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of that other stuff, we’ll take you.”
    “Iceman?”
    Curtis laughed a little. “That’s what we call the guy who makes the announcements.”
    I ran cold water through the towel, rinsing out the blood, and then put the cool cloth back on my face. “So what is this place?”
    “Who knows?” Curtis said. “I’ve been here a year and a half, and none of it makes any sense.”
    Mason spoke up. “I think they’re testing us. We’re rats in a maze.”
    Curtis nodded. “A lot of guys think that. All the cameras always watching us. And every now and then they make us do weird things, like an experiment. Other guys think they’re training us for something. And some think maybe it really is a prison.”
    “You guys do something that would put you in prison?” I’d been in plenty of fights in my life, but I doubted I’d done anything worthy of jail time.
    Curtis shrugged. “No one has any ties to home—no friends, no family. With a life like that, not everyone was totally clean before. But I haven’t met anyone who did anything terrible. You?”
    I shook my head. “No, just a foster kid.”
    “That’s pretty common.” He stood up. “I’ll take care of changing your room assignment. Mason’ll show you around. Don’t worry about going down to the cafeteria tonight—we’ll find some food for you. For now, don’t go anywhere by yourself.” Curtis smiled. “You’ve pissed off Havoc—most new students just ignore Oakland or maybe take a couple hits.”
    “I thought fighting was against the rules.” Then again, very little I’d seen in the dorm seemed to follow the rules.
    “The rules are weird,” Curtis said with a tired shrug.
    “I guess this wasn’t ‘violent fighting.’”
    He smiled. “Exactly. Anyway, I’ll be back. Welcome to the V’s.”
    He went out the door and closed it behind him.
    “Don’t worry, Fish,” Mason said. “Just stay close to the rest of us. The gangs have a truce, and they won’t start anything big.”
    I nodded and stood, walking to the small window. I could see a large track behind the school, and miles and miles of forest.
    “I’m going to get out of here,” I said.
    Mason shrugged. “Everyone says that.”

Chapter Five
    I didn’t leave the room that night, and didn’t talk to anyone else. Curtis came back with lasagna and bread sticks. It was better than I expected—it tasted more like it came from a restaurant than a cafeteria. Mason sat up reading. I think that he expected me to ask him questions, but I stayed quiet in my bunk.
    I went through the manual hoping it would have some answers, but it didn’t. It was mostly a retread of what I’d already heard—do this, don’t do that. There were no explanations for why any of the rules existed, and they weren’t even linked to punishments. I got the impression that the others had just figured out the punishments through experience.
    Only twenty-four hours ago I’d been in my old foster home, lying awake, imagining how amazing my new life was going to be. Now I was lying awake, wishing I was back there. This wasn’t fair. But since when had life been fair to me?
    When dawn came, I was sitting by the window, searching for any sort of escape route. I didn’t see anything promising. Just a couple equipment sheds, a tiny set of bleachers—I had no idea what they’d be for, since we couldn’t compete with other schools—and endless pines.
    A girl was down on the track, jogging.
    “That’s Mouse,” Mason said, standing behind me. “She’s the girl version of Oakland—the two of them run Havoc.”
    “Mouse?” I asked with a halfhearted laugh. She was a tall, tan brunette, wearing short shorts and a sports bra. She looked nothing at all like her nickname.
    “Yeah,” Mason said, watching her run. “All of Havoc has stupid names. I guess that’s part of their image. Mouse, Oakland, Skiver, Walnut.” He left the window to go get dressed.
    “And that’s supposed to intimidate