I opened my eyes slowly and took in a full view of a crimson and orange swirled ceiling.

I took deep breaths as I sat up from a flat surface in complete pain. "Ow..."

"Oh! Kassina!" A head popped into view. Jun looked down at me from my left with a soft, surprised look. "You're...on the ground...how'd you get there?"

I eyed him and stood up. "What? I get the ground and you gotta bed! What's wrong with you? Where are we anyway?"

"Your room. Room 17 on level 36 in Building Montor."

I rubbed my eyes and gave a resistant yawn. "Why are you here?"

"I was worried about you Kassina. Don't let my efforts go in vain now. I suggest you wash and get dressed for pre-classes or your pre-pre-orientation."

Even in the mornings, his smug and fake angelic demeanor was see through. Player he was. His, somewhat, helpful gestures of good will were too good.

Wait what? Classes?

"My...what?"

I quickly covered myself with my towel and rapidly rubbed my face.

There truly was nothing like taking a shower in a super expensive shower that sadly did not belong to you.

"Dead men don't run," I hummed softly.

That would be one thing I'd miss from that brat Kayla. She could sing. I would miss hearing a mini Beyoncé upstairs every morning.

"Where's my phone?" I whispered as I searched the bathroom counter.

There were lots of thing splattered everywhere. My makeup and charger resting in the sink with all my stolen towels from Avine unfolded everywhere. I looked for the dirty gold tint of my phone and finally caught it in the bathroom closet.

One thing about going to a rich school, the dorms are up to date when it comes to luxury. There wasn't fine china in the kitchen or anything- but there was a damn good looking marble kitchen in the room adjacent to the bathroom.

I smiled as I pulled my phone out of the closet and grabbed my charger. Since being at this school, it seems that my battery was just plummeting with my little use of it.

I turned to face the mirror and looked around for a plug. Strangely, there wasn't one in the typical hotel place for plugs. Seeing how there wasn't on there, I turned and looked around in the bottom of the closet. Still there were no plugs.

They must have had some elaborate study of how plugs affect the energy flow of the room. Hippies.

I set my charger and phone down in the closet and got dressed in my usual duds.

I've always said, you can't go wrong with long, baggy cargo shorts, a white beater, and an oversized, sleeveless t-shirt on top of that. It was my style, a bit of punk, gangster, and retro. With that you can never go wrong with combat boots.

I stared at myself in the mirror as I combed my fingers through my long black hair.

I've been through so many fights because of my hair. People say it's fake, I mean envious female rats. Avine wanted me to cut my hair so bad because she couldn't handle all the fights every week.

I smiled as I remembered all of my victories.

Not many black people had hair past their ears, nor past their shoulders. I was a rare case. I didn't have to wear weave to feel confidant or beautiful. My straight black hair touched my waist, I had been aiming for hips for so long, but it just stops at its point.

I finally sought a brush and started furiously going through it, realizing someone was waiting for me outside of my room.

After I was done with hair, I threw it up in a high pony tail and only applied some golden color above my eyes.

I grabbed my phone and left my charger in the closet. I quickly shut off the lights in the bathroom, there was more than one, and rushed to find my boots.

I applied deodorant and perfume before scanning the room for anything I could have left behind, but after excessive checking, I was ready.

I can't believe I came to this idiotic school while not even knowing its name. Mayorette. Sounded...stupid. Ava didn't call this school that back at the house, she said something prestigious like Lexington or Stratford .

"And you are?"

I straightened as I looked the middle-aged woman in her eyes. "Reynoso, Kassina Reynoso."

The woman thought for a second. "I believe you have a requirement of classes to take." She turned away from me and to an entire wall of black pull-out cabinets. "Reynoso..." she whispered pulling out a drawer closer to the end of them all.

She sifted through dividers until she paused at a folder towards the back. "You have three classes to make up before the school semester starts." She pulled out a packet and closed the drawer.

My expression soured as she handed me the heavy set of papers. "This is...?"

"School rules and regulations. Also, a map of the school as well." She smiled. "Any questions?"

I tightened my grip on the packet. "None you could answer."

"Who ever heard of someone taking a class during the-..." I stopped talking realizing that what I was about to say was stupid. "Speaking of...what are my classes even?" I chuckled darkly, "not like I'm going past a day."

I pulled out the sheet and sighed as I looked over the three classes. "What the hell is this? Isn't this an actual school? Why do I have to take these!"

I angrily lowered the paper and crossed my arms.

I wonder how far I could go with a break out? Could I make it to the next town? What is the next town? Where even is this school?

I folded my schedule and put it in my pocket and pulled out my phone.

I looked around and planted my back on a wall facing a massive courtyard of generic grass and a few generic green leaved trees.

I tapped the screen a couple of times and finally a map showed up. I looked at it carefully. "Rhodes...where is-."

"Look who's hiding?"

Scared, I looked up and met eyes with Jun. "What do you want?"

Jun's eyes flitted towards my phone. "Were you not going towards Art?"

I grumbled. "No! I wasn't...how do you even know?"

He shrugged. "When you've been here as long as I, you find out locations and where stuff is." His eyes met mine. "You'll be taking either Langston or Yithrim. Since you look like a total noob, I think Langston."

I narrowed my eyes and lowered my phone. "Look, I'm only here until I can catch a break out of here."

Jun leaned back and started to snicker. "Out? Out?" He turned away from me and burst out laughing. "Did you not read the book? This school is exclusive! There's no getting out once you're in!"

I stared at him.

"It was in the contract that you signed."

"Contract? I didn't sign a damn contract!"

"On the bus you did," Jun whispered bluntly. He turned back to me with a weak smile. "Now, get off your phone so we can walk to our class as a couple."

I pushed past Jun and looked at my phone again. This time, the GPS had something different on the screen. "No connection available?"

Jun yawned next to me. "Aww, did you not pay your bill? You know, outside phones will be useless once the semester starts. We'll all be issued new ones...better ones."

I cursed and walked away from Jun. "Get away from me." I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and pulled out my schedule list.

"Lovely! You're leaving without me...and you're going the wrong way!"

"Shame, I don't have an appreciation with the arts. How about you Kasey?"

I looked up from my phone angrily. "Stop talking to me." I returned to scrolling through my phone's settings. Data on, data off, data on, data off, airplane mode, restart phone, airplane off, and data on.

I went back to the maps and this time it said something completely different. Now, for the town we were in, it said Huntsville. I'm not a rocket scientist, but I know pretty damn well I did not cross over the entire U.S to Tennessee. The ride in that bus wasn't even long, we'd had to go, possibly, as far as the eastern edge of Nevada from Palmdale.

"Something hit you?" Jun placed a cold hand on my knee under the table.

I turned off my phone and looked down. I looked at the walls of the room countless times. Every lap I made, I saw absolutely no plugs.

Jun's demeanor felt weary as he looked at me. "Seriously I mean."

I picked up my 'art pencil' and started to sketch out a single slanted line. "Tonight, I want you in my room Jun. I'll ask you something and I expect you come with answers."

Jun groaned weakly. "More questions...this can't be good."

"It won't be."

"This writing?" I asked half awake.

A skinny teen with bold glasses looked up at me. "Yes. It is and you're new..."

I stepped through the doorway. "Yeah."

"And slightly menacing..."

I grinned. I towered over the five-two girl. I almost felt bad for looking so good. "Where may I sit?"

The Writing Room was no more than an oversized broom closet really. It was small, almost ten feet by twenty, and filled with cliché writing posters that promoted creativity.

Other than the crowded walls there was one wooden desk, one podium, and about ten single black chairs along the walls or in front of the podium. There were four in a single line in front of the podium and three along the walls facing the four, facing the podium.

"Anywhere, there are only four other members of this club."

"It's a club...not a class?"

The glasses girl shifted. "I guess for you it's a class. There's only a writing class for the upper-class students. So...I hope you're happy in my class."

I took a seat farthest from the other nine chairs. "So, you're the teacher or are you the boss of this class?"

"I-I am! T-The teacher I mean. There's no...I mean..." She bowed and gave me a worried smile and quickly looked towards the doorway behind me. "Gabriel! Perfect timing." She rushed out of the class in a hurry.

I felt pleased with myself.

"Find it fun to bully?"

I turned my head towards a person I never saw when I came in. The voice belonged to someone equal height of me with piercing blue eyes and jet black-blue hair.

"Well then, you're a pencil," I mumbled eyeing him up. He was quite slender in his black t-shirt and jeans, almost half my weight I bet.

"Maybe I am," he called back. "But you never answered me."

I leaned back in my chair. "I don't find need to. It's a question you might answer before me-."

"Cause, I don't." He approached me and pulled up a chair directly next to me. "That girl is the sweetest creature to bless this place. Her scent and aura and being is what blesses me and feeds me to keep me alive. She is a goddess of being and-."

"Is she you're girl?"

He stammered and slightly blushed. "N-no."

"Then I see no reason for you being her white knight."

His eyes widened. "Listen here, I'm warning you. Don't upset my Ariel." He picked up his chair and moved it back in place, directly in front of the podium.