Brat Princess

There Are More

"Right, introductions." said Selene cheerfully. She really is deranged, I thought. Like I'd ever want to meet these two. "Now. This is Anna Young and Maria Ross. Girls, meet Jessica Jung."

The glasses girl named Anna scowled at me. "Jessica? Hey, you, older girl. You're responsible for messing up my bed?"

Her friend snickered and watched me to see what I was going to do. I turned around.

"Hey, Jessica," Anna repeated. "I wanted to lie down."

I decided I was going to show them that they didn't intimidate me, so I sat up and looked at them. "Then get one of the staff to do it," I said.

Maria snorted with laughter, and I noticed Selene slink away and close the door behind her. Oh, God, I thought. She's left me alone with these little girls with attitude. Anna fixed her eyes on me, clenching her fists, and approached. I took a sharp intake of breath and braced myself for some little girls beating. However, just as Anna got close, she slumped down on the bed next to mine.

"Why are you here, then?" she asked.

I felt torn. Part of me didn't want to talk to anyone. Another part wanted to know what was going on. Where I was. What the program was all about. That part won. "Nothing. It's all been a huge mistake. I'll be out of here in the morning."

Both girls burst out laughing, like I'd said the funniest thing ever, and Maria came to sit next to Anna. "That's what we said too, when we got here," she said. "All a big mistake."

"Okay. So why are you here?" I asked.

Anna narrowed her eyes and jutted her chin forward. "Murder. Didn't like one of the teachers, so I nuffed 'im out one night down a back alley."

I cracked up laughing. "Yeah, right. A little girl killed someone. Do I look like I was born yesterday?"

Anna looked annoyed. "Yeah, you do. And you'll get it too, if you don't watch it."

I laughed again, which I could see annoyed Anna even more, but I was sure that she was just trying to scare me, and I was determined to show that I wasn't frightened in the least. "So, why are you really here for?"

"None of your business. You ask too many quetsions," Anna said, who got up and walked away.

"So, what about you?" I asked Maria.

"So, what about you?" Anna mimicked behind her. I silently chuckled and ignored her.

"Yeah. Me, too. Um . . . murder," Maria said.

I rolled my eyes. "Can't you think of your own dumb answer?" I said.

"Okay, fine. I'm in for selling drugs."

"Drugs?"

"Yeah. Drugs. Rosses. Dad's making money. I enjoy selling drugs for him. But I'm warning you - it'll have funny effects sometimes I don't know what I'm doing. They send me a bit . . ." She made a circle in the air near her temple with her finger and made her eyes crossed. ". . . demented. People says it the scent of chemicals, like, but, whatever."

Behind her, Anna chuckled.

"Yeah. Of course," I said wearily, as if I'd heard it all a million times. "Chemical. Whatever."

Anna began mimicking the way I spoke again. "Yeah. Of course. Chemicaaaal," she said in her infuriating accent.

"I do not speak like that," I said.

"Ay do not spake like thaaat," she repeated.

I got off my bed and moved away from that little kid. Already I wished that I'd kept my zodiac phone. Okay, so I could only reach Mr. O., but even he was better than these two children. Although I could tell that they weren't murderers and were putting on a tough act, I wasn't sure what the real story was, and, until I was, I thought it was the best not to push them too far, especially since there were two of them against me.