Class Trip by Rachel Burns

was
free the woman removed the towel from my head. She brought me to the
waterspout and washed me again. The other girls all stared at that. I
shrugged at them and the woman grabbed hold of my face and turned it
to hers. She shook her head no.
    She washed the
stuff out of my hair and then toweled me dry. Then she scrubbed my
body like there was no tomorrow. She gave me a bathrobe and led me to
a hairdresser's chair. It looked just like the ones you see at the
hairdresser's.
    A new woman
stepped forward. The two women talked and the hairdresser was
fluffing my hair while they were. I stared ahead and checked out my
eyebrows. They looked nice thankfully. I looked at my hands too. They
were also perfect.
    The hairdresser
started combing my hair. My hair was pretty long so she had to bend
down to trim it. I was prepared to flip out if she tried to really
cut it short. She was careful not to take off too much and when she
looked at me I smile and nodded. She blew it dry and combed it to
perfection.
    After she
finished she divided it in half. She french-braided it.
    She moved to the
other side and braided that half too. I looked really sweet and
young.
    The woman smiled
at me and then went off, leaving me alone to look at myself.
    She came back
with a box. It had my things in it. I stood and quickly went about
getting dressed. I looked back in the mirror. I could pass as a much
younger girl now. Only my breasts were giving away my real age. She
took hold of me by my arm and started walking with me again.
    Another woman
stopped her. I was positive that she said I wasn't to be held like
that because she took hold of my hand and we left the room. She was
marching quickly. She led me outside to the courtyard.
    The woman didn't
let go until we were standing in front of Herr Glossner. He smiled at
me pleased with my hair, I guessed.
    He reached out
and took me by my other hand so I was holding on to his like he made
everyone hold my hand. We stood there and looked out at the others. I
was getting bored. He wasn't talking to me and all the other girls
were talking to each other.
    I stood next to
him for about an hour. I noticed that the other girls sometimes
disappeared and came back. Were they going to the bathroom? I really
had to go in the meantime.
    I shifted my
weight a little and debated asking if I could go. I hadn't been since
this morning.
    “Do you have to
go to the bathroom?” he asked me, but he was grinning from ear to
ear.
    I nodded at him.
    “Okay, I'll
take you.” He called out to one of the other guards and pulled me
inside again. Once we were inside he laid down his cane and locked
the door. He took me back up the way that had led to his room.
    “Here you go,
but hurry. I have to go too.”
    I went and felt
like saying thanks for sharing very sarcastically. Of course I
didn't, but I had really wanted to.
    I went quickly
sighing that I had finally been able to go. I took a second to look
down at myself. I looked different, somehow cleaner this way. If it
hadn't hurt so much I would prefer to stay this way.
    I washed my hands
and went out.
    Herr Glossner was
sitting on the sofa looking at the newspaper. He stood when I came
out and went in. He paused before he closed the door. “Sit down on
the sofa and stay there. I'll be right out.”
    He closed the
door and I could tell that he was hurrying. The toilet flushed right
away and he came out with a towel in his hands. He had wanted to see
if I was still there. “Good girl,” he said as he hung up the
towel and then held his hand out to me again.
    I knew what that
meant. It meant he wanted to pull me around after him again. I went
to his hand and he pulled me to his side. He just looked down at me
and smiled for a moment. Then he turned and went down the stairs.
    Herr Glossner
unlocked the door and we went out to the corridor again. He nodded
over to the bus driver. He was tightly holding onto my hand again. I
had to stand next to him while all the others played. After