My first reaction was to run. My first thought was Oh s***. I'm not that kind of person who cusses non stop, but sometimes I just can't help it. Especially when I'm face to face with the devil's best friend.

"If it isn't Goth girl." continues Ian. "You're looking paler than usual." He snickers.

I'm still frozen to the spot. You need to get out of here. The voice in my head screams. 

"Give it a rest Ian," I say tightly. "Go find someone else to bother." I quickly turn away and walk down the hallway, hoping to find Megan in one of the classrooms. Feeling Ian's gaze pierce my back, I want to start running. But I can't. Rules. I quickly look at my phone screen. Only ten minutes till prison – sorry, I meant school – starts. I come up to my first class and walk in, not really wanting to be ten minutes early, but it was the better option than having Ian's gaze on me.  

I open one of my books and pretend to read, but really I was thinking about what my Mother had told me years ago about what schools were like before we destroyed everything.

Back in time

"Mommy! I hate going to school. All we do is sit around and listen to a lecture about nuclear power plants and science stuff! I don't get any of it!" I cried. Mom came up to me and picked me up, hugging me. 

"You shouldn't be learning about this stuff at seven years old." Mom told me. "You should be playing with friends, doing crafts, learning your simple addition and subtraction. Why, when I was your age, schools use to have a playground for recess. I used to swing with my friends and play tag." 

I looked up at my mom with damp eyes. I loved listening to stories about when she was younger. 

"We used to play ball and race each other to see who was the fastest." Mom chuckled. "Sabrina always won. Even against the boys in the class." She had carried me into my room and set me on my bed. "We even had field trips to see amazing things like going to theme parks.One of my favorite field trips was going to Disneyland."

"What was there?" I asked.

"Magic, dreams, princes and princesses. Even talking animals." I listen to my mother's musical laugh, treasuring the sound.

"Animals don't talk." I interrupted. "And there's no such thing as magic according to my teacher." My mom's eyes saddened.

"Yes babe, I know. But when I was younger, it magic was amazing to imagine. Disneyland was a place for the imagination to run wild. My favorite part of Disneyland was going to see the princesses. I always dreamed of having a life like a princess." Mom laughed again. "I pretended mice could talk!" Looking down at me, Mom said softly, "The world used to be a more loving place. Always remember that. Though this place now is a dump, just imagine what it was like when I grew up. That should lift your spirits." 

Current Past

"Hello? Earth to Gwen. Come in Gwen." I jolt up a little in my seat and blink rapidly. 

"Huh?" 

"And she's back." the voice said.

"Cut it out Em." I say, embarrassed that I had zoned out. 

"It's fine. Mr. Beck won't be here in another two-minutes." Emmaline said proudly. "Anyways . . . why were you zoned out? You know what would happen if the teacher caught you."

"I know, I know. I just can't help it sometimes." I really felt like smacking her. We've been through this before. "Look, I'll try to not do it in school."

"You better," she said. "I'd hate to see what happened to Eric happen to you."

"Right . . ." I say just as Mr. Beck came into the room.