The kids did not adjust to living in the orphanage. It was nothing like what they were used to. At home they each had their own room, decorated to show their individual personalities and interests. In the building they had spent half their summer in they had each been put in their own uniform room. However, this place was different; it only had two rooms for the kids to sleep in, one for boys and one for girls. Never before had they been prevented from spending time together but here they were actively stopped. The boys had tried to talk to Chelle, an older girl about fifteen had taken her away. The older girl, Charli they learned later, had secretly met with them later to explain why.
"She doesn't like to see boys and girls talking. She thinks it will lead to relationships and more kids in here. It doesn't matter if you're family members or not. She doesn't like it so she doesn't allow it."
The end of the summer arrived quickly and all of the kids in the building were told to stay in the dining room after dinner one night.
"Listen up!" she yelled. "School starts on Monday and you know what that means!" All of the faces around the five kids fell and they didn't know why. "That's right! Watches will be distributed! Older children will put them on younger children so everyone line up to get your watch!"
Everyone stood up and formed lines in front of half a dozen teenage kids who looked so remorseful about what they had to do. The line moved quickly, kids walking out of the room with a watch-like device attached to their ankles.
Alfred looked over in time to see Charli clip one of Chelle's leg. Looking up, she met his eyes and mouthed 'I'm sorry'. Confused, he stepped up to teenage boy in front of him and had an identical device attached to his ankle; the other boys getting one as well.
That evening Alfred met Charli up in the attic once everyone went to bed.
"What did they put on us?" he asked as soon as the door was closed, looking at it closely.
"It's a watch. It's set up to only allow you outside at certain times and certain destinations."
"What do you mean by 'allow'…?"
"Well…" Charli sighed, trying to think of how to phrase what she wanted to say. "If you aren't back here by the time it's set to, it shocks you." Alfred's eyes widened in shock. "And if you're somewhere you're not supposed to be it also shocks you and tell her that you need to be punished when you get back. The longer you're doing what you're not supposed to be doing, the longer and more intense the shocks get."
"That's inhumane!" Alfred cried out. "She can't do that!"
"But she does," Charli replied sadly. "She explains that they're just harmless reminders. They're used more to stop runaways since she has the only key to get these things off and if you try to break it off it kills you…"
"Why is this such a problem? Can't the bus drivers say that we went to class?"
Charli looked at him, confusion all over her face.
"Bus drivers? We don't have bus drivers. We walk to class. The older kids have to get the younger ones to class before they can go to their own."
"How far away is the school?"
"About a mile and a half."
He stared at her.
"A mile and a half?! She expects us to walk that everyday?!"
Charli nodded.
"Yeah. Twice a day."
He simply gaped.
At five am the next morning an alarm rang through the building.
"Wake up! It's time for school! You have five minutes to get dressed and down here or I /will/ make you. You have to be out of here by five thirty to make it to school on time!"
The alarm continued to go off for the next five minutes and all of the kids got up and dressed, grumbling under their breath. They trooped out of the two rooms to be divided into age groups. The older ones led them out of the building and down the street. Alfred spotted a sleepy Chelle trying to stay awake as she stumbled down the street. He hurried over to her and picked her up.
"Alfie…" she mumbled, half conscious. "Why'd we have to get up so early…?"
"We have to go to school, Chellie."
"This early…?"
"I'm sorry, Chellie. I'm gonna carry you, okay?" he asked, holding her close.
She just nodded sleepily in response.
At seven thirty Alfred and Matthew finally dragged themselves into the high school with the few other teenage kids.
"I never…want to do…that again…" Alfred panted, wanting to collapse.
"W-We have to…a-at the end…o-of the day…" Matthew panted back.
"Sh-Shut up…M-Mattie…"
They both fell to the ground and pulled their schedules out.
"I have art first," Matthew said, looking at his list. "You?"
"Are you kidding me?! English first thing in the morning?!"
"Sorry Al."
Alfred waved him off.
"I'll take that over another hike like that."
The warning bell rang saying that they had ten minutes to get to class.
"We better go. I'll see you at lunch."
Matthew got up and left once he saw Alfred's nod.
Shortly after Alfred got up as well and stumbled to his class.
AN: Finally another chapter for the kids! As much as I really want to continue with Francis and Arthur, there are a few things that need to happen with the kids before that can happen. And not only that but I can't just ignore them. They're having their own struggles too!
The next couple chapters will be about only the kids before going back to Francis and Iggy so if you like their chapters better you don't have to wait too long but if you like the kids then you're in luck!