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waiting.
    ‘I was at a Learning Community,’ I say. ‘There’s been some sort of mix up. My records have been wiped . . .’
    ‘What’s your name?’ He’s not looking at me, but at a point past my left ear.
    Something in the way he asks makes up my mind. Even though he’s a teacher, I don’t trust him. Before I can think about it any more, I say, ‘Blake Jones.’
    ‘Well, Blake Jones .’ He forms the name carefully like he knows it’s false. ‘Have you anything to add to this fascinating story?’
    ‘I . . . I was beaten up. Only yesterday. Some men attacked me and my friend. They killed him and tried to do the same to me. I think that I’ve suffered some memory loss.’
    He rolls his eyes.
    ‘I know it sounds unlikely, but I’m sure that you can appreciate that I’m not best suited to an Academy environment,’ I say.
    He purses his lips. ‘You sound more like a Learning Community brat than a Wilderness ape. I’ll give you that.’
    I open my eyes wide. No wonder Academy students are so rude if this is the way their teachers talk. ‘If I sound like a Learning Community pupil then you’ve got to ask the question, how have I ended up here?’
    There’s a long pause. ‘It’s not my job to ask questions,’ he says. ‘In fact, I find the fewer questions you ask the more likely you are to succeed. I don’t know why you are here, young man, and I do not care. I imagine that it is a punishment for whatever trouble you have caused.’
    I open my mouth to protest that I have never caused any trouble, but he ploughs on.
    ‘The only thing that I care about is that you do not cause trouble here. And that means I don’t want to hear about your “Learning Community” past or anything else that you might imagine makes you different from the rest of the students here. Is that understood?’
    This is like the police all over again. It’s so unfair. ‘I’m not going to just stay here!’ I say. ‘What about my education? What about—’
    ‘If you can’t accept your life in the Academy and follow Academy rules then you will be punished.’ He eyes my bruised cheek.
    ‘Are you threatening me?’ I say. ‘You can’t treat me like this—’
    ‘Yes I am and yes I can,’ he interrupts in a low voice.
    ‘This is unbelievable.’
    The enforcer turns away. He grips the door handle and looks back over his shoulder. ‘Just think about this: how many things have already happened to you in the last few days that you didn’t believe were possible?’ He steps out of the door and closes it behind him.
    I sink to my knees. I just can’t go on with this. It’s like someone has whipped the rug out from under me. I lean over till my forehead rests on the ground. I lie there staring at a black smudge on the floor till I go cross-eyed.
    I’m starting to realise that no one is going to help me. I sit up. No one but me cares about what happened to Wilson and I’m stuck in an Academy with the head teacher threatening me with violence. But I can deal with this. I’m smart, I can deal with anything. I can pretend to toe the line if that’s what Enforcer Rice wants.
    But I don’t belong in this place and I’m only playing along until I work out how to get myself out of here.
    I try to focus my mind. The first thing I need if I’m going to deal with all this is food. It must be lunchtime by now. I go out into the corridor; it’s heaving. Hundreds of students all in the same grey uniform are crammed shoulder to shoulder. I try to walk in a civilised fashion, but I keep getting shoved sideways or jammed in the back. A giant of a boy, with thick arms and slicked-back, auburn hair, steps in front of me and slaps his palm on to my cheek. King Hell, can’t they just leave me alone? Then he pushes me to the side of the corridor and turns away. Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know who I am. I wipe off the feel of his hand from my face.
    ‘Do you mind?’ I say.
    He stops dead. The boys walking behind him crash