Winged

Chapter 1

"Food fight!"

With those two words, the cafeteria became a flurry of flung stew and bread crusts. I ducked as Agatha launched a spoonful of slop right at my head, and I could hear some kid behind me yell, "Hey!" I didn't stop to see who it was.

Grabbing my tray, I used it as a shield as I weaved my way through the maze of screaming children, trying desperately to get to the exit before I became lost in the food-nado. A trio of 10-year-olds blocked the door, trying to escape the melee themselves, but as I approached one slipped and crashed into the others. Stepping around them, I ducked out the door.

Outside, the halls were quiet. I slowed my pace, trying not to alert the matron. Students were strictly forbidden from leaving the cafeteria during mealtimes, and even if this was an emergency, I was sure Ms. Harrington wouldn't see it that way.

I tripped lightly up the stairs and into the girls' bathroom. Even though I had managed to avoid most of the turmoil, I was still a mess; bits of mystery meat and unidentifiable veggies clung to my hair and clothes. Groaning, I turned the faucet on full blast and began combing bits of dinner out of my limp locks.

Agatha had been the one to start the fight, as usual. She was a regular troublemaker around the Children's Home, and she took special pleasure in picking on me. She knew my only other set of clothes was already in the wash, after she pushed me into a mud puddle yesterday. The other orphans were either scared of her, or part of her posse of bullies. No one ever came to my defense; they knew it would just make them targets of bullying themselves.

Once my hair was mostly clean, although very damp, I looked at myself in the mirror. I hated what I saw. A pale and pasty face, dull, blue dishwater eyes, and stringy white hair to frame it all. The kids all called me a freak, but I didn't blame them. Hollow Hill was a dreary place to grow up and it helped to have someone to take your anger out on.

I had lived here at Hollow Hill for nearly 7 years, ever since the end of the Forgotten War. Many of these Children's Homes had cropped up at the same time since so many people had died. Not only that, but some people had even forgotten their own kids, some side effect of the mass amnesia that plagued the nation. Everyone knew there had been a war, but the cause and even the combatants had been entirely forgotten. All that remained was a decreased population, a few broken cities, and hundreds of displaced children.

A knock sounded at the door, causing me to jump.

"Jane? Is that you in there?" came the whiny voice of Ms. Harrington. The door handle jiggled, but thankfully I had remembered to lock it when I came in.

"Um, yeah, I'm just going to the bathroom," I lied. Hopefully, she wouldn't know I had been in the cafeteria during the food fight.

"Miss Blane tells me you were the cause of the food fight in the cafeteria."

Crap.

Of course Agatha would tattle on me, and I knew there was no point in trying to tell the truth. Ms. Harrington didn't actually care who started something, as long as she could put the blame on someone. Still, I hated to incriminate myself, and I stayed silent.

"I'll tell you what Jane, I don't have time to come up with a punishment right now. We have a new child joining us tomorrow morning and I'm too busy with the paperwork. So instead, I'll just have you be a mentor to our new addition. But please, Jane, no more trouble. We want Hollow Hill to be a shining beacon of hope for every child here."

I was too surprised to even roll my eyes at her description of Hollow Hill. We rarely got new kids here; I was the latest edition, and it had been 7 years. Hollow Hill was located on the outskirts of a small city, so there were only 13 kids here, including me.