I sat down in the back of the room waiting for Ms. Wood to come. All the other teenagers were causally talking around the classroom. One of the girls, Mara, came towards me with a small smile on her face.
" What's the matter Alison?" she asked. " You're much quieter than usual." I shrugged.
" I think my memories might be coming back soon, but the about how I was an experiment was the one that keeps repeating in my mind."
She nodded in understanding. " I see. That's how you got the scar on your back, right?" I nodded. When I came to Shadow Star everyone was curious about the wound that ran down my back. Even though it pained me, I had explained to them what happened. It was embarrassing for someone like me.
" Anyway, how is Mira doing? I heard about how sick she was."
" She's fine. Lively as ever, nothing really changed. Though, I think there was something in the food. She became sick after she ate that potato salad about three days ago."
" How do you remember what we had for dinner three nights ago?" I asked. She grinned toothy. " I have a good memory when it comes to these things. I remember when Mara and I were younger, we used to ran down the neighborhood causing trouble."
" Really? Mira I understand, but you caused trouble Mara?" She nodded. " We got in trouble quite a lot with our elders."
Ms. Wood then appeared in the classroom. All the students went back to their assigned seats, but the only problem was that the others weren't here.
Ms. Woods noticed and sighed. " They're late again," she muttered. As she said it, the others came through the door, exhausted. I groaned.
" You're late," she told them.
" Yes, we're sorry Ms. Woods," Claire said. They all walked to their seats. Abby and Jane sat on the other side of me, looking quite embarrassed.
" Alright, let's start with the lesson."
~
Ms. Woods left the room for lunch time. Some of the teenagers went to get some lunch from the cafeteria while others just stayed behind. Jane stood up in her chair. " Are you two getting something to eat?" she asked.
I shook my head. " Mara was telling me about how Mira got sick earlier. They don't cook the food well here."
Abby sighed. " I guess you're right. You now ruined my appetite Ali."
I smiled sheepishly. " Sorry, but it's true."
Jane rolled her eyes. " Well, I'll get something to eat. This is the only break we're gonna have until noon comes around." Jane exited the classroom, leaving Abby and I in our seats.
" Do you really believe Mira was sick all this time?" Abby suddenly asked.
" What do you mean? It seemed like a good excuse to me, since there's nothing else to do in this orphanage."
" There's always the soccer field," Abby mentioned.
" Yeah, but she's out in the open. Admit it, there's nothing to do in this torture chamber." Abby smirked. " If you keep talking about it, then this place will seem quite boring to you."
" And it hasn't already," I argued. Being trapped in this place for years, with nothing to do, was torture. We all wanted to leave this place and explore the outside world. It was almost like we were prisoners.
" Anyway, have you heard from Anthony at all?" Abby asked. I shook my head.
" I thought he would be sick as well from eating too much cake for his birthday," I joked. Though, Abby wasn't paying attention to my remark.
" He hasn't showed up at all," she muttered.
" Huh? Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since his birthday. Do you think he really is sick like how Mira was?" I asked.
Abby shook her head. " No, I have a feeling that something else happened that we don't know of. Ms. Woods didn't even realize that he was missing either."
" Well, Ms. Woods is also one of the creators of Shadow Star, though I don't see the big deal here."
" If I ask that old woman, then we would get no where with his disappearance. He's not the only one too, she has to tell us something," Abby said. The main creator of Shadow Star was Ms. Coleman, also known as the one who found me abandoned at the side of a road.
She was a lot nicer than how Abby described her out to be. That woman could have left me at the side of the road and left me to bleed to death.
A hand started to wave in front of my face. " Earth to Ali. We have some time left before lunch ends. Are you coming with me to ask that damn woman."
I sighed. I guess it was the best thing to go before Abby tries to fight Ms. Coleman. We both stood up in our chairs and left the classroom, just to run into Jane.
" Oh, are you guys going to get lunch?" she asked. I looked at Abby for an excuse.
" We're going to talk to that old woman," Abby said bluntly. I crossed my arms. I could tell that Abby just wanted to push Jane over and walk to Ms. Coleman's office.
" Abby, don't cause a scene. Let's just go." She scoffed and walked away. " Sorry Jane, we'll meet you in class later."
She nodded as I jogged to catch up with Abby.
~
Abby quickly opened the door, almost making it slam against the wall. " Hey old woman! We're here to ask you something!" she shouted. Ms. Coleman was sitting behind her desk with someone in the seat in front of her.
When she turned around, it was a girl who had short blond hair and dark brown eyes. " Who the hell is she?" Abby asked. Ms. Coleman rubbed her temples, sighing.
" Abby, Alison. I am in the middle of a decision with one of our new members, so would you please-"
" New member?" Abby repeated. The girl smirked and stood up from her seat.
" My name is Ellen Henderson. Nice to meet you. Abigail, and Alison is it?" I nodded. She looked a lot like Chloe, another one of the oldest members in Shadow Star.
" Ellen will be joining your class tomorrow morning. Please, be kind to her," Ms. Coleman said. I nodded again. Ellen came over to me and shook my hand gladly. " I can't wait to be part of you guys."
I chuckled nervously. This girl had no idea what she was getting into. Ms. Coleman cleared her throat.
" Now may I ask, Abby, Alison why on earth did you two come barging into my office?"
" Anthony has been missing for a while now," Abby admitted. " Ms. Woods doesn't even notice that he's gone and Ali here didn't see him either."
" Hey, don't bring me into this!" I shouted. Ellen looked back and forth between us and Ms. Coleman.
" What is she talking about?" Ellen whispered to me. I frowned. Did she really believe that we were friends already?
" It's nothing to be concerned about," I whispered back.
" I don't know what you're talking about Abigail. Now, please go back to class." Abby's face slowly started to turn red from anger.
" But..my friend is missing."
" Abigail, I have nothing more to say about this subject." Ms. Coleman turned to me. " Alison, I would like you to show Ellen around Shadow Star--she will be bunking with Chloe and Mae."
" Chloe and Mae?" I repeated. Ellen looked back at me. " What's so bad about that? I have a cabin to share with everyone."
I sighed. Five minutes and I already hated this girl. Her personality was too bright for this place. Everyone, especially Chloe, would wear her down about her background.
" Why the hell aren't you answering me?" Abby asked.
" I have no more to talk about. Go, before I tell Ms. Woods to give you detention for being late to class."
As we left the office, Abby and I walked our separate paths. I didn't want to be stuck with this girl anymore than I had to be.
" So, what are you gonna show me first?" Ellen asked.
" I guess the main field. This place is almost similar to a school--at least that's what I heard from my friend."
" Your friend? You mean other people have just arrived here as well?" I nodded.
" You see my friend came here not too long ago, she told us about all the exciting things that are in the outside world--so, what do you have to say about it?"
Ellen looked up in thought before responding. " Actually, I've been moving orphanages since I was young. The elders couldn't deal with me, so they just sent me to another one, year after year."
I nodded. " I see."
" So, what's your story?" she asked. " I've already explained mine to you, now I want to hear yours."
I scoffed. " I didn't ask for you whole life story. I just tried to start a conversation."
Ellen gave me a goofy smile. " Sorry, I'm just curious is all." Maybe a little too curious for me. As we walked to the field, all the children got attached to her, curious of her history. She welcomed them all with open arms.
" Ali, is she new?" Ella asked me. She had a little bit of dirt on her face. I nodded. " Just transferred today. Ms. Coleman forced me to walk her through." I moved closer to Ella in order to whisper. " She's very noisy too."
Ella giggled. " She is new Ali. Wasn't I the same when I first arrived?"
I shook my head. " As everyone asked you about your past, you were shy about all the questions, that you eventually freaked out."
" Come on, I wasn't like that," she whined.
I laughed. " You were, that made you sit alone at lunch most of the time." Ella looked at Ellen talking to the younger children.
" It seems like so much time has pasted by. I can't believe that I've been here for five years already." I nodded.
" Anyway, Ms.Coleman said Ellen is sharing with Chloe and Mae."
Ella gasped. " She must be crazy. Aren't there any other cabins available?"
" Even if there were, I don't think Ms. Coleman trusts someone new in a cabin alone. Hell, I wouldn't even trust Abby in one alone--and she's been here longer than anyone else."
I sighed and sat down on the nearby bench. I looked up at the small clock tower, showing that it's almost noon. " Classes for teenagers should be ending soon," I said.
Ella nodded." And that means we're going to class by two o'clock. I wish I can have a class early in the morning like you guys."
I rested back on the bench, looking up at the sky. Some gray clouds showed up. " Rain is coming now. Looks like your soccer game with the older kids might be put on hold."
Ella looked back at Jimmy and Carlos, who were listening to Ellen's story. She then giggled. " They tried to play them at lunch, but they lost miserably."
" What did you do?" I asked.
" I was cheering them on of course. Every team needs a cheerleader."
" Not a soccer team," I reminded her."
" Alison!" Ellen called. " Are there any other parts of Shadow Star you wanted to show me?" I shrugged and got off the bench.
~
The teenagers and the younger kids switched schedules. I had finished giving Ellen the tour around Shadow Star. She then left to talk to Ms. Coleman. I was sitting on the stairs waiting for the others to show up.
" Hey Ali!" Abby called. I smiled at the sound of their voices. Everyone else was following Abby with relief on their faces.
" How was class?" I asked.
Abby groaned. " Ms. Woods wouldn't stop talking about the lesson and on top of that, she gave us homework."
" Yes, like how they do it in a regular school," Claire said. Jane sat down next to me on the stairs. " So, you haven't told us the whole story Claire. What was the outside world like as you got older."
Claire scratched her head. " I can't remember much about anything new since I was younger, but they had cellphones."
" Cellphones?" Abby repeated. " What the hell are those?"
" They're small electronic devices that you can communicate people through--almost like the wired telephone," Claire explained.
I had never seen a cellphone in my life either. The ones who have been here the longest don't know anything else other than what we left behind.
" How was your tour with Ellen?" Adam asked. I shrugged. " She's annoying," I muttered. Abby nodded.
" She is, she's too excited about everything and it's idiotic." I rolled my eyes. " You know Jane was the same way before she met all of us."
Jane smiled. " Everything aside, I really want to see what you call a cellphone and what a summer camp is and what kind of activities you do. You really made me excited Claire."
Claire smiled. " Someday, that will happen."