HIRAETH [1] || Grayson Hawthorne

Chapter 15- Coffee Jelly

"Oh dear." -Dr. McGowan
(i know its supposed to be burgundy but i couldnt help myself.)
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I sat through my first few classes quietly, apparently everyone knew I was some poor girl who luckily inherited billions. People were staring at me while I ate my lunch alone with some red haired girl. I looked up and saw people whip their heads away from my direction, some gazes lingered though. 

I suddenly didn't feel like eating if I was just going to be ogled at like some untamed zoo animal. Gosh, it wasn't like I was going to bite their fucking heads off. "Hi." someone whispered. I looked around me but saw no one except the red head. I stared at her oddly, when she spoke it seemed as if her voice surrounded me barely close enough to touch.

"Hi." I returned with a small smile as I played with the broccoli on my plate. "You're the inheritance girl." she looked at me with the prettiest face. "Yeah, I am." I replied, dropping my fork on the plate, I tried not to look like I was surprised by her beauty.

"Are you dating Grayson?" she blurted out after a short moment of silence. My eyes widened in surprise at her sudden question, I think she saw him bring me to my classroom earlier, "No I'm not, thankfully." I answered. The red head nodded, looking down at her food quietly. I thought I was going to have a friend.

I sighed, disappointed, to myself before standing and grabbing my Hermes backpack. "They're bad news you know." she continued when I started putting my lunchbox back inside. "Who?" I asked her rather rudely, I wasn't meaning to sound like that.

"The Hawthorne's." she didn't give me enough time to reply. "They were a twisted, broken mess before you got here, and they'll be a twisted, broken mess once you're gone." with that she stood up, leaving her half-eaten tray of lunch on the table. 

That was strange and what did she mean by 'gone'? I wasn't going anywhere, Tobias Hawthorne made sure of that. He's an asshole, but a brilliant asshole at that. The redhead remained on my mind as I exited the cafeteria. I tried finding her but she was practically invisible. 

The first bell rang indicating that we should head to our classrooms before the second one rung. I took the folded up schedule from my pocket and checked what my next class would be. A crowd of students whizzed past as I read the paper. 

Art. 

I didn't like art in my old school, we hardly did anything so I'm half expecting this school to be the same. "Art, 34B." I read out loud. I had no idea where that was. "Excuse me." I walked up to a dark haired girl, "Do you know where classroom 34B is?" I asked her, she stared at me for a few seconds before nodding.

"Yeah." she replied before turning back to her friend, "Could you point me to the right direction?" 

The girl rolled her eyes then pointed right, "Make a left and go up the stairs. You'll find it somewhere on that floor." she answered. I gave her a smile before nodding, "Thanks, I'm Rory by the way." I was desperate for friends, talking to the red haired girl made me aware of that.

She frowned slightly, her perfect features creasing. "As in Lorelai?" she asked, guess she knew who I was. I nodded at her, "Yeah." I answered. Suddenly she was all smiley with me, "You don't look anything like your sister." she held a hand out, "I'm Thea." there was a strange glint in her eyes when she said her name.

"Nice to meet you." I shook her hand with my own. Just then the second bell rang and students loitering had started to run. "Let's meet up later." she offered before walking away and waving. "Sure." I smiled at her, proud of myself. 

I had just made a friend.

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"First off, why were you late Ms. Grambs?" a woman named Dr. McGowan asked. I was pulled out of Art class before it even began. "I accidentally overslept Dr. McGowan." I answered her sheepishly. "Call me Dr. Mac." she said while writing something on her notebook. "Alright." I answered to fill the silence. 

Dr. Mac looked at me with a soft smile playing at her lips, "Pray tell, why did you oversleep?" she asked another question. "I stayed up late with Mr. Grayson Hawthorne." I replied, her eyes widened at my sentence. "Oh dear." she started scribbling on her notebook much more furiously. 

"Wait, I didn't mean it like that. Um, we were looking at the stars Dr. Mac, nothing indecent happened I promise you." I tried to make up for what I had just said earlier. I was completely embarrassed of myself. Dr. Mac crossed something out before looking back at me. "Alright then, I met with your sister Avery earlier. I was hoping I could discuss this with the both of you but seeing as how you were tardy, I took the liberty of re-scheduling." 

"I hope you enjoyed your first classes." she smiled, pausing for me to respond. "I sure did." I smiled at her. 

"I've slotted you into American Studies and Philosophy of Mindfulness. In science and math, you should be able to continue on with your current course of study, assuming our course load doesn't prove to be too much." she informed me, I nodded at her with, hopefully, no confusion on my face.

She examined me before writing down something on her notebook, "Now, in terms of elective, I would suggest Making Meaning, which focuses on the study of how meaning is conveyed through the arts and includes a strong component of civic engagement with local museums, artists, theater productions, the ballet company, the opera, and so on." she paused to sip on her coffee.

"Continuing, for the rest of your schedule, I will need you to tell me a bit about your plans for the future. What are you passionate about?" she intertwined her fingers before leaning forward. 

Would I tell the truth? This school provided more opportunity than my last one, I wouldn't have to get beat up to be able to pay to pursue my dreams. Here it would be practically handed to me. 

"Well?" she asked, she didn't need to do it twice. "Acting, I've always wanted to act. Most girls dream of being on screen when they're little, so did I but the dream stuck with me my whole life." I answered. I used to put on one woman shows for mom and Avery. I played every single character in Sleeping Beauty. 

I even hand made the dragon costume, it was just green spikes hot glued onto a green blanket but it made me proud. I was 6. 

"Why? What made acting stick to you?" she pried. Who was I to deny her an answer. "Maybe it's how I get to understand characters on a deeper level than if I just watched a film or play. Watching isn't the same as being, who knows, being a different person might make me realize something about myself." I finished with a polite grin.

Dr. Mac smiled at my answer then wrote a few things down. "Alright, I'll get you a list of electives to look at. Going to our LA acting program probably won't be possible for you this year but there are some things you could try." 

My stomach was fluttering at the thought of acting. I was excited for this school. It really wasn't like my old one. 

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boo bitches im back and ready to fucking attack w new chapters bc HOLLY BLACK ANNOUNCED A NEW DUOLOGY its abt oak not my wife jude though lol BUT STILL