How much do you really know?

twenty three

    "Wanna say that again?" I couldn't take this dude anymore. He did everything he could to piss me off and this time he'd gone too far.
    "You fucked my girlfriend. Don't even deny it."
    And that's when my fist met his jaw. He was just as buff as me, so it didn't knock him out. He got another punch to his stomach while I got a broken nose. I could taste the blood in my mouth but felt no pain. I was about to go for another punch when I felt someone grab my arm. The punches stopped coming to me too. A GORG guard had a hand wrapped around the other dude's hand.
    My opponent and I met each other eyes.
    "Shit," we said in unison.
    I tried to pull my arm away from my guard, but he wouldn't budge. It felt a little strange to have someone be stronger than me, to have no power over him. I was used to being taller, buffer, and stronger than almost everyone. People were gathering around us to see what all the commotion was all about. They definitely got a show. It wasn't everyday you got to see a fight in a place where fighting was forbidden and the punishment was imprisonment for life, no matter that we were minors.
    I was so stupid. I let anger get the best of me and we got into a fight. When the first punch was thrown, our fates were set. And that first punch was thrown by me. I should've just walked away. I would gladly have taken dealing with him for the rest of my school days than be in prison for life.
    Damn, my life could have gone so different if I just held my anger in one time.
    I tried to fight against my guard, but by then, two more guards were pushing their ways through the group of teenagers. I also spotted a few teachers, who were doing nothing other than being entertained. One guard grabbed my swinging arm as I tried to dodge him, and I had no hope. I possibly could have fought off one guard, but not two.
    "Everyone move! Get to class or you'll have the same fate as these two miscreant boys!"
    The crowd dissipated with zero hesitation. Not one person spent an extra second watching the show. They knew where we were going and they would do anything not to go.
    We were pulled through the empty hallway and into the parking lot, where a needle was jammed into my neck. I wasn't conscious for another moment.

    I woke up in a dark room, and before I could even begin to wonder where I was, a door was opened and light flooded in. I was blinded and couldn't see the two people who simultaneously grabbed my arms and pulled me up off the floor. I quickly got my footing and tried to pull out of their grips, but it was as if they'd trained for years on just their grip. They didn't budge. I walked along with them because, what else could I do? I stood up tall and tried to look as confident as I could, though my heart was beating.
    They pulled me out the door into a bright white hallway. It kind of looked like something out of a horror movie. There was nothing to indicate where we were, just door after door after door. Other hallways branched off as well, but I didn't know where we were and couldn't get back to the room I had woken up in if I tried.
    After about five minutes of walking, someone walked out from an adjoining hallway, the first person I had seen so far in this eerie building other than the two guards beside me.
    It was Andrew.
    That son of a bitch.
    "Bryce, what a pleasure. How's that nose of yours?"
    I had actually forgotten about my nose, but the instant he mentioned it, it began to ache. They must have patched it up when I was unconscious because I couldn't feel any blood and the pain wasn't as sharp as I thought it should have been.
    "Oh, just peachy, thanks for asking. For sure the best experience of my life."
    "I'm so glad to hear it." He never met my eyes.
    We didn't speak for the rest of the journey. I just stared into his back, which was covered with a gray coat. He looked classy and rich, not something you see everyday in this country anymore.
    We finally made it to the end of a hallway, somewhere I thought we would never arrive. There was a steel door that looked like maximum security. It was at least a foot deep by the looks of it. Andrew pulled a card out of his pocket and swiped it. It opened into another hallway, except this one wasn't white. It was a beige color. A couple boys walked by and glanced at me.
    Andrew quickly walked through and the guards yanked me unnecessarily as if we had to get through quickly. The door closed instantly behind me.
    A couple more teenagers walked by and I realized where I was. The Alaskan base, where they took teenagers that they suspected to be a threat.
    Great, I thought. I guess I'm a threat now.
    This hallway also had doors lining it, but kids were coming in and out of them; it was a lot more lively here. It seemed like a huge jump from seeing nobody in the white hallways to seeing dozens of boys rushing to unknown destinations with books clutched to their chests. We walked down this hallway for a couple minutes until Andrew stopped in front of room number 235.
    "Here we are," he said as he grabbed a key and unlocked the door. He motioned me in first and the guards pushed me through. "Have a seat." He pointed at a chair in front of a desk. I obeyed him. I thought I might want to stay on his good side and do what he asked of me.
    Andrew walked all the way into the room, but the guards stayed behind him, blocking the door.
    "Fabulous. This is your room and here are your keys." He placed them on the desk next to a stack of papers. "In that pile you will find your schedule, a map of the facility, and everything else you will need as you adjust to your new life here. You already know why you are here, but I will have you know that it is no different than your old school."
    I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, ok."
    He decided to ignore my snarky comment. "Your classes will begin tomorrow at 8 am sharp. Good luck."
    With that, he left, the guards parting way for him then shutting the door behind them.
    I thought that would be the first and last time I would ever see Andrew.
    Boy was I wrong.