Rivalry – The Beginning

Blood everywhere…I cannot breathe anymore…What did just happen…I am so sorry…Oh my god…What did I do…But this wasn’t me…This is not me anymore…I am so sorry…I cannot remember myself anymore…What has this school done to me…

The doors were overwhelmingly high. The chandeliers were brightly golden. The chairs were incredibly comfortable. These were thoughts that went through Josie’s mind while she took the first steps into a building that was going to change her life: The Harlington Law School.
The wooden, ninety-eight inches high doorways were the entry to the most prestigious law school in the United States of America. Around 8,000 students apply every year, ten percent get accepted. Famous judges, entrepreneurs, and presidents learned the foundations for their success here.
This place was not only a law school, but also a place where the students developed themselves, built personal connections that lasted a lifetime, and eventually found their place in the world. Whoever graduated from this school had a bright future ahead. At least, that was what Josie’s teacher and her How-to-become-a-successful-lawyer-guide said and why she applied.
Countless times this girl had walked around on Harlington campus. Orange and red maples lined the pedestrian walks. Little flags with the university’s logo hung on the streetlamps. But the most important part were the young, ambitious people sitting on the grass, on benches, or in cafeterias, reading, writing, and discussing one another’s opinion.
For Josie, it seemed as if the sun was always shining at this place. A place which was filled with thirst of knowledge and inquisitiveness.
Especially when she was passing that one specific building, Josie always had to stop for a few minutes and wonder what it could look like from the inside. She imagined the law school pompous, but not kitschy, with a lot of books. Sometimes she spotted a person going into or leaving the law school. They were all well dressed, some of them in suits or blazers and knee-long skirts. The ones who seemed to be students looked more casual but still elegant.
Then, Josie planned what she would be wearing. An old blazer from her mum, her checkered skirt, some tights. She would look great. She would fit in. No one would notice that her blazer was from the ’70s and the skirt from a flea market for five dollars. She would be a part of them, just like that.
And suddenly it was happening. The young woman was inside this meaningful building wearing her mum’s old blazer, but with trousers instead of the skirt because her tights broke a few days ago. Her hands were a little bit sweaty and her heart rate maybe a little bit higher than usual. Again and again, with her rose-colored nails, Josie brushed her hair behind her ears. An annoying habit she had when she was nervous.
The entrance hall of the law school was round, and it looked like the inside was built of marble. The atmosphere was clean and light with a bit of history because of old paintings on the walls.
The building was over two hundred years old. On the opposite side of the big entrance door was a massive staircase. So many people had walked these stairs that Josie believed she could even feel their footprints under her feet when she walked there.
“Hey,” someone called.