Chapter One

NATASHA'S POV

The annoying shrill of my alarm jolted me out of my bed that morning and I let out a frustrated groan as I reached for the alarm and switched it off.

“Get out of bed, Nat. You'll be late for school.”

What did she mean, school? I could not keep going to school because we didn't have a college on our side of town.

The only university in Delengade was the one for the Uppers, with just a small exception for the middle class.

But you had to have a lot of money to get in, unless by scholarship and I didn't…wait a minute…I did get in.

And today was my first day. I shot out of bed and ran into the bathroom.

“Mum! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?” I whined, as I ran back into the room.

I was acting quite confused as I stood staring at her.

My mum watched me with an amused expression the whole time and I heard her laughter from the bathroom.

“Don't worry. You're safe, Nat. I got you. Your alarm just rang. I set my alarm to the same time. This is a big day for you.”

I smiled as I brushed my teeth but I looked ridiculous in the mirror so I stopped.

My mum could be so sweet. Of course today was a big day. Only five middle class got the opportunity of getting into Delengade College on scholarship.

Even if you could pay, it was reserved for the wealthier middle class, the opportunity was only open to fifteen students.

The other thousands of students who attended Delengade were Upper Class, known as the Elites, who made life miserable for the “unfortunate” middle class, known as subs who thought they deserved an opportunity to mingle with Upper Class.

In the words of Sasha Bullock. The Bullocks were the top second upper class family in Delengade.

After the Melton family. The Meltons, according to stories, had been nicer and during their rule as matriarchs of the town, they founded the Delengade College giving the middle class an opportunity for a better life.

The Meltons used to be middle class and only rose to a pinnacle through hard work, grit and determination.

They understood what it was like to be different. But the last of the Meltons, Derek Gale Melton and his wife died mysteriously few years back, leaving their son behind with his grandma.

The grandma, Amanda Emiliana Melton was too old to meddle in politics and their son, Peter didn't give a shit.

And because other upper class families did not agree with them, they fought over the years to scrape out the programme of giving the middle class access to school there.

But the fact that Amanda was alive gave the Meltons enough hold on things.

However, the other families had managed to keep manipulating things until the College became open to less and less people from the middle class.

And since they could not stop them completely, they resorted to subjecting the middle class who dared step into the college to torture, literally until these students are driven to take their own lives or leave the College.

Of course, these things were not exactly secrets. Everyone knew what happened to students who got into Delengade, but there wasn't exactly a law system in Delengade.

The law system was the upper class and they hid everything. Everyone worked for them, teachers, lawyers, everyone.

They had influence everywhere. They took whatever they wanted and had no fear of being called out because no one could.

I guess that is enough history lesson for now. And yeah, you might be thinking, why the hell would I want to go to a school like that where I could possibly be driven to take my own life?

First off, there was no college on our side of town. Yep, Delengade was divided into three factions.

The side of the city where the upper class lived were filled with giant houses, skyscrapers to be exact. Houses built with glass windows and magnificent ceilings.

They had all the great things, schools, hotels, malls, parks and even outdoor gardens. And they were the only ones who had a college.

While the middle class lived in the middle part of town. They lived in hardship and were hardly comfortable. The houses were poorly built bungalows that haven't been repainted in years.

The middle class also worked for the upper class. We worked our butts off for them and got paid peanuts.

And then there was the lower class. The ones who didn't even exist. They lived in some other part of town in dilapidated and shabby buildings and I heard people die everyday because of the amount of germs there.

That's the first reason. And the other reason was because I was a dreamer.

I dreamt of a better life for my family. To be able to escape this life of hardship.

As long as you become powerful enough like the Meltons, no one ever remembers you for once being middle class.

I had been waiting for this scholarship for years and now that I had this opportunity, I would not take it for granted.

I would do everything to succeed, even though it was going to be a bit harder for me considering the fact I was plus sized.

My parents and siblings didn't fully support me. They thought I was trying to do something impossible and everyone ought to stay in their place.

But I disagreed. Was I foolish to dream? Maybe, but who said dreams didn't come true?

I stood in front of my mirror as I was done preparing and my mum was gone, and smiled at my reflection.

“You can do this, Nat. You can do this. You'll be great. You're perfect. You're beautiful.”

After that, I grabbed my bag off my bed and left the room. I was so ready. Delengade College, here I come.