Sister Agnes, the nun responsible for the boys’ dormitory and one of the campus order keepers, noticed suspicious activity during her morning patrol. Her routine never changes: rise before dawn, then walk the grounds, outside first, and occasionally through the dormitory halls. But today, her sharp eyes caught a peculiar figure in a mask, as she claims, lurking near the boys’ buildings in the first pale light of morning. The moment their gaze met hers, the stranger ran away. Their sudden flight fueled her suspicions. And, to their misfortune, they had alerted the one person who would hunt them down within hours, not even days.

  Weary guards dare not shut their eyelids after their night shift is over. They are gathered now outside the control room in Christopher Hall, or Building C as how students call it. The morning shift guards gossip nearby under the blazing noon sun in the few scattered booths. The surveillance operator stands one step away from Sister Agnes, who has taken his seat. His eyes move from her swift fingers on the keyboard to the CCTV screens.

  Perhaps it’s her straight posture and head held high that makes the room colder than it should. Or maybe it’s her calmness and neutral face. Either way, the dorm supervisor of Christopher Hall (commonly known as Mrs. Gomez), the janitor, and the operator are holding their breath.

  "How can I help you, Sister?" the operator asks in a soft voice, fighting the urge to fall asleep since his shift ended hours ago. Blood is draining from his limbs with each second passing.

  Mrs. Gomez takes a step forward toward the two. "Sister Agnes, I’m telling you, the gates are closed at night. There’s no way a suspicious person was walking around. You’re the only one, other than me, who has the keys."

  The janitor, the one dressed in purple, pulls his hat lower over his face. His huge body seems to shrink in the heavy silence.

  The Sister’s eyes are still moving between the screens. Her hands still hover over the keyboard, rewinding the footage, until the suspicious figure appears. Everyone's heart jumps to their throats, stepping even closer to take a better look. A figure dressed in all black, wearing some kind of ski mask, is walking around. Sister Agnes squints at the glinting tools in their hands. The camera quality cannot uncover their features or what they are holding. The figure turns off the lights on the first floor. They use some kind of flashlight to pick the front gate lock, then they go out. She presses forward, moving an hour or so in time, until the doors open with streaks of sunshine. The figure walks in, closes the doors behind them, and vanishes in darkness.

  Sister Agnes turns in her chair to the dorm supervisor, who is biting down on her nails. The nun’s lack of visible emotions drenches the three workers in cold sweat.

  "I don’t think the gate was opened this morning," Mrs. Gomez says. "That person must have had some kind of way to lock the gate from the inside."

  "The gate was opened." Sister Agnes tilts her head slightly forward. "It has become such a habit to wake up and unconsciously unlock the gates that you didn’t notice if they were previously opened or not."

  The supervisor gasps silently. She opens her mouth again but can’t find the proper words to defend herself. "I don’t know… That never happened before. I’m sorry."

  The nun’s eyes move to the janitor. The latter takes a step back.

  "Lucas Lester," she pronounces his name carefully. "A former boxer who wanted a temporary job before deciding on a career. Am I correct?"

  Her accurate memory of his CV makes him shiver. He nods. "Yes, Sister."

  "Although you were asked by Sister Philips to be a guard, given how physically strong and young you are, you insisted on being a janitor, and now you are assigned to the boys’ dormitory: Christopher Hall, Dominic Hall, and Elijah Hall. Is that right, Mr. Lester?"

  Her memory of his interview with the headmistress makes his mouth run dry. "Yes, Sister."

  "So, why were you in the girls’ dorm yesterday, Genevieve Hall to be more specific?"

  Lucas’s heart stops for a moment. He draws in a tight breath. "I thought I was assigned to all buildings until I went back to my room and found out I’m only assigned to only three."

  Her eyes grow slightly wider. "And why were you talking to a girl in Genevieve Hall yesterday evening?"

  "Before working here, I used to work as a boxing coach, and both she and her brother were my students," his voice quivers. "I thought she’d remember me, but it looks like she didn’t."

  "I saw on the cameras that she went back to talk to you, but you run away from her."

  He pauses for a moment. "I felt disrespected when she didn’t recognize me at first."

  "Disrespected?" Sister Agnes’s face twists into a complex expression—the first reaction she has shown all day.

  Lucas swallows the lump in his throat. "Yeah," he mumbles.

  The nun’s face snaps back to its usual cruel neutrality. "What’s that girl’s name?"

  "Zoey," he blurts. "Zoey Hunter."

  She stands up slowly, dragging the gaze of the operator and the supervisor with her. "I see," she says ever so calmly.

  They watch her as she slowly exits the room. That’s when they let go of the breath they have been holding. The moment she steps toward the back gate, a plump kid with ginger hair runs at her, calling her name perhaps a million times, and eventually hugs her waist.

  She pats his back. "Hello, Noah. How are you feeling now?"

  "I’m good." He gives her one more squeezing hug before letting go. He looks up with a wide grin that turns his cheeks into two pink spheres huddled at the corners of his lips. "Today, I ate all my veggies and took my meds."

  She smiles, placing a hand on his curly orange hair. "You’re doing great, Noah."

  "Did you see that, Sister Agnes?" the boy whispers. His tone holds a hint of conspiracy, delicious enough to make the nun lean closer to him. "Mrs. Gomez let a girl in the boys’ dorm today."

  Sister Agnes’s eyebrows arch up. "A girl?"

  "Yes, she was wearing a mask and a big hoodie. She wasn’t talking. She was looking at the big screen next to Mrs. Gomez’s desk. Then, she took the elevator."

  The smile on the woman’s face vanishes. "How did you know it was a girl, not a boy?"

  "She had hair like a girl. Like, here." He points at his forehead.

  "Bangs? Boys can have bangs too. You can have bangs as well if your hair grows a bit more."

  He shakes his head. "I saw her when she walked out. There." He points at the gate at the back of the building, across the hall. "Her hood fell off, and I saw her long hair. She ran when she saw me. I tried to follow her, but she was fast. She went to the girls’ dorm.”

  She hums thoughtfully. "I see. Can you tell me what she looks like?"

  "She’s tall, has black hair, and wears a mask." He scratches his head. "I think she has something around her neck."

  Sister Agnes nods. Her brain has already painted a picture of her target, a picture that won’t fade until she catches the rule breaker. "Thank you for your help, Noah. I’m sure you’ll be an amazing cop when you grow up." The boy’s face lights up.

  Zoey sits down at a table in the dormitory cafeteria, fiddling with her spoon. She had to quickly change back into her uniform and rush to the school building to meet Jaiden. The two return to the dorm cafeteria for lunch. Only the two of them. Annie has a meeting with the other cheerleaders, and presumably they will eat together. Armani got stopped by his classmates; they dragged him to lunch since he’s growing popular in his class. Zoey and Jaiden came to the dorm cafeteria to have lunch with Laura, but she still hasn't shown up and she’s not answering her phone.

  Zoey’s gaze catches Jaiden as he walks around the table with his lunch tray. She gasps, seeing a carton of strawberry milk on his tray.

  "Where did you find that?" She leans forward. "I have searched everywhere on the campus for strawberry milk and didn’t find any!"

  He chuckles, sitting down. "Actually, I got it for you." He puts the carton right in front of her tray.

  Zoey falls silent for a moment. She notices he has no drink for himself. "Really?"

  "Yeah, I got it for you." He smiles and takes his spoon to mess with the rice on his plate.

  "But," she checks his tray one more time, "You got nothing to drink."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  He shoves a spoonful of rice in his mouth and mumbles, "Sister Fate said we will drink fresh pomegranate juice she herself will make." He looks up from his plate. "You’re in, right?"

  Zoey takes a deep breath, tapping the hard crust of the fried chicken she picked with her knife. It’s been ages since she had fried chicken that she can’t remember what the crust tastes like, but she always hears people crunching it. She gives Jaiden a nod. "You told me we should go at one, I guess." She checks her phone. The clock replies with 12:35 PM.

  He swallows. "Yeah. But, you’re in?"

  She nods again, cutting through the crunchy shell of the chicken’s crust, working around the drumstick bone. Hunter never allowed fast food in the house, and the last time Bryan sneaked fried chicken into the lab, it was not this hard to cut through. As her knife is halfway deep inside the chicken, the crust breaks away, peeling from the meat. She exhales sharply. Since when has it become too hard to cut food?

  "So, you’re coming with me after lunch?" A smile stretches on Jaiden’s lips.

  She hums. She lifts a piece of the crust toward her with the fork, but it falls halfway there. She stabs it, but the fork can’t go through it. She attacks it with the knife, but it crumbles into many pieces.

  "You’re really co—"

  She slams the knife and fork on the tray. “I said yes, I’m coming, I’m in, for fuck’s sake!”

  Jaiden blinks at her. Silently.

  She ducks her head and sighs. It was never the chicken’s fault, she knows that.

  Jaiden opens his mouth to speak, but she raises a hand, choking the words in his throat. "I’m in," she speaks quietly. "I’m coming with you after lunch."

  "Cool." Jaiden beams. "It’s going to be fun, I promise."

  Zoey’s eyes soften, and she gives him a quiet nod. The two turn to their meals. Zoey finally gives in to her temptation and puts the utensils aside. She tugs her mask forward just enough to slip food under it. She's using her hand just like Jaiden. The taste is surprisingly worth dumping Hunter’s healthy diet. However, it’s still a struggle to eat properly; the chicken is large and oily, and the mask steals her other hand.

  "It looks tough eating fried chicken with the mask on," Jaiden says, watching her. "I can cover my eyes if you want to take it off." He puts his greasy palms up over his eyes.

  Zoey immediately pulls down her mask and inhales her food. The clattering against the tray arouses his curiosity. His fingers loosen, and he glimpses through the cracks. She’s covering her mouth with one hand as she chews, but her eyes keep flicking toward him. He quickly seals the cracks before getting caught. He catches none of her features, and unfortunately, her face is still a mystery to him.

  "You can take off your hands now."

  He lowers his hands, and the mask is back on. She switches to salad and rice, things that are easier to sneak under the mask. Her eyes crinkle in a smile. "Thank you, Jaiden."

  Jaiden’s throat tightens. It’s the first time he’s seen her smile, even if it’s just with her eyes, and it’s at him. "It’s nothing." He grabs the glass of water on the table without thinking, downing it in one gulp.

  Silence settles again. Their eyes meet occasionally, and the air feels thick; utensils wobble in their hands. Jaiden clears his throat. "You never take your mask off?"

  She hums with a nod.

  "Why, though? Is there something you want to hide?"

  She pauses, then shrugs. "Well, I have a scar on my face."

  "Is it that bad?" He tilts his head to the side.

  She chews slowly, gaze drifting. Her shoulders dip. He shoves a couple fries into his mouth, keeping himself busy while she ponders. She swallows and meets his eyes after a minute.

  "I…" she searches her head for a proper way to put it, but it seems that it’s more complicated than she thought. "It’s more like… I don’t know." She sighs; words aren't capable enough to portray her thoughts. "I have always worn a mask."

  "Is everything okay?" His voice lowers, sympathy threading through it.

  She takes a deep breath. "I think it’s because I’m… No, I mean, we are—"

  Annie grabs a chair and slams it down at the table, making Zoey almost jump in place. She plops down. Her breath is so loud that Zoey loses her train of thought.

  "Is that your…" Jaiden presses his smiling lips together, looking down at Annie’s clothes. "Cheerleader outfit?"

  All eyes in the cafeteria turn to the new cheerleader. Her purple top sports a green center with white-and-black strips decorating sleeves, and ‘D.O.E.’ is stamped across her chest. Annie rises, pushing her chair back, the frilly purple skirt swaying above knee-length black leggings. Jaiden slaps a hand over his mouth.

  "What do you think of my outfit?" Annie asks with a grim face, her eyes moving between the two.

  Zoey glances at Jaiden.

  A suffocating, "Good," escapes him.

  Annie turns to Zoey, who replies with, "Not bad."

  Annie drags the chair back and sits. "Do you think Armani will like it?"

  Jaiden lowers his hand. His eyes are watering. "Of course, he will like it. You look amazing." His voice cracks on the last word, so he seals his lips shut.

  Annie whips to Zoey again. The latter replies. "Yeah. Why not?"

  Jaiden clears his throat. "The purple and green combo is fire." A laugh escapes his lips, and he quickly covers his mouth with his hand.

  "You both are liars!" Annie shouts. "He said I look like Barney!"

  Jaiden cracks; he can’t hold his laughter any longer. Zoey chuckles but composes herself immediately, seeing the frustrated Annie steaming with rage.

  "He’s an asshole." Zoey notices Jaiden look to the other side, choking on silent giggles. "Don’t listen to him."

  "Everyone hates me, and you guys are laughing at me!" Annie’s voice trembles, and both of them snap back to straight faces instantly.

  Jaiden turns back to her. "Don’t say that, Annie. No one hates you."

  Annie’s gaze drops to the table. She sighs. "I miss my real friends back at the camp." Tears flood her eyes. "They didn’t laugh at me, and they didn’t lie to me."

  Zoey shifts in her chair, leaning closer to Annie. "It’s okay, Annie." Her voice softens. "No one is laughing at you."

  Jaiden draws a breath in. "But Armani said—"

  "Fuck Armani." Zoey glares at him.

  "Back at the camp, I had real friends." Annie’s voice wavers. "I wish they didn’t bring me here."

  "Camp?" Zoey looks to Jaiden.

  "Some organization in her hometown took kids from poor families. Put them in some camp-school thing. Trained them to be soldiers when they grow up. It was a government experiment to get rid of the homeless or some shit," he explains. "I saw it online."

  Annie nods and starts sobbing.

  "And Annie being here means the experiment failed?"

  Jaiden nods at Zoey, and the latter can feel her chest tightening. "Oh my god. Annie… you were trafficked!"

  "No, no traffic," Annie sniffles. "I came in the sky."

  Zoey looks at Jaiden, silently asking him to translate.

  "She came to the U.S. by plane."

  "No, that’s not what I mean." Zoey turns back to the girl who’s buried her face in her palms. "I mean they took you from your parents for free… They trained you, or educated you, to benefit the government—"

  "Took me for free?" Annie lifts her head sharply. "They didn’t take me for free! They gave my mom money. What do you mean for free?"

  Zoey blinks, thrown off by the sudden shift. "I... I don’t think that’s the problem here."

  Jaiden signals for her to stop talking. "Let her cook."

  Annie rubs the tears from her eyes. "We used to draw, study math, and shoot animals in the jungle and cook them. We used to get chocolate when we didn’t make trouble." She sniffs. Tears well up again. "But it wasn’t with caramel." She sobs harder. "I like chocolate with caramel."

  Zoey pinches the bridge of her nose.

  Annie turns to Jaiden. "You know the chocolate with caramel inside?"

  He pulls out some tissues from his pocket and hands them to her. "Yeah, it’s delicious. A bit too sweet, though."

  "They didn’t give it to me," Annie cries. "They only gave me the one without caramel."

  "That sucks, bro. Why didn’t they give you the one you like?"

  "They didn’t have it at the camp."

  Zoey judges them in silence.

  Annie wipes her face. "I loved my teachers and my friends. But they gave us boiled eggs for breakfast. Can you believe that? Boiled eggs, and not Churros!"

  "Man, that’s disgusting." Jaiden’s face twists. "Boiled eggs should be banned from this world."

  Zoey sighs. She checks her phone and it’s already 1:20 PM. She reaches for the few cold fries left on her tray, but Annie scoops them up with one hand and shoves them all in her mouth mid-sentence.

  "At night, we all played together outside. It was fun." She mumbles while chewing. "These fries are so good." She snatches a couple more from Jaiden’s tray.

  "That sounds sweet, Annie." Jaiden sits back. "Why are you crying then?"

  She sobs again.

  "You reminded her she was crying. Nice job," Zoey grumbles as Annie sniffles loudly. "Here we go."

  "I want people to love me," Annie says. "No one loves me."

  "Everyone loves you, Annie." Jaiden offers her a single fry from his tray. "No one hates you."

  She takes it and eats it silently. But then, she stands up abruptly. "You guys are liars! You lie to me! I hate you!" She stomps her feet toward the door.

  "Annie, wait!" Jaiden stands up.

  Annie storms back, snatches Zoey’s strawberry milk carton, and declares, "I’m not your friend anymore!" before marching out of the cafeteria.

  Zoey jumps up. "No, wait!" But Annie is already gone. Zoey clicks her tongue. "Oh, man…"

  "Don’t worry about Annie. She’s fine," Jaiden says, sitting back down. "She gets mood swings all the time."

  "Fuck Annie. I want my strawberry milk!"

  Laura arrives with a big pack of tissues, her voice cracking. "Sorry I’m late. What do we have for lunch?" She looks between the two of them.

  "I’m sure they will restock strawberry milk in a couple of hours," Jaiden says.

  "Did I miss something?" Laura eyes the standing Zoey.

  Zoey exhales. "You know what, Jaiden? I’m not joining you today. I need to clear my head."

  "Clear your head from what?" Laura asks, glancing at Jaiden.

  He leans toward her and whispers, "Annie took her strawberry milk."

  "Taking your strawberry milk is a crime." Laura jokes. "If I were you, I’d not let her get away with it."

  Jaiden laughs.

  "I’m just tired now. Not in the mood for jokes." Zoey paces toward the exit.

  "If you join me, I’ll bring you another one!" Jaiden shouts across the cafeteria, but Zoey doesn’t react. "I promise!"

  Laura rolls her eyes at Zoey as she leaves the cafeteria. "Bitch." She snatches some fries from Jaiden’s tray.