+++

Tess laughs again. "Amber! Your face!" She chokes out between laughs.

"I think you would be similar if you were about to get murdered by Zoe!"

"Oh quit being a baby."

I glare at her.

"You know you love me," Tess taunts.

I pull on light grey sweats and an orange shirt.

"Tess, is your shirt a different colour?"

"It's navy. Why?"

"Because my hair looks absolutely awful with orange. Can we trade?"

"No," Tess says. "Navy's my favourite colour. I hate orange. You'll survive."

Gee thanks Tess.

I pull on my awful orange shirt.

"Ready?" Tess asks.

"Two seconds."

I pull my auburn hair into a high ponytail and then separate the strands in half. I start fishtailing it.

"Okay, let's go."

"You're not going to finish doing that?" Tess asks.

"I'll braid as we walk."

By the time we reach the cafeteria, my ponytail is in a tight fishtail braid.

"Holy crap Amber! You're so good at that!" Tess exclaims, seeing my finished braid.

I see Zoe standing with Maggie and Beatrice in the lunch line. "I guess this is my time." I tell Tess.

"Good luck! Don't die!"

"Thanks," I say sarcastically.

I approach Zoe and her posse.

"Oh. It's you." The face that Zoe considers to be so attractive twists into a nasty snarl.

"Yep," I say, super chipper. "It's me!"

"Want do you want from us?" Maggie asks. "Can't you see were busy?"

Doing what?

"Well Zoe, I just wanted to tell you how much I admire you. I thought I'd walk right up to you and tell you just how much I've always admired you."

The cafeteria is silent. All eyes are on me. I go down on my knees.

"I thought I'd tell you just how much I've always admired you, and then sit right beside you at your table."

Someone laughs. I continue.

"So I want to know. Zoe, can I be in your posse?"

Zoe scoffs. The whole cafeteria is laughing now.

"Well?"

Zoe bursts into laughter. "You? You think I would hang out with you?!"

"Ohhhh!" Someone shouts.

"Burn!" Another voice adds.

"But Zoe!" I say. "You love me!"

The three are in hysterics now. My table has started clapping and whistling.

"I'm so hurt!" I exclaim, pretending to be close to tears.

"Zoe!" Dave shouts. "Such a cold heart!"

Zoe's face changes. You can tell she has her eye on Dave. But he said the thing he misses most from his home is his girlfriend. He said girlfriend, so that must mean they didn't break up. Wow. That's trust. Sucks for Zoe.

I walk back to my table, and find that someone got me a tray of breakfast. Oatmeal, to be exact. Just my luck. Oh well. At least I have food.

Everyone is laughing and talking about my performance, but I am quiet. I choke down my oatmeal and sit quietly.

The bell rings and we all get up. I follow the boys. I remember that our classroom is the last door on the left. If only I knew how to get to the hallway.

We take seats in the classroom and wait for a message on the board.

'55 and '56,

Today, your first class is English. You must complete the book you find in your desk, The House of the Scorpion, in the next month, and hand in a report. Please start reading.

When the bell rings, a new message will appear. Read the message. Five minutes later, the bell will ring again. Please proceed as directed.

I reach into my desk and pull out The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. I've already read the book, but it's a favourite of mine.

I open the book and am transported to the land of Áztlan and young Matteo Alacrán.

+++

It seems like only minutes later when the bell rings, interrupting my happy reading.

'55 and '56,

For the rest of the day, you will be with your mentors. Your mentors are waiting for you in the cafeteria, each with a schedule for the two of you.

Enjoy your time with your mentors.

We all wait for the bell so we can go to the cafeteria.

Ah, the lovely bell. I follow the crowd to the cafeteria. Once there, I look for Lee.

When I finally spot Lee in the crowd, I walk towards her.

"Hey Amber," she says.

"Hi."

After a long awkward pause, I say, "So, what are we doing?"

"Oh! Yeah. Oh I'm so sorry!" She apologizes profusely. "Sorry, I'm a bit shy around new people."

You don't say. "It's fine."

"Uh, we're going to do some sort of teamwork thing at the pool."

"There's a pool here?" I ask in terror and disbelief.

"There's everything here, Amber."

"Wow"

"Okay, are you ready?"

"Uh, y-yeah." We don't have bathing suits. Maybe we won't be going in the water.

"Let's go."

I follow Lee out of the cafeteria and through the maze of hallways and staircases.

"How do you guys navigate this place so easily?" I ask Lee.

"Have you not had a tour?"

"No."

"Okay. You need one. Meet me in the girls common room during after diner free time. I'll show you around."

"Thanks Lee."

"Okay, we're here. The girls change room is this way."

"Oh." Dang it. I guess we are swimming.

There are generic one piece swimsuits laid out across the bench.

"We aren't the only ones doing this?" I ask.

"Probably not," Lee tells me.

I pick out a suit that looks to be about my size, and slowly, apprehensively, get changed.

"Are you okay?" Lee asks.

"Umm. Not really."

"What's wrong? Girl troubles?"

"No no, not that. I'm terrified of water."

"Oh," Lee says. "You'll be okay."

Duckface and her mentor walk in.

Lee looks me in the eye. "I'll be with you the whole time," she says reassuringly.

"Thanks," I whisper.

We walk out of the change room to the pool.

Already out there are Cody and his mentor, nerdboy and his mentor, and Lee and I.

There is also a guy standing alone by a life guard chair.

"Do I have everyone here?" The dude asks.

"I don't know," Lee says. "Who's everyone?"

"Thanks for that helpful comment Lee. Everyone is Cody and Paul, Zach and Tyler, Amber and Lee and Erica and Angelica."

"Well, considering that there are two sets of guys here, and you know that I'm Lee, not Angelica, I think you can figure out who's missing, Evan."

"Sass queen!" I tease.

Lee scoffs. "We're friends."

Duckface and her mentor, Angelica, come out onto the pool deck.

"Okay! Now that everyone's here, let's get started! My name is Evan, I'm 21, drawn in '49. We're going to do a variety of teamwork challenges today. Is there anyone here who can't swim? I'm not a lifeguard."

Lee looks at me. "I can swim," I whisper to her, "I'm just scared of water, and not very good at it."

Lee nods.

Evan claps his hands. "Our first activity starts with those boats over there. They are a cross between a canoe, and the flat kind of kayak."

I look over. They are long, with two places to kneel, but flat, and easily tipable.

"Go grab paddles and get in a kayak!" Evan instructs.

Lee grabs two kayak paddles and we head to the boats.

"I'll climb in first, and then you can get in, K?"

"Okay."

Lee slowly gets in the boat.

"I did this a lot at home," she tells me. "Just stay low and keep your weight centred."

I nod. I step into the boat and kneel on my spot in the back. I see Duckface get in, and immediately tip the boat. She and Angelica come up coughing and try to climb back into the boat. Once they get in, everyone is ready.

"Listen up everyone!" Evan yells. "We're going to race to the other side of the pool, okay? Ready? On your marks! Get set! GO!"

Lee starts paddling hard, alternating sides. I copy her motions.

"Good job Amber! You're doing great!" Lee encourages me. I don't respond, focused on paddling.

I see that Zach and Tyler and Erica and Angelica are both in the water, trying to climb back in. All we have to worry about are Cody and Paul, who are right behind us, and catching up. As they pull up beside us, Cody flips us using his paddle. I make the mistake of screaming, and get a mouthful of chlorinated water. I close my stinging eyes, and trying to swim to the surface. But I'm so disoriented that I don't know which way is up. I paddle frantically and finally break though the surface, just as my lungs were about to give up. I cough and sputter.

"Amber, are you okay?" Lee asks me, sounding quite concerned.

"Yeah. But I think my fear of water may have grown." And my hatred for Cody.

+++

Dinner is over, and I'm waiting for Lee in the common room. Free time started five minutes ago, but she isn't here yet.

I sit on a couch and wait for what seems like hours.

I check the clock for the thousandth time. Two minutes left before curfew. Guess she's not coming.

I get up and walk to my dorm. Just as I arrive at me door, Lee walks up to me.

"Amber, I'm so sorry! It's just-"

"Don't worry, I get it, you're older, have more important things to do than show me around. Whatever."

"Amber, that's not it at all. I was talking to Cody about what he did to you."

"Oh Lee. You didn't have to do that! That must have been hard."

"So you've heard?"

"Yeah. The guys told me because I was going to become friends with him. We're from the same province."

"Oh. Well, it's basically curfew, so goodnight Amber. I'll give you a tour another night, promise."

"Thanks Lee."

+++