The Boy I Met On the Roof

Collars And Clinckers

Hidden behind overgrown wheat is a two-meter-tall metal fence, adorned with barbed wire on top, to shield the outside world from the students. In the northern segments, there are all sorts of jewelry items clipped onto the thin wires.

Traditionally, before you leave, either by dying or graduating, you leave something behind, to show you left a part of yourself here and to show you went willingly. Usually, its necklaces are more often than not made out of metallic painted plastic, though a few are made out of stainless steel, like that pair of engraved faux dog tags, or actual silver, or even genuine gold, like that pretty pair of rose gold hoop earrings. Sometimes, just sometimes, Dustin sneaks out during lunch, when the hunger isn't too bad and he has enough energy to do so, just to run his hands over what has been left behind and imagine their stories. He always notices if there's one more, though there is never one less. He keeps count of the most common pendants: thirty hearts, twelve moons, eleven stars, and six dogtags, two of which have messages. The first one is made out of metal, not stainless steel but something cheaper, and it simply reads, "I love you". The other, made of silver, states, "Fuck off".

Even though no one knows just how long the school has been open, the students have adopted certain traditions and unspoken rules, nearly a small culture of their own. Not surprising, considering that even if you leave a cup of yogurt alone long enough, it'll develop a culture, too. The rules are simple, and Dustin can proudly say he never broke any: don't snitch, don't harm the stray cats attracted by the mouse problem, don't steal the jewelry on the fence, and stick to people of your kind.

Group means people of your collar color in this context; at the start of your stay, you get assigned a colored tie responding to your offense. Green stands for disinterest, showing you haven't engaged enough in pursuing a straight relationship; red means deviancy, as in you were caught red-handed while doing something "sexually deviant"; blue stands for "male transvestites", pink for "female transvestites", purple for rebellion; and lastly, black is whatever else doesn't fit in the last categories.

Black ties are few and far between, Dustin having only met two himself: a boy with epilepsy whose name he had forgotten, who was sent here because his parents were convinced he was possessed by a demon, and one girl who clearly had schizophrenia, also because she was apparently possessed.

The collar system had been introduced so that everyone was forced to wear their sins openly, but that backfired, considering that it spiraled into a form of social hierarchy: green on top, then purple, with blue, pink, and red just on top of black. If someone with a higher rank than you tells you to do something, then you better do it, and if you are lucky enough to be high-ranking yourself, you have the power to abuse that power however you see fit. Poor treatment of those with low colors is deeply ingrained in the system, with even the teachers and staff participating, even if you aren't treated well by them if you are a green or purple collar.

On a personal level, Dustin would say that he doesn't mind the system; at least no one has asked him why he is here yet.

On rare occasions, Dustin overhears others' stories; the redhead girl from the room next to him, a red-collar, fell head over heels for her best friend, and both of them got away with being together for five months, until one day, her father came home early, and ever since that day, she hadn't seen the other girl. Or how Anna would sometimes whisper the name "Kara" in her sleep.

The thought that he isn't alone, that he isn't the only one struggling, the only one born wrong, is comforting; it makes it seem like it isn't an issue with him specifically, more so something societal, genetic, environmental, or whatever. He knows from overhearing others' talk that he isn't the only one who doesn't remember their lives before, doesn't know what they want to do once they get out, or feels a deep resentment towards the world.