"You can literally taste the depression that was felt while this was reheated from yesterdays garbage can." Ruth said, referring to the stuff on their trays; the gray plastic mats were holding a pile of cold mac and cheese, a stick of butter, some meatloaf, and a cup of water.
"Are you sure this is... healthy?" Violet asked, inspecting the brown and green meatloaf on her tray, "I think I saw it move".
They all chuckled, "Well, healthy is a very strong word." Ruth said
"Yeah, as long as we get our daily calorie intake then it doesn't matter what they force down our throats." Greta stated, lazily chomping on a piece of meatloaf graciously drowned in butter.
"It's true!" Annamae piped up, "See that stick of butter, Hon?" She asked, pointing to the yellow blob, "That right there is 810 calories and counts towards your daily calories!"
"Do they just expect us to eat the whole thing?" Violet asked, hesitantly sniffing the mac and cheese.
"It's either that or starve." Greta chimed in, "And you're too small to be skipping meals."
"And who is this?" A hispanic woman came up to their table, two shorter girls on her tail.
"Hi I'm-"
"-Not talking to you, Alejandra" Ruth cut Violet off, leaning a little more in front of her.
"I'm just trying to be her friend, Ruth." She said, looking at Violet again, "Now, what did you say your name was?"
Violet got a knot in her stomach looking at Alejandra, she did not like feeling she got. "Violet..." She said quietly, looking down.
"Violet... I like that. I'm Alejandra, my girls here are Sofia and Isabella." They both straightened up at their names, attempting to stare at her menacingly.
"Hello." Violet said quietly, nodding towards them.
"Pobre guera, mas flaca que un palillo." Sofia said as they laughed and turned to walk away.
"Be careful around here, girlie." Alejandra said, eyeing her as the walked away.
Everyone sat there, glaring at the retreating figures.
"Well, they were nice." Violet said, sighing, "I thought that was going to be completely different."
Ruth, Greta, and Annamae laughed, shaking their heads.
"Oh, Violet, you have so much to learn!" Ruth said, shoveling a forkful of mac and cheese into her mouth.
"Them? They're not good people." Annamae said
"Even calling them people is generous." Greta added, "Last year there was this guard who pushed Alejandra against the wall."
"And?" Violet asked nervously
"Violet, ever notice how they only give us pads instead of tampons?"
Violet shook her head, she hadn't noticed until now.
"Well, Alejandra had a tampon with her, turned around and stabbed the guard with it."
"It's true!" Annamae said, a little too delighted "She melted a blade from a razor to the plastic applicator and sliced her right open!"
Violet shivered, imagining the blood pooling on the concrete, the paleness of the guards body becoming translucent with each second.
"Line up!" The guards screamed, banging their batons on the metal doors and glaring at all the creatures locked up there.
"Oh dear lord" Greta muttered, slowly getting up from the table.
"What are we doing?" Violet asked, getting up with the rest of them.
"This is what he calls, 'line up'" Ruth started explaining
"Basically, you line up and they degrade you." Annamae said, rolling her eyes.
YOU ARE READING
I Did(n't Do) It
RomanceHigh School is full of "firsts": Your first love, first kiss, first degree murder. Violet McNeal and Eric Stanson's relationship has all three. It was the epitome of perfect; perfect chemistry, perfect gifts, perfect people, or, at least, that's wh...
