The Right to Die | ✓ Amby Winner 2023

10. Mice and Rats

They pushed the bathroom door open. Dim lights ran across the ceiling, spreading gloom more than dispelling it. The shadows scurried in rows of mirrors above pristine porcelain sinks. It was a stall situation—made sense in a building this big, but not as safe as a single room. "Just a minute," M'yu said, hoping Ruslan would wait outside.

M'yu slipped into one of the stalls. The door closed with a click, floor to ceiling, the picture of perfect civility. But from inside the stall, M'yu peered at the lock. It was a flimsy, cheap thing, the kind you buy to say it's installed, not to keep anyone out. Anyone with half a brain could pop it. Rot, M'yu could put a pen tip in and break it; it'd be even easier with a girl's hair clip. The door might be closed, and it might be locked, but it was not safe.

Ruslan's foot tapped outside. M'yu flushed, washed his hands, and offered Ruslan a smile in the mirror. The image wavered in the shadows, about as real as any appearance of safety. "Alright, then. Where do we start?"

He dried his hands on his pants and tried to step quickly past Ruslan, but the other boy stepped in front of him. "Actually. I was thinking about that. You might not have had a terrible idea coming here after all."

"Oh?" M'yu's muscles bunched, readying themselves for a fight, but his face stayed neutral.

"Yes. You see, I think we need to get a few things straight."

"I'm all ears." M'yu tried to sidestep, and Ruslan pushed him back.

"You say that, but I'm not feeling it. Try again—perhaps with a bit more feeling this time."

M'yu cocked his head. "Did I do something to you?"

"Not yet, and you're never going to. You see, my House runs this school. Do you understand that?"

M'yu understood terf wars plenty. "Man, I'm not looking to shake anything up."

Ruslan sneered. "Well, man," he mocked, "then perhaps you best listen closely."

"Do you always have your conversations in the bathroom?"

Ruslan lunged to push him again, but M'yu dodged and slipped around. He pressed his back to the door, an easy out. "Are we done here?"

Ruslan flicked a linkcard from his pocket and tapped a button. The door behind M'yu clicked locked, and M'yu stiffened. The other boy grinned. "Not by half."

"It's my first day here—" M'yu started.

"But it's not your first time trying to make a fool of my House, is it?"

"Ruslan, he was trying to break Aevryn's hand—"

"Aevryn? Duke z'Daras is Aevryn now?" Red-faced and sneering, Rusland took a slow step forward. "It sounds like you are in sore need of an education. So are you ready for our rules? Scrollschool 101, you might call it."

M'yu's hand drifted behind him and reached slowly for the door handle. "You are my guide. I hear that's what you're supposed to do."

"Yeah. You're right. I am your guide, which is why you are always going to refer to me as 'sir.' It's only respectful, don't you think?"

M'yu bit his lip, still searching for the handle. If the lock here was anything like the locks in the stall—

"What?" Ruslan insisted. "I couldn't hear you."

"Sure. Sir. You got it."

Ruslan snorted, and M'yu realized he'd let his Rightspeak slip again. "You really are just a guttersnipe, aren't you?" M'yu bristled, and Ruslan's grin widened. "Say it. 'I'm nothing more than a filthy guttersnipe.'"