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where nearly a hundred girls milled about. It could have been high school—the whispered gossip that preceded all new kids was here, too—but the mood was too somber. Instead of being curious or petty, they were afraid of us. As though we might do something crazy. It was a strange reaction considering I was thinking the same of them.
    When the bell tolled, all conversation ceased. Girls darted away to their classes, where they fell into cookie-cutter lines. Rebecca pulled my arm, and I complied like a rag doll, allowing her to set me in place. Silence reigned over the pavilion.
    Within moments, soldiers appeared to lead, follow, and flank each line. A young man with pockmarked cheeks and the build of a weasel passed me on his way to the back. His uniform read RANDOLPH . Another, at the front of the line, had an almost glowing complexion by comparison. He had a neatly shaved jaw and sandy-colored hair and would have been handsome had his blue eyes not been so vacant.
    What does the MM do to suck out a person’s soul like that? I banished the automatic conjuring of Chase from my mind.
    “Ms. Lansing,” acknowledged the almost-handsome guard.
    “Good morning, Mr. Banks,” she said sweetly. He gave her a quick, emotionless nod, as if to approve of her line formation. The whole interaction seemed awkward and forced.
    “Hola, princesa,” whispered a girl behind me. I turned to see Rosa, noticing how she’d refused to tuck in her navy blouse. The redheaded girl behind her—the roommate, I guessed—had a look of disapproval on her face. Clearly, she wasn’t pleased with the new living arrangements.
    Her red hair reminded me of how much I already missed Beth.
    It was comforting having Rosa nearby. Even if she was rude, at least she was real, and when the bell tolled and the heads of the lines dispersed, we stayed close, bound by our mistrust of the others.
    We followed Rebecca down the stairs, past the laundry facility, medical clinic, and a squat brick office with a fire hydrant out front. There, the seventeens separated from the other lines and marched over a plot of grass connecting to a path that led us between two tall stone buildings. I hungrily surveyed the grounds, trying to form a mental map in my mind. It appeared there was only one way in and out: the main gate.
    When Rosa spoke again, it was barely above a breath.
    “Watch and learn.”
    I turned back, but she was already gone.

 
     
    CHAPTER
    3
     
    WITH her skirt hitched up around her thighs, Rosa disappeared between the two buildings. The guards shouted things, words I couldn’t make out because the adrenaline was already roaring through my body. One immediately tore after her. Another picked up his radio and gave a few clipped orders before following. The girls whispered feverishly, but no one moved.
    The blood pounded through my temples. Where was she going? Had she seen an exit I hadn’t?
    The thought hit me that I should run the other direction. Rosa had distracted the guards and the rest of the seventeens; they might not notice if I slipped away. I could race back up the stairs toward the front gate and … and then what? Hide in the bushes until a car came through and sneak out behind it? Right. No one would notice that. The bus ride hadn’t revealed any signs of civilization since before dawn, and it wasn’t like I could walk down the highway wearing a reform-school uniform without someone reporting me.
    Think!
    A telephone. There had to be one in the dormitory. Or maybe in the medical clinic. Yes! The staff would need one in case someone was seriously injured. The clinic was close; we’d passed it just minutes ago. It was right beside that brick building with the fire hydrant.
    All eyes were still trained on the alley between the buildings where Rosa had disappeared. Even the guards that remained close by were looking that way. The air prickled. I took a slow step back, the grass crunching beneath my newly issued black flats. It was now or