"Word," Latisha said. "Ooh, Scary's turning red."

"Do you girls have nothing better to do?" Instructor Gage asked. The teens quickly turned in their seats and looked down at their trays. "That's what I thought."

Grace waited until Gage was out of range. "Damn," she said. "We always get caught."

"At least it wasn't for whatever Grenner did," Jan said. "Look, she's still yelling at her."

"Hey, Grace," Campbell said. "I didn't think it was possible for someone to piss off Carey more than you do."

Grace gave a false smile and scratched her cheek with her middle finger. "I've seen her drop you a few times."

"Yeah, but you hold the record."

"I want to know what she did so I don't do it," Jan said. "Look, she's finished."

"Doing pushups," Grace said. "Queen Bitch is still yelling at her." She took a bite of her food, watching the dark-haired instructor finish her tirade. Just watching those pushups had made her arms ache. I'm glad it's not me this time.

Grace groaned and sat up, the light corning through from the sodium lamp outside providing little illumination.

"Psst, you up?" Latisha whispered.

"We're all up," Mo said from the bunk on the other side of Grace.

"How can you sleep through all that?" Loud snoring was heard from the other end of the barracks. "Sounds like a damn bulldozer."

"I'm up, Latisha," Grace said, pushing off the blanket. "Every time I start to fall asleep, Godzilla over there starts up again."

"Esa muchacha le van a poner una almohada sobre fa cara si no para."

"Lopez, you know we don't speak Spanish," Grace said.

"I say that girl is going to get a pillow over her face if she doesn't stop," Maribel Lopez said, moving from her bunk to flop across Grace's.

"I'll help," Jan said, joining the crowd and sitting on the edge of Latisha's bunk. "I woke her up twice to tell her to knock it off."

"Which one is it?" Grace asked, propping her pillow against the wall to use as a backrest.

"Campbell," Jan said. "Grenner's not too far behind either."

"Be quiet," a voice in the darkness said. "Some people are trying to sleep."

"How is it you can sleep through Campbell's snoring, but our talking is too much?" Jan said. "Shut up and roll over, Rosetti."

"Damnit, there's no way I can handle tomorrow with no sleep," Grace said. "Campbell! Shut the hell up!"

"Wha-what?" Campbell said, her voice thick with sleep.

"Your snoring is enough to wake the fucking dead," Jan said.

"Shut up, Bowen."

"Piss up a rope, Rosetti."

Grace slammed her head into the pillow and rolled her eyes as the bickering continued. "We're never going to get any sleep." The springs squeaked as Jan joined Mo and her on the bunk.

“I snuck a deck of cards back from the rec room," Jan said.

"And just how are we supposed to see them?" Mo asked. "It's not like we can turn on a light."

"Word," Latisha said. "Viking or Short Shit would be on us faster than ugly on Dawson."

"You'd better have those cards back before they do inspection tomorrow," Grace said. "Queen Bitch will drop your ass."

"You mean Scary?" Jan snorted. "I've handled worse than her. A few pushups ain't gonna make me change and be a choir girl."


DAY THREE


“Stop hogging the mirror, Waters."

"Bite me, Rosetti," Grace said, checking her appearance and adjusting her collar. "I'll be damned if I'm going to do any more pushups today."

"Just our luck she's in charge of Bravo Squad," Latisha said, tucking her shirt into her pants. "I'd rather have Donaldson than Scary Carey. Grace, how do I look?"

"Like a Hershey Kiss reject," Grace said, moving away from the mirror. "But you shouldn't get any hits."

"Don't worry," Jan said. "Scary will find something, she always does."

Someone outside yelled for formation. "More fun at Sapling Hill," Grace deadpanned. "Time to face the queen bitch."

The noon sun was bright, forcing Grace to squint as the instructors moved through the rows. Suddenly the sun was gone, eclipsed by her nemesis. "Think that bunk of yours will pass today, Waters?"

"Yes, ma'am," she said, seeing a distorted image of herself in Carey's mirrored sunglasses.

"We'll see," Carey said. Grace waited endless seconds before the instructor moved on.

"All right, ladies, we're going to take a little run today," Instructor Gage said. Groans went up within the crowd. "What's that? You want two miles instead of one?" Grace rolled her eyes, unaware that the ones hidden behind mirrored sunglasses were watching her.

"Waters, drop for twenty!" Instructor Carey said as she came storming over. "You have a problem, Waters?"

"No, ma'am," Grace said, unhappily noting the instructor she despised was now only inches from her, black boots shining from the early morning sun. The temptation was there to spit and ruin that perfect shine but Grace knew the consequences would be most unfortunate for her.

"I'm tired of you interrupting formation," Carey said. "Now what's your problem?"

"Didn't get...any sleep last night, ma'am. Campbell wouldn't stop snoring."

"And you don't think it's fair that we're going to make you run and do all the other things scheduled for today because you didn't get your beauty rest, is that it? Do you think Mr. Employer is going to care that you didn't get a good night's sleep?"

"No, ma'am."

"Getting your sleep interrupted is a fact of life, Waters," Carey said.

"We all have to do things we don't want to do, including going to work after a rough night." The boots moved out of Grace's vision. "And for those of you that are keeping your bunkmates up, I suggest you report to the infirmary for those nose strips before someone decides to give you a pillow party."

Grace stood up, wiping the small stones from her hands as the instructors began inspecting their squads. Straightening her shirt, Grace looked forward as Instructor Carey came into view. Just keep walking, bitch. My shirt is ironed, my belt is straight. There's nothing you can give me a hit for.

"Waters, two hits. Crooked hat, laces touching the ground."

"Pick up a workbook and take a seat, I don't care where," Instructor Donaldson said as they entered the room. Grace took one of the soft-cover books and headed for the back corner of the room, the place where she was least likely to draw attention. "We're starting with Chapter One," the tall blonde instructor said. "If this part seems easy or familiar to you, keep working ahead. If it seems too hard, you might want to think about going to the remedial math class, but your tests scores all indicate you should be able to handle this level of math. Here are the rules. You will have homework, every night. I expect that homework to be done. No excuses, no exemptions."

While the instructor they called Viking was talking, Grace opened the workbook and looked at the problems. Oh please. I knew this stuff in ninth grade. She began filling in the answers, finishing the chapter in just a few minutes. Out of boredom, she started working on Chapter Two when she heard her name called. "Yes, ma'am?"

"What's an integer?"

"Any whole number, ma'am."

"Can a fraction be an integer?"

"No, ma'am."

"Can negative seven be an integer?"

"Yes, ma'am." Oh please move on to someone else.

"Very good. I see you paid attention in at least one of your classes."

Instructor Donaldson turned her attention to Latisha, allowing Grace to go back to filling in answers in the workbook.

"Sit down," Carey said as Grace entered the room. "I read your essay. The only thing you want to get out of this experience is to do your time so you can get back to...let's see..." She looked down at the paper. "Oh yes, running your life. You think you've been doing a pretty good job so far?"

"When I'm left alone, yes, ma'am."

"Really?" Carey leaned back in her chair and laced her fingers together. "How much money do you have in the bank?"

Grace shook her head. "None, ma'am."

"Own any real estate?"

"No, ma'am."

"Extremely rich relatives to which you are sole heir?"

"No, ma'am."

Carey's eyes burned into Grace. "You're giving me a great deal of no's. Tomorrow I want you to tell me the positives. What you have managed to accomplish."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What do you want out of life, Waters?"

Grace focused on the crystal egg sitting in the front center of the instructor's desk. "To be left alone, ma'am."

"And how do you plan on accomplishing that?"

Grace shrugged. "Once I'm out of here, I'll get a place of my own and do what I want."

"You'll need a job to pay for it," Carey said. "That means you'll be working for someone else. Not going to be left alone that way."

“I'll start my own business so I don't have to answer to anyone else, ma'am."

Carey leaned back in her seat. "You think that's so, hmm?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You'll have customers to answer to, suppliers, employees, bankers, the list goes on and on."

"I'll figure something out, ma'am."

"Until you do, get used to answering to other people," Carey said. “You were a peer tutor?"

"Yes, ma'am," Grace said, surprised by the change in subject.

"Two years," Carey said. "You didn't sign up for it when you became a junior, why?"

Grace paused, thinking through her answer before speaking. "I didn't feel like it, ma'am."

"You didn't feel like attending class or doing homework either," Carey said. "Started skipping classes the first week."

What? Do you have a day-by-day report of my life? "Yes, ma'am."

"You missed two days as a freshman and none as a sophomore. See a pattern here?"

Still staring at the egg, Grace shrugged. "I was sick, ma'am."

"I doubt that," Carey said. "So what happened between tenth and eleventh grade?"

"Nothing. I just decided I didn't like school anymore, ma'am."

"Look at me," Carey said. "I have a feeling school had little or nothing to do with it. I took a closer look at your grades. You aced almost every test but never turned in homework and skipped classes, that's why you failed so many courses." The instructor let out a breath and reached for paper and a pen. "All right, we'll do it this way. Since you can't come up with any productive goals, we'll come up with some together. Goal number one."

Oh great, Grace thought to herself. Why didn't I just put some bullshit on that paper instead? "To do better in school, ma'am," she said.

"Let's be a bit more specific," Carey said. "You'll get your GED."

"What?" she yelped.

"You heard me," Carey said. "And you owe me ten. Try again. Goal number one?"

"To get my GED, ma'am," she said, looking down at the egg again. Fuck. I can't believe I did that. Ten pushups for forgetting ma 'am.

"Goal number two?"

Grace thought about it but came up with nothing. "I don't know, ma'am."

"Forget about academics. Your mouth and your attitude get you in trouble, so goal number two will be to learn how to deal with situations in an appropriate manner. By the way, sixth period on your B schedule will be Anger Management."

"I don't need anger management, ma'am."

"Oh yes you do," Carey said. "You're looking at me right now like you'd like to come over this desk at me and you're going to say you don't need Anger Management?"

"I just need to be left alone, ma'am."

"Which isn't going to happen, so you'd better learn to deal with it," Carey said. "Sit up. Are you going to slouch in your boss's office?"

"No, ma'am," Grace said as she straightened up.

"Then don't think of doing it here."

Grace put her face under the stream, rinsing off the dirt of the day.

"I'm telling ya, Jan. If Campbell and Grenner didn't go get those nose things, I'm going to kill them myself."

"I'll help," Jan said, soaping her upper body. "You didn't grab your razor."

"Naw," Grace said. "My hair doesn't grow that fast. I won't need to shave my pits for a few days."

"Speaking of shaving, did you see Rosetti?"

Hitting the shampoo dispenser, Grace pushed a healthy amount onto her hand. "No. What about her?"