Becoming A Knight (The Knights of Knightingale Prep Book 1) Read online

  Becoming A Knight

  K.L Hart

  Copyright © 2020 K.L Hart

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN-13: 9798572201642

  Cover design by:HDMSTUDIO

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  Dedicated to my Mum <3

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Books By This Author

  Chapter One

  “Kid! Make sure you cut the grass and clean the windows after school?” I curl my lip in disgust when I face my Foster Father, the slob is sat in his chair with a dirty wife beater on, boxers and his gut hanging out!

  “Are you paying me?” I say with attitude, he grabs his junk and winks,

  “If you want me too.” He laughs as my stomach churns, fucking perv. I flip him off as I walk out of the shitty trailer and slam the door. I walk through the Trailer park and lean against one of the burned-out cars that was abandoned here and light up my Joint and relax as the smoke hits my lungs. I throw my head back to exhale the smoke into the air and I instantly feel better,

  “Can you go one morning without being high as hell?” Lucy asks as she appears from the back of her trailer,

  “I can but I’d rather not!” I reply with a slight curve to my lip, I hand her the joint as we start to walk to school together, Lucy is alright, not exactly my friend but sometimes it's nice to have someone to walk with or get high with and know they are mildly trustworthy!

  “Not with the life I'm fucking living!” she answers and I snort,

  “Tell me about it, one year left and I can escape and be on my own!”

  “I wish I could look forward to getting out, Mom needs me, I can't just leave her.” Lucy shrugs accepting her fate. Lucy waves across the street at her friends and passes me the joint back, “See you later.” She crosses the road and I inhale the joint deeply. Lucy looks happy when she's with those girlfriends of hers, at least that’s something! I don’t have friends because they can't be trusted, no one can, plus being the new girl who is a total bitch doesn’t help either!

  I walk into the school building smirking at every girl who gives me their best glare. Fuck them, I don’t need their validation! I know what I look like and I think it suits me! Jeans that are so ripped at the front there's barely jeans there, black Nike Sneakers, Black crop top and a fitted leather jacket. I flip my long brown curls over my shoulder when I wink at the Quarterback just to piss of his girlfriend who is snarling at me while his jaw drops. I chuckle when she slaps him! I grab a snack I have in my locker as my foster parents decided not to get food this weekend and I'm starving! I lean against the lockers eating my cold pop tart and people watch.

  “Trailer Trash!” One of the cheerleader's sneer as she walks past in her little uniform, I raise an eyebrow at her and she laughs with her friends. I know I'm just the orphan chick with anger issues, but I am not trailer trash, I just live in the trailer park because not many families will take me with my very large, very bad track record. Who the fuck care’s anyway, I don’t, not anymore!

  “Turn to page Eleven and read it, you'll be tested on Friday!” The teacher says as he sits behind his desk, that’s the extent of teaching here, just watchdog’s spitting out page numbers! It doesn’t take long for the other students to start chatting and laughing while I doodle on the desk. Theres an announcement on the school's speakers and our teacher groans as he leaves the room.

  “Hey Orphan!” I look up and across the room, my glare meeting the girl who I pissed off this morning. I lean back in my chair and raise an eyebrow at her, “Is it true that you fucked one of your foster parents?” Her friends snicker, What the actual fuck? It takes everything in me to keep my face neutral.

  “No, but I fucked your boyfriend!” I smirk, “The guy is built, and that tattoo!” I bite my lower lip and my eyes shine brightly! She gets up so fast her chair scrapes across the floor, her hands fist into balls as she stalks towards me. I stand and round my desk looking calm and collected, inside I'm excited, I was needing a good fight, shame it's this pussy, I need a proper fight. She cracks me straight in the jaw and my head moves to the side, not the worst punch but nothing too me! I look back at her with a smirk and she flinches, I know I look like a scary bitch right now, I punch her once and that’s it, fight over, she is now on the floor blood pooling from her nose and unconscious! Fuck me is that it! I sit back in my chair and put my legs on the desk waiting for the teachers to come and retrieve me!

  “Fucking Psycho!” One of the girls says as she crouches down to check on her friend. I shrug and the corner of my lip tugs up into a half smile. The Teacher walks back into the classroom and scrapes a hand down his face, he looks at the girl on the floor and then to the girl trying to help her,

  “She did it!” The girl says,

  “Someone get the nurse and you Miss Barnes, Principles office, Now!” I slowly grab my shit and stroll out of the class head held high, she punched me first, in my opinion she deserved it. I don’t go to the Principles office straight away; I go to the overgrown back field of the school and light up a much-needed cigarette.

  Chapter Two

  I wait outside the Office of Mr. Braeburn for what seems like forever, the girl I punched and the teacher in the class have already been gave their versions and left, what the hell is he doing? I know my ass is about to be chewed because it was only Thursday, I promised him I would not be sent to his office again! One and a bit school day’s that promise lasted!

  “Railey!” Mr. Braeburn says, and I make my way past him into his office, the principle in this school isn't the worst, he believes in us and gives us chance after chance but by the look on the short man's face right now, I think my chances have finally ran out!

  “Mr. Brae...” I start but his palm in the air stops me, I cross my arms and lean back in the chair in a huff.

  “Four Months, you have been in this school, Railey! Four months! In that time, you have destroyed school property twice, been under the influence of narcotics, multiple times! Been caught with a weapon and assaulted five students! I have no choice; I have to expel you this time!” I shrug and he sighs. “Railey, you're going to ruin your future! At this rate no school in America will take you!”

  “Not having a school, is the least of my problems!” I spit,

  “I have rang your parents and they are expect
ing you home, you can collect your belongings from your locker and then you need to leave the school property immediately.” I nod, knowing the drill like the back of my hand. I get up and storm to my locker, fucking prick didn’t even ask my side of the story! Hopefully the Foster parents will have had enough and rang Ceilia, maybe she will finally have had enough too and relinquish the CPS’s hold of me!

  My duffel Is waiting for me when I get back to the Trailer, there's a note on top of it and I snatch it up, CPS on their way! I screw the note up and rifle through the bag to ensure all of my stuff is in there and it is, I grab it and swing it over my shoulder and walk back to the side walk. I sit on the curb and roll a joint, fucking need to be high, Celia going to be pissed! I get out my old iPod with no screen and pop one earbud in and wait. Hours I wait for Celia, the sun is even starting to go down now and I'm getting cold, I zip my jacket closed and look down the street, finally her beat up car rolls up.

  “Fuck me, Celia, I’ve been on that sidewalk for most of the day!” I say as I get in and throw my stuff on the back seat.

  “Fuck me, Railey, I have spent most of the day finding somewhere other than juvenile prison to place you!” She glares at me,

  “Yeah well, it was about time I got out of there, the foster guy was starting to get ideas.” Celia’s eyes soften, she starts to drive, and I get comfy. “Where too this time?” I ask,

  “Knightingale Girls Home, it's just on the other side of New York so we will be there in a few hours.”

  “Who runs this girl's home?” I raise an eyebrow,

  “Ms. Ellie, I have heard she is very nice and very fair.” I nod, I like Celia and that is not something to look down on, I don’t like anyone! She is the only person from Child Protective Services to actually try and help me and she takes my opinions into consideration, she can't help with stuff that’s happened or probably will happen to me but at least she genuinely tries.

  My eyes widen when we go past the sign saying ‘Entering Knightingale Heights’, you can practically smell the wealth as we go past mansion after mansion,

  “Are you sure there's a Girls home here, is there a poor part of town?” I ask, Celia chuckles.

  “Yes, there is, but the home is in this part, the home has a programmed set up with the local private high school, they take in the kids from the girls' and boys' home for free, and Knightingale Preparatory school is one of the best schools in the country, so don’t mess this up!”

  I lean against the car as Celia talks to the older woman, I'm assuming to be Ms. Ellie, The Home is huge, not as big as the mansions but huge none the less, and it is also very well maintained, at least I might have hot water here. The woman and Celia both turn to me,

  “Railey, this is Ms. Ellie, Ms. Ellie this is Railey Barnes.” Ms. Ellie comes to me and I stand straighter, her smile is warm and actually meets her eyes.

  “Nice to meet you Railey, I hope you will settle well here, there are only a few rules but if you follow them you can go about your business as you please. No physical fighting the other girls, no boys in the home, Sunday through to Thursday you must be in this home by Eleven, Friday and Saturday you do not have a curfew, I just ask you let me know if you're planning to stay out and text or phone to let me know you're ok. You also must do some chores and your homework, other than that I'll leave you be.” I nod, doesn’t sound too bad. “Come on, I'll show you around, it's quite late so the place is quiet.” I follow her into the Home, leaving Ceilia waving on the sidewalk, we go into the kitchen first and there is a plate of food, covered in foil. “Thats yours, I thought you might be hungry, you can eat in your room tonight but tomorrow you must sit in the dining room.”

  “Thanks!” I say with surprise and grab the plate and some cutlery, “Wait do you cook every day?”

  “I do, my girls are well fed and healthy.” Ms. Ellie states, this is a first and automatically I think what is she after? No one else cooks for the kids they take in, they get their money from the government and do the bare minimum to keep the kid alive. We walk through the house and I'm briefly shown the living area, dining room, and then I'm taken upstairs. “This is your room.” The sign on the door says Room Four and Ms. Ellie gives me a Key before pushing the door open, the room is a decent size and actually has a bed, not just any bed but a rather large bed, maybe a double? And on top of the bed are proper pillows and covers and a blanket. I pick my jaw up from the floor when Ms. Ellie stifles a laugh at my expression.

  “Thankyou!” I whisper and she pats me on the back,

  “Your welcome child, now get settled you have school in the morning.” She turns and leaves and I slowly enter my new room and shut the door, I put my bags on the bed and the plate on the desk, yup an actual desk sits in the corner with actual books on. Theres a wardrobe chest of drawers and bedside table with a lamp and it all looks pristine. I see the door other door in the room and I go over and open it, I gasp. My own bathroom! I have my own bathroom, with a toilet a basin and a walk-in shower! Punching that girl was the best thing I have ever done! I have my own fucking bathroom and a bed!

  It takes me a minute of staring but I finally pull myself together and go and eat my dinner, which is so amazing I moan, there is actual chicken and actual veg and it reminds me of my Moms dinners. I ignore the pang of sadness and finish eating, when I have finished, I feel extremely full and tired so I quickly unpack the little I have, when I open the wardrobe door there are a few outfits already in there, I assume the last girl left them here until I spot the note. ‘Railey, this is your school uniform and it is mandatory.’ I groan, a fucking uniform ugh. I shove my clothes in the wardrobe and decide to inspect the horror of a disgusting uniform in the morning. I take an extra hot, extra-long shower, when I get out, I triple check my window and my door is locked then I get into the best bed I have ever looked at let alone laid in, who knew beds could be this comfortable.

  Chapter Three

  I stare at myself in the mirror, my winged liner and red lipstick are the same as always and my clean bouncy dark curls come to my hips but this uniform makes me look completely different! It's not the worst but it's not my style, a white fitted shirt with a blue tie, a blue and white pleated skirt which I have made high waisted and comes to mid-thigh and thick thigh high white socks. I have images of sailor moon but with dark hair coming back to me. I ignore the blue blazer and shove on my leather jacket and put on my boots which are girly enough to go with the uniform, they have a thick but high heel and have fur around the top, I don’t normally wear shit like them but I needed shoes and they were all I could steal at the time. I sit at the desk and roll my joint; I don’t have much weed left and I'm going to have to find a dealer sooner rather than later! I tuck the rest of it in my boot and hide my joint with the lighter in the inside pocket of my jacket.

  I walk down the kitchen to find Ms. Ellie singing along to the radio, while cooking god knows what.

  “Good Morning, Railey. Did you sleep well?” Her good mood is infectious and I shake my head as I lean against the door jam.

  “Better than expected, what are you making?”

  “Pancakes! Do you like pancakes?” I think back to when I last had pancakes and my mouth waters,

  “I think I do.” I reply,

  “The other girls are in the dining room, go and wait with them, I'll bring breakfast through when it's done.” I walk into the dining room and as soon as I do six sets of eyes look me up and down.

  “New girl.” The one with the scowl on her face nods in greeting.

  “The names Railey.” I nod back, I take the empty seat next to the blonde younger girl.

  “Hey Railey, I'm Emma.” she says with a genuine smile and light in her eyes.

  “She’s one of the few that managed to come straight here.” The girl with the scowl says and I immediately understand, she's untouched by evil, she still has hope and dreams and it shows in her face.

  “We protect her, we let her have her childhood!” The girl continues and I nod. />
  “Some of us should!” I reply.

  “Jules!” The girl puts her hand out and I shake it,

  “I'm Katie and that’s Lisa” The girl next to Jules says, pointing at the girl on the other side of Emma.

  “Are you a Senior?” Katie asks as she ties her red hair up.

  “A Junior.” I answer and she nods,

  “I'm a Senior, Katies a Junior, Lisa and Emma are Freshman.” Jules informs me,

  “So how is it here, anyone I need to worry about?” I ask,

  “Nope, you are actually safe in this house but the kids at school may give you minor problems.” I relax, Jules and I are cut from the same cloth, when you live through shit, we have you recognize the dead, angry soul in their eyes, so I know I can trust what she is telling me and I relax even more.

  We all leave the house fed and watered and I feel better than I have in ages, I spark up the joint and walk with the other girls, if I'm going to live with them, I may as well try and be friendly. I pass the joint to Jules, Katie next then back to me, I'm not giving weed to freshman! It’s only a ten-minute walk to the school and I gulp when it comes into view, it is huge, the walls around it huge and the gates are tall and wide. A collection of extremely nice, extremely expensive cars are driving through the gates and we walk on the path to get to the main building.

  “I'll take you to the office.” Emma says and I follow her, leaving the others behind. We walk down the expansive hallways which are full of color which is different to the other schools I have been too. Large posters saying ‘Go Knights’ are plastered everywhere; I'm guessing that’s the football team. All the students I walk past look like models or sports stars, they all look pristine and happy! Must be nice to be rich! We finally get to the office and it is like I have stepped into the office of a CEO; everything is shiny and sparkling and the woman behind the desk is wearing a nice fitted suit and her hair is so shiny.