After 'lights out' at ten, a guard came by to do a bed check. He shined a flashlight in on our faces and then closed the cell door. It seemed a bit tedious to me. In the movies they would just shut all of the gates at one time from a remote location. They only needed one guy for that. I guess this was our tax dollars at work.
I couldn't think of the last time I went to bed at ten, on purpose anyway. There were several nights where I would just simply pass out, but usually I had not been to bed the night before.
As I laid there thinking, I thought that I heard sobbing from the bed above me. This Eric kid was going to be annoying if he was a crier. I just hoped that nobody else could hear him.
Morning came all loud and fucking annoying. All of the lights in the building turned on and there was a shrilling bell that went off throughout the entire room. I heard a lot of moaning and groaning, so at least it wasn't just me suffering.
I got out of bed and dressed in yesterday's clothes. I briefly wondered how often, if ever, would we get a new set of clothes.
The cells all opened at once and the breakfast bell rang. I sat again at my now usual table and ate by myself. I saw Eric sitting with a couple of guys that looked just at timid as he was. At least he was making friends. A banana peel came out of nowhere and hit the back of one of Eric's new friends. My eyes shifted to the 'muscle bound jock' table and immediately new who threw the peel by the snickering at that table.
Once I was done I headed to my first class of the day. English. I found the correct room and went inside to sit. The teacher, an old lady that they must have shipped in daily, brought me the book that they were working on and a fucking spelling list. What is this the first grade?
The rest of the students came in and took their seats. I looked at the book in my hands and laughed out loud. 'Charlotte's Web'. Are you fucking kidding me? I think I read this before I even started school.
"Mr. Cullen? Is there a problem?" The old teacher asked.
I just held up the book and set it back on the desk. I think that my mouth was hanging open in disbelief.
"Talk to me after class, honey." She said with a sad look in her eyes. What was that for?
I sat through my first English lesson with my head resting on the palm my hand. I looked around the room during the reading part of the lesson. We were told to read aloud to the class for a few paragraphs. Honestly I was shocked. Half of these guys couldn't read a sentence without help. The teacher skipped me since it was my first day. How thoughtful.
Class ended and as promised I went to talk to the teacher. I walked up to her and waited for her to finish with another student.
She looked up at me from her desk. "Can you read, sweetheart?" She asked timidly, like she didn't want to offend me or some shit. "It's Ok if you can't, that's why were here."
I can probably read better than you can, bitch. "Yes, I can read." I said aloud.
"What have you read? Have you already read 'Charlotte's Web'?"
"I've read nearly everything there is to read. And yes, I've read 'Charlotte's Web'." I told her trying not to sound like a complete asshole. "About eleven years ago."
"Ok dear, I thought you were having a problem reading. So we are nearly halfway through the book. Try to catch up as quickly as possible. We are having a test on the spelling words tomorrow." She said cheerfully.
I just stared at her until I realized that she wasn't joking. I turned on my heel and walked out of the classroom and headed for my math class.
I walked in just before class started and was given my math book. Seriously? This whole situation must have been a joke. I was just about to start looking for hidden cameras when the teacher passed out a two page test to the class.
"You have the whole hour to finish the test. No calculators are allowed. Keep your eyes on your own paper and you may leave when you are done." The teacher instructed. "Make sure to write down the homework assignments for next week before you go to lunch early. You may begin."
I looked down at the paper in my hands and felt like laughing again but thought that I'd better not. These guys in this room really needed this shit. What happened to them that they never got this in public school? I looked around the room and could see that they were all struggling with this test. I noticed Jacob Black in the back corner with the same frustrated face as all of the rest of these guys.
I pulled the pencil out from behind my ear and started the test. I was done in about five minutes and quickly wrote down the assignment from the board. I got up and placed my finished test on the teacher's desk and walked towards the door. Before I got there, I took one last glance at the students in deep concentration. Black looked up at me as I walked out the door.
After lunch my schedule told me to go outside. So I did. I walked out to find the guard, Allen, standing in the middle of the basketball court wearing shorts, a t-shirt with 'Meadowlands' written on it, and a big damn whistle.
I sat on the small set of bleachers next to the court. More students came out of the building and also took seats on the bleachers. Black was with them and he sent me a glare when he passed me. Moments later his 'pack' arrived and sat all around him.
"Ok fellas, we will be starting basketball today." Allen said. "I am assuming that you all have played b-ball before?" There were a few head nods and grunts.
Allen instructed us to form teams of three, and he would set us up with the team that would be our opponents. Since there were two full sized courts, we would be playing four half court games simultaneously, and then switching up like in a tournament.
I seriously wanted to slit my wrists at this point. First I was supposed to read the musings of E.B. White aloud to the class, second I was given a test made for third graders, and now I was being forced to play sports. It wasn't that I couldn't play, it was just that I preferred not to. My brother was the sporty one of the Cullen sons, not me.
So here I was standing with two guys ready to play basketball. Maybe this was how the judge planned on torturing me. This was my punishment for the things that I have done, not the incarceration, but the blatant ignorance of the whole population here. He must have known how irritated I could get over just simple stupidity.
After that ridiculousness was finished I headed over to the next round of what would be the end of my sanity. Auto mechanics.
Around the edge of the main building was a huge garage. I walked in to see several car bodies in different degrees of completion. Some were just frames and others looked finished. But then what did I know? Absolutely nothing. This was a first for me.
I stood around the garage with the other students, which coincidentally included the 'pack', until a teacher noticed me. He introduced himself as 'Conroy' and proceeded to bring me over to a couple of guys with their heads under the hood of a red car.
"You can work with Smith and Richardson over here." Conroy told me. The two guys looked up at me and flinched. "Cullen will be joining you two today."
I folded my arms over my chest to try to hide my insecurities. "Uh…hi…so we just…um replaced the fan belt…and um…next we have to replace the ignition." Smith informed me.
I just remained quiet. I concluded that the best way to fake my way through this would be to not say anything. They seemed to already be intimidated by me from my new reputation, so I didn't think that they would question my silence.
Black kept giving me evil looks through his black and blue eyes throughout the entire class period.
Finally that disaster was over and I headed directly to the office were the administration of this place was located. I asked to talk to the person in charge of education. I was told to sit in the same chairs that I was in when I was first brought here.
After a few minutes, a guard came out to get me and escort me into an office with the name 'Payne' on the door.
"Edward, please sit." Payne told me so I did. "What brings you in on your second day here?"
"I was told that I would be finishing up high school while I was in here."
He nodded. "Yes, that is why we bring teachers in."
I sighed. "I don't feel that the material is challenging enough, and I don't think that the state will recognize the lesson plans that I have gotten today as high school level."
"What would you like me to do for you Edward?" Payne said leaning forward on his desk.
"I'm sure the teachers here are fine, but I would like to know if we could possibly have coursework brought in from my previous educational institution."
"I don't think that that will be possible."
"Why?"
"Edward, we aren't really here to educate you. We are here to rehabilitate you so that you don't fail again in society when you are released."
I was starting to get irritated. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I was told that I would finish school in here. Are you telling me that is false information?" I said through my teeth.
"You will be able to finish school when you get out. That is if you don't screw up again and end up in prison."
Fuck! "Well can I test out of this bullshit then and get the state to give me a high school equivalency test?"
"That may be an option, but you would have to earn it." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"How."
"I see from your file that you are assigned to the doctor during your afternoons." I nodded. "I think that you would be better suited elsewhere, don't you think?"
"Where exactly?"
"I think that we have just found ourselves a new tutor."
"No. No way."
"You want me to help you don't you? You want to graduate high school right?"
"Yes."
"Then you are the new tutor. You will be assisting the other student from two until five on the weekdays and from nine to noon on Saturdays." He smiled. "How does that sound."
"Fucking fabulous."
"I thought that you would agree."
