Chapter 2 Draft - The Great Escape

Taken away from home right before I turned 13 was shocking—but more of the same. I had moved 7 times by then, but never just for school, of which prompted the biggest shopping trip this side of The Mississippi. I had no idea what a dorm room looked like, much less what items I would need, until we visited the Catholic all girl’s boarding school. Academy of Our Lady of Peace was in a sleepy little Midwestern town, with a Public High School right down the long hillside.

Years later, I learned the popular girls would sneak out at night and kiss boys from the Public School in the woods to the side of the dormitory.

It was a part of a gorgeous Catholic Church, known famously as “The Dome.” Yes, Nuns called it home, a good amount of them. Some were teachers—Sister Mary was my piano Instructor. State Licensed Teachers were also hired, with my English teacher, Mr. Jenkins, obsessed with author Barbara Kingsolver. We read every single one of her books over a semester. He was so obsessed, in fact, I thought she must be his girlfriend. His sweetheart. His wife? Her name didn’t match. Mr. Jenkins had a crush on this Ms. Kingsolver, I concluded.

There was no way an adult man would obnoxiously act like he was gulping water when he said a woman’s name. Barbara Kingsolver. Every single day. For a third of the year. It’s exasperating that *this* was the main thing I remembered about his class.

AOLP filled many boxes for my parents. I was told the reason to pull me out of the local high school was due to someone seeing me kiss a boy—my mother was appalled by the idea of a teenage pregnancy.