Cassandra Cassandra Farrelli: Scarlet Women Book 1

“Cassandra!”

Story of my life: people screaming my name. Good grief. I slipped from bed, throwing on a cotton robe over my thin nightie before making my way to the kitchen.

“You hollered mom?”

My mother had been ecstatic that I had been accepted into Acroft High and had spent the last two weeks helping me ‘prepare’ by buying everything in sight. I had all my school supplies plus some— and my room was bursting to the seams with piles and piles of new clothes.

“Darling! I just wanted to make sure that you’re good for today!” She stood and walked over to me, pulling me into an embrace.

Two other strange things that had happened since I had been accepted at Acroft— one; the creepy nightmare hadn’t come back and two; my mother started acting more like her old self. I hadn’t told her about all the weirdness about being ‘marked’ whatever that was supposed to mean, or the strange conversations I’d had with Dr. Gristman or Dean Melrose…. Or about my nightmare. It was enough having my mom act like my mom to quell my fears and anxiety.

“Okay mom! Okay!” I laughed as she continued to squeeze me. “I can’t breathe!!”

Ray walked into the room smiling ear to ear. “Ahhh my girls.” Even Ray had been more tolerable.

“Alright luv. Get dressed, eat and then go learn. Be my sweetie pants!” She released me and swatted my behind lightly. “Go.”

The program that I had been accepted into was academically advanced, more so than A.P apparently. It ran longer school hours and even a longer school year starting mid August and ending at the beginning of July. They took off half of December and half of January as a winter break. I had to admit I was excited to excel at learning. I loved to grow— academically speaking. That was how I ended up standing outside Acroft High that morning mid August at eight o’clock exactly.

I had been given a gate key amongst my papers. I stared down at it now, terrified. I had tried to memorize the map for the school and the location of my homeroom. I played the phone conversation I’d had with Melanie over in my mind as I swiped the gate key and it swung open for me.

“Cass?”

“Mel, we need to talk.”

“Okay! Give me a second— I’m fixing some buttons on a dress.”

“What?”

“Oh, ummm… it’s nothing. The girl I am basically a nanny for here likes to pop all the buttons from her dresses when she is mad.”

“What? Really? I mean how is that possible? She must be super strong!!!”

I had reached the main school building. I veered to the left and instead entered the older school building. It felt dusty here. If I remembered correctly I had to go up one flight of stairs and then all the way down the hall to the left.

“Uhhh yeah she is. I usually run the opposite way when she has a tantrum— BUT I know she doesn’t mean anything by it. It’s just in her nature— it’s all part of growing up, learning how to control her emotions so she doesn’t rage… she’s really not that bad, it’s her brother that you have to watch out for, he’s the absolute worst. I avoid him at all times, if possible.”

It was always strange for me to listen to Mel talk about the people she worked for— there was a tenderness in her voice that was laced with fear and perhaps a tiny bit of respect…

“They were having a huge party this weekend— it’s sort of an annual thing that falls on the twins’ birthday but since they’re kids they never get to go… this made Marissa really angry. I mean the girl I watch, I mean nanny…”

Who were these people really? Mel never gave me a straight answer when I tried to ask, and I found that super frustrating. Why wouldn’t she tell me, and why couldn’t I visit her? Even if they were rich, especially since they were rich they wouldn’t even notice me…

“But, I’m sure they had a birthday party all of their own right?”

“Well— not that I was aware of. I mean who doesn’t throw their child a birthday party? Right? Even if they are-”

“Are?”

“Twins.”

“Right... Well, that’s not why I called.”

“Oh! Is this about the application for Acroft.” The excitement in her voice was incredibly audible— and was there relief in her tone, relief that I had changed the topic?

“Sort of.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll help you when I get home tomorrow. I don’t have to be back here until September first. They’re giving me three weeks off and I’m so excited to see you!”

“And to see Tom, I’m sure!”

“Well— Tom was here this weekend,” she paused, “but enough about Tom, back to you and your application to Acroft!”

“Ahhh yeah.” Well, Tom was allowed to visit, but her best friend wasn’t? WHO were these people? “About that. I already filled it in.”

“Great, then we’ll take it down together. I want to show you around, and if you’re accepted, which I am sure you will be then— well, I’ll have some things that I need to explain… things that are super important for you to know going into a school like this that could be detrimen-”

I had to stop her before she kept going. “Mels. Ray took me to see Dean Melrose today.”

“What? Without me?”

“I’m sorry Mels. I know how much you wanted to go with me— but he was so excited and I figured you’d forgive me…”

“Cass. That was very dangerous. You both could have...”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Well that didn’t sound like ‘nothing’ to me!”

“Seriously. Cass— Please tell me you aren’t doing the excel program...”

“Ummm.”

“Withdraw Cass. Do it now.”

“No. I want to do it.”

“There are things you don’t know about-”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

“I want to know Mel.”

“Then withdraw.”

“No. I can’t Mel.

“Fine, your funeral.” Mel had hung up the phone. She hadn’t visited me on Monday and hadn’t been answering her phone since. I missed her but unless she explained herself our friendship was on hold. As far as I was concerned I hadn’t done anything wrong besides have a heebie-jeebie feeling about the place and say yes to starting school half a month early. I wish she had just told me what was on her mind… What did she mean by, ‘My funeral?’ I shook my head, this was ridiculous and I should just stop thinking about it.

My feet stopped moving. I was standing in a darkened hallway— I had no clue how I had gotten here. There were cobwebs along the ceiling and dust in the air. The hall lights flickered above me— they were the only ones on… How had I missed that?

“Ugh— Hum.”

I jumped.

“Are you coming in?”

I don’t know how I had missed seeing the girl beside me. I looked her up and down— she was beautiful, the kind of girl I had often wished I looked like. This girl had incredible hair, long chocolate locks that fell wisping down her back and reaching her knees. I noticed that her face was heart shaped, and so were her red lips. Now this girl was the kind of girl who made boys swoon…

“I’m Violet Worthington.” She made no move to shake my hand but smiled at me instead.

“Cassandra Pirot.”

“Nice to meet you, Cassandra.” Her voice was warm and friendly, I believed her when she said she was happy to meet me. “Shall we go into the classroom? I don’t want to be late on the first day of classes.”

I nodded.

“I’ve met professor Flimheart. Have you?”

I followed her into the classroom. “No— is he nice?”

Violet laughed. “Well I suppose. I heard that he has quite the temper. Best to stay on his good side.”

The classroom looked like it had once been a science lab, high desks, stools instead of chairs— hollow desks to put text books. Violet made her way to the front and sat by the window.

“Sit with me?”

I smiled, well it looked like I had just made a new friend. As I made my way to sit next to Violet there was a kerfuffle behind me. I didn’t look until I was seated. The class was filling up quickly. Fifteen of us now sat in the classroom. Fifteen of the strangest looking students I had ever seen.

“Stick with me and you’ll be fine.” Violet took my hand and gave it a squeeze— her hand was freezing.

I was about to tell Violet she could borrow my sweater if she wanted to warm up when a big booming voice interrupted me.

“Good morning class.” Everyone turned to look at the man speaking. Professor Flimheart was a short squat man with eyes that resembled marbles— those contacts must have cost him a fortune. I mean to make it look like his eyeballs were all one color… Wow. “As many of you know from last year, this program is very strict. I only allow the brightest and the best to continue— I will be watching your grades very closely. If I feel your grades are not up to par you will not be continuing in this program come next semester. Do you all understand?”

The classroom remained perfectly quiet as if no one dared to speak but at the same time, it felt like there was an energy in the room that spoke volumes, fourteen yeses somehow resounding in the stillness. I took a deep breath to remind myself that I was very much alive and having crazy thoughts, thoughts that I should shake now if I wanted the heebie-jeebie feeling this school was giving me to go away. Professor Flimheart climbed up onto the teacher’s podium behind a desk very similar to the ones we, his students, sat at.

“This year we are proud to add Cassandra Pirot to this class.”

I felt fourteen pairs of eyes turn to stare at me.

“Cassandra is from a long line of Pradora’s who have attended this school in the past. It is an honor to have her in this class, considering her rich and colorful history. Please make her feel welcome.”

What was he talking about?

“Pradora? My last name is Pirot…”

“Yes, I know. But if you do some research into your family, you will find that the maiden name on your mother’s side of her family is Pradora. And we have had many such women from your family line, all Pradora’s of course, attend Acroft High.”

Well, that was news to me. I would have to ask my mom about that, perhaps she had some helpful notes on our family scribbled down in that notebook she was always carrying around.

“Again, welcome-”

The classroom door burst open, everyone including myself turned to look at who was late or interrupting class.

“My apologies professor.” A tall blond boy muttered. “I had to convince Dr. Gristman to let me transfer to the day class.” His blonde hair was long, flopping over his eyes, emerald green eyes.

“Yessssss. Well. Please take a seat. If you must.” Professor Flimheart looked flustered, his jaw bulging at the interruption… Or was it the tall blonde? “Every morning I will do roll call— anyone not here during roll call will be marked as late earning you detention, detention is served over lunch break unless you are of course excused from detention— which is only under very rare circumstances. If you ever need to switch to the evening class you must ask for transfer papers and it must be approved through Dean Melrose and transfers are only allowed for the most trying cases.” He created his throat.

What the hell was that about?

“We shall begin with a roll call. Please answer ‘present’ if you are here— Violet Worthington,”

“Present.”

Professor Flimheart continued to call roll, but I didn’t really pay attention— my mom had gotten me a flip phone a while back, it wasn’t the newest or coolest iPhone like most kids had mom was all about teaching me to earn the right to things, she didn’t want me to grow up to be a spoilt brat, not that I minded. I had an iPod that basically did everything the iPhone did— but my phone was my only connection to Mels— she wasn’t very technologically savvy and had yet to figure out skype or FaceTime... I wish I’d been able to see here before she’d gone back to that stinking mansion she worked at. Why the heck did she have to be so strange? She wanted me to come to Acroft— I was at Acroft and now she was mad? I flipped my phone open then closed… Should I text her? Melanie and I had never fought and not gotten over it— she was my best friend and-

“Tom Fairweather.”’

I looked up. I knew that name! Tom was Mel’s boyfriend! I looked around the classroom— Melanie had gone out with a guy in the grade below her? Wow— well, that was gutsy.

“Present.” Tom’s voice was buoyant— jolly even. Mel had yet to introduce me to her boyfriend. I had teased her for the past year about him but she had been resistant to introducing him to me until she was sure things were going somewhere. I turned ever so slightly in my seat excited to see him to get to meet someone else who I might actually be able to be friends with— a connection to my best friend, but there was someone directly blocking my view, the tall blonde with amazing green eyes, and it would be really obvious if I leaned to the side that I was looking around him… I sighed. I’d have to go try and meet Tom later maybe during our class breaks.

“Mark Farrelli.”

“Present.” The blonde boy I was still sort of facing muttered.

Everyone in the classroom shifted uncomfortably in their seats as his name was uttered by professor Flimheart. I couldn’t tell why, he was a normal looking handsome guy who definitely didn’t deserve the glares and gasps of horror the rest of the students in the room were giving him.

“Ahhh yes.” Flimheart’s voice caught my attention and I turned back towards the front of the room. “We have another new student in this class on hand this semester— another whose family has also been long attending our illustrious school.” He paused and his eyes came to rest on me. “How interesting.”

More like how creepy, that you even looked at me with that weird stare… I shivered.

“This year is already shaping up to be quite a spectacle. Let’s hope it does not end in unprovoked violence and bloodshed.”

WAS THIS GUY ON CRACK?… Unprovoked violence? Bloodshed? OMG PEOPLE. CALM DOWN.

“Shall we continue?” Professor Flimheart glared at me as if I had spoken out loud even though I knew I hadn’t. “And lastly we have our new student— Cassandra Pirot.”

“Present.” I whispered.

Violet’s cold hand squeezed mine gently, and she gave me a reassuring smile. It helped— if only a tiny bit.

“Classes are forty minutes long with ten minute breaks in between classes.” Students nodded, and I realized he was only going over this for my benefit. I tried to pay close attention. “School texts are to be left on premises at all times— please make sure not to write in the books, most of the texts we are using are extremely old and valuable this semester. If you need a text for your homework you may ask the secretary to photocopy that specific page and nothing else. Photocopied pages must be returned to the school once we are finished covering that given topic.”

Wow— I couldn’t take the books home? What if I wanted to read ahead?

“This semester we will be covering; Ancient Civilizations, with a stress on facts, legends and myths— we will be picking up from where we left off last July for those of you who were here at that time— this means we will be starting in the Roman era… Along with Chemistry, Biology and Physics. Our final course we will be focusing on this semester is a Philosophy course newly developed by our own Dean— he will be coming to teach that course which we will only have twice a week— Mondays and Fridays during the last block. l will be teaching all your other classes.” Flimheart glanced at a pocket watch hanging from his suit jacket. “Now class, that has been enough of an introduction— we will take a break now and then come back for our first class together.”

The silent room became a zoo— students stood and stretched, some even left the classroom taking these last few minutes of freedom while they could.

“So what do you think?” Violet asked me.

“Welllllll— it is a little odd.” I noticed Violet’s eyebrows were raised. “ I mean it’s not odd— it’s just not what I was expecting…”

Violet laughed. “Yes, I suppose this is different then the school you were last attending?”

“Yes. A lot actually.”

“I hear you! When I first came here three years ago I felt the exact same thing! Except I’ve been in this program the entire time so I wouldn’t even have noticed anything was strange.”

“You’ve been in this program for three years?”

Violet nodded. “Professor Flimheart wasn’t always the teacher. Dr. Gristman used to teach us— she did double duty teaching both the class during the day and the evening classes.”

A part of me really wanted to walk around the classroom and meet some of the students in my class but I also really wanted to hear the info on Dr. Gristman. Meeting Tom or that Mark dude would have to wait.

“Why the heck are there classes at night?”

A masculine voice cleared behind me. “Because there is.”

I spun on my stool and found myself looking at Mark.

“I don’t think I was talking to you.”

Mark rolled his eyes— Violet looked terrified. “Mark, leave her alone.”

“Hey, I’m just telling the truth.” Mark put his lanky hands up on either side of himself in a shrugging motion.

“Okaayyy. So if there needs to be one... a class at night— why did you suddenly switch out of it?”

“I’m afraid that’s none of your business.” Mark flipped open his notebook and focused on that instead of myself or Violet.

I had the sudden feeling like I was being dismissed. It flipped me off. What a jerk.

“Don’t mind him.” I looked to my left— a girl with bubblegum pink hair had moved from the row behind and seated herself next to me.

“And you are?”

“Irene Inverness.” She nodded at me and also like Violet didn’t offer her hand to shake mine… Interesting. “Violet!” She continued as if I was a mere bump in the road. “So glad to have you back with us!”

Back with us? Where had Violet been? I looked to my right— Violet blushed.

“Do tell!!” Squealed Irene. “What is Viktor Worthington really like behind closed doors? Everyone is dying to know.”

Viktor Worthington? Wasn’t Violet’s last name Worthington? Hold the phone— what is going on now? Violet seemed to pick up on my confusion.

“I’m sorry Cassandra— I should probably clarify so you don’t think the worst of me.” Violet’s face went almost as purple as her namesake, behind me Mark snorted and Irene, well, I glanced at her and she rolled her eyes.

“Humans.” She muttered.

Okay— enough with the creepy creep.

“I wasn’t always a Worthington, in fact until last year, I was Violet Flagstone.” She paused. “I was in the night class because my brothers— well, they are a tad protective, even if they are younger than me— it’s hard to stand up to the four of them. I wanted to come to the day class, and they wouldn’t hear of it! I suppose it’s quite alright though. If I hadn’t listened to them I never would have met Viktor.”

“Okay— so you met a cute boy?”

Both Violet and Irene burst into laughter. “Sure. I guess you could call him cute… I call him many other names, but that’s besides the point. My parents and my brother’s all hated him.”

“Why?”

“Well idiot.” Irene growled. “If you just shut up you’d understand.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Anyways.” Violet continued. “I had never done anything to dare go against my parents wishes— they had such high expectations-expectations they placed on all five of us— and when I was around Viktor it was like all of it faded away and I could just be me. I loved that about him. We dated in secret for six months— but I knew after those first few months that he would be the only one for me. When he proposed, I said yes!”

I felt my jaw drop. Proposed?

“We eloped— went to Europe and stayed with family friends for the first few months— then we traveled for the rest of the year before finally coming home to live with his family. I don’t regret it, but my family— the Flagstones, have completely cut me off. It is a small sacrifice with a great reward.”

Okay— there was so much in that story that didn’t make sense or I didn’t want to process. I needed to go for a walk, clear my head— work through these strange goings on… maybe call Mel and make her talk to me. “Soooo wait— you took a whole year off of school?”

Violet nodded. “Technically speaking I should have graduated by now— I’m here because I want to finish school. Viktor, however, was almost finished school when I met him… He runs his own business with his brothers now.”

Beside me Irene sighed. “How romantic. If only I get so lucky.”

Romantic? That story wasn’t romantic… Not in the least.

“Class!” Professor Flimheart tapped a small gavel on his desk calling us back to order. “I have been more than generous with your first break— please take to your seats. We will begin with Ancient Civilizations— Irene, please be so kind as to distribute these books here.” He gestured to a pile of books I hadn’t noticed before sitting on a stool beside his podium. “Once you have your books please turn to page two hundred and seventy three.”

The rest of the day was a blur; classes flew by— Irene turned out to be a great partner in several debates we had throughout the day, and Violet was an excellent lab partner. I ignored Mark for the most part and I managed to introduce myself to almost all the other students in the room except for Tom— he always ducked out of the room at break times. Three o’clock rolled around so quickly that I couldn’t quite believe I had finished my first full day at Acroft.

“And that will be all for today class.” Flimheart’s nasally voice concluded. “I will see you all here bright and early tomorrow morning.”

There was a flurry of action as the students sprung to life and filed out of the room. I slid my text books into the desk. Violet had been anxious to leave right away and had already slipped past me, Irene following her.

A hand reached out and tapped my arm— “Hey,” Mark’s voice made me turn around.

“What?” I hissed.

“Look I feel like we got off on the wrong foot and I would love to rectify that, if I still can?”

I found myself sighing. “And how would you go about doing that?”

“Can I buy you coffee and explain myself?”

Well— on one hand this guy was an arrogant jerk; but on the other hand, if I grabbed coffee with him it also meant I was delaying my going home and right now I didn’t want to go home. How was I supposed to explain this place or these people to my mom— to Ray? That would sure be a fun conversation. Hey mom and Ray— everyone here dresses like sluts but it’s ok— because they get married at sixteen. Oh yes, and the professor is insane, going on about history as if it is all a myth and talking about bloodshed etc….

“I guess so.”