Dollface squinted in the bright light of the open common quad. A few of the poorer kids who stayed in cabins like hers were milling around, some carrying tools.
"This is what it's gonna be like all year?" Dollface couldn't help but ask again. She had to be annoying Marcus by now, but he seemed happy to confirm as many times as she needed.
Markus had tried to explain it as simply as possible: Scholarship and lower payment plan kids were put into shacks like Markus and Dollface were in, while richer kids got increasingly nicer cabins. The richer kids in nice cabins also got benefits beyond heating. Better food, more free time and the first shot in any club or team they wanted.
Poorer kids in the ramshackle cabins and used uniforms were to work as if they were janitors or groundskeepers.
In order to get privileges like free time, a cheaper price for education and access to licensing rich kids got, students would have to do groundskeeping on sports fields, landscaping of the main areas, shower house cleaning and running food stands, meaning there was very little free time left for them to join activities.
Dollface's shoulders dropped.
This was hopeless.
The only way out of this system was to get a job, which exempted her of these unwanted duties.
"Yup." Markus confirmed, stopping and waving at a girl with her back turned to them, "Gaz! Gaz!"
Dollface's hand was grabbed and ripped to Markus as he bounded like a golden retriever puppy to a very unamused cat. Markus stopped, making Dollface smack into the girl trimming the hedge.
The girl spun, squinting and scowling at her.
Dollface gulped. thoroughly intimidated by the girl with the skull necklace.
"Gaz! GAZ!" Markus clapped, "This is my new roommate, Dollface!"
Tina looked at Markus, giving him a funny look.
"Hi."
"Howdy," Dollface offered a hand, nervously smiling.
Gaz didn't take it, instead squinting suspiciously.
"Gaaaaz!" Markus pushed Gaz, "Be nice!"
"Gazline Membrane, Membrane Labs INC." Gaz took Dollface's still stupidly outstretched hand. Gaz was sickly pale, highlighted by her preppy black clothes and arms covered with red and black striped fingerless gloves. Her bobbed hair was dark magenta, which made her face almost look green, "What are you?"
Hand released from Gaz's freezing one, Dollface stared at the skull pendant handing on Gaz's chest. It was bubbly and round, with a hot pink bow like on a Hello Kitty.
Dollface blinked.
What kind of question was that?
"Gaz!" Markus shook Dollface, "Dollface is a new student!"
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Gaz grumbled, "I meant how?"
"Oh!" Markus exclaimed, "Sorry, I'm not all there right now! You're from...?"
"Elmore?" Why did Dollface suddenly sound so unsure?
"You must be scholarship, then." Gaz bluntly said, "I got sent here for poor grades- Dad wants me to take over the labs when he retires."
"Labs?"
"Half the population of this institution are the children of the rich and powerful for bad behavior, illegal activities, or just to be ignored for a year- the rest? Kids like you. Poor saps suckered into coming here for a scholarship and cheap labor," Gaz flatly dumped, "And if you're on scholarship, then you're basically screwed. You just slave around for the rich kids while they get to to do fuckall."
"Then why are ya trimmin' hedges?"
Still scowling, Gaz grumbled, "Dad wants me to relate to my future benefactors."
"Oh."
Gaz picked up her hedge trimmers and plodded past Dollface and Markus in heavy boots, "The only exception to this rstatus quo is Frankie Stein, their parents are teachers here and get a good deal on housing."
"You'd like Frankie," Markus said, "They're super nice! Isn't that right Gaz?"
"Mph!"
A laugh, high and crystaline, caught Dollface's attetion.
The laugher caught her eyes. Someone with pink and black pigtails and big, watery gray eyes. The girl that had grabbed Dollface's attention carried a hot pink parasol and was talking to a similarly petite girl in a hijab.
Dollface gulped.
"Yeah, she's really hot or whatever," The short Gaz stooped like String Bean or Thorne used to pull a weed, "Personally, I'd stick with Clawdeen or Frankie, they have an actual personality."
"Don't be mean, Gaz!"
Dollface nodded, turning red.
"She's one of the rich girls. I heard her dad owns stock in everything, even Nike." Markus said, "Man, I'd kill to date Draculaura."
"Me too." Dollface breathed, admiring Draculaura like water in a desert. Her laugh, what she could hear of it, was like music, "We should talk to her."
"Oh no, I tried that once." Markus said, "But she made it all weird and then started getting serious with Clawd."
Dollface sighed.
No chance here.
Wait, was that Regina?
"Reggie!" Dollface waved and began sprinting over to her sister who was very clearly ignoring her, "Reggie! I need-"
Just as she was about to ask Regina for some help, Dollface felt herself be lifted up and roughly pulled away, a small swarm of shiny, well-tuned motorbikes roaring past, running over the grass she'd just been standing on.
They roared past, just inches from her nose and screeched to a halt, interrupting a game of basketball.
A large boy who could've been a mediocre college's worst linebacker and leader of the pack of bikers was the first to rip off his red and blue helmet, letting out a howl of success. He gave the nearest and shortest and nearest biker in orange a high five, both hooping and hollering.
"Aight man, that was tight!"
The third biker, in hot pink pulled his helmet off and grinned with teeth too white to be natural, his perfectly styled gold hair immaculate. "Wait, where's Fugo?"
"Dunno man!" The one in orange was now bouncing around, unable to sit still.
It was reminiscent of Markus's constant energy. Shorty fluffed out his black hair, scarf flapping and completely unaware of the glares he was receiving on all sides.
Dollface was full-on scowling, hands twitching angrily.
How dare they!? Someone could've died!
"Mista! Mista, you meathead!" A girl with purple box braids came running up to the linebacker in red and blue, the angriest of all of them, "You moron!"
"Babe, hey, we were just playin' arou-!" Mista was cut off by a hard slap.
"You idiot! Ya coulda killed that girl!" Mista's girlfriend pointed with a perfectly manicured nail at Dollface as Tina dropped her, "Coach Hardtack's gonna hear about this!"
Dollface fell the short distance to the ground with an unexpected 'OOF!'
"Not my fault she was walking without lookin'."
Mista received another slap, followed by a scolding, "Look what you've done! Now you're gonna have to work until next Summer fixin' that turf! I won't see you again until March at this rate!"
Dollface stumbled to her feet, turning red now that some of the attention was pointed at her. Draculaura was now tittering to Regina.
"You're a scholarship kid, you can't just fuck around and not expect Bucciaratti and Coach Hardtack to NOT rip you a new asshole!" She shouted, "It's not even the first day of school for God's sake!"
At this rate, Mista might be safer with the principal and 'Coach Hardtack'.
Dollface tried to stumble across the torn grass again, hoping to get to her sister. Hopefully she could clear up some things, maybe find a way to get out of a shack by the outhouse, but was once again ripped off her feet as a neon green motorcycle went roaring past on one wheel.
He landed, bright colored bomber flapping open to reveal a strawberry printed liner, and propped his cycle up with one foot.
The biker pulled off his purple helmet, grinning while shaking out his messy strawberry blond mullet.
Dollface almost threw up in her mouth.
Mista's girlfriend looked stunned, then very tired.
"Dude, glad ya made it!" Shorty bounced, "Thought ya'd never come!"
"Wouldn't miss it."
Calm?
The asshole was calm?
Dollface squirmed from Tina's reprised grip and stomped over to him, unhooking her wallet chain's locks.
"What th'hell is wrong wit'ya?!" Dollface yelled as she approached him, "All of y'all coulda killed me."
"Hey, chill, we didn't." Strawberries said, "You're still here, ain'tcha?"
Dollface's eye twitched as she glared at him, "You piece o'shit, walkin' 'round like ya own th'place. Now I have more work t'do t'morrow."
Technically, Dollface hadn't gotten her week's chore assignment yet, but she could tell with the way the universe had been kicking her in the teeth, that she'd end up cleaning this mess.
By herself.
With a hammer.
Dollface gripped the chain in her hand hard, lack of Michael's calm demeanor becoming her approaching downfall.
"Oooooh, gettin' scolded by a chick, Fugo!" Shorty and the other bikers giggled.
"Chill. Don't want security on our asses." Coppertop smirked.
Dollface scowled, wrapping her hand like Grampa had both taught her to in case of trouble. This wasn't really trouble, but after the summer she'd had, she wouldn't back down.
Dollface tightened her fists as the boys continued to heckle her.
She was alive, wasn't she?
Mista's girlfriend was now yelling at all of them, including Dollface for being such idiots.
Coppertop patted her on the head and leered, "What, ya wanna joyride, Blondie?"
She completely whited out, her next action untethered from Michael's usual guidance.
Dollface's fist collided with Fugo's nose and she leapt onto him, students screaming around them.
"Holy shit!"
Dollface could feel someone try to peel her off of Coppertop but she held on. Used to angry livestock, Dollface made like Grampa's team of mediocre middle schoolers and sprawled on top of him as he lunged for her knees, slamming him face-down in the torn turf.
Seeing as Coppertop was a good forty pounds heavier than her, he attempted to roll her on his side and pin, only to find that she could ride an opponent to their chest.
Fugo ripped his leg and arm up on one side and completed a full stand-up, hands wrapped around her clasped wrists. Running forward with his hips out, he pushed on her hands and did a turn around escape, stole her space and slid into a low-single.
Knocking over a table and threatening to kill each other, security managed to rip the two wrestlers away.
It took three attempts and Markus to pull them away from each other, but they did.
"Dollface! You're embarrassing me!" Regina whined, chasing after the small posse dragging a still screaming and rattling Dollface.
Coppertop was as well, except he was holding out his phone, asking for a rematch and her SnapChat.
