Three days in, and Easter had learned the shape of it well enough. Wake, wash, uniform, class. Eat what's given, smile when smiled at, keep the questions folded small enough to fit inside his own head.
But folding questions away didn't make them disappear. If anything, they'd been piling up faster than he could sort through the restricted hallway,
the girl who said "you get used to it",
the boy who flinched toward a wing he couldn't even see. Easter needed answers, and answers meant people, and people here didn't talk.
He tried again that morning anyway. Leaned toward the boy on his left during a worksheet break. "Hey. How long have you been here?"
The boy didn't even look up. Just shook his head, small and fast, and went back to his page.
Easter tried the girl behind him next, keeping his voice down to almost nothing. "Do you know what's in the west wing?"
Nothing. Not even a flinch. Like she hadn't heard him at all or like hearing him was a risk she wasn't willing to take.
