The End Defines the Beginning : A Boarding School Coming of Age (Harlow Academy Series Book 1)

by Sarah Appleby

  She tried not to sound too impressed. But she was.

  “My Dad was on the rowing team at Yale and we have some shells of our own at our lake house. I didn’t compete before Harlow, but he taught me before I came here. Anyway, team try outs are in a couple weeks.”

  She felt special Pierce was taking the time to talk to her. He was an Upper, she was only a Prep. He was a tall, studly model-like man and she was just a little, midwestern girl.

  “Yeah, maybe I should go out for it… but I’m really into cycling…” she said, partly because it was true and partly to impress him with a wide range of interests.

  “Oh. That’s awesome. I am, too,” he said, “There’s a cycling club that meets every Saturday until end of October and then again in Spring when the weather is nice. I’m a ride leader in the club. Join up. I’ll be at the sign up table on club night on Tuesday.”

  Was that an invitation?

  “I’ll definitely do that. Only, I didn’t bring my bike,” she said.

  “Just have your parents ship it. It could probably be here before our first session,” he answered, “Or there’s a bike shop in Portsmouth that will bring a few bikes here for you to try and you can just buy one to keep here on campus. That’s what I did. Otherwise, when I go home, I don’t have a bike. You feel me?”

  That was a brilliant solution for someone with money.

  Before she had time to worry he saved her.

  “Oh, you know what? There’s a girl, Darcy, from club about your size who said she wasn’t doing it this term. Maybe she’d sell you her bike?”

  “That would be an easy option,” Emily replied, thinking maybe she could ask her grandparents to chuck her the money.

  “I’ll ask her when she arrives tomorrow. Give me your cell and I’ll text you.”

  Eeek! She was actually getting this guy’s number. She would actually see him again. He knew her name. She told him her number.

  “What dorm are you in? Darcy is in Smith.”

  “Graves,” she said.

  “Oh great. I’ll just tell her to pop by yours if the bike is available. Smith is close to Graves. What’s your room?”

  “333…”

  Crap. Now he wasn’t going to text her.

  As they were exchanging numbers, Xander came over.

  “Oh, hey,” she said to Xander, “This is Pierce. He was just telling me about cycling club. Interested?”

  “Not sure,” said Xander, “Bikes are one of those weird things.”

  “What do you mean,” she asked, smiling and expecting something funny.

  “Well, you know, they can’t stand up on their own but then you get on them and suddenly they are standing…”

  Emily shook her head and smiled at his wit.

  Pierce gave Xander a look like he was a bit of a dweeb.

  Xander crumbled slightly.

  “Well, Em,” said Pierce casually, “Let’s see about that bike. Nice rowing with you today.”

  He rubbed the side of her arm and walked off. She would never wash that shirt again.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  EMILY HAD BEEN looking forward to Saturday, the day she would meet her new roommate in person. She had video called Georgia only once. The pair had a slightly awkward call, being that Georgia’s dad did most of the talking. He kept popping in from the background to say how excited Georgia was. He looked more excited than Georgia about her shipping off to Harlow.

  Emily was sitting on the bed when Georgia pushed the already ajar door open. She was a tall, mixed race girl with a strong physique. She had beautiful almond eyes and long hair with tight curls that must have been a nightmare to brush every day. Her smile was perfect, as were most of the teeth Emily saw at Harlow.

  Up close, Emily thought Georgia was even prettier than on the call. She had freckles.

  Emily jumped up with friendly excitement.

  “Hey,” she exclaimed, “Nice to finally meet you!”

  Georgia put her suitcase down and opened her arms for a hug. Emily felt at home; it seemed like many of the east coast kids were handshakers, not huggers. Though maybe they were all just trying to be mature.

  “Hi, Emily,” Georgia said with a delicate southern accent, “Nice to finally meet you… in person.”

  She looked around Emily’s room and noticed everything already put in place.

  “Man, how did you get all this done so quickly,” she asked.

  “Oh, I arrived early,” Emily said, “On Thursday.”

  Georgia furrowed her brow as if to ask why.

  “Oh, I had my appendix out last year and wasn’t well enough to visit the school so I got to join Gateway. The program for kids who didn’t see the school beforehand…”

  Emily rambled a bit. Nerves built up at her perpetuated lie.

  “Oh, I thought that was just for scholarship kids,” Georgia said.

  “Oh… nope,” Emily continued not trying to sound defensive, “There was another prep there who just moved from Singapore… anyway, would you like help with your bags?”

  “No, Dad is coming up with them,” she said.

  And not a moment later Georgia’s father appeared in the doorway with two enormous suitcases with Gucci print on them. Emily didn’t know too much about brands but she knew that Gucci wasn’t the type of thing that teens bought in her next of the woods.

  Emily’s dad dropped the cases and rushed over to Emily. He was a youthful looking man who Georgia very much resembled.

  “And you must be Emily,” he said with a slightly thicker southern drawl then Georgia, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve been so excited for this day.”

  Emily thought she noticed Georgia roll her eyes.

  “Emily, I can’t stay long as I’m on a flight to meet Georgia’s mom in Amsterdam, she had a conference so couldn’t be here.”

  That one sentence. A conference meant a white collar job. Amsterdam meant a really good one.

  Then he and Georgia went through the doorway and into Georgia’s room where he promptly said goodbye. On his way out he came over to Emily and took her hand, cupping it in both of his.

  “Take care of our little girl, Emily. We’re coming for a weekend in October so we’ll all have some dinner together or something nice then,” he said and off he dashed.

  Emily waited for Georgia to come out of her room as well. But she didn’t. She decided that she had better make the first move.

  Upon entering Georgia’s room, she saw her sitting on the bare, unmade bed, looking out her window. Distant. It was a stark scene. The room nearly echoed when Emily spoke.

  “Hey,” said Emily.

  Georgia looked up but said nothing. She seemed to be feeling a combination of resentment and sadness.

  “Are you ok,” asked Emily, “It’s all a bit crazy, isn’t it?”

  Georgia looked at Emily with thankful eyes. Emily seemed like she would be a great roommate, really considerate.

  “Yeah, pretty crazy,” Georgia said, “Did your parents just up and leave you like that?”

  “Oh, sorry to say but I can one up you on that. Mine left me at the airport.”

  Georgia laughed.

  “That’s just wrong,” she said, with a smile.

  “Cruel, some might say,” Emily smiled back.

  “Sorry Emily but to be honest I didn’t really want to come to Harlow,” Georgia said, “Obviously it’s nice to meet you and everything. I mean, don’t be offended… it’s just that this wasn’t for me…”

  She proceeded to tell Emily that she was an only child and had attended the same school her whole life, not changing to a new one for middle school. As an only child her friends were everything to her so she was pretty bummed out to have left them behind. To top it off, she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that her parents were trying to get rid of her.

  Emily tried to console her.

  “Well you’ve already got one friend here,” Emily said, “And I’m sure you’ll make more in no time. All o
f us Preps are in the same boat.”

  It turned out Emily saw right into the crystal ball. It would take no time at all for the beautiful, tall and very sporty Georgia to make friends. In fact, it would take no time at all for her to become one of the most popular preps in the school.

  “Thanks, Emily,” Georgia said, perking up a bit, “So you must have already met some people?”

  Just then, Emily’s cell blinged.

  “Oh, yes… I have… a couple…just a sec,” she said getting up to fetch her cell, “Be right back.”

  Grabbing her cell from her bed, she noticed it was a text from Pierce.

  Hey little one Darcy said her bike is up for grabs. Meet her in your common room at 3 today.

  Emily held the phone to her chest.

  “Oh my gosh he called me ‘little one…” she gushed.

  “Who’s that,” Georgia said appearing out of nowhere, making Emily jump.

  Emily turned around and Georgia’s eyebrow was raised.

  “Ooooh honey,” she continued, “Is it a boy?”

  “Yes. But it’s not what you think. I mean, it’s just a guy sorting out a bike for me so I can join cycling club. I met him at Gateway.”

  “Another Prep,” asked Georgia.

  “No he’s an Upper. He was helping out with one of our activities at Gateway. Rowing.”

  “Ooooh, an older boy,” said Georgia, hanging on to a bit of a teasing vibe, “Is he cute?”

  Emily didn’t want to make a big deal about it but she thought he was Hot. As. Hell.

  “Yeah. He’s cute. But seriously, he was just helping me out. I need a bike… I didn’t bring mine. I’m meeting a girl called Darcy in the common room at 3 to see if I can use hers. Or buy it off of her… Or whatever.”

  “You sound nervous. He makes you nervous,” Georgia teased.

  “Stop,” Emily said and smiled at Georgia, “It’s not like that.”

  But Emily wished it was.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  EMILY HAD BEEN prepared to beg her grandparents for the money to buy Darcy’s bike. She had to join cycling club. Not only would it be great to get off campus and explore once a week, but… Pierce. The stars aligned so she would only see him wearing lycra.

  Emily got a text from Darcy at 2:45pm saying she was in the common room. She was early. Emily suddenly wondered if there was some connection between smart, overachievers and running ahead of schedule.

  Darcy was a heavy-set girl with round tortoise-shell glasses and acne.

  “Hi,” Emily said, walking over to her to shake her hand, “I’m Emily. Thanks for coming with the bike.”

  Emily looked at the work of art that Darcy had brought by. The bike was a beautiful, white road bike with a sky blue Specialized across the frame. Emily swore she could see a halo around it. It was so perfect. It must have been a thousand dollar bike. Yikes.

  Emily’s high hopes came down like a deflated balloon. Before Emily could ask how much she wanted for it, Darcy piped up.

  “You can have it if you’re joining cycling club. I don’t really use it anymore… I couldn’t really handle cycling club as of last term when I upped my oboe lessons. I told my parents about it and they’d rather not ship it back and said to find it a good home. There’s another girl in my dorm that wants it if you don’t but I thought I’d come to you first because Pierce said you were joining cycling club. I’m not sure the other girl even knows how to ride on drop bars.” she said.

  Emily tried to act naturally but was jumping out of her skin. Was she being given a thousand dollar bike?! Who were these kids? These parents that had Gucci luggage and gave their teenagers expensive bikes and then let them give them away? It was as though Emily had been transported to another planet. Another universe. She was just thankful she could breathe here.

  “Thanks, Darcy. I’d love it. Are you sure you don’t want any money for it?” asked Emily, feeling almost guilty at having received this undeserved but very much wanted, no, needed gift.

  “It’s no biggie. I mean, I used it for two years so it’s done its job…” Darcy said, “Pierce said you’re a really good cyclist and I’d like for it to have a good home. I have some wonderful memories on her. It would be nice to know she’d out with the Club.”

  She patted the bike seat. Emily swooned. Pierce didn’t know that Emily was a good cyclist. But he said it anyway. And he wanted her to have the bike. That could only be a good thing, right?

  “So, how do you know Pierce, again?” Darcy asked, pushing her spectacles up the bridge of her nose.

  “I just met him at Gateway. I had my appendix out, so I didn’t have a chance to see the school…” said Emily, wishing she hadn’t reiterated her lie.

  She continued, “He volunteered to show us how to row. Anyway, met him there, and we got to talking about bikes.”

  Darcy nodded her head up and down with a serious look on her face and her mouth slightly ajar. It was hard to read what Darcy’s nods meant. Emily kept talking, hoping to entice Darcy to do the same.

  “Do you know Pierce? I mean, obviously you do from cycling…”

  “Yeah, we all get to know each other over time. I mean, it’s impossible to live with people and not at least know their reputations.”

  Reputation. Emily wanted to ask more but knew her prying would make her feelings for Pierce too obvious.

  “Sure,” she said, “that makes sense. I guess I have a lot of discovery to do.”

  Darcy cracked a smile.

  “Yeah, you’ll be all right. You’re doing the right thing joining clubs. It’s totally unacceptable not to have a lot of extracurriculars at Harlow.”

  Emily would remember that at Club sign ups tomorrow.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  BY THE TIME club sign ups came around on Tuesday, Pierce had texted her twice. Once to confirm, she scored the bike and the second time to “make sure” she came to sign up on Tuesday evening. She would see him again. In person. Today was the day.

  The club tables were all set up in the Student Center. There were so many clubs that some clubs couldn’t find a spot at a table. Some club heads wandered around like sales people wearing t-shirts saying “Capoeira Club” or “Black Hole Society.” Emily had no clue what half the clubs did. But that was part of the draw and marketing strategy for some clubs. If you didn’t know what it was, you just HAD to ask. And then the heads lured you in. Harlow students were curious.

  Emily went over to the cycling club spot, which was at the end of one of the longest tables. Pierce was standing behind the table with another older boy and Senior girl. As Emily approached the table, the girl stepped toward Emily, but Pierce interrupted and stopped her.

  “Oh, I know her,” he said to the Senior girl.

  A gushing feeling rushed into Emily’s cheeks and she hoped that she wasn’t red in the face.

  “Hey Little One,” he said in his casual and familiar way, “Glad the bike worked out.”

  OMG. How could she cope with his cuteness?

  “Yeah, thanks so so much for doing that. Great bike, too. Just can’t wait to get out and ride now.”

  Can’t wait to ride with YOU.

  “You’ll love it. We start out every year with smaller rides and then break off into groups by ability. How far have you ridden before?” he grabbed the sign up tablet and started tapping to enter her details.

  She wasn’t sure what kind of distance was a lot or a little. But hoped he’d be impressed. She and Josh had done what had felt like epic rides to her back home self, but would this sport maniac take notice? He could probably do a hundred miles with his eyes closed.

  “I can do… probably about twelve or thirteen miles,” she said.

  “We talk in kilometers around here,” he winked, and then looked down at the tablet typing something in, “So about twenty k.”

  He looked back at Emily and handed her the tablet to finish filling in.

  “The details will be sent through to your parents and Mr. James, the
teacher supervisor. He’s awesome, you’ll love him. Anyway, make sure your parents check their email because they need to sign a special waiver since cycling’s deemed a red level extracurricular,” he said as Emily filled in the form.

  She handed the tablet back, watching his huge yet elegant hand take the device. She wanted to touch his brown skin.

  “If you try hard, we could be in the same group,” he added flirtatiously.

  Emily could not believe her luck. School hadn’t really even started, and she was already making friends, or something like that, with an Upper.

  “Well, hopefully. I’d be impressed with myself if I could keep up with you,” she said.

  Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Xander.

  He said ‘hi’ to Emily and nodded his head to Pierce. Not only had he met Pierce at Gateway, but the over-confident socialite was also in Wainwright with him.

  Pierce was what Xander called a pretty boy. It was a term they used a lot in Singapore, but mostly for celebrities. Pretty boys at Harlow seemed to think they were on par with stars. When a bunch of the pretty boys reunited in Pierce’s room the first day back from summer, on the floor below Xander, it was like a party broke out. Loud music, strange hooting and grunting. These were the kind of guys Xander would never be friends with, and he didn’t want to be.

  “Hey,” Emily said to Xander, “So… I really can’t tempt you with cycling club? I just signed up.”

  Xander wished he could sign up. But cycling would not be his way of making friends… or of impressing a girl.

  “Not my thing. But… I was hoping I could convince you to sign up for something… Journalism club.”

  Emily waved goodbye to Pierce who sent her off with another wink and she tried to pay attention to what Xander was saying through the throbbing sound of her heart.

  “So,” he continued, “Apparently there’s a blog called ‘Conundrum,’” he said, in a whispered voice, looking around him, “It’s supposed to highlight the funny things going on around campus. Or cheating or, like, sneaking out of a dorm. It’s a completely secret undercover blog that only students know about…”