VILE

Chapter 2: VILE starts with V

CORAL'S POV:

I slip on my peach-colored headphones and play "Fur Elise" on YouTube. It starts playing through my headphones. I put my phone back into my denim skirt pocket and walk straight to a door with the number 2. Is this my dorm? I look at my ID. Name: Coral, Age: 21, room #2. Yes, it is. The doors open after I scan my ID on a screen. I get in and drop my turquoise backpack on the nearest bed I see. I take my headphones and my phone onto the bed. I start unpacking my stuff and put them in a hidden box under the bed. After I emptied all of my backpack's contents, I stand up and grab the VILE uniform folded neatly on my bed. I get in the bathroom and put the clothes on a white side table. I take off my light blue hoodie and then grab the gray polo shirt and put it on. I also take off my skirt and put on VILE's khaki-colored leggings. I look at myself in the mirror. My pale skin looks paler against the gray polo shirt. I comb my long blonde hair and then tie it back neatly with a light blue bow. I put my clothes inside a hamper in the corner and go out of the bathroom. I hear voices outside: A girl and a boy. The boy has an Australian accent and the girl sounds Filipino. "Aren't you going to ask my name?" the girl says in a flirty tone. "What's your name?" the boy answers. I only spent 5 minutes here in VILE academy and I can already hear somebody flirting. "Lovebirds," I mutter. I don't like this cheesy, lovey-dovey stuff. I put my headphones back on and resume the song. At that moment, a girl, probably the one I heard earlier, got into the dorm. "Hi," she said, waving at me. I grin and wave back. I take off my headphones. "What's your name?" I ask. "Ash," she answers. "What's yours?" She adds. I smile as I say: "Coral." She takes the bed beside me and started unpacking her stuff. Once she was done, she takes the uniform from her bed and a small metallic blue pouch and brought them to the bathroom. Five minutes later, she came back wearing her uniform with her hair in a high ponytail and glitter lip gloss. She reaches under her bed and pulls out a pair of green Chuck Taylors. Remembering, I also pull out mine from under the bed, take off my white sneakers, and put the green ones on. As she was about to go out the door, she asks me: "Ready to go?" "Yeah," I answer. As we go out of dorm #2, I get the feeling I'm really going to enjoy my time here.

GRAHAM'S POV:

I get into dorm #3. I see that there is an unoccupied bed near the back of the room. It took the scanner a while to recognize my ID, so now I'm running late for orientation. I don't have any time to unpack, so I slide my duffel bag under the bed, take my uniform, and put it on in the bathroom. I don't have any time to gel my hair, so I quickly get out of the bathroom and start putting on the green sneakers VILE provided under the bed. Once I was ready, I get out of the dorm and run to the elevator. I press "1" and I tap my foot nervously as the elevator goes down. Once on the first floor, I run to the orientation room just in time. I see Ash, but there's somebody else sitting beside her. She sees me and waves to me. I grin, showing my dimples, and wave back. I continue walking down until I find an unoccupied seat near the middle. The lights dim, and a big, muscular, green-haired woman walks up to the middle of the stage. "Welcome, to VILE training academy for thieves," She says. "V-I-L-E. Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports. We traffic stolen goods to the four corners of the globe. You've each been hand-picked for our one-year program due to the extraordinary potential you've demonstrated. I am Coach Brunt, and these are my house rules:" A school that teaches people how to break rules has rules. How ironic. "Rule number one: No contact with the outside world. That means no portable electronic devices allowed." She crushes a cellphone in her hands and everybody in the room, except for a young auburn-haired girl sitting behind me, gasps. "Rule number two: First names only, until you get assigned your code name. Ain't that right, Lambkins? So, the little girl behind me was called "Lambkins", eh? Time to have fun. "Lambkins"? I say. "Who knew VILE had a mascot?" I laugh. Suddenly, she pulls my shirt from behind. "Whoa!" I exclaim. "Only my friends call me "Lambkins". My code name's "Black Sheep". Do you understand? Nod if you understand," she says. Well, I don't really have a choice, so I just nod and say "Uh-huh". I see Ash looking at me with a slight grin on her face. Black Sheep pushes me back into my chair. Coach Brunt starts speaking again: "Also, those students whose families have a connection to VILE may be allowed to phone home once a week. There's a telephone in each of your dorms so you can call your parents, but to prevent calling wrong numbers, you have to scan your ID on its scanner." I have a hard time scanning my ID, but hey, I'm an orphan. Coach Brunt resumed: "Your IDs haven't been added to the telephone's record yet so come down here when your name is called so we can add your IDs and your home's telephone number to your dorm room's number record. Even if you haven't been called, do not leave the room."
 I bounce my leg impatiently. I'm bored. I mean, I know I won't be called.
 Coach Brunt said: "Coral." A long-haired blonde girl came down. "April." A tan-skinned girl with pink hair and green highlights skipped down. "Jesse." Nobody came down. "Jesse," Coach Brunt said with an annoyed tone. "Jesse!!!" she shouted. "Here." said a boy with black bangs covering his eyes. "Jesse, will you please come down?" Coach Brunt said. "Why should I?" Jesse answered. "I don't even want to call." 
At that moment, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Ash. "Hey, wanna get some snacks from the cafeteria?" She gestured toward the door. "Sure," I say, standing up. She grabs me by the wrist and puts a finger on her lips. "shhh." she says. We sneak out of the room. Once we were out, she says: "That's better. It was freezing in that room." "So," I say. "Where's the cafeteria?" She pointed to a sign on the wall. It said:  CAFETERIA ➡  "Okay," I say. Before I took another step forward, Ash shouted: "Last one there's a rotten vegetable!" she sped off. Oh yeah? I start running in her direction. I run faster and faster, until, oh yes! I'm the first one to arrive! She comes into the cafeteria, breathing heavily. "Moral of the story," I say with a smirk, "Never, ever try to race me."