Breaking Bailey September 3 Dear Diary, Does anyone actually say that anymore? Maybe some fifth-grade girls. The type who have unicorn-and-rainbow diaries with easily picked locks and "I heart Billy" drawn on every page. This one doesn''t have unicorns, which is surprising since it''s from Dad. He probably thinks I still play with Barbies. It''s not that he doesn''t care about me. Just more like he doesn''t notice me anymore. He hasn''t since he started dating Isa. Truthfully, he hasn''t really noticed me since Mom died, but I can''t blame him for that.
The past couple of years have been a giant blob of suck. At least Dad has Isa, though. I guess one of us should have someone. Isa. That stupid name makes me want to scream. I almost poked through the page with my pen writing it. Any normal person would shorten Isabelle to Belle, or even Isy, if they wanted to be cute. But Isa? EEEESUHHHH.
God. Most Pretentious Nicknames for a thousand, Alex. But she''s the reason I''m here, at Prescott Academy, where graduation nearly guarantees you a spot in an Ivy League. And she''s the reason Bex gets to go to the Campbell School, which means she''ll get into Prescott, too, when she''s old enough. Dad can''t afford fancy private schools, but Isa the Bulldog Lawyer can. So I guess I can put up with a stepmother when I''m required to come home. Holidays already suck without Mom, and the same fake smile hides both grief and irritation. Bex hugged me so tight before they left.
She''s scared to go to a new school, and she''s never been away from home before. She''s never been away from me. That''s going to be hard. As cool as it''s going to be on my own here, what am I gonna do without Bex''s hugs? Her nonstop chatter? Her-- Sorry. My roommate showed up. Her name is Emily. She seems cool, and she didn''t bring anything annoying like wind chimes or beaded curtains, but she did bring chocolate. :) Off to the dining hall for dinner.
September 4 Okay, so I think I''ll try to write in this thing every night before I go to sleep. I don''t know why. I''ve never really kept a diary before, but . I don''t know. I guess it''s nice that Dad got something for me. And it will be fun to document what it''s like to go to Prescott Academy. Maybe years from now, when I''m a famous chemist, I''ll use it for reference when I write my memoirs. But anyway .
about that documentation. Here I go. Today was just so weird. Prescott isn''t just a different school, it''s a different planet. I got to my first class, English, and sat at an empty desk. Everyone around me was talking because they all know one another, but it wasn''t like home. At home, if someone asked how your summer was, you''d say it was lame or talk about a summer job or something. These Prescott kids .
It was all "Oh, Paris is just so lovely in the summertime!" and "Daddy''s new yacht couldn''t even fit at the dock in the Hamptons" and "I tried amazing caviar on solid gold plates!" Okay, it wasn''t that bad, but it wasn''t much better. These are the kinds of kids who clearly never had to wonder IF they''d ever get a car, just when. Oh, and also, since we all have to wear the same uniform, apparently the trend is to show off the only things that we can individualize: makeup, jewelry, and what brand of flats you wear. Seriously. I''m guessing my Payless fake leather won''t get me into the upper echelon at Prescott. I suppose I could ask Isa for better flats, but . honestly, I''d rather die than feel like I owe Isa anything. Thank God Emily and I had calculus and civics together, and we found each other at lunch so I didn''t have to eat by myself.
She told me last night that she''s a scholarship student. That''s the only way her parents can afford this place. She begged me not to tell anyone, but she didn''t have to. I get it. I told her about my dad and Isa. I didn''t mention Mom. Emily wants to be a writer. Like movie scripts and stuff.
She''s pretty quiet, but if you get her talking about movies, she could go for days. That''s another thing that''s different about the kids here. They''re really focused on the future. Everyone seems super smart and ambitious, and they take classes seriously. Back home, classes were just sort of a necessary evil until summer. And they certainly weren''t supposed to be interesting. Here, even my least favorite classes are going to be interesting and challenging. Speaking of favorite classes .
There''s a guy in my chemistry class. His name is Drew. Definitely not a scholarship student. His dad owns a restaurant chain or something--at least that''s what Emily said. Anyway, he''s kind of cute. Preppy, but his hair does this floppy thing that''s truly adorable. I saw him later at lunch, too, sitting with a very serious-looking bunch of people. Serious but glamorous.
They were just sitting at a dining hall table together, but they might as well have been posing for a Vanity Fair cover. The girl had the prettiest, thickest black hair and dark red lipstick. She had large black rhinestones on her flats. At least I think they were rhinestones. For all I know they could have been real gems from Tiffany. It wouldn''t surprise me in this place. I''m going to have to buy some better shoes. September 5 Day two at Prescott was just as weird as the first, made even weirder when Drew actually spoke to me about halfway through chemistry.
Drew: Bailey, right? (I nodded dumbly, like I''d forgotten the English language.) Drew: You seem like you really know this stuff. Me: Um. Yeah. There was a really good chemistry teacher at my old school. I used to do extra assignments for her. For fun. Drew, looking amused: For fun? Me: Well, um, yeah.
I was kind of good at it, so she let me work ahead of the class. Then he just nodded, sat back in his desk, and locked eyes with Dark Lipstick Girl. They looked away from each other at the same time. He said nothing else to me, after class and all day. But when I walked by his table of glamorous people at lunch, he and Dark Lipstick Girl stared at me in this sort of predatory way. What is this? Am I the girl who accidentally stumbles upon a group of vampires and werewolves at her school? I asked Emily about Drew. She warned me to stay away from him while also drooling over the way his Prescott uniform sweater tightens over his chest, so . September 7 Tomorrow is the first Friday here at Prescott.
In other words, it''s the first Friday night I''ve ever had without parents around. Prescott has a curfew. We have to be back in our dorms by eleven, but that doesn''t mean we have to sleep. I''ve heard a few people talking about parties in the dorms, but no one''s invited me. It''s okay. Emily and I have decided we''re going to stay up all night and watch movies and pig out on chocolate. I guess she wasn''t invited to any parties either. September 8 The plot thickens.
Mr. Callahan asked me to stay after chemistry class today, so the whole class I was sick to my stomach with nerves. Turns out he wanted to know about my old school back home. He said he noticed I seem to be ahead of what he''s teaching at Prescott. Ahead of a class at Prescott! So I told him about Miss Beverly at my old school and how I''d spend a lot of days after school in the lab, doing special stuff that no one else got to do. I also told him that I want to be a chemical engineer. He laughed when I told him I hadn''t even known that was a thing until Miss Beverly told me about all the jobs that use chemistry, but now it''s the only thing I can see myself doing. He asked if I''d thought about college, like I haven''t been dreaming about Harvard since I was three.
He said he''d help all he could. I thanked him and walked out the door, and that''s when Dark Lipstick Girl grabbed my arm and dragged me into the ladies'' restroom. DLG: Bailey, right? Huh. The same way Drew greeted me the first time. Weird. Definitely vampires. Me: Yeah. Were you listening to me talk to Mr.
Callahan? DLG, shrugging: Not on purpose. You''re pretty good at chemistry, then? Me: I guess. I''m sorry. I didn''t catch your name. DLG: Katy. Katy Ashton. Your last name is Wells, isn''t it? Are you on scholarship? I got super uncomfortable with our conversation at that point. The assumption felt awful.
Maybe it was my cheap flats? Or maybe it''s just that my family doesn''t summer at the same vacation spot as everyone else? Whatever. She sort of backtracked after that. She put her arm around my shoulders and started walking with me toward my next class. Then she invited me to Science Club. Seriously? This gorgeous girl is part of something like the Science Club? Prescott isn''t like my old school AT ALL. Katy, formerly known as DLG: It''s Saturday night. Herschell Hall. That''s the upperclassmen boys'' dorm.
Seven o''clock. Me: The Science Club meets in a dorm on Saturday nights? Katy just smiled at me, all secretive and glamorous, and told me she''d see me there. Seriously. If Science Club is code for Vampire Club, I will be not be surprised. Pissed at how clichéd it would be, but not surprised. September 8 Sorry! It''s actually Septe.