Breaking Free: Chapter 7

There were teens all around; on tables; on uncomfortable-looking couches; leaning against walls and walking around.

Ksenia stood quietly near the entrance and tried to take it all in without letting some sort of panic take over. This really was not the time to be the weak little victim. First impressions seemed to be important in places like this; at least, that’s what Esca had told her the night before she got transferred.

A fake confident look crossed her face and she scanned the room to find out who she was going to ask for help. The high number of people was oppressing and she had to fight the urge to walk back to the empty halls.

Stay calm. Just imagine this is your high school.

This was nothing like her high school; not the room, nor the people in it. Most of these teens seemed hardened and had a bitter look in their eyes. Ksenia wondered if in a little time she would be just like these people, cold and seemingly unreachable.

Just as she was planning on walking towards the left corner where a group of laughing guys was stationed, a young girl with a messy braid pushed her way out of the crowd towards her. Ksenia stood still and watched this girl who had her sparkling eyes fixated on her.  Her heart got some hope out of this little spark of happiness.

“Hi, my name is Lily and I’m going to be your guide. You better not have honored someone else with that task because there’s no way I’m letting someone else have this fun.”

Ksenia let out a small chuckle and was surprised by how easily this girl acted around a complete stranger. She had always admired people who could do that.

“You’re the first volunteer, actually. And I have to say, you seem like a much better choice than that group of guys I was going for.”

Ksenia looked over to the left corner and a weird angry growl left the girl’s mouth.

“Ugh, you seriously have a horrible taste. Good thing I was here in time to keep you from making the worst mistake in your entire life.”

Ksenia had never really been used to getting the truth thrown into her face and was taken back a bit by the bluntness of Lily. However, she couldn’t hold back the nervous giggle that somehow made her less tensed. She decided that she liked this new friend with her messy brown braid and her flaming green eyes.

“That bad, hm?”

A small grin formed on Lily’s face and she turned her attention back to Ksenia.

“Yeah, absolutely horrible. They’re seriously the most empty-headed jerks you’ll ever meet. And they’re not the most trustworthy guys either. You obviously still have a lot to learn about this place. But don’t worry, that’s where I come in.”

Lily extended her hand and gave Ksenia an amused innocent smile.

“I’m Ksenia by the way. And thanks but I’m pretty sure they’re not that empty-headed. Even if they were, I’m used to it anyway.”

She shook Lily’s hand with a somewhat bitter smile and couldn’t help but feel sorry for herself in that tiny second. Images of Jordan flashed by and the anger against him seemed to have gotten a lot less since the phone call from a few nights before. She didn’t like to acknowledge it but she was missing him, badly.

“Believe me, they are. You’d almost feel sorry for them.”

Ksenia couldn’t help but chuckle while she stared at the guys. They reminded her of Jordan in a way. Probably any guy would remind her of Jordan right now and she knew it but that didn’t stop her from letting the nostalgia crash through her again.

“There’s always more to people than what they show to you, you know.”

Jordan was like that, only showing his pretty little “whatever” mask when being around others. Of course he never admitted it but Ksenia had tolerated a lot because of that hidden fragile side. It’s what made him truly beautiful.

“Doesn’t always have to be something good. You’re too naïve,” Lily said while rolling her eyes at her.

“I like to call it ‘being optimistic’.”

Lily let out an amused giggle and signed for Ksenia to follow her. They walked to the right corner of the room and stopped in front of a table with a few people hanging around it. It wouldn’t have been Ksenia’s first choice of friends judging by the way they looked but it would be rude to walk away from Lily now.

They acted a lot more mature than the group of guys to her left. Ksenia had never been very comfortable around people who seemed to have got it all figured out and were overflowing with real confidence. Somehow she always ended up feeling as if those kind of people were superior to her; as if she was the horrible failure among them.

Lily cleared her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention even though everyone was already looking at the two of them. Ksenia forced herself to put up a small smile.

“Everyone, this is Ksenia. She’s my newbie!”

The teens greeted her, all having a friendly smile on their face. She shook some hands and tried to remember the names but her brain was turned off for that kind of information at that moment. The guy who had been sitting on the table observing her, stood up and extended his hand.

“Name’s Vladimir. Welcome to Camp 201.”

Ksenia shook his hand and couldn’t help but notice how manly and confident he was. His strong handshake only added to this. His pitch black hair was cut into a Mohawk and the silver grey irises finished the picture. Or maybe it was the end of the tattoo, which appeared from under one of his wrapped sleeves, that finished the attractive rough appearance. Not exactly the type you’d want to start a fight with.

“Hi, I’m Ksenia.”

Vladimir gave her a friendly yet reserved smile and sat back on the table. He was either not interested in her or just not the typical ‘tough player’, because he didn’t let his eyes roam over her body like most guys did when meeting her. Instead he just focused on her eyes and seemed to try and figure out what kind of a girl she was.

Ksenia felt a bit uncomfortable and looked down. The white noses of her all-stars were a very welcome distraction.

“Okay so let’s start at the beginning, shall we?”

Lily’s voice broke the awkward silence and Ksenia nodded thankfully. She got pushed down on the bench next to a guy who’s name she had already forgotten. Lily stood in front of her and rested her hands against the sides of her waist while looking very content. It was a rather amusing image.

“Okay, let’s see,” she said thoughtfully while letting a few minutes of silence pass before continuing, “No wait, let’s start this with a question. What did you do wrong?”

Ksenia shot a questioning look around her as some of the teens agreed that it was a good way to start.

“Uh, I don’t really get what you’re asking,” Ksenia mumbled uncomfortably.

“Well they send you here for a reason, right? What did you do to make them mad?”

Lily looked at her with raised eyebrows as if it was rather odd that she didn’t answer the question immediately.

“Perhaps that’s none of your business, Lily. Just do your job and show her around.”

Vladimir’s voice had turned a bit cold and had a warning tone to it. Lily’s eyes grew bigger and her shoulders slouched lightly. Ksenia felt bad for her and asked her to explain it a bit more.

“Everyone in here has done something either against the law or something that the TWC really doesn’t appreciate. I don’t know, I think you could see this camp like the prison version of the other ones. I, for example, got transferred from another camp because I was causing trouble.”

She didn’t dare ask the question again but Ksenia could see that she was still curious for the answer.

Great, they locked me away with a bunch of criminals.

The word ‘prison’ send some shivers down her spine and she tried to keep up her calm face. She couldn’t break down yet, not in front of all these people.

“Owh…I think it’s because I kind of attacked a guard. And I wasn’t the friendliest to my driver either. I’ve never broken the law though.”

Okay, maybe she had when dugging her nails into those guards but she didn’t see that as a good reason for her to immediately get send to jail.

“It’s not just when you break the law, they also send people here when they’re hardheaded or really devoted to God or well, anything else that makes the TWC see them as a thread for the ‘perfect future’.”

Lily rolled her eyes at Vladimir.

“Dude, you’re ruining the moment. I was just about to officially declare her awesome. ”    

Ksenia chuckled at the very approving look that Lily gave her. At last some people who wouldn’t let the TWC break them either. She felt more at ease and shifted a bit on the bench to find a comfortable position to sit in.

“What room did they assign you to, by the way?” A girl with short blonde hair asked curiously. She also had an approving look in her eyes which made Ksenia a little shy but at the same time proud of herself.

“I think it was room 68.”

The group murmured softly before remembering from who it was.

“That’s Haley’s room, isn’t it?”

The blonde girl nodded quickly and walked off into the crowd of teens. Lily pushed Vladimir’s feet a bit to the side so she should could sit down next to Ksenia and continued with explaining things to her.

“Okay, so after we’ve shown you the way to your new room, it’ll be close to 6 o’clock which is dinnertime. Don’t ever come late because the best food will be gone by then. But don’t worry about remembering the time because they will ring a bell. You can sit wherever you please to sit but I suggest you come sit at our table. Not everyone in here is as awesomely cool as us,” a soft tick at her head from Vladimir caused her to pause shortly. She replied with a smack to his leg while trying to hide the mischievous grin.

“We have an hour to get our food and finish it. If you’re not ready in time, you’ll be punished. After we’re done-”

Ksenia stood up and looked at the young innocent face.

“What?!”

Vladimir gave her a small smile as if he was trying to calm her down. She didn’t sat back down though and waited for someone to repeat that ridiculous stuff.

“Seen as we’re all “problematic teens”, they’re very big on punishments here. The smallest things can get you to do hard labour. And believe me, you don’t want to experience that.”

Vladimir’s voice had a cold tone to it again and it only added to her earlier impression of him: someone you didn’t want to have against you. The guy to Ksenia’s other side nodded agreeing.

She sat back down and tried to keep the emotions off her face.

Stay strong, stay strong, stay strong.

Lily patted her knee and gave Ksenia an understanding smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll educate you later about all the things that can get you labour. Okay, so after we’re done with dinner, you will have ten minutes to get to the Fake Patriotic Hall. They told us once how that hall is really called but no one bothered to remember it. Though don’t ever call the hall like that with guards or teachers around, it’ll get you hard labour. The Camp Commision will talk about how awesome the TWC is and all that other cra…uhh…stuff. They inform us about the latest news, only positive TWC improvements, and read the list of people from today who have gotten themselves hard labour.”

Great, can’t wait…

“After we’re excused you get a half hour for yourself and you can move around the block. Then another bell will ring and you have an hour to find an empty shower, clean up and get to your room. At 9 o’clock the bell rings again and-”

The blonde girl came rushing back and cut Lily off in the middle of her sentence.

“Haley’s room is already fully taken. Seems like Mrs. Rui went soft for them and allowed Alicia to take the second bed. I guess she forgot to change the data.”

Vladimir raised his eyebrows and quickly scanned the room as if to be sure there weren’t any guards around.

“That mistake could give them years of labour.”

“Haley has gone to fix things immediately, don’t worry. They’ll probably never find out.”

The blonde girl settled down next to the guy on Ksenia’s left and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Ksenia couldn’t help but smile a little at this adorable image. She wondered if relationships were allowed in this camp or if you had to keep it secret but she felt too uncomfortable asking it.

Lily jumped up and a huge grin crossed her face.

“Sooo, since Haley’s room is already taken and Ksenia needs a new room, does that mean that she can move into my room?”

Her eyes were focused on Vladimir as if she only needed his approval. An amused smile lid his face up.

“Sure, my evil genious. Just make sure you arrange it with Mrs. Rui, because else she will be punished at her second day here.”

Lily turned around and was about to rush off but Vladimir jumped up and grabbed her arm, forcing her to a stop.

“Dinner will be in two minutes, you can go in your half hour tonight.”

Lily sat down with a sigh but immediately rose again because the bell had rung.

Dinner.

Suddenly everyone was moving around her and she was forced to follow the stream. Vladimir softly cursed when he checked his watch.

She didn’t bother asking him about it. She probably wouldn’t like the answer anyway.