“As you already know I was impressed with the view of Mr. Maximilian’s house. I finally understood how he could afford to take care of my mom and me…” The house was huge, at that time the gazebo was still under construction. Rachel’s car drove up the long drive to the front of the house where a maid welcomed both Heather and her mother. The interior was the house was quite impressive for a small-town girl like Heather. Immediately they arrived the maid ushered Rachel into the study where Maximilian was waiting for her. Heather was taken to a separate room where a TV was turned on and a show was running. She wasn’t as interested in the show as she was in the ornaments that adorned the room. There were ceramic figurines of ballerinas, shepherds, and sheep on a shelf, polished bronze, and gold sculptures, and some beautiful paintings were arranged on the wall. The maid who brought her to the room appeared with a tray of juice and chocolate chip cookies that smelled delicious. As soon as

Over the next week and the week after I had no chance to take Heather’s advice because of my exams. I studied hard with Charlie and let me tell you Charlie is a blessing when she explains difficult topics. Everyone should be blessed with a friend like Charlie Fudge who supports, loves, and looks out for her friends. I had expected her to prod me on what Heather and I talked about but she didn’t ask any questions, we simply moved on from it and went back to being friends and roommates but I know she hopes Heather and I come to an understanding soon. My new friendship with Tyler was also blossoming at a rather rapid pace. When he is not against you Tyler was quite the charmer. He is funny and his carefree lifestyle was just what I needed to deal with the pressure of exams and the knowledge that I would have to confront Christian one day. While he never left Christian’s side he did show his friendliness by shouting my name across the dining hall and playfully slapping my shoulder when we

“I can’t believe we need a graduation assembly before the party.” Charlie and I were at the hostel laundry pressing our uniforms with hot irons, the pleats on my skirt were razor-sharp as requested by Miss Diana. She came to the hostel two nights after the conclusion of exams to announce the date for the graduation, not that we didn’t know already but her services as matron to the girls required her to give us the information we already knew about. The graduation ceremony for Edwin and Co. is done in two phases. First, the announcement of the achievements of the graduating students, the announcement of the new perfects, the head boy and girl speech, the principal’s speech and Mr. Edwin’s speech, followed by the presentation of certificates to the graduates. For this, all parents were invited but the after-party was strictly for the students. “We never had a graduation assembly at Lake George. I can barely even remember what graduation was like back then but I do remember the booze, t

The junior class 3 outdid themselves with the creative decorations they put up in the dining hall. The light bulbs they put up displayed a variety of colors all over the dining floor. The tables and chairs had been moved aside to allow for open dancing space. Streamers and balloons were hanging from window corners and even from some of the ceiling fans. At one side of the dining was a bar that was set up using the excess drinks rolled out by the outgoing senior class 3 and Jake Newman and some other guy I didn’t recognize served drinks to people. There was also a buffet with a variety of goodies and some of the first and second-year juniors occupied this table as they helped themselves to the food spread out. At the entrance of the dining was a huge banner that read “Happy Graduation!!!” Charlie and I scanned the hall. Charlie wore form-fitting slacks with an open-neck long-sleeved shirt and low heels. She and Tyler came up with the idea to dress the exact same way for whatever reaso