My watch beeped 7:30 as I ran down the clean white hallways. My maroon converse thudded on the tile as I tried to avoid tripping on the laces; I was feeling lazy and hadn't tied them around my ankles when I slipped them on. Skidding around a corner, I spun around a cleaning cart and pushed open the boys dorm door. A kid pushed open the second door and jumped to the side as I barreled passed him.

"Hey, you can't be in here," he said.

"Sorry!" I called, as I ran into the boys common room. There was no official rule to me not being in here, just suggestions. The light that came down on my face was darker than the hallway's and it took a minute for my eyes to adjust. The boys' common room wasn't vastly different than the girls', they had the same bookcases, fish tanks and games. The only real difference was the smell.

Jumping over a coffee table, I came to a halt in front of the dormitory hallway.

"Whoa!" Reid stepped around the corner, hands up to stop me.

"Where were you?" I gasped, trying to control the stitch forming in my side. "Don't you want to get our schedules first?"

"Why does it matter?" he asked, walking past me. I followed after him. He was hard to get excited but there were a few things that would do it.

"So we can get the best classes first. Come on, let's see if World Studies is open." He gave me a smile and rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. "

"Oh, and they have chocolate muffins in the cafeteria," I said, as if in passing. Reid stopped short. And that's all it takes.

"We better go fast then," he said. And he started to run. "Could we not..." I said, panting slightly. With a groan, I followed him, running back through the clean halls.

My laces had come completely untied and they slapped the floor. A line was already forming forming in the kitchen and Reid ran faster. The Institute would only allow a select amount of deserts a day. And breakfast was the only meal they didn't monitor so we could eat what we wanted.

The small line snaked just a few feet out of the kitchens. We hopped in and quickly moved to the optical scanner. For our other meals, our specific amount of food would come out on a tray from the port. But for breakfast, the scan was mostly to ensure we weren't skipping too many breakfasts. I went on tiptoe to get my eye at the best angle and it's dull light flashed in my eyes. With a beep, I was cleared to get food.

The food was out buffet style, trays at the beginning and the food following. I didn't even get a tray and instead grabbed some yogurt and two muffins. Reid completely skipped the food and swiped four muffins, sticking two under his shirt.

"You'll get caught one day," I said in a hushed voice. Reid took a bite and said, "No way," spraying me with crumbs.

"Oh, you disgusting!" Grabbing his wrist, taking care so he wouldn't drop his beloved muffins, I dragged him to the schedule port.

Everyday, after 7:45, the kids in the Institute could get their daily schedules tattooed on their forearm. Everyday, the classes would be different, to keep us on our toes. We could favorite certain classes and get them more often. We had our typical classes, like grammar and math but there were the skills classes. Music, art, tech, sciences, anything you could ever want. We could do whatever we wanted. I had favorited all the music classes and could now play 8 instruments. I also took acting classes, which was probably not the best idea on the administrators' end because I could get through a lie and sneak around with proficiency now. Reid favored the firearms classes and languages. I took a few language classes but realized they were all based on two original languages and could be figured out with relative ease.

There was a short line at the schedule port. The classes were first come, first serve, so I was worried that we wouldn't get into the class I had been waiting for. The line moved quickly, students staring into eye scanner and holding still as the schedule was scanned onto their arm.

"My turn," I said, letting the light shine into my eye. A quiet tune played and I laid my hand in the port. There was a warm light and a cool pen tracing my skin. The tone played again and I pulled my arm out. I turned it down so I couldn't see it. Reid went after me and followed suit, holding a muffin in his mouth. After he pulled his arm out, he took back his left arm and grabbed the muffin. He turned his arm down so he wouldn't see his schedule either. We always looked at the same time. While it was childish, it was a tradition spanning nearly the ten years we'd been friends.

"Ready?" he said. "One, two, three!"

We flipped over our arms and read the classes.

8:00-9:00 - Cello
9:00-10:00 - Calculus
10:00-11:00 - World Studies
11:00-12:00 - Lunch
12:00-1:00 - Writing
1:00-2:00 - Reflection
2:00-3:00 - Weapon Study
3:00-4:00 - Piano Aide
4:00-5:00 - Food Prep
5:00-6:00 - Dinner
6:00-7:00 - Bathing
7:00-8:00 - Quiet Reading
10:00 - Lights Out

The writing was minuscule but clear in its purple ink. One class made me draw in a breath.

"Reid," I said, "What's your third?"

He was quiet. "World Studies," he said, nearly in a whisper.

"Great," I said. My heart began to race in excitement but I could feel my face pale. World Studies. The class we had waited for.

You could only get into World Studies after your 16th birthday. Reid and my birthdays were one week apart, him being the older. World Studies was exactly that: World Studies. In the Institute, we were sheltered from the world. We knew facts but not the details surrounding these facts. None of us have ever seen the sun, felt real grass under our feet. Honestly, we didn't even know where we were. We didn't have parents or families. We read books so we knew a little about the world but not our world. Whatever was going on outside of the Institute, we were oblivious to it. We're were only told that it was safer for us in here. And no one complained. Sometimes, on movie nights, we would watch some cartoons, like Robin Hood or Chicken Little. Just silly shows but for someone who knew next to nothing about the real world, they were terrifying. Sure, I knew that animals didn't talk and rule over us and that aliens didn't visit us but... I didn't know quite the truth.

"This will be awesome," I said.

"What about Kirk and Jenny?" Reid said. "Or Matt and Yin? What if that happens?"

I gulped but kept smiling. "That doesn't happen to everyone," I said. "Most are fine." Drumming up some fake confidence, I looked down at my arm.

Every trimester, when they started new core classes, someone died. And it was always after World Studies. The latest was a few months ago; Kirk and Jenny. They made, what looked like, a suicide pact. They had stabbed each other in the greenhouse. The Institute had cleaned them up and burned their suicide note. All we knew was from the announcement the next morning, confirming their death. We had a few days of mourning, where the halls were uncharacteristically quiet. Something that these kids were told in World Studies caused them to kill themselves. And so, a morbid curiosity surrounded the class.

Reid shook his head. "I'm asking to drop it." He turned away, towards the faculty office. I grabbed his should and turned him around forcefully.

"You can't do that! We all have to take World Studies at some point. And Kirk and Jenny, well, maybe they were just... weak. But we'll be able to deal with anything they throw at us, right?"

Reid shook his head. "I'm sure everyone else thought they were strong too."

"You can't drop out. We're in already. You literally can't drop out. It's not allowed."

Reid's jaw flexed as he stared at the tiled floor. Students milled around us, checking their schedules, laughing and commenting to their friends. We were stark opposites in the jovial environment.

I led Reid to the living space and had him sit. There was a jug of water and cups next to the couch he was sitting on. I filled the paper cup and handed it to him. "We'll be fine," I said.

"I heard they tell us about... out there." Reid gestures to nothing in particular but I knew what he meant. "Out there." Everything other than the institution.

"What could they tell us that makes our minds break?" I asked, leaning forward after checking over my shoulder. This was a forbidden topic. No one was allowed to speak of what they learned outside of World Studies. I guess they figured the younger students weren't ready for it yet.

"Maybe we're the last ones alive," Reid said.

I couldn't suppress the laugh that exploded out of me. "Oh, come on," I said, "That's the classic rumor from the six year olds! I haven't heard that one in years."

"Maybe it's true."

Our watches beeped in sync with a warning of the three minute class warning. I grabbed Reid's clammy hands and pulled him to his feet. "Let's go to class," I said. "I have cello and you have... Calculus. Sorry, friend."

We waved and said, "See you at third," before parting ways, him down to the core class hall and me to the music hall.

I had never felt so jittery in my life. My calloused fingers kept slipping of the strings, causing annoyed looks from my neighbor. I did notice, however, that another girl, Opal, was also having struggles. In a lull in the music, I leaned over to her and said, "World Studies?"

Opal nodded. "You too?" she asked.

"Yep. Third."

"Oh good. That's when I have it too. Could we sit together? Holden doesn't have it yet."

"Of course. Reid's in that hour too."

"Are you nervous?"

"Not really, mostly excited. You?" It was a dumb question and attempt to make conversation. Of course she was nervous: her pale face and trembling chin revealed that truth.

"Yes, my goodness, yes. I've heard rumors."

I had to restrain from rolling my eyes. "So have I. But I'm pretty sure none of the rumors are true."

"Have you heard the aliens one? I heard it from a 17 year old. He was in the class."

"Opal, if that was true, he would be in confinement. That's a huge rule to break. He was just messing with you, I promise. And would you hang yourself if you found out you were an alien?"

Opal chuckled. "I guess not."

"Opal, Sloane, listen up here," the professor called. I readied my bow on the strings and sent a look at Opal. She smiled, considerably less nervous than before.

If I was jittery in Cello, I was full blown spazzing out in Calculus. I don't learn much in there but today was absolutely pointless. My professor came by to lecture me on behavior but stopped short after seeing my arm. He simply nodded and continued on teaching. The look on his face made me nervous. It wasn't one of simply understanding, but pity. My heart rate went up.

The entire class's watches beeped twice to signal end of class and my breath caught in my chest. It was time. Time to learn about the world.

I exited the classroom, hands wringing. I had learned from books out of the world that people in school usually got homework. I had asked my professors why we didn't get homework like in the books. She told me that we were smart enough not to get homework. She had laughed and said, "Your home is a two minute walk from the class anyway."

Someone pushed passed me and I realized I had been standing in the way. I walked on, to the World Class hallway.

There was an entire hall of classes dedicated to the outside world. I had never been down the hall. This hall was blocked by automatic doors that required your schedule stamp. Like every child, years ago, I had tried to open the doors with my stamp. The lights above the door flared red and refused to let me in. Now, I knew it would be different.

There were a group of newly 16 students huddled by the doors, nervous to open them. A 17 year old student smiled at them and opened the doors with her stamp. The sliding doors immediately close behind her. We would have to go in one at a time.

No one was going so I walked to the front of the group. I extended my arm, trying to hide the trembling of my fingers, and scanned the schedule. The lights glowed green and I stepped in. There was the hiss of the doors behind me and I was alone.