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pretty sure that I was already the best version of myself. And that was sad because my version wasn’t anything special. Everything I could achieve in life felt like it was out of my reach, and since it was so far away, I didn’t want to go for it. But I didn’t bother telling her that. I let her take me out to meet my new cabin mates. They were all waiting for me down the hall in the lobby, looking irritated by me already.
    “This is your group,” Sharon said.
    There were five other girls staring at me. We all matched in our plain uniforms, but none of it looked the same on us. It was funny how clothing was subjective. There were many different ways that a t-shirt and shorts could go horribly wrong, all depending on what body they were placed with.
    “Oh Jesus Christ on a cross.”
    Even though I knew someone was just trying to provoke me, I looked over at the girl who was already bringing Jesus into it. I smiled. “It’s Val, actually.”
    “I don’t care about names,” she said.
    “Sure you don’t.”
    The girl was the only one really looking at me. Maybe because I was looking at her. She was the widest of the group, and she had a braid on either side of her head. They were tight, precise braids, with fuzzy fly away hairs. I wondered why she got to have two hair elastics when I was only allowed one.
    Sharon came between the braided girl and I. We separated, and Sharon led us to our table in the mess hall.
    “This is our table. This is the only table you’re allowed to eat at. No eating alone. No eating with other groups. You ladies only have each other, and that’s how you survive here.”
    We all took a seat at our new family table. Braids and I ended up next to each other. A counsellor wearing an apron came out of the kitchen carrying a huge pot with a lid. Steam came from the pot and blew around her as she walked. Sharon went away and came back with styrofoam bowls and plastic spoons. I thought about stealing a spoon in case I needed to make a shank later, but I wasn’t sure if it’d be that kind of a program.
    It was tomato soup for supper. No crackers. No anything else. Just red soup in deep, disposable bowls. It was a plain and simple, poor person meal.
    “Eat up, you missed lunch because of orientation. Normally it’s not this late, it’s almost supper. The only rule is that you eat what you take.”
    We each dipped the large ladle into the pot and served ourselves. I had been hungry earlier, until I got so hungry that I wasn’t hungry anymore. It was more of a nauseous thirst. I took about a cup full and looked down at it, waiting for it to become cold. It was the only way I could eat something hot. After about a half-hour, I had gotten down most of it.
    “Please follow me to your cabin. Again, no talking at all. Just look with your eyes and breathe through your nose.”
    I stayed at the back of the line as we were led out of the building. The property really was exactly how I remembered it, but just a little more overgrown and rundown. It was such a shame that people had to go and die and ruin things for other people.
    It was already late in the day when we left the mess hall building. There was a sunset beginning to peak through the trees, and I couldn’t wait to lie down. The day had flown by, but most of it was wasted from sitting around between tours, and listening to the rules of the place. It was a restless process, and it took a while for each and every resident to cooperate. I was obedient out of sheer boredom, and the entire day I was waiting for something to do. And then out of nowhere, the sky was dark and scattered with stars.
    Sharon led us toward the woods and my heart began to hurt when I realized what path we were on. The tree branches reached out and touched the skin on my bare arms, and it felt like I was walking down a magical, childhood path.
    I kept my dead gaze forward and followed the line of troubled girls. Like Camp Hedgewood, New Horizons was still divided down the