Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 15

Every Girl Needs Stuff.

052

By the time I climbed the last winding step to my attic dorm, my legs felt like lead and my head like it was full of smoke. I shoved the door open, letting it creak wide, and trudged inside. The silence hit me first. No voices. No laughter. No hungry stares or cocky grins. Just dust motes swirling in the late sunlight

streaming through the stained–glass window. I dropped my bag with a heavy thud and flopped onto the bed, the old mattress groaning under my weight. The

springs dug into my back, but I didn’t care. For the first time all day, no one was watching me. No one was testing me. I pressed the heels of my hands into

my eyes, willing the tension away. The scars, the whispers, the laughter, every moment replayed like I couldn’t shut it off. I groaned, rolling onto my side

and tugging the pillow over my face. “Welcome to Thornhill Academy,” I muttered. “Try not to lose your mind before day two.”

The silence answered back. For a fleeting moment, I let myself pretend this attic could be something else, mine, safe, hidden. Maybe with a bit of cleaning

and a lot of ignoring the smell, I could carve out a corner of peace. My scars still burned, my lip throbbed, and my pride was scraped raw, but somehow… I

was still standing.

A knock rattled against my door, soft at first, then more insistent. My head popped up from the pillow, frowning. No one should even know I was up here.

Cautiously, I padded across the attic and cracked the door open, only for Tessa to burst inside like a whirlwind.

“You never said you were in the boys‘ dorm!” she squeaked, her strawberry–blonde braid bouncing as she spun in a full circle. Her eyes went wide as she

took in the room. “Oh my god.”

I blinked, still holding the doorknob. “What?”

“This is amazing!” she exclaimed, arms flinging wide.

I stared at her like she’d just declared the mildew smell was perfume. “Really?”

Tessa stopped mid–spin, planting her hands on her hips as if I was the ridiculous one. “Are you kidding? This is like fifty, no, maybe eighty times the size of

my room!” She darted across the floor, peeking behind the old wardrobe, then up at the stained–glass window. “Sure, it could use some… stuff. But this has

so much potential!”

I let the door swing shut and leaned against it, deadpan. “Potential for what, ghosts?”

She ignored me completely, skipping over to the far wall where the dust had thinned from the spell I’d used earlier. “No, seriously, Allison. With a little

magic, this could be incredible. Big enough for a sitting area, bookshelves, maybe even a proper bed…”

Her enthusiasm made my head spin. I flopped back onto the creaking mattress, groaning, “Or I could just leave it as is and use the smell to scare people

off.”

Tessa rolled her eyes and plopped down beside me, grinning ear to ear. “You’re impossible. But lucky. Trust me, half the girls in my dorm would trade places

with you in a heartbeat.”

I stared up at the ceiling beams, the faint cracks letting in stripes of fading light. Maybe she was right. Perhaps this place wasn’t just a dust–ridden

punishment.

“Wait. How did you even find me up here?”

Tessa beamed like it was the easiest thing in the world. “I just went and asked at the office. The ladies there are always nice to me.” She waved her hand

dismissively, already scanning the room again. “Okay, so… we need school supplies, obviously. And a lot of stuff to make this place nice and cozy!” Her nose

wrinkled suddenly. “But… wait. There’s no bathroom up here?”

I frowned, glancing around the wide, dusty attic. My stomach dropped.

Every Girl Needs Stuff.

“…Shit.” Tessa’s brows shot up as I groaned loud enough to make the rafters creak.

“Shit is right,” I muttered. “That means I’d have to use the communal one downstairs. With the boys. And there is no fucking way I’m doing that.”

She tapped her chin, then brightened. “Oh! I’ve got it. There’s a shop in town, Finnegan’s Furnishings, that sells these little renovation boxes. Magic ones.

You just open it in your space, and it builds whatever you bought. We could get you a bathroom in, like, an afternoon!”

I sat up properly, arms crossing. “Tessa. You do realise I was living in the Wastelands not by choice, right? I’m broke. Like broke broke.”

She stilled, biting her lip. “What about your parents? Maybe they left you something?”

I shrugged, quick and sharp. “Don’t know them. Never knew them.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify