Faceless Game

Chapter One

September 2014
Quebec City, Quebec

It's said that our past defines us, and it shapes us into who we are, who we are truly meant to be. It's a little melodramatic, but at the same time it's true. For example, the girl who grew up with a perfectionist of a mother turned out to be a perfectionist herself. That girl was Daniella White, and Daniella White was that girl. As much as she hated it at times, it was not only who she was, but who she was destined to be, and that was the reason why she was up at four in the morning, swimming laps in the ice-cold water.

The pool sat gently within the wooded landscape of the school grounds, and with its deep columns and wraparound glazing, it gave direct views from the water into woodland, giving Didi the sense that she was swimming amongst the trees.

As always, a sense of calm washed over her, and she felt at peace, being here, in the water. The quietness in the room and knowing that she was the only one awake was pure bliss. She could scream and shout without the fear of someone being around to scold her.

Sometimes you just needed to scream and shout and let it all out, and that was what Didi did. She came up from the water and opened her mouth. It felt good, so she screamed again and again, the high-pitched sound bouncing off the pitched, timber roof and glass walls.

She felt better after it, after letting out all her frustration. The frustration of how her summer break turned out to be the worse yet, the fight with Tania the day before and lastly, her weight gain. Her favorite pair of American Eagle high-waisted jeggings were suddenly too tight on her.

To Didi, this meant she was becoming weak. It meant she was slipping away from her goals, and soon her biggest fear would come true, she would've a balloon-like semicircle of flesh appearing, and she would explode. So, she couldn't afford her jeans not fitting her the way they were supposed to, and she couldn't afford to gain weight, even if it was just two pounds. She had worked so hard to be where she was today, and she would do whatever it took to make sure that her hundred-and-twenty pounds remained the same.

She swam a few more laps, and only when her lungs were burning and her skin tinkled with irritation from the chlorine, was she convinced that she burnt enough calories. Moments later, she climbed out of the swimming pool and walked the short steps to the bench where she retrieved her belongings. Stealing a glance at her shiny, gold watch, the numbers 6:30 blinked up at her, reminding her she had an hour to get ready for breakfast.

She finally left the confines of the pool hall and stepped outside, the trees danced in the wind, and the cold morning air instantly decorated goosebumps on her bronze skin, causing her to tighten the towel around her lean body as she crossed over the lawn, heading to the east side of campus. Didi was amongst three-hundred students attending Hollis Academie D'Excellence. Hollis was a prestigious Canadian boarding school open to the world. It had royal family members as students and was "home away from home" to students from thirty-seven different countries.

The world of Hollis came with world-class curriculums, exclusivity and an extremely high price tag. The price range created its own inherent value – by sending their children to Hollis, parents knew there were chances they would make friends with members of royal families and future political figures.

Nestled at the top of a hill, with views of St. Lawrence seaway, Hollis looked like a prep school ad come to life with its castle-like buildings and sweeping lawns, blending in with the medieval old city.

Didi had been a student at Hollis since she was fourteen, having turned eighteen last month, her days there were not only countless, but numbered. One more academic year and Didi was expected to tell her farewell to the place she called home for four years. She felt both melancholy and excited at the idea of leaving in a couple of months.