I'm tired of being trapped. I'm tired of not knowing what's outside the building. I'm tired of flashing cameras. I'm tired of new clothes. I just want to go home, but wait. Our headmaster, Mr. Johnson said that we couldn't exit the building. We couldn't skip photo sessions. And we couldn't wear old and out-of-style clothes! Can you guess where we are? Yep. We're at the Johnson's Modeling Academy. Oh, I also made up a subtitle: Where Girls Act Like Slaves. Pretty accurate, huh?
I'm Pan. I'm not exactly sure how old I am, but using Mr. Johnson as an example, I'm probably a newborn. I'm just kidding. I'm 16 years old. My closest and only friends I have here are Marron and Bulla. They share the same despise for this school, although Bulla loves the new clothes they bring in every day.
I feel like an animal waiting to get slaughtered. Every day we do our usual routine. We wake up, brush our teeth, shower, put on makeup (I hate makeup), get into our modeling clothes (which changes every single darn day), model, eat lunch, change outfits, model again, and then spend the rest of the day as free time, until dinner of course.
Pretty nice, don't you think? Well you guessed wrong! We wake up at 4:30 in the morning, brush our teeth with old and probably used toothbrushes, shower in ice-cold water, put on that ugly makeup, get into our modeling clothes which either is too big or too small, model for which seems like an eternity, eat disgusting slop for lunch, change into a different tight/loose clothes, be blinded by those flashing cameras, spend our 'free time' doing chores and serving King Johnson, and then eat that disgusting slop again.
See what I mean? I hate this place so much!
"Pan, wake up," Bulla said. I felt someone shake my shoulder and I turned over and tried to pry my eyes open. "It's 4:30." Aw, potato chips! (It meant to be a replacement swear word).
"Fine, fine, fine," I said as I got up and stretched. Judging by the expensive-looking clothes we wore, you think we wear schmancy pajamas too, right? No, we don't. We wear something that looks like what hospital patients wear. It sucks to be us.
I walked into the bathroom and went to my private sink. That's probably the only good part about this place. We have our own toilets, sinks, and showers. I realized that the place was cleaner than usual. The marble used to be so dirty, full of dried toothpaste and spit. We also had new toothbrushes and a new tube of toothpaste. The place looked shinier and tidier. Even the toilets looked great.
"What the heck happened here?" I asked as I gazed around the room. I gently picked up my new toothbrush. It had my name labeled on it. Let me tell you, it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
"You dork, today is when the Security Gang comes in," Valese said in her usual snobby tone. "Everything is in tip-top shape." I glared at her. So what if I don't read the message board? It's not like something BIG was going to happen. Wait, never mind, I should really start reading the message board.
The Security Gang is just a nick name for those weird people who come and check out schools and places. I'm betting that Headmaster Johnson tidied up the place so when they came by, they wouldn't have any objections to shut down the school. Sneaky little rat!
"It feels so good to finally have a new toothbrush," Marron said as she dried up the excess water around the sink. "The place looks like a palace."
I nodded and spit out the foam and rinsed my mouth. Even the water tasted better and for once, it wasn't gray! Maybe the Security Gang should come more often. I plopped my tooth brush in the cup and skipped happily to the room full of designer clothes. To my surprise, our clothes were labeled with our names. Something made my heart jump as I reached for mine. Yeah, it wasn't what I'd wear, but I knew it'd fit perfectly! I skipped towards the showers.
"What are you so happy about?" Madeline asked. If you've slept in the same room with a whole lot of girls for 6 years, you really get to know them all.
"What's there not to be happy about? We have new toothbrushes, clothes that'll fit, maybe even a warm shower!" I said as we made our way to the stalls.
"Yeah, I guess so," Madeline said. "You better be on your best behavior, Pan. Headmaster Johnson wouldn't like it if you pulled something off today." She walked into the stall labeled "Madeline T." and left me walking alone to my stall.
When she meant "pulled something off today" she meant my famous, failed-attempt escapes. Yeah, I'm pretty famous around here. All 23 attempts failed, and I can totally tell you all 23 were painful. Don't try this at home kids.
After my long shower with warm water, I dried myself off, and slipped into my new clothes. It was a pair of loose skinny jeans with a cream-colored top with a golden ribbon decorating it. Picking up my new fluffy towel I walked back to my sink to blow dry my hair.
"You seem like in a good mood today," Bulla said as she brushed her exotic blue hair. "I hope you aren't going to try to escape today."
Why do people think I'm some crazy criminal trying to break out from a freaking modeling academy?
"No, I'm just happy because we finally get something worth waking up to."
"Is that so? Pan, can I borrow your eye shadow palette? I'm running low on black."
I handed her mine while drying my hair. The buzz of blow driers filled the echoey room. When my hair was dry, I pretended to put on makeup. There wasn't anything on my brush; I just pretended I was super careful and concentrated so no one will notice. Pan. That's me. The failure escape artist and trickster.
Just then, the loudspeaker went off and the sound of Headmaster Johnson's voice boomed. "Good morning, girls," he said. He paused for us to say "good morning" back, but none of us did. It wasn't part of our routine. We weren't even allowed to speak in the majesty's presence, even if it's over a loudspeaker. All the blow driers were turned off and every girl stared at the speaker. "I said, good morning, girls," Headmaster Johnson said with a little more anger. Still no one replied.
"What is going on, sir?" a voice asked. It sounded vaguely familiar, like a family member or a close friend. Her voice was very feminine, indeed.
"Oh, I guess they're too busy prepping up, Mrs. Briefs," Headmaster Johnson replied. I couldn't hear a single stutter in his voice. He must be a professional liar. Something tingled at the back of my neck. That voice. That name. They were both so familiar, but where have I heard them before? I glanced over at Bulla and overlooked her to meet Marron's eyes as well.
"Anyway, girls, please meet up at the cafeteria to meet our new super attendant," he said and then he cut off the microphone.
Everywhere, I heard mumbles and squeals of excitement. I caught sentences like "Oh, my gosh, she's here" and "she's like super famous". Bulla gave me an unsteady expression. I walked over to Marron and Bulla and we made a sort of huddle.
"Guys, I'm pretty sure I've met that woman before," Bulla said with a crack in her voice. I could tell she wanted to bawl her eyes out, but she was too strong for that. I nodded and so did Marron.
"Her voice is so familiar. It's on the tip of my tongue," said Marron as she tapped her chin with a finger.
I looked over my shoulder and saw that all the girls were leaving the bathroom. I turned my attention back to Marron and Bulla. "Well, guys, I think we gotta go head on and see her for ourselves," I said. I laced my arm around Bulla and Marron did, too. We looked at each other with reassuring smiles, although I don't think we felt that way. We were going to find out together. Family, friend, or not, we were going to find out who that woman was.