Control

Twenty Six

I kissed Justin once more before pulling away.

"Yeah, I just kinda wanted to sign up. I don't know why," I said. "I promise though, I'll come over as soon as it's over, and we'll continue our Walkin' Dead marathon, ok?" He smiles, believing my lie just as easy as Sam did once I told him.

"Ok. I'll see you later," he says. I didn't want to lie to him. I hated lying already.

I gave a fake smile, and watched him walk onto the bus.

"Hey," I heard a female voice say. I turned around.

"Hey, Harley," I replied.

"Car's parked in the back. We hafta walk through the school to the back," she says. I nodded, and followed her back into the school.

I checked my phone before turning it off.

We walked out, and I found a red car out back. It had tinted windows, and I was instantly filled with anxiety. I didn't want to get in, it seemed like they were kidnapping me.

She opened the door, and I walked in. I sat down, and felt Harley sit by me.

"I know it might be kinda scary the first time, but this is what's best. You need to be helped. You need to be able to control things," a girl in the back says. I didn't recognize her. "Besides. They'll only need you for a bit. Then they'll get rid of you."

"Oh, shut up, Lenae. You're just jealous because their teaching Raylin more then they'll teach you," Harley snaps. She faced me again. "Don't listen to her. She's jealous. She's just an escort," she informs me.

"What does MRC stand for?" I asked suddenly.

"Mind Recreation Center. Kinda odd, I don't know why that's the name," Harley answers. I nodded, and looked out the window. I could barley see. It confused me, because normally you could see out a tinted window.

After about fifteen minutes of silence, we made it to the big building. I let Harley go out first, and followed her.

"So, um.." I trailed off. She laughed.

"We'll take you down to Morrigan's office. She'll probably take you down to a classroom."

"How long does this typically last?" I inquired, following her to the elevator.

"About two hours. Half an hour per class."

"Class?" I echoed. She nods.

"There's eight of them. But you'll alternate  every other day," she answers.

Great. School out of school. After school school. What a joy.

She pressed a button, and the elevator went up. I was still skeptical about this place.

We reached a floor, and walked out. She led me down to the same place I had been talking to Annie in yesterday.

"Miss!" She called, opening the door all the way. I, once again, followed her into the room.

"Ah, thank you, Harley, for bringing her. You may go to your class," she says. Harley nods, and walks out. Morrigan turns to me with a big grin.

"So, Harley mentioned there being classes?" I ask. Well, I mean, it was a confused statement-

"Yes. There are indeed classes. Your first class is about controlling what you have learned already," she informs me, interrupting my thoughts. "If I am correct, you have the ability to stop time?"

"Apparently," I muttered.

"Well, it so happens to be when you feel a great burst of negative emotion. Anger, annoyance-"

"Loneliness, anxiety, yeah, I know," I say, cutting her off. She nods.

"Well. Amara will help you. We all will," she tells me, a reassuring smile playing in her lips. I nodded, and felt her grab my wrist that didn't have a brace. "Let's head on down there."

We started walking, and the silence was suffocating. It was really awkward.

She opened the door to a room. A few kids were there, sitting around a carpet that had a chair in the middle. In the chair sat a woman who looked to be in her twenties.

"Amara. This is Raylin, our new member here at MRC. She is to join this class daily for two weeks," Morrigan tells the lady. She smiles at me, and gestures for me to sit down.

I pulled away from the current adult holding me, and sat by a girl who looked to be my age. But she looked.... so emotionless. Dark circles were under her blank, green, eyes. Her hair reached about shoulder length-

"Alright. Everyone, this is Raylin. She's new here, so let's make her feel welcome," Amara says, smiling, and looking at me. I gave a shy smile in return, and leaned onto my arms. I hoped this would go quick, because I wanted to be with Justin. He made all my thoughts, about this, just go away.