Visit the closed door
From Create Your Own Story
Deciding on her target, Beatrice walks resolultely towards her objective. As the girls spot her, they stay put motionless not knowing what to do; as if suddenly faced with a big cat of the jungle. A freshman who was just abused by her yesterday is in the brink of a panic attack and collectively all of their heartbeats quicken.
"What are you standing there for? Carry on!" Beatrice urges them as she approaches them. They hurry to follow her instructions as she nears the door.
She doesn't knock, there is no need to. The doors in the shack aren't locked, some don't close at all and a stone or a piece of wood is necessary to keep them from letting the cold air at night. Beatrice simply opens the door as if she owned it and it budges easily. She smiles. As expected, there is no furniture inside. Very few are the lucky orphans who eventually gather enough wood and then enough good favors from one of the male workers to have a bed made for them, not to say a closet or a desk or who "inherit" one from a former orphaned student. The sunlight lazily comes into a mostly empty wooden room in which nothing but a few rags in the middle of the floor which constitute a sort of sleeping mat for two girls who are still sleeping soundly.
There is nothing bizarre or sexual going on with two girls sleeping together in the nude, not in the shacks at Solitude Academy. It is a necessity to ward off the cold of night. Soon after arriving many girls will think of it as unpleasant or degenerate but they soon change their mind and learn that without a penny to their name the best thing you can get is the warm of another human body.
"Come on! Wake up!" Beatrice shouts as she claps her hands impatiently. "Sunrise was a long time ago, ladies!"
The effect of her voice was immediate. Stumbling to their feet, two white girls did their best to stand up. One was rather tall, probably last year. She had black, straight hair and you could see from her pretty brown yes that she wasn't getting nearly enough sleep. The small one had a petite build, her rib-cage was plainly visible and probably even the generally mean rich girls would share her food with her if they saw her in that state; but Beatrice Lawrence had no heart for such things. Her hair was curly and brown, Beatrice knew her from her Biology class; first year, Michelle.
"What are you doing sleeping at this hour?" asks a seemingly furious Beatrice right when they manage to stand straight like soldiers. "And where are your nightgowns? Have you no shame? Perhaps I should teach you the meaning of it!"
It was unfair, it was cruel. The tall girl was nearly collapsing and couldn't have gotten more than three hours of sleep. Michelle was malnourished - although that would change soon since in Solitude Academy you never starve - and probably way too cozy to wake up lying next to the other girl. As for the clothes, it was more comfortable and practical to sleep like that.
That didn't stop the girls from cringing and looking away. They were used to things not going their way. They overslept and now knew they had to pay dearly for those precious few extra minutes of sleep.
