The door slammed shut behind them and royal and Skittery were left in the dark of the carriage, the only light coming from a small window cut out of the door.

The coach started moving once more with a jolt and the sound of horse's hooves could be heard on the cobblestones.

Royal sat across from Skittery, her eyes on the wooden floorboards of the coach, her hands in her lap. She finally looked up.

As she had expected, Skittery's face was completely barren of any expression what so ever. He molded his hands in his lap, pushing hard on his knuckles and wringing out his fingers.

"Skittery?" her voice was meek and feeble.

At her words he painfully averted his eyes from the floor and looked her over carefully, his expression remaining indifferent.

"What?"

"Why didn't you run?"

"What do you mean?" he said in an apathetic tone.

"Ya could 'ave run… Mrs. Muller wouldn't 'ave been able ta catch up with ya…"

Royal's eyes were on Skittery, waiting for him to show some sign of life. He glanced down at the floor once more, not wanting to answer her question. Royal reached out her arm and touched Skittery's hand warmly.

Suddenly, he began to bang his head deliberately on the wall behind him, muttering angrily to himself.

" I ain't supposed ta be here! Its in me folks fuckin' will! I ain't supposed to go there!"

His voice grew louder and royal pulled her hand away, watching skittery attentivly. His head banging became slower though it continued as he spoke.

"Dey cant take me! I signed the fuckin' papers! We went though dis shit years ago and i… signed… the…papers!" With this last sentense, he banged his head at every word, closing his eyes and ignoring the pain he was creating for himself.

He began to whimper softly and sunk down against the wall untill he was sitting on the floor, his legs raised up against his chest.

Royal sat down next to him, a rush of guilt and fear spreading through her body as she watched Skittery mentally brake down by her side.

In a finally sob he lay his head roughly on her shoulder, spreading out his legs so that they were no longer agianst his chest but stretching underneath the bench royal had been sitting on moments before. She put her hand comfortingly on his thigh and watched as he tried to regain his manly hood.

"Lets jus try to make the best of this… at least we'll be together… and who knows… it could be fun…" her voice trailed off.

"How the hell could this be fun?" he looked at her in anticipation.

"We could give them hell?"

She watched Skittery's expression closely, waiting for the words to sink in.

"I mean… dey cant kick us out can dey? And if dey do…well… that's what we want ain't it?"

Skittery chuckled softly as he realized what she was saying, his face becoming a bit friendlier.

"What kinda hell?"

She signed, racking her brain for an example.

"I dunno, jam the teachers doors, take control of da classes, burn da jockers food… just pranks at foist."

Skittery turned to her, grinning broadly.

Royal was delighted to see his sudden change in mood and hoped her proposal had invoked some motivation to live in their new environment.

"At foist?"

"Yeah… maybe we'll try worse stuff later on."

She shrugged carelessly and watched as an even wider smile crept over Skittery's face, his coffee colored eyes glinting with mischief.

"Yeah… make 'em wish dey nevah took you back."

"And took you in!" royal added on, now also excited by her plan.

She had been improvising at first, trying desperately to improve Skittery's mood in any way she could though now that she had fleshed out her devious scheme, it was appealing to her as well.

Skittery leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. Royal found his hand and held it loosely on the floor between them.

"I'm sorry you got dragged in ta all dis." She said softly, looking down at their joined hands.

He shrugged fighting back a listless expression.

"I don't blame ya." Royal looked at him doubtfully, waiting for him to go on. "Besides… we are both seventeen. When we're 18 they cant keep us no more… so… it's really only12 months of dis torture."

He stopped speaking for a moment and stared at the wall fixedly, his brow furrowed, rolling the words 'twelve months' around in his mouth, as if trying to make it sound more appealing. His muttering ceased and he went on,

"and like you said… it could be fun…" his words lingered in the air.

He turned his head once more towards royal, smiling painfully at her. Royal smiled feebly back at him though her eyes cast a shadow of worry upon the rest of her face. Skittery did not notice her tainted facade.

He turned his body towards her, brushing one of her curls away from her face though it only slid back unto her eyes once more. She tucked it behind her ear properly, her phony smile turning into a warm grin.

All of a sudden the carriage came to a halt and Skittery turned back around so that he was facing the wall, his expression becoming indifferent once more as if the shift in the outside world had reminded him of reality.