Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Good Morning ladies!” The dorm senior, Jenna, shouts as she makes her way down the corridor of the dorms, banging on each door as she goes. I roll over with a groan and stretch to pick up my phone. I read the time and then rub my eyes before checking the time again because there’s no way I read it right. Glancing around the room I feel confident that my eyes are now working correctly and check the time again.

“Mother fluffer!” I curse under my breath. I was right the first time. It’s 5:30 AM! That confirms my suspicions that perfect Jenna with the too-friendly smile is evil. It’s the first day of university and classes start at 9 AM. Why on earth is she waking the whole dorm up at 5:30? I can hear grumbling and cursing from the other girls through the paper-thin walls as Jenna loudly announces that it’s shower time. I grab the pillow and press it over my head to try and block out the noise. I had my alarm set for 8 AM, which would have given me plenty of time to shower and have breakfast before our first class. I manage to block out enough of the noise that I start drifting back to sleep. BANG, BANG, BANG!

“Josie Banks, room number 5, I don’t hear any movement in there!” Jenna’s sickly sweet voice calls through the door as she hammers on it, then she begins to rattle the door handle. With a huff I chuck my pillow on the floor, throw back my covers and get up, stomping to the door I yank it open.

“It is 5:30 AM!” I hiss at Jenna. She smiles with fake sympathy as she looks me up and down.

“I am aware of the time Miss Banks, but this year’s stock is going to need extra time to get ready if we are going to make any of you look presentable,” she grins.

“We are not cattle,” I huff and begin to shut the door in her face. She stops it with a foot in the doorway and looks down at her clipboard.

“Josie Banks, eighteen years old, here to study criminology. Father is deceased, mother suffers from psychosis and currently resides in a secure hospital. Josie needs support to process her emotions and would benefit greatly from structure and routine. Josie has no other living rel…” I cut her off by snatching the clipboard from her hand and reading the information sheet she had on me. With every word I read of my personal information, my anger grows, like each letter adds fuel to the already growing fire within me. Who gave her this information? She’s just a senior student with a voluntary role as dorm leader, she has no right or need for this information. This is a breach of privacy.

“How did you get this?” I seeth. Students gather in the corridor, their attention now focused on the drama unfolding in front of them.

“As the dorm leader, I am privy to any information that may help me to support you,” Jenna states, holding her head high like she feels superior. “It was in the enrolment statement, that you signed and agreed to when you accepted your place within this university,” she adds. I tear the page from the clip holding it down and slam the board into her chest.

“You had no right to that information, and you certainly had no right to broadcast it to the whole dorm,” I shout as I shove her away from my door. There’s a brief look of shock on her face as her head cracks against the wall before her expression goes blank and she slumps down to the floor with a thud. There's a distinct crack in the plaster on the wall where she hit it. Gasps sound out down the hall as I slam the door. I lean against it in disbelief, looking down at my hands in disgust.

“Someone call an ambulance!” I hear one of the girls in the hall shout.

How did that just happen? I didn't shove her that hard did I?… no, it's not possible, I'm not that strong and I barely touched her. She must have tripped on something and hit her head. That crack in the wall must have already been there and I'd just not noticed it until now.

“Is she breathing?” I hear a panicked voice ask. I don't hear the answer as my ears begin to ring and my heart begins to pound loudly. I feel as if the oxygen has been sucked out of the room as I draw in gasping lungfuls of useless air. My chest tightens with every breath like more and more weight is being added on top of me. My vision goes blurry before turning completely black, then I become light, and the weight lifts from me as I relax into peaceful darkness.

“Miss Banks wake up!” a stern voice penetrates the blissful bubble of silence I had fallen into. I blink open my eyes, letting my blurry vision adjust to take in the figure hovering above me. It's a plump lady with a grim-faced expression that I don't recognise.

“Who are you?” I murmur, pushing myself up into a sitting position and looking around to take in my surroundings.

“ I'm Officer Shelby, I'm with the Mount University Police. We need to take you down to the station,” she gives me a sympathetic smile as she pulls me up to my feet. In the broken doorway of my room stands another police officer. This one is looking curiously between me, the doorway and the crack in the wall where Jenna had been slumped. I suck in a breath as I remember what had happened. Jenna is no longer there, which is good. I must have passed out for a short time and she had reported me to the police for causing her to fall.

“I'm sorry officer, this was all a bit of a misunderstanding. I didn't mean for her to fall, I just pushed her out of my doorway so I could close my door and…” I begin to explain until the officer holds up a hand to stop me.

“Save it for the interview honey,” she says softly, whilst guiding me out of the building and into the back of a waiting police car. My fellow students watch on, giving looks of pity, smirks and utter disgust as I pass… perfect, I've made a great first impression.