Chapter Two: Harder to Breathe 1/3

A loud booming sound woke me up.

I was quick to sit up and look around in a panic.

“Sorry,” Benny mumbled.

“I don’t like your morning alarm,” I groaned.

Her alarm was going to be the death of me. It sounded like a bomb going off, followed by an alarm.

“I have to wake up somehow,” she stated.

I just sat there feeling tired.

“Shower?” she asked.

I just nodded as I got to my feet.

I pulled the bag out from under my bed before taking the old clothes out and putting new ones in.

“I like to go shopping on Friday,” Benny stated.

“Shopping for what?” I asked oddly.

“I only buy stuff for the week, so I need to go shopping for anything I might need.”

“I can go with you,” I said, “Might as well get in the habit of going once a week.”

“Come on,” she said, holding up her key “To the showers.”

I followed behind her, and on the way, I found myself staring at the large fence.

“We should see if Gus and Michael are out,” I said.

She turned quickly to shake her head at me “Listen here, new kid. During the day, this school is on lock.”

I looked at her funny, but then I followed her finger as she pointed out security guards.

“They are constantly watching the fence during the day,” she stated, “Nighttime, there is only one or two of them on duty.”

“What happens if we are at the gate?” I asked.

“You don’t want to find out, trust me.”

She turned back around, and before I turned, I could see the two guys standing not too far from the other side of the gate.

I just walked into the bathroom with her and proceeded to take my shower.

“What do you think our uniforms will look like?” Benny asked, “Pants and shirt? A dress? Skirt and shirt?”

I shrugged as the water poured down my body, “I prefer pants.”

She just laughed.

The sound of talking filled the room, new people I didn’t recognize.

“It feels good to be back.”

“I know, I missed not having to sneak out.”

“I’m tired, you guys.”

I stood there silently as I washed the conditioner out of my hair.

This was too much for me, it was early, and I didn’t particularly enjoy people.

“Hey,” I heard Benny say, “Are you almost done in there?”

“Yeah,” I said back.

“Sounds like we aren’t alone, ladies” I heard a voice outside the showers.

“Benny has a girlfriend, huh?” another one asked.

“I knew she was butch,” said another.

Here we go again, foot meet mouth.

“Wow,” I said, “I wasn’t aware I was in a lesbian relationship.”

“Neither did I,” Benny said, “Want to be my girlfriend?”

This was one of the things I loved about Benny. She loved to fuck with people, and it was all for it.

“Why not?” I shrugged.

“Gross.” I heard the girls say.

I couldn’t help but smile when I heard Benny laugh.

“I’m out,” Benny said.

I shut the water off and pulled the towel around my waist before grabbing the rest of my things.

Once I walked out, I was forced to walk past the judgmental girls.

The look on all their faces instantly made me want to vanish.

“Here, I thought she’d pick a girl with bigger tits.”

“What the fuck is that?” one of the girls asked.

The one that appeared to be the ring leader pointed at me, “Looks like she colored in half of her body and just gave up.”

“She looks like an alien,” another said.

“A butch alien,” the ring leader stated.

“Wow,” I said, “You guys are assholes.”

“Shut your mouth,” the taller blonde hissed, “Flat chested bitch.”

“Dumb blonde cunt,” I said before walking to the other room.

I didn’t even have a flat chest, I just hated girls like that. I never know when to just stop.

Benny grinned at me.

“Way to go, champ,” she said, “Your life here is really going to suck.”

“What?” I asked, “How?”

“That girl,” she pointed, “Her grandmother started this school.”

Fuck my life.

“Don’t worry,” she smiled “We’ll be fucked together.”

I forced a laugh as I walked into the small changing room so I could get dressed.

I wanted pants so that I didn’t have to show my legs, now I just need pants that fit.

I found myself gazing at my reflection in the tall mirror.

My hair was longer than I remembered it being. The ends just barely reached my breasts.

I ran my hand through the tendrils of red, thankful that I had just dyed it before I came here.

My eyes connected with my reflections’ gaze, then fell to the pale skin and freckles on the left side of my face, then slowly moved to the right side of my face. The mark I had lived with since birth. It looks almost like a splatter of reds and purples. I was born with a permanent bruise.

It was difficult seeing the mark and knowing all the crap I got for it.

“Ren?” Benny asked.

I had to avert my gaze, or else I would start to feel worse.

“Yeah,” I said back, trying to sound put together.

“Are you ready?”

“Almost,” I said.

I shut my eyes for a second, in the hopes of pulling myself together. One deep breath and I was quick to pull my long sleeve shirt over my head.

She was there waiting patiently when I finally emerged.

She grinned at me before I gathered up the remainder of my stuff and followed her out.

The campus is livelier today. More girls are walking around, and they looked prim and proper.

If there was one thing I knew, it was that looks could be deceiving.

We made our way back to our room and put our bags back where they came from.

“And when do we do laundry?” I asked.

She shrugged, “I try to do it on Sunday, but I usually just do it whenever.”

I nodded slowly.

Her phone went off, and she was quick to answer it.

I watched her smile once the person spoke. It was the first time I noticed the dark blue case with small animated dinosaurs on it. It was cute, and it was very her.

“Good morning to you, too,” she grinned.

A smile that wide and genuinely happy, it had to be Gus on the other line.

Her smile was quickly replaced by a frown, “You have to be kidding me.”

I looked at her questioningly.

“Some of the uniforms are already here.”

We were just sized yesterday.

She looked down at her phone for a minute before shaking her head.

“Not ours, the girls who were sized before.”

I nodded, feeling relieved. I almost started to panic.

“Any plans today?” she asked him.

There was a short pause, and I took that as my chance to pay a lot more attention to the carpet that it deserved.

“What’s Michael doing?” she asked before scowling. “Of course, he is.”

I just sat there confused, was it really necessary to give us pink carpet?

“Alright, maybe next weekend then,” she said.

What about during the week? My full attention was back on her.

“I love you too,” she said, “Later.”

She hung up the phone, and I looked at her, confused.

“What?” she asked me once she saw my expression.

“Why do you have to wait until the weekend?”

“The school rules” she looked at me as if I was supposed to already know, “We aren’t allowed to leave campus on a school night unless we have a good excuse or a note.”

I nodded slowly “Of course not, a proper lady would always stay close to her studies.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” she laughed.

“What are the guys up to?” I asked.

“Gus is going to stay in today, Michael is going out again.”

“Of course, he is,” I said.

She smirked, “That’s what I said.”

I knew it was, that’s why I said it.

She let out a small sigh, “Should I feel this lazy?”

I felt the same way, so I didn’t blame her.

“Do we have anything to do today?” I asked her.

It was funny, I was already lumping her and me together.

“We could always go do some laundry,” she pointed out.

I sat up, “So then, let’s go do some laundry.”

She let out a cross between a whine and a groan.

I looked over at her to see if she was alright or if she was just being dramatic.

She sat up and smiled, “You’re good for me. I would never do it unless I was nagged.”

“You’re good for me, too,” I admitted.

It was the truth. If I hadn’t met her here, I could be feeling completely different. I was glad I met her. I was glad I met all three of them. It was nice to not have to navigate through all this by myself.

She grabbed a basket, and I took my dirty clothes and stuffed them into a bag.

“We can wash ours together if you want,” she said.

I nodded. I didn’t have very many dirty clothes anyway.

We walked by the black gate again, and I could see Gus in the distance Michael laid on the grass next to him.

“Look who it is,” I pointed.

She turned, and I watched as she smiled.

“I thought he was going out,” she stated.

“Maybe he was busy?” I asked.

She just laughed, “Definitely looks busy to me.”

I had a feeling that would be a long-standing joke with them.

We reached the gym, and inside there were several machines. Only two were available.

So, the gym has showers, bathrooms, and the machines to wash and dry your clothes.

From what the map says, a pool as well as a small indoor section with bleachers.

For what? Maybe for when it rains, or the weather is too bad to be outside.

She dumped her clothes into a machine and took my bag from me, and she dumped the contents into the same machine.

She started it and then marked an alarm on her phone, “We should come back in an hour.”

I nodded before taking the basket and carrying it.

A loud sound came from Benny.

I looked at her as she answered her phone.