1 A Somber Day

In a small, dully lit room, a young girl of only 8 was curled up in a ball of ragged blankets. It was cold and the little slits of sunlight that made it past the dark curtains were not enough to warm the girl up. She had dark, nearly pitch-black hair and striking orb-like blue eyes.

'Papa and mama aren't here anymore.'

Her head tilted downwards, but no tears came out. Even the small, quickly put together funeral for the sudden passing of her parents did not warrant any tears. Everything happened so quickly, far too quickly for a child to process.

'I know… Nobody wanted me.'

Their faces were clear in her memories, the warmth of their touch as they gave her one last final hug before they left in the car that they would spend their last moments in. She knew that her parents were wary of their relatives, but now, she knew how rotten they were.

She heard them talking. Her aunts and uncles who were supposed to be her family.

"Finally, they kicked the bucket."

"How much did they leave for us?"

"What?! They give it all to that thing. Isn't she too young?"

"Did you hear? I heard she might be an illegitimate child; she looks nothing like her father."

"So, who's biting the bullet? I can't take her in, my wife would kill me. We don't even get anything from raising her."

They all saw her as an eyesore, something that got in the way of a fortune that they should have received. On that same day, the forms were signed, and she was dropped off at an orphanage.

Something died inside of Rosalie that day.

The orphanage was called, "The Winter's House" and was low on funds, but far from negligent. They raised the children to the best of their abilities and deeply cared about their well being.

Rosalie caused them a lot of worries. She never cried or asked for anything, she had shielded herself and constantly wore a mask. Her smiles were not genuine, nor were her words.

She knew the people at Winter's cared for her, but she could not let them into her heart.

Time passed quickly and Rosalie was already in her last year of middle school. She excelled in everything, grades, sports, music, you name it. Everyone knew her as a kind model student that was nice to everyone. However, throughout all of school, Rosalie never let anyone close to her.

While growing up, Rosalie learned one thing about herself: She was super lazy!

She could get by school by just flipping through the textbook and did her homework haphazardly, never double-checking it because she knew it was right. Afterward, she would spend the whole day lounging around her room and playing on her laptop that she put together herself.

Her goal was to quickly graduate, get the inheritance, then live a comfy life. A pretty solid plan.

Rosalie already passed the entrance exam to her local high school, turning down all the scholarship offers because she couldn't be bothered to travel longer than she needed to or even worse, live in a dormitory. Her grades were the top in the city and could've been even higher if Rosalie put in some more effort. Many schools were vying for her attendance which resulted in numerous offers.

Living in a dormitory would be uncomfortable. I like having my own room and privacy.

That summer, a package arrived for Rosalie.

The letter that came with it read:

Dear Ross,

Your acceptance to Wexcombe Academy has been confirmed. Within this package is you will find you uniform as well as your enrollment letter and confirmation. Please be prepared to move into your dorm as soon as next week.

Your school fees and living expenses during your stay have all been covered by Mr. and Ms. Dixon. Please be aware that your attendance and graduation from Wexcombe Academy will be necessary for you to be eligible to collect your inheritance.

We will be pleased to have you join our student body this coming Autumn.

Sincerely,

Gerard Wilkins

Principal

Wexcombe Academy

Rosalie was speechless. This letter was addressed to her, but it referred to her as Ross? She would have to attend and graduate from Wexcombe Academy to get her inheritance, why didn't anyone ever tell her? Then she remembered the kind of people her relatives were, makes sense, they would've wanted her to forfeit the fortune.

What followed was quite strange, the uniform that came in the package was the typical private school uniform, navy blue vest and pants, and a white collared shirt. Rosalie was fine with pants, but isn't this the male uniform? She wondered while lifting the clothes up to get a closer look.

Some dots were connecting now, Ross, the male uniform… Her parents had enrolled her as a male student.

As it turns out, Rosalie's parents enrolled her into Wexcombe Academy before she was even born, and by default, for some reason, she was enrolled as a male student.

What a pain, Rosalie would have to go get that fixed when she gets there. She sighed and put the uniform down.

She didn't have a choice. It looks like her peaceful school life plans have derailed as she's forced to attend some prestigious school.

"Are you alright with this?"

Marie, one of Winter's caretakers asked Rosalie uneasily.

"I'll be fine, it will be nice to meet new people!"

Rosalie smiled and, in her thoughts, knew that this was going to be a real nightmare.

Marie fell for it and sighed in relief, "that's great, you have a chance to study at a great school, work hard and make us proud."

"I will."

Rosalie made her way up into her room and flopped down onto her bed with a "flumpf".

Looks like she spoke too soon about dorms, soon she'd have to share a room with some other annoying rich kid. Then attend classes with more annoying rich kids. Technically she was also a rich kid, but she couldn't stand arrogant, stuck up people, and more often than not, they were usually offensively rich.

She glanced around her room to see papers strewn all over the floor that seemed to have fallen earlier and let out a heavy groan. Things were really not going her way.