M I A
"What the hell was that?!" Julia and I jumped out of surprise when we heard something loud bang on my wall from the dorm next door.
For a moment I thought it broke into my room.
"I have no idea," I replied with slight fear, feeling my heart pound.
"Let's go check it out," Julia suggested as she sits up on my bed.
Before she can move from the bed, I quickly caught her ankle. "No way! I don't want to die tonight."
She looked at me weirdly and glanced at my hand, which made me lose my grip.
"You're not going to die." she rolled her eyes. "We're just going to knock on your neighbour's door, ask if anything is okay. And if we're lucky, a cute guy would answer."
"Exactly! Who can be up at midnight?"
"Who can be asleep at midnight?" she corrected me while I look at her confused. "Maybe they're injured or something."
"Well, I'm not risking it." I folded my arms stubbornly.
She looked at me for a moment trying to check if I'm serious. Once she got her answer, she huffed before she laid back on the bed. "You're no fun!"
At that, I smiled in victory before I went back to painting my toenails red, matching my fingernails of course.
Julia came by after dinner, claiming that she was bored, and brought a few things with her so we could hang out.
Even though we hang at dinner, I quickly accepted her company because one, I was bored too. And two, it was a great way to improve our friendship.
And so, the next thing I knew, it was midnight.
"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in your dorm?" I glanced up at her with raised eyebrows.
Her mouth opened in disbelief. "Are you kicking me out?"
"No! Of course not." I shook my head. "It's just Mrs Andrea said that if anyone was caught outside their dorm after curfew, consequences will be mean. And she meant it."
She scoffed. "You really believe anyone follows her rules?" she asked as I shrugged.
"Well, I'll tell you what, newbie." she rolled over on her stomach and smirked at me. "We don't."
"Rule number one of being a delinquent, we don't do rules. I thought you are one!"
I waved her off. "Yeah, I am. It was just a thought."
"Right..." she hummed before going back to stare at the ceiling.
Part of being clueless about what I am or what I offer, I had to make up fake stories for me to sound interesting. Satisfying Julia on the other hand was a challenge.
She told me a few stories about her life which were enough for me to make out that her life is thrilling! She had done things people only dream about doing and if I told her about my story─waking up in hospital with a memory loss─I'll doubt she'd think I'm cool.
"Wait, if that's true, does that mean people around here sleep together?" I couldn't help out of curiosity and to distract myself from my thoughts.
At this, she chuckled. "What do you think?! Some people have been living here for over 3 years!"
My eyes widened in surprise, "But how?!"
She raised her eyebrows. "You do know that we have a pharmacy with nurses working in there?"
Well, I mean people get sick...
"So, they just hand condoms out?! Does Mrs Andrea knows about this?"
"Of course they don't hand out condoms!" she scoffed at me. "Boys ask for after getting tested first. Girls take pills and are advised to check in with a nurse if they missed their periods or something. It's a really complicated process."
"And Mrs Andrea approves?"
"Well, it's better that way than to go behind her back."
"Hasn't anyone gotten pregnant?"
She hummed for a moment, thinking. "There was this girl, Becca, she got pregnant last year. She was escorted out of the academy instantly."
Wow...
"Mrs Andrea knows that we screw around, she knows that we pass curfew and she definitely knows that some do drugs and smoke. She just doesn't care."
"As long as you don't get caught." she finished with a shrug.
"That's comforting," I implied as I went to close the nail polish's cap. "Why does she have these rules then?"
"Just because she knows we won't follow, doesn't mean she should encourage us," she said. "It's like when your teacher gives you homework but you copied it secretly from someone. The teacher knows that you didn't do it but just goes with the flow. You know?"
I furrowed my eyebrows. "So basically, she knows everything but doesn't care."
"Exactly!" Julia exclaimed. "And I bet she breaks rules as much as we do."
I face away and considered it for a moment, even though I didn't understand a word Julia just said. It was like every time I ask a question, I get confused more.
"This academy is a jail for delinquent teenagers," Julia explained further. "Its only purpose is to keep us held inside, out of trouble, because we're too young to be thrown in a real jail. That's why we're free from here by the age of 18, knowing that our behaviour and actions can longer be forgiven or given another chance?"
Her words this time hit me hard in the head. But what really went through my mind was my presence in here. Why did Charlotte send me here? Does she know who I am? Does she know who I was?
I went to look at Julia for a moment and tried to read her face. Couldn't help but figure that I have no idea how to do that. She just seems to really know what goes around in here.
"How long have you been here?" I asked curiously.
She paused for a second, "About 2 years."
2 years?! Damn...
"You've been here for 2 years, shouldn't you have made a couple of friends?" I boldly thought out loud, which I instantly regretted once she glanced at me with a blank face.
"I had one." she rolled her eyes back to the ceiling. "She's just gone now."
What does she mean by gone now...?
Before I could ask anything else, she suddenly got up from my bed and started stretching. "Okay, I'm bored," she said, changing the subject.
"Well, what do you want to do?"
She started looking around. "Hm... Your room is definitely bigger than mine."
"Which floor are you at?"
"fifth floor. Room 571," she stated. "I'm surprised why you're not on the 9th floor."
"Why?"
"Because the newest students live there."
"Well, maybe this room was empty," I suggested.
She walked around my room only to check out the furniture with a frown. "She used to live here."
I looked at her surprised. "Your friend?"
She nodded sadly. "I miss her..."
I frowned, feeling bad myself. "I'm sure she misses you too," I told her even though I have no idea who she is or what happened between them.
She gave me a smile before she suddenly takes a deep breath. "Okay, I hate emotions. Why don't we just eat some snacks?"
I looked down beside me where the snacks she bought are supposed to be, only to see that we ate them all. "They're gone," I said.
"That's alright. Let's go bring some more."
"Wait, from where?" I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw her putting on her shoes.
"The cafeteria, of course." she motioned me to get up.
"Isn't that locked, right now?"
"There's a back door."
"Well, is it really worth it?" I stuttered. "We're going to sleep anyway."
At this, she stated at me with boredom. "Are you scared or something?"
I scoffed. "Of course not!"
"Then let's go! I've done this before."
My eyes flicked from her to the door with hesitation, only for her to send me a questioning look. So, I sucked it up and got onto my feet. "Fine!"
"Great," she smirked in victory. "Oh, and bring your ID."
Okay, she said swipe the card then choose...
Swipe the card then choose.
It's not that hard!
I took a left turn and looked around. She said it should be he- Ah! There it is!
Finally finding the vending machine─which took me 15 minutes─I smiled proudly before I hurried towards it. Julia said don't come back without chocolate!
I stood in front of the machine and looked at all the snacks behind the glass window. There were a lot of kinds and types of junk food. Mainly what caught my eye was the Gatorade drinks and the Takis.
So unfair to have only one snack a day!
I searched through the chocolate bars for a specific kind and once I found what I'm looking for, I grinned happily.
Quickly, I swiped my ID card on the board and pressed a few buttons on the keypad. Only then did I hear the machine making noises before the bar I choose started moving.
Impatiently, I waited for the bar to drop. But little did I know, it got stuck.
The vending machine stopped making sounds indicating it finished its job, which only made me tense up.
"Are you kidding me?!" I snapped hitting the glass a couple of times to move the bar a bit, yet it never even flinched.
I cursed under my breath and kicked the machine. Now Julia is going to kill me.
Before I could give up and walk away, I heard a deep voice yell not so far away. Alarmed, I looked in the direction the sound came from only to heard whispers.
"Who's there?!" I called out loud only to hear some more.
By now, my heart began to beat fast. "I know you're here!" I tried not to freak out.
"Julia?" I called again. Please tell me it's her playing with me.
A few more whispers filled the quiet halls and I managed to catch the right location. Yet before I know it, a figure got pushed into the middle of the hallway suddenly.
Throughout the distance, it took me less than a second to recognize the guy as non-other than the infamous alpha of the Asshole Pack.
Sebastian.
Instantly, I glared at him when he started walking towards me while nervously running a hand through his hair.
"Fancy seeing you here," his deep voice echoed around the hallway.
I looked up with boredom. "Wish I felt the same," I replied dryly.
He chuckled at me for a moment just as he stopped in front of me. He then glanced at the vending machine, "Having trouble?"
"Not that it concerns you," I told him only to make him smirk.
As if I challenged him, he went to pull something out of his back pocket. Just when I thought that it was some kind of threatening weapon, he took out his ID card and gesture it in front of my face.
With a smirk, he went and swiped his card on the board before he pressed on the same buttons I pressed a minute ago. And so, the vending machine started working again.
In a few seconds, the chocolate bar behind the one I chose started moving. And the next thing I knew, both bars fell off.
Sebastian bent down and took out both bars before he went to hand them to me. "Hershey's. Nice choice," he commented.
I looked suspiciously at him. "Why?"
He shrugged. "I just think they're good-"
"No, I mean why did you do that?" I asked him.
"Oh! Um... well," he scratched the bridge of his nose nervously. "I'm acting nice."
I raised my eyebrows unconvinced which made him wave the chocolate bars, still waiting for me to take them.
I took the bars while still looking at him suspiciously. "Thanks," I said but not really meaning it.
The only reason I took them is that I don't want my whole trip to go to waste.
"You're welcome." he smiled.
Not wanting to stay and have another awkward staring moment, I turned around and started walking away.
I did a couple of turns before I found my way to the elevator. Luckily, its doors were still open and waiting for me.
I entered the small room and pressed on the eighth floor's button, took a second to start closing. Yet before it could fully close, a hand out of nowhere stopped the doors.
They opened up only to reveal Sebastian with a smirk. He entered the elevator and stood beside me. And I couldn't help but wonder why he never pressed a button as the doors close again.
With awkward silence, I waited patiently for the elevator to go up. Unlike Sebastian who was humming to the low classical music that was playing.
Once we arrived, I spent no more second staying inside. I quickly jumped off and started walking to my dorm fast. Yet little did I know, footsteps were following me.
I tried to ignore him and kept on walking. But when I reached my room with him still following, I lost patience.
"Are you following me now?!" I turned around and snapped.
He raised his eyebrows. "I'd say you're the one stalking me to my room."
I looked at him confused. "What are you talking about?"
He tilted his head to the side and gave me a suspicious look which I returned. Yet suddenly he cracked a chuckle before he pulled a key from his pocket.
Confused, I watched as he goes to open the door to my left. And when he unlocked it, he entered the dorm and smiled at me. "I wish you a good night," he said before closing the door at my face.
I stared at the door for a moment while trying to register what just happened. Only then did I notice the number curved on the door. 860...
Oh my god!
Shocked, I pulled out my key and opened the door to my dorm. I quickly got inside and shut the door behind me. This can't be real.
"Mia!" a voice startled me to look around only to see Julia standing with guilt. "I need to tell you something."
"Yeah, so do I," I replied.
She waved me off and walked a few steps closer. "I just saw Luke and Joshua downstairs and I remembered something."
I shook my head already knowing where this is going.
"My friend, Amy." she dramatically paused. "She used to live next door to-"
"Sebastian." I finished only for her to give me a confused look.
"I just saw him."
Sebastian's friends did a good job throwing him at Mia. They got to know they're neighbours!
I bet you didn't see that coming, right?
Oh, well.
Anyway, what's up with Julia and her old friend Amy? That's some tea I'd wanna spill!