Manipulate

Chapter Five

We all quietly sneak out of our dorms and head toward the Adult's Quarters. Everyone is whispering and smirking at each other. As we sneak around the corner toward the stairs, we see an adult.

One boy in the group jumps out of the shadows to spray him with whip cream. "Hey!" The man exclaims in anger and surprise. We all run as a dorm the rest of the way up toward the apartments. Giggles and laughter spread through the halls like a disease. Adults come storming out of their apartments in fury. We toilet paper the doorknobs and windows. We set buckets of water up on the door frames along with whip cream. I stand outside a door with my whip cream in hand ready to hit somebody with it. I hear a click of a door. A woman steps out in an oversized tee shirt and sweatpants with her hair in a beanie. I whip cream her in the face. The woman grunts and yells after me to get back here and apologize.

By ten o'clock the hallways are a disaster zone filled with toilet paper, shaving cream and the smell of sour milk.

"Are we going to clean up tonight?" I ask.

"Nah. The adults love cleaning up after us. Besides we do this every Saturday," Theo explains to me on our way back to the dorms.

Theo walks next to me with Nick on the other side of me. I guess Nick still hasn't gotten the idea that I don't like him. Everyone is laughing and talking as we descend down the stairs back to the dorms. My face is pink from laughter, my clothes smell like sour milk and my hair is covered with whipped cream. It's definitely shower night for all of us. The smell of sweat, sour milk and shaving cream fill the air, making me feel trapped in the stench.

All of us pile into the dorms and head straight toward the showers. As I stand under the shower, the water and soap help wash away the terrible stench of sour milk. I grab the soap from the wall and start washing up. The shampoo and conditioner here go around the showers. Shower one passes it to shower two and it goes on and on until the last shower gets it. I'm shower five tonight which is very nice since I have longer hair out of the group. The shampoo and conditioner slide underneath the hole in the wall. Crash! They go as they hit the wall with a thud. I grab the shampoo and put a blob in my hand and start scrubbing it into my scalp. I rinse out the shampoo, it makes bubbles as it swirls around the drain. I do the same with the conditioner.

I get out of the shower and dry off. I pull on a pair of black leggings, a black tank top, and University of St. Louis sweatshirt. I pull my hair into a ponytail and leave the locker room. Everyone in the dorms is talking and laughing about tonight. I go over toward Abi's bunk.

"Hi, Abhaya! Tonight, was so much fun! Did you enjoy it?" Abi asks all in one breath.

"Yeah. Tonight, was a lot of fun," I say.

"Great! We do this every Saturday too. Also, are you excited for the paintball game this week?" Abi asks me.

"Yes! I am so excited for the paintball game this weekend!" I exclaim. Abi shoots me a questioning look. "No sarcasm. I promise," I add quickly. Abi smiles and nods.

I sit up on the bunk with Abi until a question pops in my head. "Abi, do you know why you're here?" I ask.

"Yes, but I also don't at the same time," Abi says.

I nod my head. I think about what Rae had said about earlier. We're here because the government wants to do experiments on us, and because we have powers that could help them.

I jump off of the bunk. Abi looks surprised, I shrug my shoulders. I head back to my bunk and pull myself up onto it. I climb under my blankets to get warm. Everyone is in their beds for once without anyone yelling "lights out in one minute!"