Chapter One - Homecoming
Lidia pulled up the driveway of Heather's home, they had been best friends since public school and been there for each other through thick and thin. There had been so much in both of their own young lives so far, Heather losing her mother to cancer when she was 16 and Lidia's own tragic loss of her parents in a car accident when she was 14. The two girls had only grown closer because of it, but Lidia had to admit that Heather had taken a turn for the worse afterward.
Heather had always been a handful for her parents, her real father had finally gotten tired of all the fighting between Heather and her mother and divorced her when she was only 6. A few years later she'd married Mr. Welman in a vain attempt to use his connections in the music business, he was some kind of big shot, to launch Heather's singing career.
Of course, that wasn't what Heather wanted and that made the fighting even worse between the two of them. Perhaps it was the guilt of having spent so much time fighting with her mother that still drove her to act out.
Her step-father had been a blessing in many ways, he'd been able to use his influence and money to get Heather out of trouble many times, but the incident at the start of the college year had been too much for even him to buy her out of.
She'd sent a picture of the head cheerleader and one of the other girls on the squad kissing each other with an anti-LGBTQ message attached.
It had taken almost all the influence he had to avoid the police charging her with a hate crime, but he had been unable to stop her from being kicked out of the college.
Lidia had kept in touch of course, they chatted almost every day for the first few months of the school year, the distance between their hometown and the college made visiting difficult. Especially since Lidia didn't have a home there anymore.
When her parents had died, Lidia had very little other family. She would have normally been sent off to her godparents that lived all the way on the other coast, but Lidia had no desire to leave the sun and warmth of the west coast and had instead sued to be an emancipated youth.
Since her parents were quite rich and she inherited it all, the court allowed it with the simple condition of a court-ordered legal custodian for her finances until she was 18. She'd been free ever since and she liked to move around quite a bit, never getting tied down to any one place for long.
She'd moved into an apartment near the college in her junior year and changed again each year after that. This year she'd taken a small apartment a little farther away from the campus, but it was quiet and peaceful.
She'd hated to give it up, but now that she'd graduated it was time to move on and she now had virtually everything she owned in the trunk of her car.
She shut the car off and stepped up to the front door, pausing for just a second before knocking on it. A few moments later it opened and Mr. Welman stood before her, he was still the same, a little overweight, slightly balding and dressed in what could only be described as a business casual shirt and pants.
"Hello Lidia, please, come in. I hear congratulations are in order, top of your class!"
"Hi Mr. Welman. Yeah thanks."
She stepped in and he closed the door behind her, "Is Heather here?" she asked as she walked into the living room and took a seat.
"I'm afraid not Lidia, she's still at school." Mr. Welman replied and sat in a chair across from her.
Lidia frowned, she hadn't been able to talk to Heather for months, just before Christmas break Heather had told her that her step-father was "forcing" her to go to some stupid reform school.
They'd chatted quite a bit about it, but her step-father seemed to be at the end of his rope and had given her an ultimatum, reform school or he'd let the police charge her for the incident at college.
Lidia had consoled Heather as best she could, after all maybe it wouldn't be that bad, but Heather had kept the worst news to last. The reform school didn't allow any kind of outside contact. No phones, no internet, no visits.
It had seemed strange to Lidia, but after doing some research on the internet about the school, everything seemed on the up and up. It had a stellar reputation and recommendations from celebrities, politicians and law enforcement.
"Shouldn't school be out by now?" she asked.
"Saint Barbra's runs a little longer, I'm told graduation is in two weeks."
"Oh, well, have you heard how Heather's doing? Don't you think it's so strange to have no outside contact for this long?"
"I'm told she's doing very well. I hope she is, I wouldn't want her to have to attend summer school there as well. I do worry about her of course, but they said that making a clean break from old habits and relationships is the best way to help people like her." he replied with a little shrug.
"I guess... but... I don't know." Lidia said, shaking her head.
"I just hope it all turns out for the best. So are you going to stay around town or are you heading off again?"
"I'm going to hang around for a while, see some old friends, etc." she replied.
"Very good. Do you have somewhere to stay? The spare room is always available..." Mr. Welman said and the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention.
She'd stayed over many times at his house, but she'd stopped after one day she'd noticed him staring at her ass.
It was just before they were going to be heading to college, well after Heather's mother had died, and in some ways she couldn't blame him, after all she was very attractive.
She'd blossomed late, her curves stelling in near the end of her teens and as she grew more confident in herself she had started wearing more fitted clothing. There were few men that didn't take a moment or two to appreciate her long dark hair, her latin features, or her well endowed behind.
But something in Mr. Welman's eyes seemed different than most men, something that she tried to avoid thinking about too much.
"I've got a place already, thanks." she lied and stood up, "Well it was nice talking to you, maybe you can let me know when she's graduating and we can go together?"
"Sure Lidia, will do. And if you need anything, just let me know."
"I will, thanks." she said and walked from the living room, she could feel his eyes on her ass as she did so and she quickened her pace without thinking about it.
Chapter Two - Saint Barbra's Reform School
Lidia drove slowly past the large metal gates, there was a guard standing just behind them and an electronic keypad near the road. A large brass plack on one of the brick walls read "Saint Barbra's Reform School".
In the distance, behind the gates, she could just make out the main brick building of the school, along with several more guards at the front door.
"Why does a reform school need so many guards and security?" she said aloud to no one in particular as she continued down the road.
It was late afternoon and it would be getting dark soon, but she wanted to get a look at the place before nightfall. She'd looked it up online and checked out the satellite photos from the web, so she knew the overall layout, including the forested area behind the school.
She drove a little farther until the GPS guided her to the back roads and around behind the school. She'd be able to park in the forest where no one would see her car while she snuck into the place.
Of course, she really didn't have a plan for how she was going to find Heather, the place was huge and she could be anywhere. And the chances of someone seeing her and setting off an alarm seemed pretty high overall.
