Information

Juelle
Legacy Name: Juelle

The Blacklight Lain
Owner: Korean

Age: 18 years, 6 months

Born: December 9th, 2007

Adopted: 18 years, 6 months ago (Legacy)

Adopted: December 9th, 2007 (Legacy)

Statistics

• Level: 1
   
• Strength: 10
   
• Defense: 10
   
• Speed: 10
   
• Health: 10
   
• HP: 10/10
   
• Intelligence: 0
   
• Books Read: 0
• Food Eaten: 0
• Job: Unemployed

1. Background information
Jewel was born into a rich family. She is the only child and heir to her father's estate. She has never met her real mother. She and her step-mother have never gotten along very well. She trades her life to work at Beta Burger.

2. CHARACTER:
Jewel

3. CONFLICT:
Does not wish to live her life as an heir to a business.

4. OPPONENT:
Her father

5. DISASTER:
Thinking....

6. Characters:
2. Charles Ellis (Father)
3. Dianne (Step-Mother)
4. Natasha (Manager)
5. Amie (Store manager)
6. Roger (Manager)
7. Ben (Manager)
8. Jimmy (Manager)
9. Jill (Manager)
10. Kay (Manager)
11. Andi (Manager)






Intro


It was just another one of those days. Jewel looked around the huge mansion that she lived in. It was beautifully built, but it seemed to lack so much life compared to the houses she often saw on the television. Why was she born into such a life of luxury?

Jewel heard footsteps echo in the distance. When she looked over to see who they belonged to, she noticed it was her step-mother, Dianne. They had never really got along well since her father married her four years ago. Jewel always had a feeling that Dianne didn't like her that much, and was definitely not a child person. Part of the terms of marriage were that Charles would never ask her for any children. He agreed, reluctantly.

"I've been looking for you. Why are you always here? It'd be nice to find you studying in your room for once." She said coldly.

"Yeah? Well it'd be nice to find you not shopping for once." Jewel retorted.

Dianne's face turned to a unsettled expression. "Perhaps you need a book on proper manners, young lady."

Jewel just smiled at her."Perhaps you need to learn not to be such a gold digger. You wouldn't have to deal with unwanted children like me."

She narrowed her eyes at Jewel. Dianne would not hit herin front of all of the mansion's security cameras. Her lips remained purse and she unfriendly.

"Dinner is ready in the dining area. Your father has come home. He would like to speak with you." She turned away as her dress made a rustling noise up the stair case.

Jewel entered the dining room to find her father, Charles, sitting at the far end of the large table. She joined the table to sit at his left side, while Dianne was seated at the right of him.

"Welcome home, daddy." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

He smiled at her. "I've missed my sunshine!" he said in a silly voice. "I've brought you plenty of things from my trip to Europe. You are just going to love them!"

"Ahahaha...I bet I will, daddy!" The conversation that passed between the three was rather bland for the duration of the meal. They exchanged polite banter about his business trip to Europe. The conversation started to take a different turn when Charles decided to bring up a touchy subject.

"So...Your eighteenth birthday is coming up soon, and I've decided its time you join the family company. I've already made arrangements for you to leave with me on my next trip. I'd like you to prepare to be the Vice-President of the Ellis company."

"Daddy...I told you I didn't want anything to do with the family business," Jewel said stubbornly.

"Jewel, we have already discussed this. Whether I wanted to take over the Ellis family business or not was not a question when I turned eighteen. My dad forced the company into my hands, and I've put my hard work into turning it into what it is today. We're a multi-billionaire company and it won't stop here."

"Yeah, well, I have no intention of bringing our multi-billionaire company to a multi-trillionaire one....Why don't you give the company to someone else so you can actually spend time with your family instead of the family business?" Jewel fired heatedly.

"YOU WILL BE TAKING OVER THE COMPANY AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE DISRESPECTFUL COMMENTS FROM YOU, YOUNG LADY," Charles shouted.

Jewel held her head down. Her bangs covered her eyes as they filled with tears. "Ah. Excuse me, I need to study." She said in a shaky voice.

Dianne had given Jewel a few minutes to be alone in her room. She had been standing outside the door since not long after Jewel had left the dinner table. When Charles was upset, he had a habit of locking himself in his office for a while. Dianne saw this as an opportunity to talk to Jewel alone.

After the sobbing from behind the door seemed to subside, Dianne knocked quietly on her bedroom door. "Y-yes?" the shaky voice said from within.

"It's Dianne."

The door knob turned and made a soft click as it opened.

"Oh," was all Jewel said as Dianne walked inside her bedroom.

"What do you want, Dianne?" Jewel's tone was rough as she talked to her step-mother.

Dianne just huffed as she was quite used to Jewel's disrespectful treatment. "Nothing, darling. I just wanted to see how you are." She held her arms open wide as a beaming smile played out across her face. Her eyes seem to shout, "come here or else" to Jewel. Jewel cautiously stepped into the embrace of the older woman.

"On your desk, there is an envelope with $30,000 I've set aside. Take it and leave this place," She whispered into Jewel's ear before she released Jewel from her fake hug. "Well, I hope you are feeling better. Goodbye, Jewel," She smiled the sweetest she had ever seen before Dianne left out Jewel's bedroom door.

Jewel walked over to her desk. There was a single envelope with her name laying in the center. She carefully opened the contents to find a check for $30,000. Jewel rushed over to her closet and put on one of her rather thin, black dresses. After that, she stashed the envelope inside her pocket and ran out her bedroom door.

"Dianne. Do you think I should go talk to her?" Charles asked as his head was buried in his hands on his desk.

Dianne stood next to the window, staring out it with a calm expression. She could see as Jewel had left the mansion doors. She had already taken care of a ride for Jewel to leave the estate which caused her to smile. Things had been going perfectly.

"I think you should go talk to her. You were a little hard on her, Charles. I tried to talk to her, but the poor girl simply wouldn't speak to me, Darling." She placed her thin hands on his shoulders and rubbed them gently. "Your right," He started, "I should go and apologize for yelling at her. She just does not understand that the Ellis company has always been handed down. There isn't a place to refuse, and besides anyone in their right mind would love to own even a fourth of the Ellis company. And to think...she's getting it all!"

"Well, Darling, some women are like me. They are more concerned about other matters than have their minds on money all the time." She let out of a soft giggle that was meant to sound cute. Charles just glanced at her doubtfully and left out the study door. Dianne just picked up her glass of red wine as she toasted to her success. Getting rid of Jewel was the best thing she had done in her four years as a part of the Ellis family.

1


Jewel fidgeted inside the limosine. She figured the money was to get rid of her, but had Dianne already set up a place for her to live as well? The answer she had been looking for was soon found as the limosine stopped in the middle of the city. "Here you are, my lady." "Where are we?" Jewel asked the driver. He just shrugged in reply. "This is where you get out."

"Ah." Was all she could manage. She wasn't quite used to the cold treatment of the drivers. In fact, she noticed that he didn't even get out to open the door for her. She forcefully pushed open the limo door and slammed it shut behind her. She was about to live in normal society, so she had best get used to it now.

The car rolled away and left her in the middle of one of the busiest streets in town. As she was staring around at the strange neon lights that lit of the city, she felt a body smack into her. Her small frame fell to the ground with the impact of the two bodies hitting each other. She briefly glared at his eyes as he just continued walking.

"Geesh." Jewel said as she tried to squeeze her way through the walking crowd on the street. "There are so many people here." It didn't take her long to find the subway area. "Wow!" She exclaimed. It would be the first time to ever ride on public transportation, and the thought kind of thrilled her.

"Hello!" The woman sitting behind a booth said to her through the microphone. "Hello!" Jewel said back to her. "Would you like to purchase a ticket?" Jewel just nodded her head. "Alright, that'll be 2.50$" The lady said. Jewel reached down to grab her purse. It wasn't at her side.

She began to pat her body frantically. Where could it have gone? It had the envelope with $30,000 in it, as well as her cell phone, and her other needs. "Miss? $2.50 please?" It dawned on her then, that she had been mugged. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't remember what the guy looked like at all.

Tears of frustration began to roll down her face. "I-I'm S-Sorry." She said with a wavering voice. She turned and walked away. She sat down on a near by bench and curled into a ball. Her whole frame was shaking with sobs. She imagined running away to be similar to some fairy tale.

She was going to leave the mansion, find an apartment, maybe even find a job. She'd live there for a while, go back to high school, meet some real friends for the first time in her life. Eventually, she'd even meet a guy and have a boyfriend. She wouldn't have to submit living her in the Ellis company. Spending her every waking moment looking over company files, and making sure the company survived like her father and grand father had done.

But now Jewel felt as though her plans were about to fly out the window. She would have to drag herself home all dirty and teary eyed. Beg her dad to let her work in the company still, and condemn herself to a life she didn't want.

Her stomach began to growl which made her begin to cry more. As she glanced up at the clock in the subway, she noticed it was almost midnight. She cursed her appetite. It was about the time she would sneak into the kitchen and grab a snack from the cooks. Her thoughts seemed to drift away as she fell asleep on the bench.

"Miss! Are you okay?" Jewel's eyes began to slowly open to someone frantically shaking her. "Dianne? Go away." Jewel mumbled. Her eyelids were pried open by the woman who was shaking her. "I'm not Dianne." She said. The realization began to dawn on Jewel. She quickly sat up.

"Sorry about that." Jewel said as she wiped the sleep away from her eyes. The girl continued to stare at her. "Are you okay?" She finally asked after a moment. "No. Not really." Jewel said bluntly. The woman didn't seem to mind at all. "I ran away from my home today. I got mugged in the street and I have no money to get anywhere, and no money to find a place to stay. I don't want to go home..." The woman suddenly stood up and walked away.

'Wow...How rude.' Jewel thought to herself. She had asked if she was okay, and then just walks away from her story. She signed to herself. It looks like the world outside the palace really was a cold place after all. Maybe it was better to just go home and run the company....

"Here." Jewel looked up and found a card thrust in her face. "This will let you ride the subway. Let's go! It's about to leave." The woman grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bench into a complete dash for the subway. They swiped their cards at the machine and ran to the closing doors.

"Made it!" She exclaimed as she began to laugh. "Boy, I haven't had a run in a long time. That feels great." Jewel smiled at her. "This is so cool!" She said as she nearly fell over. "You have to sit down silly." Jewel quickly sat down besides the girl.

"What's your name? My name is Jewel Ellis." The girl just stared at her. "Jewel Ellis? That sounds like some rich girls name." Jewel just laughed. "I guess...." She mumbled. "My name is Madison Thompson. But you can just call me Maddie. Most people do anyways."

"I think that sounds kinda like a rich girl name too..." Jewel said back to her. "You think so?" They both giggled. "Well, if you need a place to stay, feel free to stay with me. I don't mind, honestly." Jewel couldn't believe the kindness of this woman.

"I'd be so grateful if you let me stay with you. I promise I'll find a place of my own as soon as possible." Madison just smiled at Jewel. "It's cool. No rush. Just don't cry. I hate seeing people cry."

2


Madison's keys jingled as she unlocked the door to her apartment. Jewel was a bit exhausted because she never had to walk up nine flights of stairs to get anywhere before. The mansion had nice elevators, and this apartment building had nine flights of wooden stairs that creaked when you stepped on them.

The door opened and it left Jewel's jaw dropped on the floor. The entire floor was littered with garbage, and Jewel could smell a unpleasant odor emitting from the apartment without even walking in. Madison's face looked a little uneasy.

"Sorry...Should've warned you about this first." Madison put her hand on Jewel's back and forced her into the apartment. "Don't worry...you'll get used to it!" Jewel walked in uneasily. "I......I hope so." After all, this was the best she had to work with until she could find a place of her own.

Besides the fact that the apartment was almost a sea of filth, Jewel began to notice how small it was. In comparative size, she noted that the apartment itself wasn't even as big as her old walk-in closet at the mansion.

You walked into a small living room, and behind it was a small kitchen area that barely had room for one person to walk through, then there was the narrow hallway that wasn't very long which led to the bathroom straight ahead, and on the left was the one bedroom.

Madison began to grab some old blankets from the closet for Jewel. She laid them on the floor next to her sleeping area. Madison's bedroom didn't have half the things Jewel's used to. The only things in her small room were a bed of blankets on the floor, a small tv, and a computer desk with an old computer sitting on the desk.

"I have to get up for work early in the morning, so I need to head to bed now. I know it's really messy in here, but I hope you can feel comfortable in it. I laid out your bed for you here. Goodnight, Jewel."

Jewel crawled into her bed of blankets on the floor next to Madison. "Thankyou, Madison. Goodnight." She said as she fell into a peaceful slumber.

The next morning when Jewel woke up in a strangely messy house she thought she was still sleeping. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she remembered what had happened the night before. She glanced over to her right side and noticed that Madison was not there. 'She must've went to work...' she thought to herself.

"Ughh...Where are the maids when you need one?" Jewel stated. She knew there would be no more maids in her future to clean her room. "Well. Better get to it!" She started to clean the bedroom by the time it was done it looked a lot better but it wasn't spotless.

She moved to the kitchen. She opened a tall cabinet door and found a broom. She stared at it for a few seconds before raking it across the floor and gathering dirt. She had never personally had to use a broom but she saw the maids use it all the time.

She wiped down the entire kitchen and the last thing she had to door was mop. She wasn't quite sure about this procedure. She found a bucket and filled it with soapy water. After she lifted it out of the sink, her hands began to slip because of the water on the side. The entire bucket fell so the floor and created a large pool all over the kitchen floor.

"Oops." Jewel sighed. The phone inside the house started ringing. She began to frantically look around for it, and as she walked out of the kitchen she slipped on the water on the floor and fell on her hind end.

"Ughhhh!" She screamed and she crawled out of the wet water. The phone was luckily still ringing when she found it in the bedroom. "Hello." She answered in a deadpan, tired voice. "Are you okay?" Madison asked on the other end. "Ahahahaha. Definitely had better days myself."

"Did you eat yet?" Madison asked over the phone. Jewel hadn't even thought about food she was so busy on her task. "Oh...No. I forgot about eating, honestly." Her stomach began to growl as she thought about food.

"Well, I'm on break now. I work at Beta burger. What do you want?" Jewel realized she had no idea what Beta Burger was. "What's Beta burger?" "Dear God woman....You've never been to Beta Burger?!?!? It's the largest fast food franchise in existence. You really must be a rich girl....Well, break ends in 25 minutes, so I'm just going to order you something quick." The phone call ended and Jewel went back to the kitchen.

Eight minutes later, the door opened to reveal Madison with two bags of food, two soft drink cups, and two straws in her mouth. She closed the doors and grabbed the straws from your mouth. "Man! I ran all the way here. I'm getting a work out lately. Haha." Jewel could tell by her voice that she wasn't used to running so much.

Madison walked into the kitchen and stared in shock. "What's with all the water." Jeweled crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "I...was trying to mop, but I've never had to mop before so It ended up like this." Madison just smiled at her as she picked up the mop and began to mop the floor.

"I'm sorry it's such a mess in here" She began to apologize. "I've been working so much...that I haven't felt like cleaning at home much. I guess your not used to mess. I do appreciate you trying to help. When I get home, we'll clean the living room together, okay?" Jewel just nodded as she watched Madison mop the kitchen floor.

Madison's head whipped up as she looked at her phone. "OH MY GOD! It's already 2:45. I'm going to be late!" She quickly put the mop back in the cabinet and ran out the door." Jewel stared at the food bags on the table. "She forgot to eat....." Jewel mumbled to herself. "Poor Madison."

She glanced at the bag. It was a simple, paper bag with a large burger on it, with a king's crown around it. Next to the burger logo were two letters "BB." Which obviously meant Beta Burger. She opened the bag to peer inside it. She took out the nice sized box and opened it.



She picked up the large sandwhich. It was a bit greasy and unlike any food she had ever eaten at the mansion. She put it in her mouth and took a large bite out of it. Her taste buds liked what they were tasting, so she chowed down the entire burger. After that, she took out Maddie's burger and ate it as well. Her reign of terror didn't stop until she had slurped down both sodas, and eaten both of the container of fries.

"Ugh..." Jewel said after she finished eating the fast food. 'I don't feel so good...' she thought to herself. She covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom. She emptied the contents of her stomach in the toilet. After she was done, she went and laid down in her bed of blankets in the bedroom.

Madison walked into her apartment to find Jewel sleeping. She glanced at the clock her cellphone to note the time. 5:45 P.M. She decided it was most definitely not the time to be sleeping. She shook Jewel awake. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING. It's 5:45!" She shook Jewel harder. Jewel left out of a groan as she began to come back to reality.

"Oh...Hi Maddie. Got sick eating that stuff." Madison just let out a roar of laughter. "You're probably not used to eating junk food like this. It's like poison, but not. Anyways, let's go out to eat for dinner and talk. We haven't had a chance to get to know each other."

Jewel groaned. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready to eat, but she figured she should let her savior know who she was. If this was the only way she could show her appreciation, she was going to do so.

3


They stood outside the door of a Chinese restaurant. Maddie turned to Jewel and scratched her back. "Sorry, I know it's a bit cheap but I'm really poor." Jewel just gave her a sad face. "I'm sorry you have to pay for me....cause I got mugged." Maddie just patted her back and led her into the restaurant.

"So, your name is Jewel Ellis." Madison started slowly after they each grabbed a plate off the Chinese buffet. "Yep. And you are Madison Thompson. I'll just call you Maddie." Jewel said as she obnoxiously cracked her crab legs.

"How old are you? I'm nineteen." Madison said. "I'm turning eighteen pretty soon." Jewel said in reply to her. "Sooooo...." Madison drawled out. "I'm wondering what you are doing running away from home." Jewel just slurped some of her soda up before replying.

"Honestly, I'll tell you this. But I expect you to keep this a complete secret. Can you promise that?" She narrowed her eyes at Madison. "Of course. Your secret is mine to keep." Madison flashed her a reassuring smile.

"Well, You've heard of the Ellis company right?" Madison just nodded her head. "Of course...it's a huge company. Who hasn't heard of it?" "Well, my father is the owner and head of the company. The company started with my Grandfather, Thomas Ellis. My grand father worked himself to death in the company. Even on his death bed, he was doing something that involved the company."

"My father isn't as bad as I remember Grandfather being. Well, grandfather was so devoted to the company that I only saw him about five times in my entire fourteen years that he was alive. But my father is still completely sucked into the company. I, mean, I don't hate him, but I feel like I don't know my father that well. Well, to make this short, he wants me to take over the head of the company. I'm his only child so it'd be natural for him to think I'd be the one to take his place. I've told him COUNTLESS times that I didn't want to do it. I look at grandfather's and my father's lives and I just don't want to end up like that."

"I have nothing against being rich, but I've always wanted to live a more normal life like my real mother. I haven't seen her in at least four years since she was reported to be in a car accident. Well...that's another story. Anyways...she came from a normal background. When I say normal I mean, lived in a house with her mom and dad. Her mom stayed home and took care of her and her siblings, and her dad worked but never was gone all the time like my dad. My mom always told me stories of her childhood and when I compare it to my own, I feel left out on a lot of things."

"I guess what I'm getting at more than anything is: I'd like to have real friends, go to a real school, work a real job, marry a guy I want to marry. Things that most people who aren't an Ellis are entitled to do by their own free choice."

By the time Jewel finished her story Madison was rather quiet. She continued to push food over on her plate as she was contemplating Jewel's story. It was quite a while before she spoke which made Jewel uneasy.

"I know where your coming at. I guess you feel more like you live in a prison than a paradise. I just laugh at the humor of situations, I guess. You know...every "normal" girl wants to live in a huge mansion, never work a day of her life, and marry prince charming in her palace." She snorted.

"Well, enough background talk for today. We've already been here for an hour and half. I'll save my story for you another time." Madison winked at Jewel as she pulled out her wallet to leave a tip on the table.

They continued to walk back to the apartment together trading casual banter about how they were going to fix the apartment together. Madison said she realized that now that she had someone living with her that it would be more important to maintain her cleanliness the best she could.

Something out of the corner of Jewel's eye caught her attention. She stopped suddenly and tugged at the sleeve of Madison to stop. It was a newspaper machine, and on the cover of the newspaper was a huge picture of her face along with her father. "CHARLES DEVASTATED OVER LOSS OF DAUGHTER." was the headline in bold.

Madison seemed to get the hint. She pulled out some loose coins from her purse and put four quarters into the machine. The door popped open and she pulled out a newspaper. "Let's get back to the apartment. It's up ahead."

As soon as they entered the apartment doors, Madison opened the news paper wide as they sat on the bench inside the entry way. Her eyes scanned back and forth as she read over the article. Jewel tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. She was too nervous to even look at the article.

"Ah..." Madison said finally. "It seems your dad is really upset over your disappearance. He's hoping you will see this, and come back home to him. He says hes sorry about trying to force the company on you and he wants you to know that he really misses you."

Jewel had a unsettling feeling in her stomach. She didn't really want to do this to her dad, and half of her running away wasn't even about taking over the company...she just wanted to live a normal life. "I-I'm sorry, Madison. I just can't go back there. Not yet. Not till I'm ready."

Madison just wrapped her into a hug. "It's okay. You go up to the apartment and watch some TV. I'll be back in a little bit." She winked at me again and ran out the apartment building doors. Jewel just glanced over at the newspaper. Looking at her father's face made her sad. The tears streamed down her face as she broke out into a fit of sobs. She couldn't go back now. She had to move forward. She wiped the tears from her eyes and started her nine flight of stairs climb.

When Madison finally returned to the apartment it was almost midnight. Jewel had almost fallen asleep again when she heard the door to the apartment open. She quickly got up to see what Madison had run off for.

Madison was taking off her shoes at the entry way. Her neck was craned painfully against her shoulder to keep her phone next to her ear. Jewel couldn't hear much of what she was saying but Madison had a huge smile on her face.

"Ahaha. Well, I have to go now, Adrien. I'll call you later. I appreciate the call! Let's go out to coffee sometime." She ended the call on her phone with a press of the button. "Now!" She said excitedly as she was grabbing around the plastic bag she held in her hand. "I got you this!" She held up a rectangular box in front of Jewel's face.

Jewel squinted as she tried to see what it was. "Red colored hair dye" It said. "You're dying my hair?" Jewel asked quizzically. Madison nodded her head. "If you are TRULY serious about not going back to your dad, and making it on your own....your going to have to change your appearance. What if your dad has sent out people to look for you?"

The thought hadn't occurred to Jewel at all. "Geez...I didn't even think of this." Madison grinned at her. "Don't worry, I bought you colored contacts, AND we are cutting your hair." Jewel stared in horror at Madison. "C-cut....my hair? You can't be serious." Madison grinned evilly.

"You have to! Your long hair gives you away too easily." It wasn't long after that Jewel found herself sitting on the kitchen chair listening to the sounds of her hair being cut away. Snip, snip, snip for a few minutes. It felt as though a heavy burden had been lift from her shoulders.

It had never dawned on her the weight of her long hair. Her hair had been waist length her entire life, it just felt so weird to her now that it was gone. Madison handed her a mirror to look into. Jewel stared at her reflection for a bit. It was different but it wasn't bad different.

She promptly dyed my hair after she had cut it. Jewel wasn't quite sure if she wanted her beautiful brown locks to be dyed, but Madison didn't seem to be giving her much of a choice. After it was all finished, they both were exhausted and went to bed. It wasn't until morning that she saw what her hair really looked like.

4


"Jewel!" Madison shouted at the slumbering girl. "Why are you so hard to wake up all the time?" Madison complained. Jewel groaned as she opened her eyes. "And why are you always waking me up?" She complained back in a raspy voice.

Madison stood with her hands on her hips glaring at Jewel. "I want you to walk with me to work, and we can buy breakfast." Jewel got up after a few minutes of laying in bed. She walked into the bathroom to find wash her face when her reflection caught her sight.

She almost couldn't believe it was the same girl. Her head felt so much lighter, and she looked a bit less stuck up than she did before. In fact, she looked more like a teenager now than she ever did.

After she washed her face and brushed her hair, she put her new contacts in that Madison had bought for her at the store. Getting the contacts into her eyes were going to be a hassle everyday Jewel thought to herself.

She kept blinking blinking while she was trying to force the foreign object onto her eyeballs. Madison came in behind in and watched Jewel attempt to put the contacts in her eyes. "No no," She grabbed Jewel's arm.

"You have to put the contact on the tip of your index finger, while its there you take your other hand and pull the top of your eyelid so you don't blink, then you are going to bring the hand with the contact closer, use your bottom fingers to pull down the lower lid and insert it carefully with your index."

Jewel experimented with the instructions given to her by Madison. Low and behold the contact was gently placed on her eye. She blinked as as it felt a little awkward to jewel at first. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, red hair and blue eyes. She definitely did not look like Jewel Ellis anymore.

"Do you think I should change my name too?" Jewel asked Madison. "Please, don't worry about it. No one will know who you are now. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think your dad has the time to come out looking for you, and you told me yourself, no one outside the mansion knows who you are."

"Good point. Let's go." Jewel grabbed her new pair of sunglasses and put them on.

The walk left Jewel exhausted. She hadn't walked farther than around the mansion, which apparently wasn't as far as Beta Burger from Madison's apartment. "Are we almost there yet?" Jewel whined to Madison.

"Yes, you big baby, you've whined the entire walk since we left the house. Get used to it! But yeah, it's right there." She pointed in front of her to a glass door. Her face lit up as they approached the entrance.

"Adrien!!!" She yelled at a figure standing outside the glass entry doors. Madison skipped over to where he was at and enveloped him in a hug. Jewel stood quietly away from them at a distance. She wasn't quite sure what to do in the situation.

As Jewel tried to focus on looking at something other than Madison clinging to some guy named Adrien, she noticed another male leaning against the store's windows. He paid no attention to the noise Madison was making a few feet away from him, but continued to stare straight a head at the morning sky.

He was, in fact, the most handsome guy Jewel had seen outside a magazine. He had blonde hair that swooped over his face on the left side, sapphire blue eyes, and a single earring on his right. His face didn't show much indication or interest in the sky, as he continued to take a drag from his cigarette.

She hadn't realized how long she had been staring at him until his eyes darted to the right, where she could tell he was definitely staring at her. She tried to look away quickly, but he had caught her staring at him. Her gaze fell to the floor where she saw his cigarette drop, and his foot stomp on it to put it out. He turned and walked back into the store without another glance in her direction.

"That's Darien." Jewel turned her head in the direction of the boy Madison was standing by. He had messy black hair, a goofy grin on his face, and he wore glasses. She noticed that his eyes were a light shade of brown behind his glass lenses.

"Oh...I see." Was all Jewel could mutter. Apparently, he had seen her staring at him, and it made her feel a bit flustered. He moved away from Madison and towards her. "I'm Adrien Miller." He said as he proudly stuck his hand out for her to shake. She cautiously took his hand and gave it a shake.

"Jewel Ellis. Nice to meet you." His eyes scanned over her making her more uncomfortable than before. "Jewel Ellis, huh? I'd think you were the runaway daughter of that hot shot Charles Ellis, but you don't look much like her." Jewel smiled at his remark. "Ahh, Yeah, people always think that." She laughed nervously.

Madison seemed to take the hint that the subject was getting a little out of Jewel's hands. She tugged on Adrien's sleeve. "It's almost time for our shift. I think you should go get ready." She pushed on his back till he was near the door. He gave her a suspicious looking face before pulling open the glass door and walking into the store.

"Sorry about that." Madison apologized to Jewel. "It's okay. But I'm starving." Both girls chuckled as a loud growling sound emitted from Jewel's stomach."

Jewel stared in wonder at the first fast-food restaurant she had ever stepped inside. It didn't have the cozy feel to it as a normal restaurant. The atmosphere of Beta Burger felt more hasty and a little more on the dirty side.

Jewel stared at the board. "Woooww...!" She drawled out the words. "There's so much selection for some place that is supposed to have your food to you within minutes." Madison just rolled her eyes at her wonderment. "I want that!" She pointed to a rather sugary looking cinnamon roll.

Madison stepped up to the counter and cleared her throat. "I'll take one #3 with a medium sized orange juice. I'd also like a Butter Pecan Cinnaroll please. Do you want anything else Jewel?" She scanned over the menu boards. "Uh, The #5 looks pretty good...with milk?" The girl at the register tapped the screen a few times before she yelled out, "DISCOUNT PLEASE!"

"So..." Madison started as they sat down to eat. "What do you plan to do now?" Jewel stuffed the butter pecon roll in her mouth. "Mmm...soo...yummy.." She replied in between stuffing her mouth full.

"I want to go to high school." Jewel finally said. "I'm not sure where to go in this area. Any suggestions?" "You could go to Carlson Academy. It's the best private school in New York. Although, the tuition is expensive. Personally, going to Carlson Academy myself, I'd say it's the best school. It has nice people, most course selections, and tutors available whenever you need help. Not to mention all the amazing cafeteria food. I sometimes visit my highschool friends to eat there." Adrien said as he was hanging on the back of the booth Jewel was sitting at.

Madison scowled at him. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for work?" He waved his hand at his clothes. "I am ready. Just killing time before clock in. Couldn't say the same for yourself though." Madison looked down at her casual apparel. "I'm trying to eat with my roommate. Your just being a dog."

He flashed her a grin. "Of course." She got up and dumped her tray contents in the garbage. "I'll be back, Jewel." Before walking off behind the counter of the store into the back."

Adrien sat down in the seat Madison had left. He pulled a napkin from the tray Jewel was eating on and started writing on it. He slid it back to Jewel when he was finished. "This is the number to Carlson Academy if your interested. Tell them you'd like to visit the school, and that you'd like to talk to the headmaster, Elden Carlson, about entrance. You'll have to take a entrance exam to get into the school. It's pretty complex but you should do fine if you've taken your education seriously."

His eyes flicked over to his phone. "I have to go clock in now. I'll talk to you some other time, Jewel." He got up and walked away to the same place Madison had gone. Jewel got up and dumped her tray like Madison had done before her.

She began to walk towards the counter to ask Madison a question. But half way there she bumped into someone's chest and fell over. "Excuse me." Jewel said angrily as she looked up. It was Darien, the guy she was staring at before. "Oh...I'm sorry."

He made no notion to help her up, but instead kept his hands in his pockets. He was eerily quiet but continued to look at her while she was now sitting on the ground. She picked herself up, because he apparently wasn’t going to help her at all.

“Madison asked me to bring you back to her house. Here’s the key.” was the first words he spoke to Jewel. She grabbed the house key from his open hand. “Thanks.” She said in a deadpan voice. There was no actual gratitude evident in her voice but that didn’t seem to bother Darien at all.

He started to walk out the door with Jewel awkwardly following behind him. She thought the walk here was bad but the silence of the walk home was killing her. “What’s your name?” She asked him to start up conversation. “Darien Adams.” “Oh, that’s a nice name…” She rambled. He made no attempt to ask her what her name was. She sighed, it looked like conversing with him was going to be more effort than it was worth.

“I’m Jewel Ellis. It’s nice to meet you.” Again, he made no verbal response to her. His only action was to take a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He slapped it against his palm and opened it. He tilted the open pack slightly till one of the cigarettes poked out of the opening. Darien put the cigarette in his mouth, lowered his head, and lit it with his lighter.

As soon as it was lit, and he took a long drag from his cigarette, he stopped in place. Jewel was very confused by this until she turned to her left and noticed that she was in front of her apartment doors. “Thanks….” She trailed off. She stood outside the door as she watched him walk away smoking his cigarette.

5


Knock, Knock, Knock. The pounding on the door was very loud. It seemed as though the person on the outside of the door wanted to be heard badly. Jewel walked over to the door and peered into the spy hole. She caught sight of a familiar face. It was Adrien Miller, the guy she had met the day before at Beta Burger.

She quickly opened the door and his face lit up brightly. “Hi Jewels!” He said to her excitedly. “Hello Adrien. What brings you to Madison’s apartment? She’s at work right now.” He laughed nervously. “Ah….I know. I just got off work, in fact. I figured you were a little bored since she told me you just moved here from far away….I was thinking you didn’t have many friends….and that….that…Uh…” Jewel could sense he was really nervous and was finding it hard to find the right words to say.

“That’s really sweet of you. It’s Madison’s house…but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you had a drink that’s in the fridge.” “It’s okay! I just came over here to see if you had gotten a chance to call Carlson Academy.”

“I haven’t gotten around to it actually. Should I give them a call now?” He just shook his head. “Let’s go there! It’ll be fun.” “Isn’t it a bit far away?” Jewel asked. He nodded his head. “Yeah, well…I have a car.” He took her wrist and dragged her out the door. “Do you have the key?” Jewel nodded her head as they seemed to fly down the nine flights of stairs.

“Oohh. Nice car!” Jewel exclaimed. “My dad-“ Jewel stopped her sentence in her tracks. Adrien was aware of who her dad was as a media figure. If she mentioned her dad had the same car she would look suspicious. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Your dad?”

“My dad likes these kinds of cars…” She said lamely. He just laughed. “Yeah, a lot of people would like to own one. I’m just fortunate enough to.” She opened the passenger door and got inside. The seats were made of leather and overall comfy. The car’s dash had what seemed like hundred different buttons.

“How can you afford one of these?” Jewel blurted out. His tone of voice dropped from happy when he gave his response. “You could say my family is rich, I guess.” Jewel didn’t know how to respond. She felt like she had just stepped on a landmine.

Silence is what followed his statement. Jewel thought that she should be used to the silence in her conversations with men. She was beginning to feel her connection with the opposite gender was far skewed by living in the mansion. Jewel started to fiddle with the buttons on the dashboard.

He caught her wrist as she was about to hit a round dial on the car’s dash. He gently placed her hand on her lap before returning his hand back to the steering wheel. Just from his touch, Jewel could sense that he was greatly annoyed by her playing with the buttons. After she thought about it, she didn’t blame him.

“My parents and I don’t get along very well as of late,” Adrien started to break the silence that had settled between them. “During my childhood, I did whatever they asked. I let them choose my school, my courses, even my friends. I tried my best to make them happy but I found out that it made me very unhappy. Before I even graduated, they had picked out which colleges I was going to apply to. I should’ve been happy, they gave me my first real choice in life…’You can go to medical school or law school’ they told me.”

“I thought about it. They are nice paying jobs, it’ll keep the family money alive. But I didn’t want to. It was the first time I ever defied my parents in my life. I walked out of the house, got my own apartment, took my car they bought me, and I applied to work at Beta Burger.”

Jewel sat there stunned in silence. Not because the story was ridiculous but because it felt too similar to her own. “My parents haven’t talked to me since I left the house. They no longer see me as their son they said. I figure they have my older brother and my younger one. They’ll do just fine without me. I miss them sometimes…but not compared to them pre-determining my life. I honestly love working at Beta Burger. I think I’d like it more than being a doctor. Sure, It barely pays enough to let me live but I am a lot happier deciding what I want to do.”

“I understand what you are saying more than you think.” Jewel finally managed to say. The overall mood of the conversation was abruptly interrupted when he parked the car in the parking lot. “Thanks Jewels.” He said before getting out of the car.

6


“This….can’t be a….school?” Jewel asked astonished. They were standing in front of a large Victorian styled mansion. “It is a school. It was founded in the Carlson’s home about 200 years ago?” Adrien scratched his head. “Just come on, it’s really nice inside. Don’t you wanna take a look around a mansion?” “No. Not really.” She said gravely.

‘I spent my entire life escaping from a mansion and he brings me back to one. Well, okay, he doesn’t know I spent my entire life wishing to escape from one.’ Jewel let out a frustrated sigh. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful to him for bringing her here so she followed behind him.

He pulled open the doors to the large mansion. Jewel gasped at what she saw. It was different from the mansion she had lived in. Unlike the cold, empty foyer of the Ellis Mansion; the Carlson Mansion was bustling with life. There were girls in uniform dresses walking side by side, and even a few men in casual suits were walking with them.

“Woow….” Jewel said. Adrien grinned at her. “I thought you’d be impressed. Most girls would if they were having their education in one of the largest mansions in the state.” Jewel and Adrien walked up a flight of stairs, and began to walk by many doors. Most were closed, but the few that were open Jewel peered into.

The classroom atmosphere seemed to be nice as well. She noticed the students interacted nicely with each other. It left her days of sitting in a room with her old tutor feeling even more desolate than she cared to remember.

“Jewels, were here.” She noticed they were in front of a larger set of doors than the rest. Adrien opened the large doors to reveal a small room. It was a very bright white room, that almost seemed to blind Jewel. “Mrs. Valino!” Adrien called out to the older woman sitting behind a large white desk. She was a rather plump old lady, her brown hair was in a messy updo, and she wore her glasses near the bottom of her nose tip.

“Adrien Miller? Is that you again? You graduated a few years ago and you are still bugging me!” The old lady cackled. Her bright expression displayed her joking nature with Adrien. “Can I talk to Mr. Carlson please?” “Sure, he’s not too busy right now, go on in.”

Adrien opened the second set of large doors to reveal a large office space. The headmaster of the school sat in the desk straight across the room. His hair was a gray sort of brown, and he had many wrinkles on his face indicating his age. Even his glasses looked to be outdated.

“Excuse me, Mr. Carlson. It’s Adrien.” He looked up from the papers he was reading and waved us over to him. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite student.” He said with a raspy laugh. “What brings you back here today?” Adrien pointed at me.

“This is my friend, Jewel Ellis. She wishes to attend a highschool, and I recommended this one to her.” “Well, that is nice of you.” He rasped. Mr. Carlson’s cough echoed loudly in the large room. “Adrien, go find something to eat in the cafeteria. I need to talk to Miss Ellis alone please.”

He left reluctantly after casting Jewel a worried glance. She just smiled and waved him towards the door. “I’ll be fine!” She whispered at him. He just turned and walked out the large doors. “Would you like something to drink, my dear?” “Uh…I’ll drink some tea if you have any.”

Mr. Carlson’s assistant brought over a tray with tea on it. She set the cup before Jewel and invited her to sit down. Mr. Carlson got up from his desk and walked over to sit on the opposite loveseat from where Jewel was. He poured a spoonful of sugar in his tea and stirred it quickly.

“Did you know the Ellis Company has been a proud sponsor of the Carlson Academy for many years?” Jewel hadn’t given a thought that this man might know her dad. She silently groaned. “I didn’t expect you to know. I am aware that you never had much interest in the Ellis Company.” He continued.

“I read in the papers that you ran away from home, but I didn’t believe it until now. You look completely different, I suppose that’s so your father doesn’t find you.” Jewel was at a loss of words. She didn’t want to go into details but the old man seemed to already understand.

“I’ll tell you what; I’ll admit you for free. It’s the least I can do for the company that has long sponsored the academy. I’ll also keep the news that you are here from your dad, but only on one condition.” She looked at him nervously. “You have to keep your grades at the top of the class.” He gave her a gentle smile and she found that she easily returned it.

“That sounds acceptable, Mr. Carlson.” She took a sip of her tea and relaxed. She would get to be apart of the best private academy and she wouldn’t be snitched on. “And you also have to take the entrance exam. There’s no getting out of that.” Jewel nodded her head.

“I’m okay with that.” Jewel was by no means dumb, she knew she’d have no problem taking the entrance exam. The doors opened to reveal Adrien carrying two plates full of food. He set one down in front of Jewel. “You hafta trfy this Jewels!” He said with food stuffed in his mouth.

“They have the best food ever.” He said after he swallowed his food. “I didn’t know what foods you liked, so I brought a bunch. You can eat anything on my plate if you want.”

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