receive. Only if they would have come to this place, a land of rainbows and soft clouds.
“Didn’t you just love that?” Lola jumped over to us, patting her face. “I set those up for all the new students, as a welcome .” She giggled again.
“You bring out another welcome like that,” Jackie said. “And I will punch your face.”
I didn’t see any joking in her words. Lola tried to smile away the awkwardness. It didn’t work. “Jackie, I know you’re new, but we don’t threaten each other here. That will only create hate and resentment. You don’t want that, do you?”
Jackie tugged on her shirt and stared at the floor. After two years plus of doing nothing but filling every second of her day with hate, everything Jackie knew was hate.
She looked up and glanced at me and Mark. “Okay, I’m done with hate,” Jackie said.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that,” Lola said. “Do you guys want to see your domicile?”
“What the frick is a domicile?” Jackie asked.
“It’s your dwelling. Your house here.”
“Oh, yeah, let’s check it out,” Jackie said.
Mark grasped my hand and smiled a real smile. I felt his hand shaking with excitement in mine. This place must have been what he’d imagined, with everything his mom had told him. It made sense to him. The entire time we were at the Dark Academy, he hadn’t had that look. Just being next to it, I felt excited as well. I knew I wasn’t going to get attacked at the fence line, or have some dude pound his crotch in my face if we lost a stone competition.
We followed Lola alongside a tall wall. Above us, many round pod-looking rooms stuck out of the flat wall with windows overlooking the compound. She entered another door under the stack of rooms and we followed her in.
The whole place had a pleasant smell, like clean linen with hints of vanilla. A few people were sitting around a couch in what looked like a rec room. They smiled and waved to us as we walked by. A few of the girls just stared at our clothes. It struck me then how much we stood out from them with our dark blue jeans and colored shirts. We might as well have been a circus passing through.
“Right this way. We have a fantastic room for each of you.” Lola entered the elevator.
“You know these tablets don’t have Internet?” Jackie said.
“We don’t have Internet or cell coverage here. You can use that to communicate with everyone within these walls, though.” Lola pointed at Jackie’s tablet.
“Great. So, how many pictures of junk have you gotten, Lola?”
“I lost track after a while. Besides, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. Am I right?” Lola flashed a smile and looked to the numbers at the top of the elevator.
Jackie eyed her, sizing her up.
The elevator stopped moving at floor sixteen and the doors slid open.
“There are only six rooms on floor sixteen. You three will have rooms four through six. How about room four for you, Jackie? They’re all the same, pretty much,” Lola explained.
“Okay, I guess.” Jackie stared at the door.
“Each door will be registered to your palm print. Go ahead and place your hand on the screen.” Jackie did and a red line scanned her hand. Then the door opened. Lola went on, “I’ll show you all around this room and where your uniforms are.”
Jackie pushed past Lola and entered the room. “Holy mother of Christ, look at this place.”
The white walls curved at the edges of the small room. A white bed sat in the middle with a dresser on each side. Everything was squared off and looked symmetrical. Even the carpet had parallel vacuum cleaner lines on it. A painting of a snowdrift hung on the wall, reminding me of the brief minutes we’d spent on top of the Dark Academy when I’d won an award for the Blues that got us a trip to the frozen Artic roof.
Seeing this room made me ill. I wanted to rush back to the other academy, grab the people there and tell them they were living in a
“Didn’t you just love that?” Lola jumped over to us, patting her face. “I set those up for all the new students, as a welcome .” She giggled again.
“You bring out another welcome like that,” Jackie said. “And I will punch your face.”
I didn’t see any joking in her words. Lola tried to smile away the awkwardness. It didn’t work. “Jackie, I know you’re new, but we don’t threaten each other here. That will only create hate and resentment. You don’t want that, do you?”
Jackie tugged on her shirt and stared at the floor. After two years plus of doing nothing but filling every second of her day with hate, everything Jackie knew was hate.
She looked up and glanced at me and Mark. “Okay, I’m done with hate,” Jackie said.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that,” Lola said. “Do you guys want to see your domicile?”
“What the frick is a domicile?” Jackie asked.
“It’s your dwelling. Your house here.”
“Oh, yeah, let’s check it out,” Jackie said.
Mark grasped my hand and smiled a real smile. I felt his hand shaking with excitement in mine. This place must have been what he’d imagined, with everything his mom had told him. It made sense to him. The entire time we were at the Dark Academy, he hadn’t had that look. Just being next to it, I felt excited as well. I knew I wasn’t going to get attacked at the fence line, or have some dude pound his crotch in my face if we lost a stone competition.
We followed Lola alongside a tall wall. Above us, many round pod-looking rooms stuck out of the flat wall with windows overlooking the compound. She entered another door under the stack of rooms and we followed her in.
The whole place had a pleasant smell, like clean linen with hints of vanilla. A few people were sitting around a couch in what looked like a rec room. They smiled and waved to us as we walked by. A few of the girls just stared at our clothes. It struck me then how much we stood out from them with our dark blue jeans and colored shirts. We might as well have been a circus passing through.
“Right this way. We have a fantastic room for each of you.” Lola entered the elevator.
“You know these tablets don’t have Internet?” Jackie said.
“We don’t have Internet or cell coverage here. You can use that to communicate with everyone within these walls, though.” Lola pointed at Jackie’s tablet.
“Great. So, how many pictures of junk have you gotten, Lola?”
“I lost track after a while. Besides, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all. Am I right?” Lola flashed a smile and looked to the numbers at the top of the elevator.
Jackie eyed her, sizing her up.
The elevator stopped moving at floor sixteen and the doors slid open.
“There are only six rooms on floor sixteen. You three will have rooms four through six. How about room four for you, Jackie? They’re all the same, pretty much,” Lola explained.
“Okay, I guess.” Jackie stared at the door.
“Each door will be registered to your palm print. Go ahead and place your hand on the screen.” Jackie did and a red line scanned her hand. Then the door opened. Lola went on, “I’ll show you all around this room and where your uniforms are.”
Jackie pushed past Lola and entered the room. “Holy mother of Christ, look at this place.”
The white walls curved at the edges of the small room. A white bed sat in the middle with a dresser on each side. Everything was squared off and looked symmetrical. Even the carpet had parallel vacuum cleaner lines on it. A painting of a snowdrift hung on the wall, reminding me of the brief minutes we’d spent on top of the Dark Academy when I’d won an award for the Blues that got us a trip to the frozen Artic roof.
Seeing this room made me ill. I wanted to rush back to the other academy, grab the people there and tell them they were living in a
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