C1

THE PRESTIGIOUS PRISON

"Come. Take me from the pain, it's dark and I don't hear your voice, I just want to breathe, the night is going to kill me".

       “ I flatly refuse!

“ Amara, come back here! “ I hear my father's shout behind me. I was about to go upstairs to my room and lock myself in there for the rest of the afternoon.

“ Don't talk to me, Dad, what you're doing is so unfair!

“ It's only two years! “ I feel him take my hand and make me turn to him, "Amara, you have to go. We have no other choice. Remember what I told you. If you don't go then she... “ closes her eyes for a second” , I want you to be with me always.

“ I don't want to be separated from you," I muttered very softly, "and I don't want to leave home. I've never been to America.

“ I know," he leads me back to the main room, "think of this as an opportunity to prove your bravery.

“ My bravery? “ I frowned.

“ That's right, to travel alone, to be independent. At Ellite College you'll be living with other girls so you won't be all alone. I think if you get through this you're capable of anything then. Think about it.

“ But classes are about to start.

“ I know. That's why I'm telling you to think about it just tonight. The flight leaves tomorrow afternoon," she kisses my temple, "I know you'll get the right answer. You're a good girl.

Good girl.

Daddy didn't know me that well.

“ But, Dad...

“ No buts. I have to go now because I have a very important meeting. I'll wait for your answer in the evening “ she says goodbye to me”  je t'aime ma fille.

“ Je t'aime papa “ I answered him. Dad gives me one last smile and leaves the house. I let out the air I had been holding in and plop down on the couch. I know daddy does all this to make me well, to protect me and I don't want to disappoint him, he has taken care of me since I was born and I have always taken care not to give him so many worries. More than he has. But I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave my friends and even less the boy I like.

Thinking about the boy I like...

I pull out my cell phone the moment notifications start coming in. There are a lot of them.

Wow.

I open the F******k app noticing that they are notifications from that App, I guess one of my friends must have tagged me in some photo. I check and notice it was Jean Paul, the guy I like. I lean back on the couch as I open the photo.

I freeze. Static in the same place. I feel that at that moment everything stops around me. I hear far away noises from anywhere. My heart starts beating a thousand per hour while my hands start shaking. I could not believe my eyes.

It can't be.

It can't be.

It can't be.

“ No," I muttered, "please, no. ..... “ I stood up and put a hand to my chest. There were three pictures of me that Jean Paul had uploaded mocking me. They were pictures of me with my clothes off, pictures of me that I had entrusted to him yesterday. Pictures of me that were only supposed to be between me and him. There were thousands of comments and thousands of reactions, I had more than 5 thousand likes and more than 7 thousand comments.

My photos.

My body.

My reputation.

I logged out of F******k and got on W******p, searched for Jean Paul's contact and pressed call. It rang and rang but he didn't answer. I felt furious, I felt angry, I felt dirty. The person I trusted had betrayed me in the worst way and now all my classmates knew about my body. Tears started to flow from my eyes but I wiped them away immediately.

How could I have been so stupid?

“ Comment tu vas mon amour? “ he answered.

“ Look here, you piece of asshole! You're going to erase those pictures right now or else....

“ Or else what, Amara? “ he questioned me with that French tone that everyone here had.

“ Or else my father's lawyers will take you to court and I swear you will remember me for the rest of your miserable life! “ I felt so angry and I felt stupid for falling into the trap. I knew that if I sent those pictures something could happen but Jean Paul knew how to convince me. But it was the last time a man would play with me.

“ Dear, you agreed to send me those pictures. I didn't force you. I can say that they hacked my cell phone and uploaded the pictures without my consent. Don't make drama anymore, my love, you look spectacular in the pictures. Read the comments, everyone wants to be with you now.

“ You're a...! “ I gasped. I wouldn't read the comments because I knew that men said all kinds of vulgarities and women burned me.

“ See you Monday in class, Amara, Adieu “ and hung up.

“ Imbecile! “ I threw the cell phone on the couch while holding back tears. The cell phone was ringing and ringing from so many notifications coming in. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if Dad saw those pictures. I didn't even want to leave my house because everyone would point at me and judge me. My dad would be so disappointed in me.

I got down on my knees and cried.

“

God, how could he do that?

She's a bitch. She has no shame.

Do her parents know about this?

I can't wait to see her at school.

She's hot, I need her in my bed tonight.

I was in my room reading the comments on my photos. Jean Paul didn't even erase them. I was in tears. The light was dim so my puffy, red eyes were not noticeable in case my father came, and he was not long in coming. My lower lip kept trembling. I felt anger. And sadness.

The door was knocked twice so I assumed it was my father.

“ Come in," I cleared my voice and turned off my cell phone.

What if he's already seen the pictures?

A pang of fear invaded my chest.

Dad comes into my room and sits on my bed.

“ Did you think about today? “ he asks. He seems calm, a little tired but nothing out of the ordinary.

That calmed me down a bit.

“ Yes, I thought about it.

“ ¿Y?

“ I'm going to that school. It'll be good to get away from here for a while.

“ My dear, that comforts me. At least I'll have peace of mind. I promise I'll visit you during the vacations, or you can come here. But we'll get through this together," he comes up to me and gives me a little hug, "are you all right?

“ Yes," I lie, "I'm just a little nervous about tomorrow.

“ I said, "Don't worry. You're very brave and you'll know how to stand up for yourself. You should pack your things and leave everything arranged here. And get some rest. Tomorrow you have a tiring day ahead of you.

“ Thank you, Dad. I won't let you down.

“ I know you won't," he winks at me and leaves my room.

I did let him down. And in the worst way.

“

The next morning I had everything ready, I said goodbye to the cleaning girls, I said goodbye to some of my dad's friends who came to see me before I left and I said goodbye to my friend Corinne, she was the only one who spoke to me to tell me what a jerk and stupid Jean Paul had been. She also told me that she didn't want me to leave and that she promised me that she would take care of my revenge.

But I couldn't resist being here anymore. Let alone come to school this year and let everyone point at me and make fun of me. I needed to run away. And that's what I was doing. Dad drove me to the airport. It will be hard to be without him, we were so used to being together and supporting each other.

“ Bon voyage," he said as he hugged me.

I pulled away from him.

“ Je te parle quand j'arrive," I said.

“ J'attendrai ton appel," he replied.

God, I would miss him so much.

“ Addieu," I turned and walked away from him. Many hours of flying awaited me. Hours in which I will try to calm down. Even though the school I go to is a boarding school, it will serve to keep me there for a long time. From the classroom to my room. I didn't feel like interacting with anyone. I was just hoping that this year would be quiet and some peace would come to me. I will be far away from France and far away from the pictures that caused controversy.

Or so I hoped.

“

When the plane lands on American soil, I get out and go get my bags. I make all the arrangements to get out of there super fast so I can get to the prison called school. Outside there is a car waiting for me as my father had told me. The driver was a young man, quite handsome to be honest, he had a piece of paper in his hand that said Amarantha Chevallier.

“ I am Amarantha," I said.

“ I am Francisco and I will take you to school. Let me take your bags," the boy took the bags and put them in the trunk of the car. I got in the back seats to wait for him.

When he had put everything in, Francisco gets into the front seat and starts the car.

“ How far is it to school? “ I asked.

“ Just two hours.

“ Two hours? “ It couldn't be. It was already Saturday, I was tired and dying of sleep.

“ Yes, you can sleep in the meantime. You look tired.

“ Yes, thank you. I think I'll do that. Let me know when we get there.

I settle into the seats ready to sleep for a while at least.

“

“ Miss, miss, wake up," I heard a voice in the distance. I stirred in my place, grunting, "Miss, we are here," someone was moving me. I opened my eyes slowly, the first thing I saw was Francisco's face very close.

I got excited.

“ What are you doing?

“ I'm sorry. But we're here.

I calmed down a bit and yawned. I was so tired. I was sleepy and I still had to go by the address of this place. I got out of the car ready to see the place. The sun beat down on my eyes. But I was somewhat amazed by everything that was in front of me. It was a huge place, three stories I think. It was all fancy. There were some kids coming in and out of this school. They were wearing normal clothes, dad had told me I would have to wear report. I guess until Monday when school starts.

What surprised me was that we were surrounded by woods. Apparently it was a little out of town and that seemed a little strange to me.

“ Miss Chevalier, we were waiting for you," an older man approaches me. He wears a suit and glasses.

“ And you are...? “ I wanted to know.

“ I am the director of this prestigious institution. Her father personally asked me to receive her and take her to her room to settle in. “ He explained, "Take the lady's bags," he said to two security men, "follow me, please.

We started to walk within the institution.

“ As you can see, this is one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, so there are certain rules we have to follow," he said. There were some boys around us, chatting “  it is forbidden to go out on weekdays without permission and you will only be given permission if it is an emergency “  we climbed some stairs “  weekends are free. Uniforms are mandatory. By the way, I have left your uniforms in the room. You will be sharing a room with three other girls. The room is quite big so they won't have a problem. I have also left her class schedule on her bed. She will have her own locker which already has her name on it and where I personally left her books.

“ Thank you, that's very kind of you," I said with derision. This director seemed very strange to me, I mean, I know he was giving me this treatment because I was my father's daughter. Sometimes that was so uncomfortable for me.

“ You're welcome. It's something I do for all my students," he smiled somewhat feignedly.

Two boys walked past us arguing.

“ Clayton, Tanner, stop fighting like little kids and get to cleaning the toilets! “ he yells at them in another, more grotesque tone.

The boys pretended they weren't fighting and walked away from us.

“ As I was saying, this school is known for understanding the students and for helping them with a lot of patience to stop being rebellious and to be good people. I don't think I'll have a problem with you, though," he says.

For now.

We stop in front of a door.

“ Well, here is your room. I'll let you get settled in and then I'll send a student to give you a tour of the school. Do you have any questions?

“ No. “ I'm fine. Thank you, Mr. Principal.

The two men finished putting my bags in the room and left.

“ Pass good afternoon “ he gives me one last smile and leaves.

I rolled my eyes and walked into the room. He was finally gone. What a pain in the ass. I thought it was a bit hypocritical rather. The room was large as he had said and there were four beds. It wasn't too bad. At the end of the room was a huge window. A window that looked out into the woods. I walked over to it and feasted my eyes on it. It looked pretty. I wished I could get out and take a walk out there.

Just as I was about to turn to unpack, I noticed a figure moving through the bushes. I sharpened my eyes to try to decipher what it was, but all I could notice was something fleeting. It was obviously an animal.

Are there wild animals here?

And they're near the school grounds.

For God's sake, they must be wild wolves or huge bears.

What kind of security is here?

It can't be.