Imaginary

Chapter Two

I was cold when I awoke. My eyes opened to a white ceiling and I could hear soft music. I tried to sit up, but my arms couldn't move. I grunted as I looked to see my arms straining against belt restraints at my wrists. I looked around desperately and stopped when I saw a girl on a bed in the corner of the room, ear buds stuck in her ears.

She had dark brown hair that spilled past the bed, being the longest hair that I had ever seen. She was wearing a dark blue polo shirt with khaki pants and black converse shoes. A book was in her hand with the cover facing away to where I couldn't see what it read.

"Hey," I spoke as loud as I could so that she could her me through her music. She jumped slightly and pulled out her buds, giving a nervous laugh, "Oh! Its only you! You frightened me. I thought you were... Anyway, my name is Carla, but my friends call me Care Bear. I'm guessing you want out of those things."

She stood up and went to my bed, undoing the restraints. She stepped back as I sat up and rubbed my wrist, "Why was I in those?"

"You attacked yourself out in the main hall. The headmaster managed to stop you from causing too much damage, but you were really out of it. It was the worst case of schizophrenia I've ever seen in this place!"

I shook my head, grabbing my shoulder, "No-- I was..." There was no stab wound where my arm was. I looked to see a tiny needle hole where someone had injected me. I rubbed my temple, trying to remember past my hallucination, but nothing came in to mind.

Carla walked across the room to a small closet and retrieved a shirt and a pair of khaki pants, "You look about my size, so I guess you can borrow my uniform till you get your own."

I stared at the clothes, running off many curse words in my mind. I hated being told what I could and couldn't wear. I huffed and took the clothes from her. She smiled wide and twisted her hair around her finger, "Come outside when you're finished. I think the headmaster would appreciate me showing you around.

When the door shut, I sat on the bed, staring down at the cold tiled floor. My skin trembled as I remembered back to the hallucination I had. It was the most frightening one I ever had. I thought having spiders crawl on me was bad, but this one took the cake.

I sighed after a few moments and stripped to dress into the uniform. It was a bit snug around my Breasts, making them appear bigger than they normally seemed. I shrugged and looked in the mirror.

My hair was a major mess, so I ran my fingers through it, trying to untangle it. I noticed that just below my right shoulder on the polo was a crest of orange and brown with a leaf in the center. I ran my finger over it and hummed slightly in curiosity. I wondered vaguely why they were so obsessed with trees.

When I exited the room, I saw Carla talking with another girl. Her hair was raven black and pulled back into a ponytail. Bangs hung over her eyes and possibly shielded her complete vision. She was in a polo like Carla and I, but her khaki pants were gone and instead was replaced by a black plaid skirt.

She looked up, chains around her skirt clanking as she indicated to me, "So this is the attention whore, right?"

Carla giggled and looked back at me, "Oh don't mind her. She's just mad because you stole away the attention from her. Oh! I completely forgot your name. Joy, this is..."

"Ella," I replied in a flat tone.

Joy gave a crooked smile, revealing sharp teeth, "Hello, Ella... " She nearly spat out my name in disgust. She turned and walked away, her skirt wiggling to the rhythm of her walk.

Carla huffed, "Joy can be... Funny."

"You're too kind with names, Care. Before I follow her and tear her head off, show me around... In the opposite of where she went," Carla nodded and giggled, taking my hand and leading me the opposite way of where Joy left.