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caretakers had two ways of
dealing with our nutrition.  First, there was the protein bars but when I
refused to eat, they would fight me to the ground and inject me with
something.  I don’t know what was in the needle but I was never hungry after a
round with that stuff.” Rachel remembered.
    "They hurt." Mike sat across
from me at the far end of the table. 
    Mary nodded.
    "I must have been unconscious for a
lot more time than I had realized." I was having the hardest time
adjusting to the time gap. 
    The waitress came over to our table and
started to take everyone's orders.  I ordered a stack of waffles, three eggs,
sausage, bacon, toast, and orange juice.  Everyone else ordered about the same
amount of food. 
    "It's going to take a while; the
griddle is just now heating up." The waitress smiled a fake smile and took
all of our menus.
    We all smiled back as she walked away.
    "So what are we going to do
next?" Ronnie asked as soon as the waitress was out of earshot.
    "I'm not sure, I think that you and
me should go up to the school and see if we are missing, but beyond that I've
got nothing." I played with my napkin, it was a habit that I had had since
I was a small child. 
    "Why just the two of you?"
Kenny was upset at being left out.
    "Rachel isn't from around here like
we are and things would go smoother at the school if there were fewer of us
poking around.  You guys can all go to the store and get some food that we can
keep in the truck, maybe some other things that you come across.  Some better
pants, perhaps." I pulled on the enormous waist of the men’s pants I was
wearing. 
    The food arrived in a grand fashion; the
waitress had to get the cook’s assistance to carry it all out from the back,
and she demanded that we pay for the meal before we ate a single bite.
    Ronnie shelled out the hundred bucks and
even though she was rude he gave her a twenty dollar tip.  She took the money
happily and went along her way.
    We ate in almost complete silence as
everyone devoured every bite of food on the table.  Normally after eating a
meal half that size I would feel sick to my stomach for a few hours, but it all
felt just right.
    We left the diner and headed in
different directions. 
    A small shop that we passed had pay as
you go cell phones in the window.  Ronnie bought two of them and paid in cash. 
He opened the packaging and turned on the phone, it had half a battery.
    "To keep up with the time and next
time we have to separate, each group can take one." He set the phone's
clock with the shop's clock. 
    The school was a whole six block walk
from the diner.  We arrived just a few moments after roll would have been
submitted for the first class.  We walked up the grass to the front entrance of
the school.
    Every morning, the first class of the
day took roll call and sent it down to the front office.  This file would be on
the receptionist's computer and she would have to input the information into
each student's personal file.  I spent a semester working in the office, for
credit.  The principal thought that it would be good for me to be away from
other students and working with adults.  He thought that I was mature for my
age and that is why I didn't have many friends outside of the other orphans.
    "Check the file." Ronnie
whispered as he walked up to the receptionist and started to talk to her about
something I couldn't quite hear, and then she escorted him to the back to where
the principal's office was, I took my chance.
    I opened the file on the computer and
searched for room two ninety nine.  When I found it, I searched for my name.  I
slid my finger down the screen and there I was.  I moved my finger over to
status.
    Present
    I had been present every day that week, according
to the file, Monday through Friday.  I closed the file, logged off of the
computer, and left the office. 
    I snuck down the hallway trying my best
to avoid the cameras.  I went up the stairwell and into the second