All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games or the anime


Chapter Seven: The Town

The rest of the week went by relatively quickly, largely because Melanie was kept pretty busy. Tuesday and Thursday there was no gym class, so when school was out for those days Melanie would have to spend an extra hour with one of her teachers, learning cursive handwriting, or multiplication, or state capitals, or whatever else the faculty felt was needed for her to catch up. She would also be given her homework assignment, which she still wasn't crazy about. But the only reason she didn't use it as toilet paper was the prospect of someday having one of those knives.

She had a few more run-ins with Regina, and Melanie continued to give "the queen of the school" as much money as she felt the bitch deserved, resulting in more visits to Gladys, and her dreaded disinfectants. Kimberly still didn't seem thrilled by that, but at least Melanie didn't have any more bananas with breakfast. She still refused to say grace, and Joan, realizing that the small blonde would starve unless some new punishments were invented, started giving her detention, so Melanie had that to deal with in addition to her extra schoolwork.

Melanie's roommate continued to show her more of the ins-and-outs of the school, including the bulletin board. "That's what we call it, anyway," Kimberly explained. "Really, it's just a sign-up sheet if any girl wants to tackle some chores during the week."

Melanie frowned as she glanced down the list. Dishes, weeding gardens, waxing Joan's car... it all seemed like remedial stuff her foster parents would sometimes dole out as punishment. "There are staff here who can do this shit," she remarked. "Why would we want to sign up?"

"The more chores you do, the bigger your allowance at the end of every week. Which you'll need when we take trips into town."

"Town?"

"It's about twenty miles from the school. You'll get to see it this Saturday."


Saturday, September 28, 1996

"You are a survivor, it's in your blood... stay strong..."

"Wake up, Melanie..."

"Mei Lin... no, she'll need something else if she wants to get adopted, something more American... put 'Melanie' on her papers."

"Come on, Mel, get the lead out!"

"God has a plan, Melanie. Even for his mistakes..."

"WAKE UP!" Kimberly's voice shrieked in her ear, causing Melanie to sit up on her bed with a start. After her dream, it took her a moment to remember where she was, and even then, she wished she were still asleep. It was Saturday, one of two days in the week where she didn't have to worry about getting an icy shower if she slept past eight (after that first day, Melanie had been very good about waking up at the same time as Kimberly).

Kimberly was already dressed in jeans and a black T-Shirt with the Batman emblem, her ebony hair done up in its usual French braid. Melanie wasn't surprised to see her dressed like that, since her roommate had told her that on Saturday, the girls were allowed to dress casual. But she was still a little annoyed at being woken up so early on the weekend.

At least, until Kimberly reminded her of the reason. "Come on, Mel... first day of working towards earning your shiny new knife."

At hearing those words, Melanie quickly jumped out of her bed, threw on jeans and a t-shirt, and then the two girls made their way down the main corridor of the dorm, towards the staircase that led outside.

They were stopped halfway by Ms. Wallace, who held out a meaty hand. "It's only six AM, girls," she said. "Breakfast ain't till eight. Where do ya'll think yer goin'?"

"Special training," said Kimberly, pulling a folded slip of paper from her back pocket and handing it to their dorm supervisor.

Wallace took a few moments to scrutinize it. "Yup, that's Hartman's handwriting," she concluded, and handed the note back to Kimberly. "All right, you girls carry on."

Kim saluted the heavyset woman. "Yes, ma'am!" And with that, she and Melanie left the dorms and made their way through the foggy early morning towards the practice field. Once there, they entered the shed and changed into "field uniforms", though Melanie left the socks off, since there was no adult to enforce Landy's rule.

"So, Mel," Kimberly said while they were finishing changing. "Hartman wants me to start you off with some basic blocks, but I figured we'd do something a little more fun first." Her hand went to a small chain looped around her neck, which had a small key strung through it. The dark-haired girl walked over to a nearby storage closet, used the key to open it, reached inside and pulled out two knives.

Melanie felt her pulse quicken just a little as Kimberly tossed her one, but it went away as soon as she snatched it out of the air by the handle, felt that it was made of rubber. Kimberly sensed her roommate's frustration, and laughed a little. "Well, what'd you expect, Mel? Like the sarge said, gotta earn the real one. And anyway, I thought it would be nice if we started with some knife basics before we moved onto the boring shit. Just so you have an idea of what you're working towards." She shut the closet door, locked it, and tucked the key back into her shirt. "Come on, let's get started."

A short time later, the two girls were on the practice field. Melanie couldn't help but notice goosebumps breaking out on her legs, as the rising sun still hadn't completely beaten back the chill of night. Okay, maybe the socks have some use, she thought to herself. I'll be sure to wear them next time.

After they had done some stretches, both Melanie and Kimberly faced each other on opposite ends of the practice field. Kimberly's left elbow was level with her face in a defensive stance, while her other arm was outstretched, holding the blade of the rubber knife extended towards her opponent. She looked over at Melanie and frowned at the other girl's stance.

"No, no, no, Mel," she said with a shake of her head, then tucked the knife into her belt and walked over to her opponent. "You're way too tense. Widen your feet." So saying, Kimberly nudged Melanie's feet with her toes, spreading them out. "At least shoulder-width apart. And relax." The blonde girl's shoulders were raised, so Kimberly pressed down on them with her palms. "You gotta be loose. Think of your body as a river. It's relaxed, it flows, but... it can also adapt to changes in its environment, and there is force behind it, powerful force. Knowing when to unleash that force is the most important thing to master."

So saying, Kimberly went back to the other end of the field and resumed her stance. "Okay, show me what ya got!"

Melanie moved forward a bit more quickly than her opponent was anticipating, but Kimberly found it easy to adapt. Melanie's steps were light, but her knife hand was still a little too rigid. She moved the fake blade forward in a series of jabs, while Kimberly, who was rocking on the balls of her feet as Regina had done earlier, found it easy to either dodge them completely, or deflect them with her own blade. Eventually, Melanie over-reached with her knife arm, and Kimberly spun inwards, closing the distance between them and finishing her move with her left hand wrapped around the wrist of Melanie's knife arm, holding it away from her, while her own rubber blade was pressed crosswise against the blonde girl's throat.

"You're dead," Kimberly said, her tone matter-of-fact. "And this is why we have to earn our blades, Mel. Because it's not a game. It's your life. And you need to know how to defend it."

"You sound like the sarge," Melanie pointed out.

"I hope so," said Kim. "He said the exact same thing to me, the first time we sparred with rubber knives." She then lowered her knife and backed away again several paces. She couldn't help but notice that Melanie had adopted a stance more similar to hers, rocking from side to side on her feet, left arm raised defensively. But her knife arm still wasn't where it should be.

"You're holding the blade towards your enemy, Mel," Kimberly pointed out. "That's smart. Always keep the blade pointed towards them, no matter what. But your arm is too rigid. Just let it move. Always keep it moving." Melanie saw that the other girl seemed to have her wrist nearly limp, knife hand swaying in a figure eight motion. The petite blonde, remembering her sorry defeat from a moment ago, quickly changed her own stance to do likewise.

Kimberly gave a nod of approval. "That's it, Mel. Be the river. Flow, but adapt. Now, let's try some basics." So saying, she started forward, jabbing high and low with her knife in alternating thrusts. Melanie quickly picked up on this, and countered accordingly.

"Yes!" Kimberly said with a laugh. "One, two. One, two. Up. Down. Up. Down." The two girls continued their "safety dance of death" for several minutes, and Melanie actually found herself getting lost in the rhythm of Kimberly's repetitive words, saying them quietly in her head, over and over. After about ten minutes, Kim started to notice. "You have the basic idea, Mel," She encouraged her pupil. "Keep that wrist supple and loose. But just like water, be ready to tense it!"

As she spoke those last two words, she lunged suddenly towards Melanie with her fake blade, intending to strike the soft part at the bottom of the blonde's breastbone. At the last second, Melanie's own knife hand went rigid, and she swung downwards, deflecting it. Kim's weapon still managed to touch against her opponent's belly just above the left hip, the rubber blade curling into a question mark shape as the dark-haired girl pressed it against Melanie.

"That's a little better," said Kimberly. "Not dead, but still wounded." She pulled back and tucked her knife into her belt. "But according to Hartman, the belly is one of the best places to get stabbed. As long as it's a clean hit, it takes a while to die from a gut wound. Long enough that you should be able to get medical attention before infection sets in, even if you're in the field." The dark-haired girl actually laughed a little. "Of course, then he said was getting ahead of himself, and that was a lesson we'll learn in a few years."

They seemed to be taking a time out, so Melanie seated herself pretzel-legged in the dirt. Once more, her roommate's words found her wondering just what type of a school this really was, and what the judge would have said at her hearing if he'd known young girls were being trained with weapons (she doubted that the literature on the Clemency School that Landy handed him contained anything about that). So as they took a breather, she asked: "Kimberly, do you think it's weird that we're learning this stuff?"

Kim pulled two water bottles from her hip satchel, offered one to Melanie, and then shrugged while she opened her water and took a long sip. "Sometimes, I think it is, a little. But, mostly I think it's really cool. And it's... better than what the kids in the public schools of Burlington have to learn."

"Burlington?" Melanie asked.

"The town that we're close to. You'll see it later today."

Melanie nodded, and sipped her own water. It was weird, but she was willing to put up with it. The night they'd met, Landy had assured her she'd learn useful things at this school, and it looked like the headmistress was right. She still had a few misgivings, however, and asked the other girl: "So, why were you the only one who raised your hand at gym class on Monday?"

Kimberly gave a shrug, sipped her water. "I already told you. I know how it feels to be bottom of the totem pole. If I can help you earn a weapon, then maybe it will make your life easier here. It did for me."

"And I'm sure you're not earning any extra credit for this from the faculty," Melanie said with a sarcastic snort.

Kimberly's dark brown eyes, framed by the few stray ebony locks peeking out from her bandanna, narrowed slightly at hearing those words. Kimberly reached into her right sock, and Melanie heard the click of a strap being unbuttoned, followed by a slow fluid sound of steel against leather. In an instant, her real knife was out and being held rigid in front of her face, the blade straight up.

"You can believe what you want, Mel," she snapped. "Whatever makes you happy. But you say I know nothing about you? Well, the opposite is also true. I don't know what your life has been like before you came here, because you won't say, and right now, I don't care. But just consider this: I had to earn this weapon. I busted my ass because of my size, putting in extra hours of training, checking out books from the library on Kali Eskrima, Paranza Corta, and other styles of knife combat, then using my free time on weekends to read them. I even spent a lot of time drilling Hartman for anecdotes from his career in the Marines, to see if there was any extra knowledge I could get. Because I was the smallest, I had to work harder than the other girls to prove to the faculty that I was ready. The day that Hartman handed me this... was the proudest day of my life... because I fucking earned it. More than Regina and her cunts did. He even told me that himself after the ceremony. If I can help someone else know how that feels, then that's great. But even if you don't believe me, the sarge gave an order, meaning you're stuck with me as a tutor, so you may as well shut up and listen to what I have to teach you."

Just like the first night in their dorm room, Melanie felt the color go briefly to her face as a fleeting pang of regret went through her. "Um... sorry," she said, shifting her gaze towards the dirt.

"Don't move, Mel," Kimberly said after a moment. Melanie looked up, saw the dark-haired girl's expression was deadpan. Kimberly had also shifted her knife into a reverse-grip, gazing intently at Mel.

Melanie raised her hands in surrender. "Come on, Kim, I said I was sorry!"

Her roommate said nothing, and instead brought her blade forward towards Melanie's upper arm in an impossibly fast motion. Melanie flinched, expecting to feel the cold bite of the blade through her flesh, but it never made contact. Kimberly's knife hand withdrew from Mel's arm a split-second later, with a centipede skewered on the weapon's tip.

Having not realized the thing was crawling on her, Melanie jumped a little in revulsion, even though the crawly was wriggling in its death throes. Kimberly flicked her wrist, tossing the centipede across the field, then she wiped the blade on her sleeve and sheathed it again. When it was out of sight, Mel allowed herself to start breathing easier. "Um... thanks," She finally managed to get out.

"Anytime," Kimberly said with a shrug.

For a while, the two girls were silent, focusing on their water. Then Melanie found herself remembering something her roommate said about this being the only place she'd ever know, and so she found herself asking: "Hey, Kim, what's the earliest thing you remember?"

The other girl turned her eyes upward for a moment. "I remember a white room, a friendly guy in a sweater, speaking Japanese and giving me a figure of Astro Boy. I think I was... about four at the time. Still have that figure on my dresser. I also think it's the reason I like anime."

"Do you remember anything about your parents?"

"Nope. Just a place with a lot of white, and then a bunch of guys took us on a trip across the ocean, and then suddenly, we were here, and Landy was teaching us kindergarten. She told us we were all orphans. And we were special." Then her eyes came down again, regarding Melanie with borderline suspicion. It definitely wasn't like the blonde to ask personal questions. "Why do you ask?"

For a moment, Melanie thought of telling the dark-haired girl about her dreams. Then she pushed the thought down hard. Kimberly was willing to give her the extra training she needed to earn a knife, but that was as far as Melanie was prepared to take it. She remembered the mystery woman who called her Mei-Lin, claimed to love her more than her mother... who, if her dreams were accurate, had dumped Melanie on the doorstep of an orphanage in Burbank the first chance she got. She remembered the nuns, and all of her foster parents, how they always tossed her to the curb like garbage when caring for her became a bother.

People are all the same. They claim to care about you, but as soon as you become too hard to deal with, or too inconvenient, they'll leave you on your own. This will be no different. There's no point in getting attached, because you're just setting yourself up for more of the same. After an uncomfortable pause, Melanie shrugged. "Just curious," she replied.

Kimberly gave a shrug, as well, then she got to her feet. "Sadly, the fun part is over. I've gotta be able to give the sarge something in Monday's progress report, so it's time to move onto the boring stuff."

"Blocking, huh?" Melanie said with a laugh as she also stood up. "You mean, like, 'wax on, wax off'?" She pocketed her rubber knife and moved into a stance similar to the one she'd assumed with Regina, dukes raised.

"Something like that," Kimberly replied. "Whether you're armed or unarmed, the principle is the same: move like the river. Even if your opponent has a knife, and you don't, you can still disarm them if you're relaxed, and focused."

Melanie laughed. "Or, you could just have a bunch of different weapons. Then you wouldn't need to worry about being unarmed."

Kim couldn't help but laugh as well. "I dare you to say that to Hartman." The dark-haired girl moved to the opposite end of the field, and assumed a more relaxed stance, arms raised chest-level, hands open. "Okay, Mel, now try to hit me!"

Well, she said you could, Melanie thought to herself, and started forward. Kimberly stood there, short but impassive, rocking on the balls of her feet. Melanie started with a straight jab towards her midsection, but in a fluid stroke, Kim deflected the strike with her back of her hand. The next several strikes were deflected with equally minimal force, though Mel couldn't help but notice how the blows still stung.

After a few minutes, Kim ducked under a punch, grabbed Melanie's arm, and flipped the blonde girl bodily over her shoulder like a pancake, causing Mel to land on her back in the dirt. "Ow..." Melanie said in her usual blank monotone.

"You say that a lot," said Kimberly, standing over her pupil and offering her a hand. "Does it actually hurt?"

"Not really," Melanie answered, accepting the hand. "Just seems like the thing to say. I learned how to take a punch not long after I got dumped in the orphanage."

For once, Kimberly couldn't really talk about how messed up that was, since she herself had also learned the same thing in her training. So, she simply gave her pupil a nod. "Let's start again," she said.

This time, Melanie paid closer attention to what Kimberly said and did, adapting her stance to be more like her tutor's. Though she was unsuccessful in hitting Kimberly, she did manage to avoid getting thrown again. An hour later, both girls had worked up an appetite. The dark-haired girl folded her left hand over her right, which was balled into a fist, and bowed to the blonde, her head still raised so she was looking her in the eyes. Melanie stood there, one yellow brow quirked, until Kimberly motioned that she should do the same, at which point Mel returned the gesture.

"Thanks, Mel," Kimberly said with a laugh. "I've seen that in a few of my animes, and I just think it's really cool to experience it."

Melanie shook her head. "You're such a weirdo," she said. But, at the same time, the sarge was right. Kimberly did know her stuff.

"Come on, Mel," said Kimberly. "Let's go change." They made their way back to the shed, and Kimberly took a towel off one of the racks. "Good effort today. I think you're grasping the concept of being loose. Just keep picturing the river."

"Well, I've gotten to be really good at sneaking," Melanie said. "You gotta be loose for that."

"That's a good way of looking at it. For now, though, I smell breakfast." Kimberly took off her shoes and socks, and moved with her towel to one of the shower stalls. She shut the curtain, and a few moments later, Melanie saw the components of her uniform get tossed over the curtain rod into a pile outside the stall. The water started right after that, and Melanie took that opportunity to sneak over to her roommate's clothes and root through them as quietly as she could.

She did not find the key, so Kimberly probably still had it around her neck. Melanie rose, and still moving quietly, reached underneath her bandanna for the lock-picks in her hair, then snuck to the supply closet and used them to open it. She frowned when she saw there was nothing in the closet except some weights and a bunch of rubber knives, but then she realized that probably made sense.

I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Ah well, until I find the real knives, I can keep taking classes with Kimberly. She does know what she's doing, and I'll need to know how to use that knife once I get it. Melanie closed the door as quietly as she could, then picked up a towel and started towards her own shower stall.


Breakfast was, thankfully, the one meal where grace was not said. Whatever Nikolai and his staff prepared was laid out on buffet tables, and the students and faculty came in whenever they felt like it. As long it was within the allotted time. Ever the punctual woman, Joan had ordered that the dining hall be cleared by the staff at nine sharp, so any stragglers who came in seeking food after that were out of luck until lunch.

Though today, they would not be serving lunch, as the class was taking their bi-weekly trip into town. So the dining hall was packed when Melanie and Kimberly arrived a few minutes after eight, as every girl was trying to fill up before they got the announcement from Joan to assemble on the quad.

"So, can Nikolai at least do eggs right?" Melanie asked, putting an orange and a few slices of white toast on her tray.

"Well, they're not powdered," Kimberly answered. "And they were actual eggs at one point. Or something close to them. At least, until Nikolai got his hands on them."

"Good enough." Melanie started to spoon some scrambled eggs from the nearest Sterno serving tray onto her plate. She also grabbed a few links of sausage and several packets of ketchup, in case the eggs needed it, as well some butter and jelly for her toast. After Kimberly had filled her own tray, both girls sat down in their usual spot, as far from both the Alphas and the faculty as they could get. However, Melanie couldn't help but notice that Regina seemed to not have time for them this morning, and pointed that out to her roommate.

"She doesn't like to risk stirring the pot when we take day trips," Kimberly explained. "But don't worry. She'll let her aggression out after we get back."

"That's very comforting," Melanie said, and actually laughed a little in spite of herself, causing Kim to laugh as well. For a long while after that, the girls were silent and simply tucked into their breakfast, as their exercise from earlier had given them both appetites. When they were almost finished, Joan came over to their table.

"So, Melanie," the matriarch addressed her charge. "Mr. Hartman informed me that you're receiving some tutelage from Kimberly."

"Um... yes, Ms. Landy," Melanie said cautiously.

"We actually had our first session this morning, Ms. Landy," said Kimberly. "She's got a real knack."

"That's wonderful, dear," Joan said with a nod, and a polite smile. "I was also informed that she took a keen interest in certain aspects of gym class. I'm pleased to her that." She then turned to address Melanie again. "One would hope that the newest member of our community might have found a reason to conform."

An indifferent shrug from the small blonde. "We'll just have to see, Ms. Landy."

"Yes, I suppose we will. Because it would be unfortunate if frequent detentions kept you from your training. Just as it would be equally unfortunate if you fell behind in your academic studies and needed to miss even more training to keep up."

Kimberly's eyes were on her tray, but she listened intently to the exchange. Melanie tried to keep her expression neutral. "But, Ms. Landy: Mr. Hartman said his word was law on the field."

Joan's expression matched her student. "Maybe so, dear, but he still answers to me. And my word is law everywhere else. You'd do well to remember it." With a curt nod, Joan turned and started back towards her table.

"That went well," Kimberly remarked after the headmistress had gone.

"Who asked you?" Melanie growled, and started to peel her orange.

"No one," said Kim. "But even I can see that Landy is pretty damn smart. She's figured out what you like, and knows how to use it to her advantage. So you gotta ask yourself: how much is that knife worth to you? If you're still not willing to say grace, then maybe you never gave a damn about that knife. But that's not what I saw today. I saw you more focused than you've been all week. Still, it's none of my business. If anything, I get more free time if you have to keep serving detention."

Melanie blew a gruff breath out through clenched teeth, and shoved an orange slice in her mouth. "You think you know everything," she said in mid-chew, spraying a few drops of juice onto her tray.

"And you think you know everything," Kim retorted. "Only difference is, you're a stubborn bitch, and I'm not. Now, your next training session is this Tuesday, four-thirty PM sharp. Assuming Landy hasn't given you detention then, be on the field in your active uniform. Though if you're not, it's all the same to me. I'll probably go to one of the rec rooms in our dorm and watch an anime until dinnertime. And your progress report will just say you failed to show."

"I hate you," Melanie said with a sigh.

"That's good," Kimberly said, and reached for her yogurt. "Melanie, even if you don't want to believe me, I am your friend. Except where your training is involved. Then, I'm just your tutor. So if you hate me as a tutor, than I'm glad. That will make it easier for you to learn your lessons. But again: it's up to you to decide how much you want that knife."

For the rest of the meal, Melanie was silent. She also only half-listened as Kimberly walked her through the procedure for finding out her allowance for the week (not surprisingly, for Mel it wasn't much), and also showed her the best place to hang out until Landy announced over the PA that the buses were ready. If Kimberly bore her any ill will for the exchange earlier, she was not showing it, and acted like the incident had never happened. But Melanie continued to think about it, even as they were called to assembly on the quad, and lined up for the buses.

Melanie saw a few of the girls giving tribute to Regina, and there was a moment where the taller blonde locked eyes with her, an expectant look on her face. But Melanie simply waved and then went back to her thoughts. It irked her to know, deep down, that Kimberly was right, that Landy had learned Melanie's weakness. How badly did Melanie want that knife? Could she set aside the memory of the penguin house, and also that one foster home she'd been in for a year, in order to appear to play ball?

She was so lost in her thoughts on the bus ride, she didn't even hear the announcement that they'd arrived in Burlington: a quaint little town of less than ten-thousand nestled in the Skagit Valley. She decided to set her thoughts aside and focus on gathering more intel. She looked out the bus window at what appeared to be a picturesque main street... if one were a magazine photographer from twenty years ago. Just about everything you'd expect to find was there: grocery store, deli, hardware and electronics, barber shop, little mom and pop restaurants, but she could also see the familiar, seemingly omnipotent Golden Arches a few blocks up the road, as well as a few other corporate signs here and there.

"So, what's there to do around here?" Melanie asked her roommate.

"Stuff you'd expect to find in a town, but not at the school," Kimberly answered. "We'll spend about an hour poking around shops here, and then they'll call us back to the buses, and we'll head over to the mall. Some days we go other places, like the flight museum or the Maritime Center in Anacortes, when Landy feels we need to learn some shit."

"How often does that happen?"

"Whenever she feels like it."

"So, typical Landy."

Both girls went silent, then, as the weekend supervisor launched into her announcement about how the girls each needed to pair off with a buddy, and never let that buddy out of their sight. Obviously, Melanie paired with her roommate. She thought it interesting the adults were not chaperoning, and mentioned this to Kim.

"We only started these field trips this year," the dark-haired girl explained. "And so far, no one's ever tried to run away."

Melanie thought that was interesting, but then she realized that she herself had no reason to rabbit at the moment. "Well, as long as you at least let me outta your sight if I gotta go take a dump or something, we'll get along fine."

"Likewise," Kim said, and both girls laughed a little.

They were let off the bus shortly after, and Melanie felt the chill of the autumn air (which usually hit valleys harder), so she took the sweatshirt she'd knotted around her waist and slipped it on. Most of the shops they saw didn't interest them, and Melanie was told there was better stuff at the mall, but Melanie didn't have a lot of money, so when they passed a dollar store, she asked to go to in so she could buy a yo-yo and a Milky Way bar.

"Gotta eat that before the buses go back to the school," Kimberly said when they were back outside. "Otherwise, they'll confiscate it." But she was surprised to see that Melanie had already removed the wrapper, broken the bar in half, and was offering one of them to her.

"What's this?" Kimberly asked, even though she knew.

"Isn't it obvious?" Melanie growled. "It's a peace offering, you idiot. I'm... you know... sorry about earlier."

Kimberly smiled and accepted the candy. "Thanks, Mel. Don't worry about it."

The two girls continued down the sidewalk, and now that she'd smoothed things over, Melanie continued her quest for information. "So... this town knows about our school?"

"Of course," Kimberly said as she chewed her candy. "Supposedly, the organization that runs the school gives the town a lot of money. So they won't ask too many questions."

Melanie quirked a blonde eyebrow. "Organization?"

"That's what Landy calls it," Kimberly explained. "She always says that its aim is to help gifted young women rejected by society reach their full potential."

"Well, that's not corny at all," Melanie said with a laugh. "So, I bet they get extra moolah by enrolling girls from around town."

Kim shrugged, and popped the last bite of candy bar into her mouth. "Actually, we've never had enrollment. It's always been the same number of girls until you came along. But even before that, no enrollment."

This caused Melanie to raise an eyebrow. "I wonder why. I mean, Landy gave me a speech about how my skills make me better than other kids, and she's probably right, but I'm sure there are other kids out there that can break into grocery stores or strip tires from a car. So I wonder why she chose me. Maybe she's starting to enroll?"

Kim gazed thoughtfully at the sidewalk for a moment. "I doubt it. She said at assembly that we had a full class now."

Both girls fell silent after that, and found a few other places to browse in. Melanie did think all of it unusual, but at the same time, she had something very important to work towards, and so didn't feel like solving a puzzle. Eventually, the announcement was made to board the buses, so they started down the sidewalk in that direction.

When they approached the outside of the general store, they saw a brown-haired boy about their age, dressed in a green apron, sweeping the sidewalk by the store's entrance. Before they got within earshot, Kimberly grabbed her roommate by the arm and whispered to her: "Whatever he says, Mel, don't insult him. Just smile and nod. You have to trust me on this."

"Why?" The blonde girl asked.

"I'll explain later," Kimberly said. "And even make it up to you. But messing with him is worse than messing with Regina. Just trust me."

There was an urgency in those dark eyes that Melanie had not seen before, not even during the incident with the banana peel. So she simply nodded. When they got closer, the boy paused in his sweeping to bow to the two girls as they went past. "Afternoon, Kim," he said, in a tone that made Melanie instantly despise him. "And a new face, I see? Least, I think. That school has so many cute blondees, it's hard to keep track."

"You'd probably hurt yourself if you tried," Melanie whispered.

"What was that?" The boy asked.

"Oh, nothing," Melanie said, louder this time. "I just said that you were right. I am new."

"Yup," Kimberly concurred. "She just started this week."

"Cool," said the boy, and he resumed his sweeping. "I hope we'll see a lot more of each other, then."

Once they were out of earshot, Kimberly let her shoulders sag a little. "That was close. You really need to listen when I give you these warnings, Mel."

"Why?" Melanie asked with a snort. "What makes that kid so dangerous? He looks and sounds like a punk bitch who would pee himself if anyone ever pulled a knife on him."

"I'll tell you when we get to the mall," said Kim. Both girls had reached the buses, and were now crossing the street to where they were parked.

"Why then?" Melanie growled.

"Because I'm in the mood for Chinese, the mall has a great place, and I'd rather not explain on an empty stomach. Also, I'm buying."

At hearing that, Melanie decided not to tempt fate, and so was silent as they boarded the buses. When all girls were accounted for, they departed for the Cascade Mall.


As before, the girls were being given an hour to browse around and buy things they wanted. Neither Melanie nor Kimberly were in the mood for that, so the blonde simply followed her roommate in the direction of the Chinese restaurant. As they walked, Melanie unwrapped her yo-yo and started to twirl it up and down. Kimberly watched out of the corner of her eye, clearly impressed.

"How do you do that, Mel?" She asked. "I've never been good at those things."

Melanie had the yo-yo down towards the ground at the end of the string. Somehow as she walked she was pulling off all the small hand motions necessary to the keep the string taut, and the yo-yo away from her. Then she flicked her wrist, and the toy traveled back up the string into her hand. "I've been using them for a few years," she said. "One of my fake dads bought me one when I was six, and I just developed a knack for it. It's really just about keeping your wrist loose."

"Like your knife training," Kimberly pointed out. "I'll be telling you everything I know about that, maybe you can teach me some stuff about yo-yos."

"Maybe," the blonde girl said with a smirk.

The restaurant Kimberly led her to was one of the few places in the food court that was sit-down, and not just a counter where you ordered. The girls entered to find Niko sitting at a table in the back, eating a spring roll while jotting things down in a black and white composition book. The freckled blonde raised her head when she noticed them standing in the entrance and invited them over.

"Where's your buddy?" Kimberly asked as they sat down.

"Out there," Niko pointed with her pen towards the food court's common area. "Jocelyn hates Chinese. She got a slice of pizza instead."

Melanie said nothing, instead her gaze flicked over to Niko's notebook. There were some words, but mostly it looked like she was drawing blueprints. "What are you working on?" She asked.

"Oh, just another project," Niko said with a shrug.

"Niko's been working on ways to siphon power from the generator that runs the electric fence, without Landy or the faculty knowing," Kimberly explained.

At hearing that, Niko snapped her book shut. "Kim, can we trust her?"

The dark-haired girl laughed. "Relax, Niko. You have my word that no one hates adults more than Melanie. I'm sure she has no plans to snitch. Right, Mel?"

"Right," Melanie said. If anything, she was already wondering what else Niko could do with her gift for electronics. Melanie only knew how to take systems apart, not put them together.

Any further conversation was halted by the waiter coming to take their order. Melanie ordered an egg roll and some hot and sour soup, while Kimberly ordered barbecued spare ribs and some fried rice. After he'd left, Melanie asked her roommate: "So, how do you have enough money to buy us both lunch? I saw you giving tribute to Regina earlier."

"Well, for starters," Kim explained. "I don't spend my entire allowance every time we come to town. And also, I don't give Regina pennies. I give her just enough to think I'm showing respect, but she has no idea how much money I really have. I mean, did you see any of her bitches keeping a ledger?" Kimberly flashed the other girl a smirk. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Um, yeah, thanks for lunch," Melanie got out quickly. "Now, about what happened at the general store..."

"Not yet," Kimberly cut her off. "I'm still hungry."

For a while, there was no further conversation. Niko continued to work on her designs, Kimberly focused on a magazine she'd had tucked into her jeans, so Melanie had to find some other distraction. Eventually, she noticed that the table had a small jar of szechaun peppers at its center. Melanie dipped her hand into the jar, pulled out a pepper, and snapped it off at the stem. She chewed and swallowed, without showing any distress at all. This got the attention of the other two girls.

Melanie then ate another pepper in similar fashion, leading Niko to ask: "Um... are you an X-Man?"

"Nope, spicy foods just don't bother me," Melanie answered with a shrug.

"Really?" Kimberly quirked a black eyebrow. "Like, you don't feel anything at all?"

"Never. At least, I haven't found a pepper hot enough yet." She swallowed the second one and reached for a third.

"What about later on?" Niko asked. "When you have to... you know... like, it doesn't burn or anything?"

Melanie shook her head and bit into her third pepper. Kimberly laughed a little. "Niko is right, Mel. That is like a mutant power. I mean, I'll take that over Rogue's power any day."

"If you say so," the blonde answered with a shrug, not knowing a single thing about the X-Men. A short time later, their food arrived. Melanie took the serving dish of Chinese mustard and began spreading a generous amount on her egg roll. Kimberly ate two of her spare ribs, and set the bones on her plate before proceeding. "So, anyway, Mel, that kid we passed is named Desmond Jones. His dad runs the general store, and Des works part time there on weekends."

Niko almost dropped her chopsticks. "Oh, shit, she didn't say something to piss off Des, did she?"

"She did," Kimberly answered. "But thankfully, he didn't hear."

Melanie shrugged and took a large bite of her now saucy roll. "So, what's the problem, then?"

"The problem, Mel, is that he might hear you the next time you mouth off to him. Des has a deal worked out with Regina where he keeps the school supplied with contraband."

Melanie quirked her brow. "Contraband?"

Kimberly had started on her third rib, and spoke with her mouth half-full. "Just stuff Landy doesn't let us have: junk food, 'forbidden literature' like comics and magazines, other stuff that makes our lives easier. His dad is one of the businesses who delivers to the school every month. Des sneaks the shipments in that way. He and Regina each make their cut, Regina tosses some scraps to her dogs, everyone is happy."

"Well, good for them," Melanie grumbled. "Why should I care?"

Niko rolled her eyes. "Read between the lines, you idiot!"

Mel was about to retort, but Kimberly quickly said: "She's right, Mel. What would happen if you insulted Des, and he decided to tell his dad that maybe he should reconsider his business arrangement with Landy because Landy's girls were mistreating him? Then we lose our only outside source, our go-to guy, if you will. It won't take Regina long to get to the bottom of things, and when she finds out what happened, not only is she gonna want your head, but the entire fucking school will, too!"

Melanie actually paused to consider that, gazing up at the ceiling while she stirred her soup. She could handle Regina's crew, but about forty other angry students? She'd rather not have to spend every waking hour looking over her shoulder. "Okay, I won't say anything to Des," she conceded.

"Thank you," Kimberly said, and started on her rice. Melanie couldn't help but notice that the dark-haired girl was wielding the chopsticks with her left hand, and seemed to have no trouble. But if memory served, during their practice Kimberly used her knife with her right hand.

Melanie pointed this out, and added: "So, are you. um... righty or lefty?"

"I can use both hands, Mel," Kim said with a shrug, and stuffed some rice in her mouth. Melanie said nothing, put her soup spoon down, snatched up Niko's pen and began to write on a napkin with her left hand. After a moment, she raised the napkin to the other two girls, which had I can use both hands, too written on it as clearly as if Melanie had used her right.

This made Kimberly stop eating. "Wow, that's crazy. One of my teachers said that people who can do that are called, um... ambidexterous, I think, but it's rare. Like, really rare. Weird that there'd be two of us seated at the same table."

"Three," Niko chimed in, and both girls turned to see the freckled blonde now holding her chopsticks in her left hand. "I can do it, too."

Kimberly's jaw fell open, and for the first time since Melanie had met her, the girl looked disturbed. "Okay... now it's like the Twilight Zone or something."

"What's the big deal?" Melanie asked.

Kimberly scoffed at her. "Mel, this is super rare. The teacher mentioned that maybe only one in a few million people are ambidexterous. The odds that three people who know each other would all have it... that's like in the trillions!"

"So, it's a huge coincidence." Melanie seemed nonplussed as she slurped down the last of her soup and reached for a fortune cookie. "I mean, what else could it be?"

"I dunno," said Niko. "It's the biggest coincidence I've ever seen. Maybe we should buy a lottery ticket."

"We're not old enough," Kim pointed out with a nervous laugh.

"Well, duh! I'm just saying, real big coincidence."

"And anyway, I've got other shit on my mind," Melanie added.

"Right." Kimberly gave a slow nod and eventually resumed eating her fried rice. In the back of her own mind, Melanie did think it interesting that all three of them could use both hands. But she was still willing to write it off as coincidence, especially given what was currently going on in her life.

Eyes on the prize, Melanie thought as she broke her cookie in half.


Later that evening...

"Melanie, dear," Joan Landy called from her seat in the dining hall. "Will you please say grace?"

This request was met with several groans from the other girls. Melanie's amber eyes flicked towards Kimberly, seated at her left, then back to the headmistress. After a few more tense moments of silence, the petite blondee folded her hands in front of her. "Um, hey, God," she said. "Maybe you are up there, though I'm pretty sure you're not. But just in case, we thank you for dinner, even though you technically didn't bring it to us. Nikolai and his staff did all the work, and, you know, someone else had to pay for it. But... thanks anyway, I guess." There was a pause, then she quickly added: "Oh, um... amen?"

All eyes in the room had leaped from Melanie to Joan. The matriarch regarded her charge with the most unreadable expression Melanie had ever seen on her. Then, she cleared her throat again. "Thank you, Melanie. That was... very colorful. Be seated, everyone!"

The dining hall then exploded into conversation as the girls all took their seats, and the staff wheeled out the food. Kimberly waited until she had spooned some shepherd's pie onto her plate before turning towards her roommate. "Not bad," Kimberly conceded. "I think you surprised me more than Landy."

Melanie had put some pie on her own plate, and was reaching for a crescent roll. "Yeah, well, you have a job to do. I'm not gonna give you the chance to slack off, and spend your time watching cartoons in the rec room."

"Animes are not cartoons!" Kimberly corrected her, and then stuffed a large forkful of meat and potatoes in her mouth.

"Are so!" Melanie countered.

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

"They are much more sophisticated than cartoons!" Kimberly insisted.

"They look like cartoons to me," Melanie said as she buttered her roll.

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. "In any case, Mel, I'm glad you found a reason to say grace. I was worried that Landy might still give you detention. But she knows when she's won."

"Who says she won?" Melanie laughed around a mouthful of pie. "Even though my hands were folded, I had two fingers crossed during that prayer. And also, as soon as I earn that knife, she can kiss my ass."

"Well, at least we're getting a reprieve from your bitchiness until then," Kimberly said with a laugh. Melanie couldn't help but laugh a little as well, though as she ate, she watched Joan out of the corner of her eye.

Enjoy this while you can, she thought. Because as soon as I get that knife, I'm outta here.


ADDITIONAL NOTES

So, this is my longest chapter yet. But a lot went on in it, and I really didn't feel like splitting it up like I did the preceding chapters. But I kept it below 10,000 words. I still don't know how long this is gonna be, so some of the plot points might not become relevant again for a while, but I hope you were paying attention. ( ;

And Burlington is a real town in Washington, and the Cascade Mall is real, too. I did some research, and Burlington's location and population size were ideal for the story, so I went with that as the town the school is located outside of.

And I'm not sure when the next chapter will post. I'm in the middle of finalizing a divorce, and making plans to move, so that might take a front seat in my life for a bit. Plus, I need to figure out a few more connections in my outlines. But fear not. I love this project too much to abandon it completely.

Thanks for reading! As always, feedback is welcome.