Through The Screen

Chapter one

I roll around in bed, groaning the entire time. I look at the time on my phone. It's 5:25pm. Damn. I always seem to pass out right after classes. I contemplate for a moment if I should just lay back down and sleep before quickly deciding to sit up. I yawn. It feels as if a zombie has possessed me as I make my way over to the bathroom, phone surgically attached to my hand.

Standing by the old rusty sink, I study myself in the mirror. My long curly blond hair is clumped in a knotted mess on the left side of my head. My emerald green eyes looked back at me with a thick shadow of gray over them from sleep. My nose pointed slightly upward and out between the ugly shades of green. My puffy cheeks and pointed chin shaped my face.

I let out a long, disappointed sigh as I  turn on the water and put my weight on the side of the sink. I fidget with the knobs for a moment before sticking my hand under the running water. When it reaches the perfect temperature, I cup my hands and lean over the sink. As the warm water refreshes my face, I feel much more awake. The closest thing to coffee as I can get. I grab a towel to pat my face dry before stepping out of the bathroom.

I walk past the set of four beds, and peek out of the bedroom door. Around this time, the other kids would be wandering about, anticipating dinner. It's not always the best food but hey, at least it's usually somewhat edible.

I decide make my way into the library as usual to find a seat in front of  an empty computer. I log in to my YouTube account to check for any updates. I scroll through my many subbed channels.

Lost Pause uploaded 50 minutes ago********
Albertsstuff uploaded 50 minutes ago********
Yogscast Lewis and Simon uploaded 50 minutes ago********
Markiplier uploaded 40 minutes ago*******
JackSepticEye uploaded 30 minutes ago*****
Albertsstuff uploaded 10 minutes ago******

I let out a long sign as I lean back in the uncomfortable wooden chair. I scroll through the videos until I finally decide on what I want to watch first.

Just as the advertisement comes to an end, I hear a high-pitched voice boom from over the loud speaker, spoiling my soon-to-be-had fun.

It's the dreaded headmaster.

"Dinner will be begin in 10 minutes. You will have until 6:30 to finish. Afterwards, you are all to report to your designated service rooms."

I silently  groan. Not the service rooms again. I forgot that today was Saturday.

The service rooms are areas for the people of the outside world to come in and adopt the little bastards running around inside. The service rooms are usually only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays and sometimes Fridays. Sometimes they don't even open all week. Just depends. Then, for those of the adults that had picked out a child, they come back the next day to to fill out the corresponding papers and take home their new little brat.

The service rooms are organized by names, age, gender, stuff like that. Some people want a child under the age of 13 or whatever. Some want a boy. Some want a girl. And they are all arranged in alphabetical order by last names.Let's just use my name as an example. My full name is Elle Elizabeth Taylor, I am with the T's. Being a girl at the age of 16, that leaves me in service room 15R.

I take notice of the time stamp on the video I was planning on watching and groan once again. There's no way I can watch a 20 minute video now. I'd have to save it until afterwards.

I decide to log out of the computer and hesitantly step away. Not really worth it to watch anything now. I sigh and head to the cafeteria to grab whatever this place is calling dinner today in the dining room as the staff life to call it. The staff like to call it a "dining room" because it makes it sound more homely when in reality, all it is is just a typical school lunch room. A cafeteria. 

Hiding my face behind my hair, I sneak my way in to find a seat. The room is already filled with chatter from the other groups of kids, anxiously waiting for dinner to be done. After taking a seat in the farthest corner, I pull out my phone to pretend to be busy, hoping that Lilly doesn't notice me when she happens to walk in.

Lilly Michele Anders.
Age 16.
Charcoal black hair and dark blue eyes.
Rank: Popular.

Lilly Anders has been in this hell hole barely longer than I have. Two weeks after she arrived was when I came in and since day one, she has been tormenting me. Why me? I didn't do anything to her. But I guess there's always that one person who everyone picks on. I just hate that it has to be me.

With dinner almost finished and not a single word from Lilly, I consider this mission a success. I quickly trash my leftovers and make my way out of the closest door. Unfortunately,  lady luck isn't on my side today, just like every other day. As I'm almost to the exit, I feel a giant mass slip under my feet and I find myself falling face first on the tile floor bellow. Surprised, I quickly try to put my arms out in front of me to stop the impact. In the end, I wasn't fast enough. In the blink of an eye, my nose smashed against the ground and I watched as blood started to trickle down my lips. I hear everyone burst out laughing as I feel tears welling in my eyes. And who is at the root of the laughter? None other than Lilly Anders.

Bitch.

Before a staff member is able to come to my rescue, I slip out and make my way to the nearby bathroom. I duck into the biggest stall and begin to wipe the blood off my lips. Feeling the red liquid still flowing, refusing to stop, I have no other choice but to shove tissues up my nostrils. I sigh and sit down on the cold floor of the handicap stall. There's no way in hell I'm going to the nurses office. I've seen some kids go in there and come out even more sick than they were before.

*ding* "Dinner is officially over. Please report to your designated service rooms." *ding dong ding*

I groan at the sound of the loud speaker signing off. I don't get chosen anyways so I might as well just stay here until the bleeding stops completely.

I step out of the stall and remove the tissue. The bleeding has slowed but not completely stopped. I yearn to punch the mirror at my horrid reflection. Instead, I reach into my bag forever glued onto me and pull out my medkit.

As this happens quite often, I know exactly what to do. It's just like the nose surgery that Lilly had. (Ha!) I pull out a special tissue to put in my nose to prevent bleeding and proceed to apply tape to the bridge of my nose. Shoddy job, but it'll have to work for now.

Quite a bit of time has passed since the last announcement was made for the "interviews". I guess I should just go to my service room even if the folks are leaving. Nothing better to do. My mind drifts to random topics as I make my way down the winding halls to the service room, 15R. Walking past the row of service rooms, I watch as several couples step out, some with big smiles on their faces and some with tears dripping down their cheeks. I can't help but chuckle out of spite.

My eyes glance over the several couples, not really paying attention. As my mind starts to drift and I mindlessly make my way to my service room, a voice echos off the walls that is unforgettable. I freeze right there in my tracks. I take a quick step forward and quickly look around in all directions. Until I see him.