Laney
The first halfof my day zoomed by. Homeroom for first period, then English, history, and biology. Now it was time for my first lunch in the incredible RFA cafeteria.
I grabbed a veggie burger, sweet potato fries and some sort of fruit smoothie, and then I headed to a small table with Trina and Adam, who’d met me outside the cafeteria doors after biology. It was one of the only classes I didn’t share with Trina throughout the week.
During homeroom, I’d compared our schedules, and apart from bio, we only had one other different class—I had chemistry on Thursday last period while she had art history. That meant she was right by my side for most of the week.
I felt so lucky to have already made not one but two awesome friends on my very first day, and it was even more fortunate that I didn’t have to sit alone in the vast majority of my classes.
And speaking of classes… I got the shock of my life when I walked into my first one earlier. It was sheer luxury. Comfortable ergonomic chairs that could be calibrated to fit each particular student’s body, gorgeous varnished wooden desks with outlets for laptops or tablets, and real flowers in planters on either side of the windowsills.
Even the bathrooms were luxurious. Black and white marble everywhere, gold fixtures, and perfume dispensers so everyone could pretend they peed Chanel No. 5 or Armani Code.
I literally had to pinch my arm to remind myself that for the next year, this was my life. Not a dream.
“Mmm!” I made a strangled sound of bliss as I chewed my first bite of lunch. It was the best veggie burger I’d ever eaten, bar none.
I didn’t even know why I was surprised to discover that. After seeing the lavish layout of RFA, I was already starting to get accustomed to the academy having the very best of everything.
“I’m guessing that means you like the food,” Trina said with a grin.
I nodded. “Do you guys mind if I just ignore you and concentrate on this burger for the rest of my life?”
Adam laughed. “Don’t you dare,” he said, jokingly flicking a napkin toward me. “Anyway, how are you finding your first day?”
“It’s been hard, but really good at the same time,” I replied.
The classes were a lot more challenging than anything I ever experienced at my old school, but the teachers were far more engaged with every student because the class sizes were smaller. I was really enjoying it so far.
“That’s good. What are you planning on doing after you graduate?”
I hesitated. “Hm… I’ve always wanted to study political science. I’m still pretty set on that, but I haven’t really thought about which colleges to apply for yet.”
His brows rose. “You haven’t?”
I shrugged. “Before now, I was just going to apply to the closest place to home that would give me a scholarship.”
Adam and Trina exchanged wide-eyed glances. I could tell they were shocked by what appeared to be a lack of ambition on my part, but was really a lack of opportunity.
Before I received the scholarship to RFA, I didn’t have much hope of getting a full-ride scholarship to any of the elite universities, unless I got really lucky. Silvercreek High didn’t have any college counselors to help with our applications—instead there was just one guidance counselor who was always busy dealing with all the ‘bad’ kids. It didn’t leave much time for students like me to discuss our futures. We were basically on our own.
On top of that, a lot of space in the top universities was taken up by legacy students, who essentially had a leg up for being lucky enough to be born into the right family. It was also pretty well-known that monetary ‘donations’ could get average or even low-performing students into certain schools, provided the donation was large enough. That left even fewer spots for regular students.
Sometimes I honestly wondered if the whole system was rigged for people like me to fall behind and stay behind for our entire lives.
“Most students here start planning that stuff in junior year,” Adam said. “Like me. I’ve already picked out all of my college options.”
Trina jumped in. “We have specialized counselors for all that stuff. Maybe you should go see one?”
I nodded. “Ms. Flores said she’s going to help me out with it.”
“Oh, cool,” she said. “I like her. She’s nice.”
Adam nodded. “Hunter saw her too. He’s already narrowed it all down to Alton, and once he gets his early admission application essay in, he’ll probably be accepted. We’ll know by early December.”
“Wow. Alton is a good one.”
That was an understatement. Alton University was one of the top Ivies, and it always ranked somewhere in the top three on every single college ranking chart, even the worldwide ones.