Westridge Academy, Part Two

Aside from Westridge being a new school, and the fact that Amelia was too old to be attending a boarding school, it was surprisingly easy for her to settle into the daily schedule once Monday hit. Since she was barely an adult at this point, most of her life had revolved around classes and studying. Sure, she had a social life and did a handful of extracurriculars over the years, but a lot of her time and energy had always been dedicated to her grades. So, while it was still awkward and mortifying to be dressed up like a schoolgirl and consistently perceived as a tween, there was a subtle familiarity to the process of going to class and spending her evenings on those materials.

The classes weren’t particularly easy, either. While the mathematics and reading portions of the aptitude test had been her strongest, that didn’t mean either of those subjects came easily once she was actually in the thick of it. There were so many formulas and nuances she had forgotten from her middle school years, and the majority of the problems on the assignments she worked on were more complicated than they looked. She and her classmates were also required to show their work on every problem as well, meaning she couldn’t just breeze through the parts that came more naturally to her. Similarly, she struggled more than she expected with English. Amelia was a fast reader and a decent writer, though none of that helped her when there were dozens of grammar terms she needed to brush up on.

She was starting to see why the academy had a ‘Teaching Assistant’ position with a salary that was higher than what the average teacher made. Even with an education degree, Amelia would have struggled to stay on top of the curriculum at a school that was more rigorous. Shadowing one of their experienced teachers would have given her time to get used to the intensity of the classes that she could barely keep up with as a student.

Of course, just because going to class was familiar didn’t mean she particularly enjoyed reliving her childhood, or at least a version of childhood if she had been shipped off to a place like this rather than having the public school experience. Amelia had a real life, one where she had an apartment and a car and a job hunt to get back to. If anything, she was slightly worried about how normal being a Westridge student was starting to feel. After putting on the uniform every morning and sleeping in a dorm room every night, the routine of it all was helping her settle into the temporary reality. It was kind of like a vacation, only more surreal and embarrassing and completely unplanned; her actual life existed, and was still in her thoughts often enough, but for now she was gradually getting used to the day to day of being somewhere else.

And being someone else. Millie. That name was quickly getting normalized as well, since literally everyone called her that. Honestly, it kind of helped. Amelia was the young adult who had been tricked into this situation and was preparing for the test that would get her out of it. Millie was the schoolgirl, the troublesome transfer student with the braided hair.

She still received a couple infractions every day. That was the problem with her file making it sound like she was a girl who was the exact opposite of her actual self, as well as the series of events that happened throughout her first couple days on campus. Reputations were hard to shake, and the prefects obviously found more problems with the girls they were keeping a closer eye on. Amelia’s tie being slightly askew, a meal not being quite as balanced as it should be, etc. Little things that so many other girls could have been written up for just as easily, except they faded into the background more easily than Amelia and a couple of other students in her classes that she learned had been sent to Westridge more to be reformed than for the higher quality education.

As for proving who she really was, that was starting to be less of a focus thanks to how she simply didn’t have the time to focus on it. Most of her ‘peers’ had a free block during the day, and time for a club and/or team in the afternoon. Amelia could have used that time to make another attempt at accessing a computer, or finally getting that burner phone Summer had promised her, or whatever. Except Amelia’s schedule was completely full, between the tutoring sessions with Mrs. Fletcher and the check-in she did with Evelyn about the catch-up process as well as how Amelia was adjusting to the intensity of her classes.

Then, at night, Amelia barely had enough time to do all of her homework, tutoring assignments, and whatever studying she could tackle for the impending aptitude test. On top of all that, she also made a point to reread a few sections of the student handbook before bed, to avoid receiving more infractions along the way. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t really a student; after a lifetime of being a bit of a teacher’s pet and a rather Type A girl who always had her shit together, it was humiliating getting in trouble so often. It especially stung coming from teenagers, some of whom were power tripping in their prefect roles, when she was supposed to have more authority than them.

Ashley and Claire weren’t around nearly as often once they saw that Amelia was actually going along with their not so little prank. Ashley would still make a show of greeting her in the halls whenever they crossed paths, asking how she’s settling in, and so on. Or, in other words, playing the part of her older cousin. Claire stopped by on Monday morning to do Amelia’s hair, only to see that it was already up. While the petite blonde much preferred to wear her hair down with a soft curl, as it was generally a mature look when paired with her usual outfits, she still knew how to braid her own hair from when she was younger. Just the basic kind, though that was what Claire had been doing this whole time.

Even ‘thirteen’ was too old to need someone else’s help getting ready. Thankfully, Claire approved the simple braid, and said she trusted Amelia with her morning routine moving forward. As long as it was braids every day because, according to her, it was a cute look. Of course, ‘cute’ was hardly a compliment for a girl like her.

Finally, after a full week of begrudgingly playing the part of a schoolgirl, it was time for Amelia’s aptitude test. Well, not quite. Unlike the first time, where she had taken it in the morning fairly soon after she changed into the student uniform, she had to wait until after her free block on Friday afternoon. Better to take it in place of her longer tutoring session, rather than during class.

The day of, Ashley broke the pattern of leaving her ‘little cousin’ alone. At 7 AM sharp, she rapped on Amelia’s door. “Millie! You awake?”