ago, I used to actually have a rather happy life.

All of this began when both of my parents passed away in a freak accident 3 years ago.  I was only sixteen, and it really hit me hard. I suddenly had no family and no place to stay.  I had no one to turn to, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, I learned some terrible, terrible news.

A few days after I found out about my parents’ deaths, a man that I didn’t recognize came to my door.  He was dressed in a black suit, and looked quite professional.  I presumed that he was here to read me my parents’ will.  I was gravely mistaken.  He was actually Lucinda’s lawyer, and was here to collect me to become part of her household.  As my father’s will had allegedly stated, I was to be taken care of by Lucinda until my coming of age.  

This was all such shocking news to me-- I didn’t know who Lucinda was and nor did I care at that time.  All I had wanted was for some alone time to mourn the sudden loss of both of my parents.  I hardly knew what to say, and I numbly packed up my belongings for the next few days, and was collected by the same man who had come to my door to move into Lucinda’s house.

Before I left, I took one last look around the house to see if there was anything that I’d left behind in my haste.  Thank goodness I checked, because just as I was about to leave for the very last time, I saw a glint of something shiny.  I hightailed it to the corner of the room where I thought I saw something, and sure enough, there it was.  I had found Mama’s most priceless necklace, just lying there.  What a beautiful piece of jewelry.  It was one of Mama’s most prized possessions, and it was absolutely stunning.  Hung effortlessly upon a thin silver chain was a beautiful glass-blown Calla Lily that was surrounded by shining diamonds.  Mama always told me that with this necklace, she’d always have me with her, since it was my namesake and I was equally if not more beautiful. 

I’d wondered briefly about how something so valuable could be tossed so carelessly into the corner like that, but there was no time to spare.  The Bentley was waiting outside, and the Man in the Black Suit was getting more impatient by the minute.  I took one last long look at our crumbling old estate that I’d called home for the last sixteen years with tears in my eyes, and finally ran out the door for the last time.

Outside, the Man in the Black Suit was, of course, livid with me for taking such a long time to part with my home, as if the normal thing to do after both your parents died and you had everything taken away from you was to just carelessly prance away.  I tuned him out and was helped into the car. 

Chapter 2

“Calla? Calla. We’ve arrived at the Percival manor.  Please awaken at once.  Ms Lucinda would like to have a word with you immediately.”

I’d forced my eyes open, and blinked a few times until my vision cleared. For a moment in my groggy state, I was confused as to where I was and what I was doing.  And then it all hit me again. My parents had been killed.  I had been traded off like some piece of property.  And here I was-- in my new “home”.

Slowly I began to gather my belongings from the car.  I was feeling kind of nervous, to be honest, about how life was going to be now that I wasn’t the princess of the castle, persay.  I was sure it was going to be different.  But never could I have predicted just how different it would be.

Nervously, I walked up the stone pathway to the looming estate.  I didn’t know what to expect-- I’d never met this woman in my life, and suddenly she was my caretaker for the rest of my years? This didn’t make any sense, and I couldn’t and wouldn’t believe that my parents would subject me to this kind of fate.  This had to be some kind of ploy.

Nonetheless, I had to face reality.  I took a deep breath, rang the doorbell, and stood confidently in front of the doorway.  After about 10 seconds, a woman came to the door and let me in.

“Hi! I’m-” I started.

“I don’t want to know.  Ms. Lucinda is waiting to see you in her study.”

“Uh. Okay?”

The maid ushered me into the house, and stalked off while I trailed after her to the study.  On our walk, I couldn’t ignore how darkly oppressive the house was. Even with all the lights on, it still had a gloomy, dark undercast to it. 

I entered the study quietly, and there was one woman in the ornately decorated room whom I presumed to be Ms. Lucinda.  I felt so small in the presence of her and the furniture.  Everything seemingly towered over me.  I awkwardly stood at the doorway, and after a full minute that seemed like an eternity, she spoke.

“Finally.  I’ve been waiting for you for a while.  You are to report immediately to the servants’ ward when we are through with the Ground Rules.   There is much to do.  We’re throwing a ball today.”

“Firstly, you will not spoke unless spoken to.  There is to be absolutely NO disrespect towards me or any of my treasures, Aisha and Deila, is that understood?  They are the princesses of this house, and I will not have them treated any less than what they are .  Lastly, you are to have two meals a day and you will work fourteen hours a day. NO exceptions.  Now, I’d like to see as little of you as humanly possible.  GET OUT OF MY STUDY AND GET TO WORK.”

All this she spewed while I endured almost numbly.  I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.  Was this really all I was reduced to?  I’d been the princess of my house, and now it looked like I was going to be the pauper. I couldn’t believe my luck… IT was surreal.  I quickly scurried out of the study, and cluelessly wandered around the mansion looking for the servants’ ward.  While frantically looking, I accidentally bumped into a girl in the hall. 

“Oh, I’m so so-” I began.

“OH MY GOD, WHO ARE YOU!!?? MOTHER! THERE IS A STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE.” she screamed.

“Oh, I’m not a stranger!! I’ve been sent here by your lawyer and Ms. Lucinda. Please don’t make a fuss!”

“Oh right. You’re the new servant.  I heard about you.  Don’t tell me what to do; that’s my job. Anyways, I’m Aisha.  Just so you know, I basically own you.  So smarten up.” she replied smartly.

This girl was absolutely odious.   I couldn’t stand her for my life.  Aisha had an annoying squeaky voice that would be permanently etched in my memory.  She had buck teeth and her eyes popped out of her head like the rabbits we used to skin for stew.

I was to go to Victorian Preparatory Day School. Well, at least there was something good coming out of this whole new living arrangement-- I would be getting a solid education.  This I would need, in case I ever wanted to get anywhere in life other than be Lucinda’s slave.

However, it would be unfortunate, because I would also definitely be going to school with Aisha and Deila.  They would oh so surely turn every single person worth hanging out with against me, and there would quite possibly be no reprieve.

With a sigh, this once again brought down my lifting mood.  How was I going to make friends? I didn’t know anyone, and the two most popular girls at the school hated me.  This proved to be social SUICIDE. What’s more, I wouldn’t have anything to wear either-- Ms Lucinda was certainly not going to provide luxury items for me.

I decided that I would just have to figure it out eventually, and that there wasn’t really anything for me to do about it right now. I got ready for bed, and cried myself to sleep with my mother’s necklace clutched tightly in my hands.

Everyone.  Please. Settle down.  SETTLE DOWN. Thank you.  I’d like to introduce our newest face-- Miss Calla Brookes.  Miss Calla, please take a seat next to Mr. Lucas Hunter. Mr. Lucas, can you please raise your hand?”

My teacher, Ms. Faye, was making my head spin.  I numbly walked over to the boy who raised his hand, and took a seat next to him.

After I’d settled down, I’d began to really notice this Lucas guy who was sitting next to me.  He really was beautiful-- it was almost unreal.  He had a chiseled jaw, and the most gorgeous sea-glass green eyes I’d ever seen.  His hair was the color of dark chocolate, and he had a fair complexion that I couldn’t help think would complement my sun-kissed skin perfectly. 

I think he noticed me staring at him, because he’d turned around and pierced through my facade easily with his beautiful eyes.

“Hey, my name’s Lucas.  You’re Calla, right?” His voice was a perfect mixture of soft and deep, and it was really making it hard for me to answer.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” I responded curtly.  Idiot. Idiot. 

“Cool, cool.” he awkwardly replied.

Then he tried again.  “Maybe you wanted to sit with my friends and I during lunch?” He smiled the most adorable crooked smile I’d ever seen in my life.

“Oh, uh, yeah.  Sure, thanks.”

Well, at least I’d managed to get a sentence out without looking like a complete idiot. 

Okay.  I had to get this out of my mind.  I was here to focus.  I just endured the biggest tragedy of my life.  Boys? Please.  Try me. 

I re-focused and listened intently to the lesson.  It was for naught, though, as I’d learned all of this at my old school.  How disappointing.  I was hoping for something to distract me from the beautiful boy sitting next to me.  I began to doodle and count down till the class ended. Soon, it was lunch.  Okay, I could do this.  If I could just quietly walk out of the room without him noticing….

“Hey, Calla, wait up!” I heard a voice call.

Shoot.  Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot.  Well, I knew it wasn’t going to work anyway.  I sit right next to him, for heaven’s sakes! Also… I kinda didn’t really want it to work, to be honest.

“Yeah, sorry.  I’m just a little bit disoriented!” I chirp.  Whew. Got that one out of the way.

We began walking down the hall, and he started talking to me about my previous school and my what it was like there.  Then, he asked about why I’d transferred over to Victorian Prep.  Of course, it wasn’t his fault.  He wouldn’t know about my sudden newfound situation-- we’d honestly just met.  But I couldn’t help it.  For the first time since it happened, somebody had talked to me about The Incident, and for the first time, I realized how long I’d kept my feelings bottled up inside of me.  I couldn’t control this, and it was SO embarrassing, but I just suddenly BURST into tears.  Oh my God.  He probably thinks I’m the biggest freak on the planet.  Way to blow your shot at having ONE friend in the entire school, Calla, I thought to myself. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.  Calla… Calla? Did I say something that upset you? I’m sorry… I wasn’t really aware… Are you okay? Please be okay.” He looked into my chocolate brown eyes with his beautiful green ones, and for one second, I felt as if everything was going to be okay.  His gaze absolutely melted my heart, and in that instance, I could feel that warmth that I so very much needed since my parents’ deaths. 

He’d taken me to the girl’s restroom where I got cleaned up, and he patiently waited outside for me.  I felt terrible and embarrassed, but on the other hand, he didn’t make me feel that way at all.  It was all intrinsic; Lucas was being the kindest gentleman to me and I couldn’t be more grateful to him for it.  After I’d finally calmed myself down, I came out of the restroom and found Lucas again.  Then, I decided that I owed him some sort of explanation.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about that earlier.  I don’t know what to even say please don’t hate me..” I started.

“Of course not, Calla! Why would I hate you?  That wouldn’t make any sense… But I really would like to know what happened, if it isn’t too much to ask.”

I took a deep breath.  I could do this.  So I started from the beginning, and (without breaking down again, miraculously) explained the story of the car crash.