Manipulate

The line finally shifts after five minutes of waiting. When I enter the line of food, a wave of spices and scents hit me in the face. I hastily grab a plateful of chicken alfredo, a glass of water and strawberry cheesecake.

Mia steers me toward a table filled with multiple girls. Mia sits down next to a boy with black hair and hazel eyes.

The girls chatter about their love life and their plans for after dinner. I roll my eyes. I poke at my pasta. It’s cooked all the way through and it tastes like what my Great Grandma Alice used to make.

Could she have been involved with TID? Or is this just a popular recipe?

The bell dismisses us at six thirty. I down the rest of my water and dump my trash into the trash can. Everyone drops their trays off at the cafeteria window. One of the cafeteria ladies smiles at me. I return the smile to her.

Tomorrow’s Monday. And that means morning training. Everyone heads back to the dorms to see who got the first showers. The whiteboards have changed to:

1.Mia

2.Mya

3.Kayla

4.Abi

5.Abhaya

And the list goes on until twenty-five.

I grab my change of clothes and head toward the locker room. I head to locker number 560 and open the combination lock. 21,6,21, I think as I turn the lock around. Pop, goes the lock as I open the locker. I slam the locker closed and pop the lock back on. I shove my clean clothes in there and grab a towel from the clean bin.

The shower water starts running when I step into the shower room. A board with all the locker room and shower room rules are posted outside.

No running

Share any needed items

Respect others privacy

Get in and get out

No standing on the benches

No perfumes or body sprays in the locker room. In the shower room only

“I bet almost all of the boys have broken these rules,” someone says behind me.

I feel goosebumps form on my bare arms. I have my long sleeve shirt halfway off by now.

“You think,” I say.

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” the girl says. She has black wavy hair, brown chocolate eyes and dark tan skin. Her height looks average. “I’m Kayla,” she introduces.

Kayla holds out her hand. I accept her offer.

“Abhaya,” I introduce.

“Cool. Nice to meet you,” Kayla says.

Kayla walks off after our brief introduction. I slide into the shower stall and turn the faucet on. Water sprays against the wall, it hits my skin. I jump.

The water here is warm but not too warm or too cold. At home the water I had in my shower was terrible. The water would spray everywhere, and I was responsible to clean it up. I couldn’t risk it for the damage.

I glance down at my arms. My long sleeves always covered my scars. They bring back terrible memories. I hate the thought of looking at them. It hurts too much.