Claire was relieved to enter a classroom where she didn't feel like she was about to be murdered. She was walking with Bubble, who also had history during this period. Miss Emily, who was standing outside her door when free period was over and Claire made it to her classroom, greeted her as she walked in.

"Hey, Claire! How's your day gone so far?"

Claire hesitated.

"U-uh... it was... fine?"

Miss Emily frowned a little. "Tough day? Let me guess. Was it Bloomie, Circle, or Thavel?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Not many teachers here who cause as many students to have a bad day as those three," Miss Emily sighed. "Don't let them get in your head. Or anyone else, at that. I know Oliver and his friends can be a real pain if you're in the same class as them."

Claire nodded a little. "Okay."

"Go on in, take a seat. I'll come in after the bell rings."

Claire stepped into the classroom with Bubble, taking a seat next to her near the front of the class. Zip was in the class, Claire noticed, though her other friends weren't present and, now that free period was over, neither was her brother. There were a couple others she recognized, including Ruby, Lana, and Kevin (among others), as well as Addie, who was sitting in the front row doodling in her sketchbook.

Claire remembered Engel's words about her telling the teachers of people who broke the rules, and turned to Bubble to ask,

"You think Addie's the one that told Miss Circle about me talking about the outside?"

Addie's ears swiveled, and before Bubble could answer she interrupted, "Yup. That'd be me."

She didn't turn her head either, just acted like she was a part of the conversation. If the conversation was deep in the pages of her sketchbook, of course.

Claire, surprised, jumped a little, and sighed in annoyance.

"Why, exactly? I didn't do anything to you. And I wasn't actually breaking any rules, at least that I know of."

"If we're putting this on a scale relating to legal crimes? What you did was vehicular manslaughter."

She'd filled up her sketchbook page, so she flipped to the next and kept drawing.

"Talking about going outside is just as bad as physically leaving. Especially spreading information that might as well could be false."

"Why the heck would I lie about the outside world?" Claire questioned. Bubble nodded in agreement, backing up Claire silently.

"Everyone has their motives, whether they're evident or hidden deep inside." Addie glanced back at them for the first time in the conversation, closing her sketchbook. "What yours may be is unclear, or whether you're really lying in the first place. But I don't want to risk that and have people end up dead."

"No one's gonna die if I share stories from my damn life!"

"Uh-huh. And your recent interaction with Miss Circle most definitely proves this claim."

Claire did not have a rebuttal for that. She opened her mouth briefly before closing it, exhaling.

With a smug grin, Addie continued. "If your own fantasies of leaving don't kill someone, Miss Circle or one of her allies should do the job. They don't want anyone leaving as much as I or any teacher here does."

She slipped the sketchbook into her bag as the bell rang.

"Take some advice, Claire. Don't play the hero. Blend in, keep your head down, and try not to think of your life before this. Because this is your life now, and there's no going back from this."

Then, Miss Emily came into the room, getting everyone's attention and telling them to get to their seats. Addie turned around, ready to listen to the teacher instead of other peoples' conversations now, and Claire and Bubble returned to their seats.

"I hate her," Claire sighed, even now fully aware Addie could probably hear her.

"I understand," Bubble agreed, patting her shoulder as they sat down. "Don't take it too personally, I guess. She's just like that."

Claire didn't respond.

Miss Emily's class was somehow the first class she could understand since first period with Mister Demi. Luckily for Claire, the test was yesterday (though Miss Emily claimed that, unlike Miss Circle, she wouldn't have made Claire take it, anyway) and the class was starting a new unit and time period, that being the early twenty-first century before the pandemic. Apparently a lot of things happened then, so it'd be a long unit.

The class was done painfully quickly, much faster than Miss Bloomie or Miss Circle's class, and it was now time for Miss Thavel's language class. Claire decided to actually heed the warnings she'd been given and stay quiet the entire period. It was difficult, though. She naturally wanted to ask questions, especially if she was confused or struggling with a topic - it's why she was generally a good student and a quick learner. But she remembered Miss Circle and the warnings she'd been given about Miss Thavel, and that was enough to keep her mouth shut.

Miss Thavel, however, seemed quite eager to pick on Claire, of all people - Claire was certain they were doing this on purpose. It didn't help that most of the period she would speak nothing but the language she was currently teaching, that being Spanish. So she'd ask a vaguely question-like sentence, seem to ask for volunteers to answer, and, when no one raised their hand, she picked Claire. Every time. Without fail.

Of course, Claire originally shot a few blind shots at answering - she vaguely remembered a few words of Spanish from some language learning app she'd used long ago in a distant past - but most of the time Miss Thavel would then snap at her, probably saying it's not correct by the cruel disappointment on her face. Sometimes she did slip some English into her sentences, probably feeling her students weren't "smart" enough to be fluent in Spanish by now, but she never spoke true English until the end of class, when the bell rang and everyone was finally released from the school day.

"You were all very disappointing today, and I hope tomorrow you bring your common sense and ability to learn with you to class," Miss Thavel said in a voice that was nearly growling. "Remember to finish the homework I assigned, it's due tomorrow at the beginning of class. I do not take late work and I do not accept excuses."

She seemed to be glaring at Claire as she said this, as if informing her of expectations (as if Claire hadn't already guessed the nature of Miss Thavel's general rules). Claire didn't meet her eyes, just stared at her paper with an uncomprehending expression.

After dismissing the class, Claire was finally free from the school day. Not the school, of course, but now she didn't have to worry about surviving the next class anymore. But she couldn't relax yet - everyone had assigned homework. Some (no need to point fingers) assigned more than others.

Claire met up with Engel, who had survived his final class with Miss Bloomie. Bubble had art class with Miss Sasha, so she wouldn't join them until afterwards. Claire and Engel both made their way from Engel's locker, where they'd met up, to the library. They found an empty desk, saving a seat for Bubble when she'd eventually return from art class, and sat down, both of them getting out the homework they'd been assigned.

"I don't think I've ever had a math teacher that assigned homework on test days," Claire sighed, annoyed and a bit bitter about it. "Or one that gives tests the first day a student starts school."

"My guess? She did it on purpose," Engel exhaled sadly. "Like I've said. She just likes making kids miserable."

Claire glanced across the library. Addie was there, as she'd seen her when she entered the library, looking at books. Her ears were swiveling around and still picking up conversations.

"I'd be careful saying stuff like that..."

Engel looked at where Claire was looking and scoffed. "What, because of Addie? Believe me, she won't tell the teachers about you unless what you're doing is actually against the rules. She's a bitch, but she has her limits and can usually separate wrong from acceptable."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Evidently not. There's nothing in the student handbook that mentions conversations about leaving being forbidden."

"Well, they've gotta keep us here willingly somehow," Engel said sadly. "And besides. They're right. It's dangerous out there. I'm sure you know that. And if you don't, then..."

He paused, lingering on that before continuing with his homework. He didn't have an end to that sentence, just let it trail away with the conversation. Claire didn't argue, not trying to pick it back up.

The two were actually being quite productive in completing the homework (or as productive as one can be when half of it is in some other language and some of that really is in another language). That was, until a specific paper airplane suddenly flew through the air and hit Claire on the back of the head.

Claire paused what she was doing, processing what had just hit her as a few people laughed from behind her. She turned around, seeing exactly who she expected: Zip, Oliver, and Edward, all cracking up about the airplane hitting her. What was so funny about it? Claire had no idea.

Engel tapped her shoulder. "Just try to ignore them. Usually they'll lose interest."

So Claire tried to get back to work. Another airplane hit Engel, but he was much better at not responding to it. But after a bit, they returned to targeting Claire, repeatedly throwing random paper made objects at her - more airplanes, crumpled balls, folded triangles like you might use in table football, et cetera. She tried to ignore them, really tried, but after a paper ball hit her head and tumbled over her homework, she sighed in irritation and turned around, shooting a glare at the bullies.

Zip was mid paper airplane folding and biting her lip to hold back giggles. She never noticed Claire, at least immediately, but Oliver and Edward both saw her glare and snickered with a glance at each other. They both gave each other a fist bump, seemingly satisfied with their handiwork.

Claire, done with the distractions, set her pencil down and stood up despite Engel's warnings. Engel hissed at her to sit back down and ignore them, but she had to at least ask them to stop before declaring them impossible to negotiate with.

"Your name's Oliver, right?" Claire asked, hiding her irritation down with a calm facade.

Oliver smirked, snickering a little. "What, can't even remember my name?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever you say. I would like to ask you to not throw paper at me, please? I'm trying not to fail my classes here."

"Maybe if you were more accepting of the teaching methods, they wouldn't hate you enough to give you as much homework," Oliver said with a grin. Edward let out a small "oooh," accompanied by an amused snicker. Zip giggled, holding a completed paper airplane. It was made of lined notebook paper.

"Whether I agree with their teaching methods or not, I would still like to finish my homework," Claire said with a small leak of irritation seeping into her tone.

"Getting sassy with me?" Oliver asked tauntingly. "Well, don't try to mess with me. I've got all the best teachers on my side, and if my girlfriend got word that you tried to get snappy with me, oh boy she'd mess you up!"

Claire raised an eyebrow. She may be new, but she didn't know of a single girl that could possibly be threatening here. "Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah. Her name's Alice," Oliver said in a bragging tone. "You know that door Miss Grace tells everyone not to go into? She lives there. And she's strong as hell, she'd beat you up in a second!"

Zip looked up at Oliver in curiosity. "Didn't she give you death threats last time you tried to get into her room?"

"I- n-no!" Oliver snapped suddenly, face turning red. "She... uh... shut up, Zip!"

"Okay!" Zip agreed happily, unoffended. She returned to folding paper airplanes nonchalantly.

Alice. Engel mentioned her. That blue door, right? With all the scratches and the "do not enter" sign? That's where she lives. From what Claire could pick up on, it was highly unlikely that Oliver was in a genuine, two-sided relationship with this "Alice" if she was as dangerous as she was led to believe.

"Okay. Well, I'm still asking you to leave me alone," Claire repeated herself once again.

"Is this how you expect to solve all your problems? Talk it out?" Oliver said with a laugh. Edward laughed, too, and Zip, though she wasn't paying attention, joined in to not be left out.

"Believe me. If that's your strategy, you're in for a shit ton of trouble," Edward snickered.

"You won't last a week here, I guarantee it," Oliver sneered. "If a teacher doesn't get you, my girlfriend definitely will. Or even the principal, if she's had enough of you."

Seeing this now to be pointless as the bullies laughed again, Claire sighed in defeat and returned to Engel, sitting down and staring at her homework.

Engel stared at her, a sad frown on his face.

"Told you. It's useless."

Claire exhaled. "Yeah. At least I tried."

"They should lose interest in you after a while," Engel claimed. "They're only being like this because you're new. Once you're settled in, I'm sure they'll find someone else to mess with."

Hopefully, Claire remarked mentally.

-

Claire had just barely finished all her homework when Miss Grace came over the intercom to inform all students to head to their respective rooms. This was where Claire and Bubble, who had arrived not too long after the confrontation with Oliver, and Engel parted; Engel retreated to the boys' bunks, and Claire and Bubble entered the girls'.

According to Bubble, Miss Grace had originally planned to give people their own rooms in the adaptation of the school for an apocalyptic shelter, however she had neither the time nor ability to have enough rooms in the school for even two students to a room, and it was easier to keep track of kids when they were all in one place.

The inside of the girls' room looked like it could be from a sad orphanage in a movie. There were bunks all along the walls, some with various bags and backpacks next to them where kids kept their belongings. Most of the students were already in there, more entering as time went on. They were mostly either already laying in bed or chatting with friends, a few slower workers still finishing up homework.

Claire's belongings were already near a bed, one a few rows into the room. Claire sat her backpack down next to it, sitting down on the mattress with a sigh. There were plain white and grey covers already on it, neatly made. Quite obviously done by an adult. Claire wondered which one.

"Why, howdy-do, neighbor!"

A purposefully silly voice spoke from above the bed as a grey, googly-eyed sock puppet popped down from over the side of the top bunk. Claire smiled as she saw it, recognizing the goofy sock puppet and the voice of its master.

"Hey, Lana," Claire greeted with a smile, thankful to hear someone she recognized.

Lana popped out from where the sock puppet - Claire was fairly certain it was Pip - was hanging. Her ponytail of middle-grey hair dangled below her upside-down face, a silly grin making up most of her expression.

"Hello!" She exclaimed back. Suddenly she seemed to lean a bit too far over the side of the bunk while trying to wave with one sock puppet covered hand, and her eyes briefly widened as she lost her balance and was sent tumbling to the ground with a squeak.

Claire gasped, looking over the side of the bed. "Oh my god - are you okay?!"

Lana, sprawled out on the floor, didn't seem to be injured, thank goodness. In fact, she was laughing uncontrollably as she sat back up.

"Yup! I'm great!" Lana assured her happily.

A sock puppet - Pip again? Now Claire was second guessing herself - popped up from her side and exclaimed,

"We're a-okay!"

Pop also joined in,

"Yupperooskie!"

Claire couldn't help but laugh at Lana's goofy reaction to literally falling off her bed. Lana used a sock puppet to mess a little bit with her hair, which, while already messy, was now slightly messier than usual. When she seemed happy with it, she hopped back up to her feet, that goofy grin still plastered on her face.

"It's gonna take more than a six-foot fall to take me down!" She declared extravagantly, sock puppets in the air. Then she sat down cross-legged on the ground, looking up to talk to Claire, still sitting on the bed.

"So? How was your day?" Lana asked curiously. Her head was propped on her hands with the sock puppet faces also peeking out from under her chin at Claire. They almost looked curious themselves.

Claire sighed, and told her about a few things that had happened that day. She had been there, Claire remembered, in the pool room when Claire had been called out by Miss Circle, so she was grateful to not have to fill in any blanks there.

"Damn, that really sucks," Lana said with a frown after Claire had retold her encounter with Miss Circle. "You're lucky Miss Grace came along, though. They say she's killed students before for breaking the rules or failing."

"Do you know anyone that happened to?"

"Nope," Lana said with a shrug. "Haven't seen it, either. But she's scary. I wouldn't doubt it. Abbie believes it, too. That's why we're always paying attention in class!"

Claire nodded, and changed the subject slightly. "How do you think you did on that test in her class today?"

Lana scrunched up her nose. "Probably not good. I tried, but none of it made any sense. Abbie said that, too."

Pop chimed into the conversation as Lana lifted her right hand.

"I was the one holding the pencil, so I didn't see too much," Pop claimed. "But what I did see looked like... uh... I don't know, but something confusing, that's for sure!"

"Yeah! That's right!" Lana agreed with the sock puppet. Then she returned to talking to Claire.

"I'm sure I'll do better next time, though! I bet I got enough to pass! How'd you do?"

Claire hesitated, then sighed.

"I mean, I got... at least a D, I think."

"Aw, I'm sure you did fine!" Lana said. "That's usually what I get, and you seem to understand things better than I do, so I bet you got at least a C!"

"No, I didn't," Claire disagreed with a chuckle.

"Whatever you say!" Lana shrugged. "I just think you got better than that. Anyway, I've been meaning to say - I really like that story you told during free period!"

"You did?" Claire queried.

"Yeah! We all did!" Lana exclaimed. "I'd love to hear more!"

Claire frowned. She glanced around the room - and, sure enough, Addie was sitting on her bed across the room. She was casting a suspicious glare towards where Claire was sitting, ears perked forwards and most likely listening to everything she said.

"Uh... probably not a good idea," Claire sighed. "I'd love to, but... y'know. I don't wanna get in trouble again."

"Ah, that's alright!" Lana assured. "Maybe later?"

"Maybe."

"Cool!"

The intercom buzzed to life again, Miss Grace's now familiar voice sounding across the room.

"Five minutes until lights out, students. Wrap up your activities and head to your rooms if you haven't already. Remember, anyone caught outside their rooms past lights out will be given detention unless they have a pass from a teacher."

Detention? That's a little harsh, but alright.

"Welp!" Lana said, hopping back to her feet. "Time for bed! Good night, Claire!"

"Good night, Claire!" Both sock puppets repeated her in synchronization.

Claire smiled. "Night, Lana."

Lana climbed the ladder and hopped into her own bed, talking a little to her sock puppets for a bit. Claire laid down in bed, staring at the bottom of the top bunk as she waited for the lights to turn out.

A teacher, Miss Sasha, soon poked into the room to check on everyone.

"Everyone accounted for?" Miss Sasha asked a student near the front of the room - Ruby.

Ruby nodded. "Yup. Everyone's here."

"Alright, then," Miss Sasha said. "Good night, everyone!"

There were a few replies, but just a few. Miss Sasha swept the room with her eyes once more before retreating back to the hallway and turning out the light.

Darkness consumed the room. All talking, even quiet whispering, ceased. Claire could hear a few people shift under their covers, a snore or two from already sleeping students, perhaps, but other than that the dark room was dead silent.

At first Claire couldn't calm her mind. She was tired, but her brain was still rapid-firing as if it were the middle of the day. She was still getting over, perhaps, that terror she felt when Miss Circle had pointed that needle to her chest.

"You're lucky Miss Grace came along. They say she's killed students before for breaking the rules or failing."

Was that true? Claire hoped not, but she found herself believing it. Why does Miss Grace keep her around, then? Sure, it must be difficult to find math teachers in the current state of the world, but surely she'd prioritize the safety of the students over teaching them how to factor and graph polynomials? It made no sense to Claire.

To relax, she put an image of the outside in her mind. The park in her hometown, the one she'd told Engel about. The lake, the willows, the grass, the breeze, the sun shining over it all... she found herself missing it more than she ever had. Would she ever see any of that again?

Would she ever set foot outside of this school, or would she rot away as captive in this sanctuary?

-

3725 words

While Olice won't exist in this fic in its full glory I still headcanon that Oliver has a crush on Alice and I just think it's funny lol

im tired-