What They Don't Know

Getting Settled

Jessica was standing at the door of the room.
"I See You've Got A Friend"
She gestured towards Dawn who was starting to wake up.
"We'll Punish You Later. First, You Need To Get Settled In"
"Settled In?"
I asked her. She gave me her signature bitch smile.
"I'll Be Back With Your Clothes And Schedule"
Jessica waltzed down the hall.
I listened to her heels tapping loudly until she was out of hearing range.
"Who's The Wicked Witch Of The West?"
Dawn asked as she sat upright.
"Her Names Jessica"
I giggled at Dawns remark.
"What Did She Mean By Clothes And Schedule?"
"I Don't Know. But We'll Soon Find Out"
At CloverFord we had a routine and a class timetable. It was normal school classes, Maths, English, Science. Occasionally we'd be allowed to have Art. But this whole situation seemed off and it scared me.
Moments later Jessica returned. She held out two sets of grey clothes and two pieces of folded paper.
"Get Dressed" she ordered.
"Here?" Dawn scrunched up her nose at the thought of Jessica and her guards watching us change.
"We'll Turn Around"
Jessica sighed before her and her company turned to face the bland wall.
I shrugged and undressed.
The air quickly hit my skin as I stood almost completely naked.
The clothes she had given me and Dawn were the same.
We each had a crisp white button up shirt, a short and plaited grey skirt, an itchy grey pull over and white long socks.
"Where Are The Shoes?"
I asked pulling on my knee-high socks.
"Jamie" she snapped her fingers. The guard held out two pairs of shoes.
They were grey, low-heeled slip on shoes.
Dawn gagged at how ugly they looked and I tried my best to hold back my laughter.
"All Done?"
Jessica asked as she turned back to face us.
We stood together in our uniforms. It felt awkward.
The skirt kept creasing and my shoes were too big.
"All Young Ladies Must Have Their Hair Tied Up"
I looked over at Dawn. She hated tying up her hair, but she went along with it.
After we each had our hair fixed into a ponytail, Jessica nodded and walked away.
I presumed that meant to follow her, so I hurriedly grabbed the paper and paced along the hall.
As I opened the paper I saw that we didn't have normal classes.
"What Is This?"
I stared at Dawn as she had the same look on her face.
"Your TimeTable"
"No Crap" I murmured.
"Young Ladies Don't Swear"
Jessica hit my arm lightly.
It didn't hurt, but it shocked me and had made me jump.
"Where Are We Heading?"
"To The Meeting Hall"
"Why?"
"Don't You Want To See Your Friends?"
She raised her eyebrow.
My heart jumped and I felt butterfly's growing in my stomach.
"Carter" I whispered.
Dawn had clearly heard me because she winked and nudged my arm with her elbow.
"No Touching"
Dawn backed away sarcastically. I laughed.
Eventually Jessica unlocked two large metal doors.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw inside.
All of the people who were at CloverFord were chatting and wearing the same grey uniform. Almost everyone.
I guessed that some lives were lost along the way.
The thought made me shudder.
"Off You Go"
Jessica pushed us into the open room, filled with smiling faces.
Conversations whirled around and I noticed some familiar people.
Dawn gripped onto my hand tightly. She must of been as nervous as I was.
"Can You See Carter?"
I asked her, worried.
"No..I Can't"
Our eyes scanned the room. Nobody had seen Carter.
My mind thought the worst. What if he had put up a fight and they had killed him?
Dawn loosened her grip on my as she saw my eyes water up.
"He's Okay Riley"
I looked over at her.
"Where Is He Dawn?"
She shook her head.
All I wanted to do is hold Carter and tell him how scared I was. I thought about my dream.
Man Up Riley.
Suddenly, a small woman, in her twenties shouted into a microphone.
"Quiet Down. Quiet Down"
She begrudgingly looked around the room, judging us all as she did so.
"You're All Probably Dying To Know Why You're Here"
Her voice was plain and boring,
"You Have All Been Taken From CloverFord. We Recently Discovered The Place And Decided You Was Better Off Growing Up Here"
"You Drugged Us Up And Killed Our Leader! We're Better Off No Where!"
One girl screamed from with in the crowd. Before anyone could agree a guard kicked her down and shot her in the head.
He didn't even think twice.
"Anyone Else Going To Argue?"
Nobody said a word.
"That's What I Thought. We Understand You're Scared. But This Is What's Best For You"
As she smiled she revealed her crooked yellow teeth and dark gums. It made me look away. There was something traumatic about how she smiled.
The woman rambled on about rules and policies, but I couldn't listen any longer. I needed to know what they had done with Carter.
I went to speak up, but then a dangerous thought darted across my mind.
What if he didn't make it out of CloverFord?
I clenched my stomach. I had a scar from the day I was stabbed. I still didn't know who had done it.
After the woman was finished I saw the hall grow back into full swing. It was as if nobody cared anymore.
"Riley?"
I swung around to see Hayden crossing over to me.
"Him Again"
Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Riley. You're Okay! I Was Beginning To Think Your Rebellious Ways Had Gotten You Killed"
He laughed at his own comment and went to grab my hand. I pulled away.
"Hello To You Too"
I fake-smiled at him. Honestly, I didn't want to deal with him right now.
"Dawn Would You Excuse Us?"
Dawn reluctantly walked away and into the mess of people.
"So.."
"What Is It Hayden?"
He seemed shocked that I hadn't referred to him as chicken boy.
"Riley There's Something I Have To Tell You. About The Night You Was Stabbed"
My heart stopped. Did Hayden stab me?
"Hayden.. Did You-"
"No No. It Wasn't Me Riley"
I exhaled heavily.
"Well.. Not Technically"
Technically? Anger boiled inside of my body.
"Explain Yourself Hayden"
"Riles I-"
"Don't Riles Me. You Have Exactly Three Seconds Before I Pound Your Scrawny Ass Into The Floor Boards"
Hayden stared at me. Fear crept over his body. 
"One"
I gritted my teeth and moved closer towards him.
"Two"
Now I was fired up. My fists were clenched and all I saw was red.
"Thr-"
"I Was Mad At You" he spat.
Trying my hardest to control my anger I gripped my shirt.
"What Did I Do To You?"
I calmed my voice so that nobody else knew what was going on.
"I Had Never Been Rejected Before. And You Didn't Show Up To Our Date"
I swing my fist and hit Hayden straight in his jaw. He fell backwards and screamed out in pain.
He tried to stand up, but I had already gotten on top of him and began scratching apart his neck and chest.
I was furious.
"Riley! Stop!"
He yelled through tears. I hadn't realised the entire hall was surrounding us.
Hayden's strength overcame him as he pushed me off of him. He didn't get up though. Instead he leapt on top of me.
"Oh Riley"
He smirked as he wiped the blood from his jaw. His hands were pushing mine down, I was unable to move out of his grip.
His smirk was unsettling and made me nervous.
"What Have You Done?"