The true lives of MY Fabulous Killjoys
Shut Down and Locked Up
The next day I woke up bright and early. I went to the commons to try to find Bell and Jill. Jill wasn't there yet, but Belinda was leaning on a wall, looking brainless as ever. I walked over casually, not wanting to draw attention to myself. I leaned next to her and forced my voice into a happy tone.
"We're getting out of here."
"Whatever do you mean, oh darling sister of mine?"
"I learned some valuable information and met a valuable resource. I can't explain more than that right now."
"That sounds wonderful, just like this school."
"You couldn't be more right," I winked at her and she returned the gesture.
"When will you be able to tell me?"
"I want to find Jill. Then we can go back to my room."
"Jill doesn't get let out until afternoon..."
"Except that your strategy worked," Jill said, walking up, "They drilled me when I got to me room and then they transferred me when they were convinced I had no brain."
"Great! Let's go to my room then."
They followed me back and I gave them the same briefing I gave D, adding in the bit about the official's message, "And so we're getting out," I concluded.
"That's some messed up shit," Jill said.
"Yeah. We need to work on you guys though. You need disguises and names. Robert too."
Jill shook her head, "You know I'm all for saving the world, but dying from radiation is not on my bucket list."
"Yeah," Bell said, "This is gonna take some thinking. I can't just jump into something so extreme."
"You guys! i can't do this by myself."
“Mandy, I’m not saying no. I’m just saying let me think.”
“Which is code for no!”
“Which is code for let me think. It’s a lot to take in.”
I sighed, “Fine, I need time to prepare anyway. Make sure you tell Robert all of this and get an answer to me okay?”
“Yeah, ok. See you later,” Belinda said. Jill nodded at me, then they left.
I sat thinking on my bed for a bit. The spider symbol from the YouTube channel kept flashing through my mind. It really was a strange little symbol. The whole thing seemed to focus on lightning bolts. The legs were crooked, long, and spindly. And there was a bolt splitting the whole thing almost in two. It made me want a cool symbol. And I knew how I could create one.
I stood against a wall in the hallway and put a dumb look on my face. For some reason, nobody walked by. There were no kids, no officials, nobody. What had to have been a good half hour passed and I was about to give up when I heard footsteps. Sure enough, the rogue official came around the corner. He sighed and pushed his sandy hair back when he saw me.
“What?” he asked.
“I want art supplies.”
“Why? And why are you telling me?”
“You have inside sources, obviously, and I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Fair enough. What do you need?”
“Paint pencils and a sketch pad should do it.”
“Okay. Now get in your room. We’re on lockdown.”
“Why?”
He looked nervous for a second, “A kid got “kidnapped” by the Killjoys in New Jersey. A twelve year old by the name of Grace. They’re keeping everyone locked up until they find her.”
“I hope they don’t.”
“Me too, kid. Me too.”
I went back into my room and lay on the bed. What was I supposed to do in a lockdown? What was a lockdown anyway? Did they honestly think keeping all the kids trapped would make the Killjoys give up the kid? Or were they trying to prevent more escapees? Sometimes I think I have too many questions for my own good. Then again, questioning everything can be seen as a survival technique.
I picked up my laptop to try to end my boredom, but I was met with a screen saying the internet had been disconnected for the safety of the children. That definitely answered one of my questions. They just wanted to keep us in. This couldn’t have come at the worst time. There was no way I was escaping when all of their attention was focused on not letting us escape. And how was I supposed to get to the others? Obviously none of us could go to each other’s rooms.
There was a knock on my door, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Come in?” I hadn’t heard a single knock since coming here. BLI didn’t take to formalities much.
“I can’t, my hands are full. Hurry up and let me in,” came my officials voice. Wait….when did he become my official? Oh well.
I walked the three steps it took to get to the door and opened it. He stood there with bags in each hand. He walked past me and set said bags on my desk.
“Um…what is that stuff?” I asked.
“Your art supplies. And a couple other things.”
“Other things?”
“Well, I was able to actually get to a store and some things that I thought could improve your outfit caught my eye.”
“Why are you concerned with my outfit?”
“Well, you’ll never get anywhere with that glaring purple shirt, so I got this for you to cover it.”
He reached into a bag and threw something at me. I instinctively caught it. What I was holding was a bulky half vest that matched my shorts in color.
“It’s perfect!” I said, “How did you…?”
He shrugged, “I’m not just a hopeless official.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” I grinned at him. Then, I went over to the art supplies. It felt like forever since I had been able to pick up a pencil, let alone draw anything.
The bag was filled with things that made my eyes water. All the different shades of pencils, a full set of acrylic paints, fine haired brushes, three different types of sketchbooks, and a ton of colored pencils. I picked up one of the sketchbooks and turned to a clean white sheet. Then I turned to the official and pointed at the bed.
“Sit,” I commanded.
He looked at me like I was crazy, “Why?”
“I haven’t drawn in forever, so I’m gonna sketch you,” I smiled at him.
“You don’t have time for that. You have to start thinking about leaving. With the lockdown in place, it’s going to be even harder.”
I sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. Um…” I quickly scrawled a note on a sketchbook sheet, “Can you show this to my friends? Their names are Daisy Lawrence, Jillian West, Robert Masters, and my sister Belinda. It’s really important.”
He took the note and skimmed over it, “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Good, and, uh, one more thing,” I said as he started to leave.
“What’s that?”
“What’s your name?” It had been bugging the crap out of me.
“You don’t need to know that,” he said before slipping into the hall.
I cut my losses and decided to look in the third bag. What it contained made me blush. I was grateful for it, sure, but the fact that an adult guy got it for me was embarrassing. It was a bag full of hygiene products. Did he think I stunk? Or did he just know that the stuff that BLI provided was crap and killed my hair and skin? I decided not to think on it too hard and went into the bathroom for a hot shower.
"We're getting out of here."
"Whatever do you mean, oh darling sister of mine?"
"I learned some valuable information and met a valuable resource. I can't explain more than that right now."
"That sounds wonderful, just like this school."
"You couldn't be more right," I winked at her and she returned the gesture.
"When will you be able to tell me?"
"I want to find Jill. Then we can go back to my room."
"Jill doesn't get let out until afternoon..."
"Except that your strategy worked," Jill said, walking up, "They drilled me when I got to me room and then they transferred me when they were convinced I had no brain."
"Great! Let's go to my room then."
They followed me back and I gave them the same briefing I gave D, adding in the bit about the official's message, "And so we're getting out," I concluded.
"That's some messed up shit," Jill said.
"Yeah. We need to work on you guys though. You need disguises and names. Robert too."
Jill shook her head, "You know I'm all for saving the world, but dying from radiation is not on my bucket list."
"Yeah," Bell said, "This is gonna take some thinking. I can't just jump into something so extreme."
"You guys! i can't do this by myself."
“Mandy, I’m not saying no. I’m just saying let me think.”
“Which is code for no!”
“Which is code for let me think. It’s a lot to take in.”
I sighed, “Fine, I need time to prepare anyway. Make sure you tell Robert all of this and get an answer to me okay?”
“Yeah, ok. See you later,” Belinda said. Jill nodded at me, then they left.
I sat thinking on my bed for a bit. The spider symbol from the YouTube channel kept flashing through my mind. It really was a strange little symbol. The whole thing seemed to focus on lightning bolts. The legs were crooked, long, and spindly. And there was a bolt splitting the whole thing almost in two. It made me want a cool symbol. And I knew how I could create one.
I stood against a wall in the hallway and put a dumb look on my face. For some reason, nobody walked by. There were no kids, no officials, nobody. What had to have been a good half hour passed and I was about to give up when I heard footsteps. Sure enough, the rogue official came around the corner. He sighed and pushed his sandy hair back when he saw me.
“What?” he asked.
“I want art supplies.”
“Why? And why are you telling me?”
“You have inside sources, obviously, and I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“Fair enough. What do you need?”
“Paint pencils and a sketch pad should do it.”
“Okay. Now get in your room. We’re on lockdown.”
“Why?”
He looked nervous for a second, “A kid got “kidnapped” by the Killjoys in New Jersey. A twelve year old by the name of Grace. They’re keeping everyone locked up until they find her.”
“I hope they don’t.”
“Me too, kid. Me too.”
I went back into my room and lay on the bed. What was I supposed to do in a lockdown? What was a lockdown anyway? Did they honestly think keeping all the kids trapped would make the Killjoys give up the kid? Or were they trying to prevent more escapees? Sometimes I think I have too many questions for my own good. Then again, questioning everything can be seen as a survival technique.
I picked up my laptop to try to end my boredom, but I was met with a screen saying the internet had been disconnected for the safety of the children. That definitely answered one of my questions. They just wanted to keep us in. This couldn’t have come at the worst time. There was no way I was escaping when all of their attention was focused on not letting us escape. And how was I supposed to get to the others? Obviously none of us could go to each other’s rooms.
There was a knock on my door, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Come in?” I hadn’t heard a single knock since coming here. BLI didn’t take to formalities much.
“I can’t, my hands are full. Hurry up and let me in,” came my officials voice. Wait….when did he become my official? Oh well.
I walked the three steps it took to get to the door and opened it. He stood there with bags in each hand. He walked past me and set said bags on my desk.
“Um…what is that stuff?” I asked.
“Your art supplies. And a couple other things.”
“Other things?”
“Well, I was able to actually get to a store and some things that I thought could improve your outfit caught my eye.”
“Why are you concerned with my outfit?”
“Well, you’ll never get anywhere with that glaring purple shirt, so I got this for you to cover it.”
He reached into a bag and threw something at me. I instinctively caught it. What I was holding was a bulky half vest that matched my shorts in color.
“It’s perfect!” I said, “How did you…?”
He shrugged, “I’m not just a hopeless official.”
“Isn’t that the truth,” I grinned at him. Then, I went over to the art supplies. It felt like forever since I had been able to pick up a pencil, let alone draw anything.
The bag was filled with things that made my eyes water. All the different shades of pencils, a full set of acrylic paints, fine haired brushes, three different types of sketchbooks, and a ton of colored pencils. I picked up one of the sketchbooks and turned to a clean white sheet. Then I turned to the official and pointed at the bed.
“Sit,” I commanded.
He looked at me like I was crazy, “Why?”
“I haven’t drawn in forever, so I’m gonna sketch you,” I smiled at him.
“You don’t have time for that. You have to start thinking about leaving. With the lockdown in place, it’s going to be even harder.”
I sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. Um…” I quickly scrawled a note on a sketchbook sheet, “Can you show this to my friends? Their names are Daisy Lawrence, Jillian West, Robert Masters, and my sister Belinda. It’s really important.”
He took the note and skimmed over it, “Yeah, I can do that.”
“Good, and, uh, one more thing,” I said as he started to leave.
“What’s that?”
“What’s your name?” It had been bugging the crap out of me.
“You don’t need to know that,” he said before slipping into the hall.
I cut my losses and decided to look in the third bag. What it contained made me blush. I was grateful for it, sure, but the fact that an adult guy got it for me was embarrassing. It was a bag full of hygiene products. Did he think I stunk? Or did he just know that the stuff that BLI provided was crap and killed my hair and skin? I decided not to think on it too hard and went into the bathroom for a hot shower.
cuz I decided to write the story?
9/28/13