“Come in! Come in!” and man with a southern accent said several minutes later, he ushered them it the tiny house. “You stay out there and you’ll get too hot.”

Rita didn’t say it but she thought that the shack’s thin walls and holed roof wouldn’t hide them from the sun too awfully much. The air on the inside was stuffy and filled with dust.

“Thank you sir.” Their driver said as the man handed them cold waters, Rita took hers and couldn’t help but think of how hard it must’ve been to keep them cold.

“Anytime, so, you just passin’ through?”

“No sir”, their driver said, “I’m transporting the subjects.”

The man’s face became suddenly serious, he looked them over and nodded at their driver.

“Follow me.” He said, his accent suddenly gone. He led them to a separate room, it was a small kitchen; a large fridge sat in the corner next to a stove. The man scratched his head muttering things under his breath. “Ah ha!” he exclaimed, rushing over to the counter where an empty jar sat. He undid the lid and put his hand in, strangely enough, his hand didn’t show through the glass, he rummaged around and his hand came out with a key. He noticed the two girls staring and began to explain why his hand didn’t show through the jar.

“It’s kind of like a one way mirror, you see. Tiny cameras are set up on the inside, they scan their surroundings and project an image on its surface so its looks empty.”

Rita nodded, trying to take it all in. She watched the man cross the room quickly to the fridge, he yanked out one shelf at a time, the food fell all over the floor, jars were smashed and foods were squished beyond recognition. The man continued until the fridge was empty, he inserted the key in a small hole at the bottom and turned it, then lifted it up to reveal a small ladder going deep into the ground.

“Bombs away!” Their driver hollered, he grabbed Amber’s suitcase and tossed it down the tiny hole. There was a thump and then a faint, distant voice.

“Toss the next one down!”

“Coming up!” He responded. Rita handed her suitcase to her driver who tossed it down after Amber’s.

“Come on down.” The voice called.

They all went down, one by one, Amber first, then Rita, and then the driver. From below her, Rita could hear Amber muttering under her breath angrily.

“I swear to god, this is a shed, the lab better be in better shape or I’m gonna quit.”

“I don’t think you can quit this.” Rita said down to her.

“Eavesdropper.” Amber growled to herself under her breath.

“Proud of it.” Rita said with a sly smile. They continued down the ladder in silence, above them, the hole was being covered, sealing them from the rest of the world. The hole was dimly lit with lights, strung through the ladders rungs, below them, there was a bright light and faint voices. Rita heard a soft thump that echoed slightly, then Amber’s voice.

“Give me my bag, I have my charger in there and I need my charger.”

There was the sound of a zipper being unzipped, then a pause, then being zipped back up. Rita let go and fell down the remaining distance, she landed loudly and clumsily. Rita stood up and dusted off her knees, she looked up to see a completely steel room; the walls were bare except for a camera and a steel door. Several guards were standing in the corners, watching them with expressionless faces, Amber was paying no attention to her watchers as she whipped out her phone, with her charger in one hand, and turned it on. The screen lit up and the guards watched it with hawk-like eyes.

“Ugh, no reception down here, how am I going to keep in touch with my friends?”

Two of the four guards advanced immediately, their steps silent and their motions fluid, they worked in complete unison as they snatched away her phone. One restrained a struggling Amber while the other smashed it to pieces without a second’s hesitation.

“THAT WAS MY PHONE!!!” she screeched, “I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TEXTING MY FRIEND, HOW COULD YOU?!? THAT WAS THREE YEARS WORTH OF SAVING UP ALLOWENCE AND YOU JUST CRUSHED IT! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED FOR THREE YEARS? THAT PHONE WAS SO IMPORTANT TO ME, I WAS ABOUT TO BEAT MY HIGHSCORE ON CANDYCRUSH, I WAS THIS CLOSE TO BEATING ANGRY BIRDS.”

Amber tried to break free but the guard restrained her as if she was a child instead of a fourteen year old who had just gotten her phone destroyed. The man who had destroyed her phone paid no attention to the screaming girl, but instead he walked up to the door and nodded to the other guards. They grabbed the girl’s suitcases and carried them to the door which was in the process of being opened. Their driver nodded to them and went back up the ladder without a word, Rita found herself walking up to Amber in an attempt to calm her down. She walked up cautiously, not wanting to be hit by her flailing arms.

“YOU BROKE MY PHONE.” She cried out, then she spotted Rita and silently pleaded her to help.

“Rita, they broke my phone, help.”

“Calm down.” Rita said in a reassuring voice, Amber looked at her like she was crazy.

“But, they broke my phone.”

“I saw that”, Rita said in the same, calm voice, “But you’re overreacting.”

“I am not.” Amber denied, her anger replaced with a sudden defiance.

Rita had a sudden idea, her dad had used this trick on her loads of times and it had always worked.

“Prove it.”

“Watch me stay calm.” Amber said, the guard let her go and Amber stood up, she walked calmly to the door and waited. Rita followed and the door opened with a whoosh, there was a sudden rush of sound that filled her ears, countless voices came from the other side of the door. The guard moved aside and ushered them through.

“See?” Amber hissed in her ear, “I told you I could stay calm.”

Rita didn’t respond, but instead, went through the door and into another room, this one filled with teenagers. Rita looked around; about seventeen fourteen year olds were in the room. On one side there were dozens of sleeping bags, several had belongings near them, on the walls closest to the sleeping area there were restrooms. The rest of the room was filled with activities, one TV showed the latest episodes of Rita’s favorite TV shows, another had a gaming system set up and there were some kids playing minecraft, one corner was filled to the brim with books, a tiny fireplace was beside some beanbags. Rita and Amber stood there, their mouths agape at all of the activity. Several stopped to wave at them while others ignored them completely. The door slam shut behind them, creating a loud boom that echoed throughout the room, there was complete silence and all eyes were on them. The only sound in the air was that of the TARDIS and some player’s character being eaten by a zombie. Rita smiled shyly and then looked at the floor.

They’re looking at me, why are they still looking at me? Oh gosh, did I do something wrong? Say something, something normal. What falls under the categories of normal?

“Nice weather we’re having, right?”

There was a deeper silence, the movie marathon had been paused and the minecraft had been turned off. A voice from the back of the room spoke up.

“We’re inside, Sherlock.”

Well, I messed that up, maybe I can say something really cool to save myself, maybe it’ll be funny and witty and I’ll make friends.

“Well, that erm, wall looks…. Nice.”

Well, I screwed that up too

Rita looked down, her face burning as she trudged to the corner with her suitcase rolling behind her, nice wall? What a stupid thing to say.

There go my future friends…. And my social life…

Rita sat down on a beanbag and picked up the first book she saw, she picked it up and opened it up to a random page and began to read, pretending not to notice all of the eyes watching her and following her every move. The silence carried on until several kids began to talk quietly among themselves, several others followed this example until the room was filled with talking once more.

“You really messed that up, didn’t you?”

Rita turned to see Amber sitting in the beanbag next to her. Rita sighed and nodded.

“And now they think I’m weird right?”

“Most likely.”

Rita groaned and sank deeper into the beanbag, she put the book on her face and tried to get her thoughts under control.

They think I’m weird and that’s never good, now I won’t make friends and I’ll be alone. I’ve been having to push my friends away all of my life and now that I have a chance to make friends I won’t have to say goodbye to, I mess it up.

Rita’s thoughts were interrupted by a finger tapping her shoulder, she looked up to see a girl standing behind Rita. She had glasses and a friendly smile, her blond hair was a mess, sticking in several directions, making her look as if she had just woken up.

“Hi, I’m Alyssa.”

“I’m Rita, the one who’ll probably have no friends.”

“Don’t worry, they do it to everyone. They find it funny to see their reactions, it’s their way of finding out what kind of person you are.”

Rita felt a rush of relief, she let out a breath she didn’t even know that she had been holding.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“So they think I’m a socially awkward teenage girl.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know.”

They both laughed and Alyssa led her to a comfy couch by the fireplace. Alyssa opened a book and began to read, Rita looked at her book and realized that it was a history book. Rita grimaced in distaste and went over to the bookshelves, she picked out a fantasy story. Rita walked back to the couch and sat next to Alyssa. Rita opened the new book, to the first page, and began to read. Around her, the voices and conversations of others became white noise and she read the story. Rita was brought out of her dreamlike trance when she heard a voice calling her name.

“Newcomers: Rita Young and Amber James. Come to the office.”