Chapter 1. The Door
They say I'm supposed to be here, that I fit the mold. They say I'm perfect. I've never questioned this before, until my birthday three months ago. Now that I'm fourteen, I walk around the house, feeling indifferent to the blank faced, blonde-haired, blue-eyed people smiling, oblivious to how boring and fake their existence is.
I don't have fun hanging out with my friends, most of the time I avoid them. Nothing they say seems interesting, or of great importance. I don't care who failed the math test, or who got caught kissing during lunch break.
All I seem interested in is that stupid door. It's not locked. Why don't they lock it? They don't want us to leave. They've never said anything about us being forbidden to leave the boarding house, but no one has ever dared leave. Have they even thought of leaving? Seeing what else there is, other than the school, the mall, the hospital, fire station, police station, and 8912 Perfect Place? Why don't they leave? Why don't I leave?
***
"Palas, what're you doing over here?" a voice calls from behind me, startling me, like the feeling of something brushing against your arm in a dark, supposedly empty room.
I stand up quickly, turning around. The feeling I sometimes get, where I can't stand up straight, and nearly go blind for a moment hits me. I tilt to the left, clutching onto the wall.
"Palas you silly, silly girl! What're you doing out here when there is a delicious Christmas feast on the table?" My vision comes back, and I see a white haired figure in a red and white sweater. It's the school nurse, Ms. Wright.
"Oh sorry Ms. Wright," I sigh, feeling like a fool. The smell of cranberries and ham wafts through the air, feeling thick and smooth in my nostrils. I heard the dinner bell ring, but I felt the need to watch the door.
"What are you doing over here anyway dear?" the elderly woman asks suspiciously. Her once vivid blue, now faded and tired, eyes turn into little slits on her spotty and freckled with age, face.
Oh gosh. What am I supposed to say? That I was waiting for Santa Claus? "I was waiting for Santa Claus, Ms. Wright!" I feel my face heating, most likely a shade of red growing quickly on my cheeks.
"You are such a silly girl," Yes, we got it. I'm silly. "Saint Nick comes down the chimney! Now come on! The group won't even think about saving a slice of the cherry pie!" she says, turning around.
"Hey Ms. Wright? Why don't we go caroling around the city?" I ask. This could be my chance, time to see what's beyond the walls!
Ms. Wright raises a thin white eyebrow at me, her pale blue eyes giving me an intense stare. "Where'd you hear of such a thing?"
"Caroling? Oh, just in this Christmas book I'm reading, about a grumpy old man, a cripple boy and-" I get cut off when someone calls out Ms. Wright's name from the dining room.
"Where would you go, to the police station?" she said chuckling to herself.
"No, I mean past the wall, to where the Outcasts live!" I whine, annoyed. "Out the front door, not the back doors leading out to our city."
Ms. Wright stops, right outside the dining room. "There is nothing out there, Palas. Just fields for miles and miles. And an airport, but you wouldn't "carol" there, would you? The Outcasts don't live anywhere close to here. Now come on, let's eat!" She holds onto my arm and leads me to my seat at the long wood table.
***
I switch on my book light, and look under my pillow, pulling out "A Christmas Carol".
"Are you gonna read to me again Palas?" Toula, a younger girl in my dormitory asks in a whisper.
"Not tonight Toula..." I whisper, flipping through the book. Pages removed and words blacked out.
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