My lungs depleted of all air. “You’re…”
“Graduating. Yeah, finally.” She patted her Familiar on the head. “I can’t wait, honestly. It’s been a long four years.”
And they were just letting her leave, as a free woman. It was the strangest feeling to see someone actuallyleave here, when so many didn’t.
A question crossed my mind. “What are you in here for anyway, Lupe?”
She snorted. “A bunch of petty bullshit. Getting into too many fights and destroying public property. I hung around the wrong people, mostly. My record had one too many hits, so the Elders got tired of it and sent me here.”
It wasn’t so different from my own story. “You must’ve had it rough.”
“It was okay. My mom did her best, and my stepdad was great, but I never got over growing up without my biological father. If he hadn’t died, I never would’ve come here in the first place.”
“Your dad passed away?” My heart dropped.
“Yeah. My dad died in the Hawkei Civil War. He used to be a professor at Orenda Academy, before everything went down back then. Mauricio Lopez was his name. And that’s about all I know about him.”
I vaguely recognized the moniker. My dad had told me he’d had him as a teacher, a long time ago for his Hawkei Legends class. “I’m sorry you lost him.”
“Don’t be. I never knew him— he’d had me the year before the war started, and died soon after.” She scowled. “But it made me so angry he wasn’t here, when he should be.”
Lupe’s shoulders relaxed, and she smiled… which was so strange to see, because she wasn’t the kind of person that did so, hardly ever. “But it doesn’t have to affect me anymore. Once I walk out those doors, I can finally put the past behind me.”
“Do you think being here helped you?”
“Oh, yeah. I know everyone thinks this place is a shithole, and it is. But without the Institute, I’d be dead. I’m sure of that.”
She looked toward the barred windows. “But at least now, I have a future.”
I looked down at my lap. “That future seems so far away, for me.”
“You want some advice? The time served here is long, but it’s not as long as it seems. Nothing’s more important than focusing on your life after you get out of here, and whatyouwant to do. I know we all got friends here, and responsibilities we can’t avoid. But your dreams are important, too, probably the most important thing. Don’t let anybody take them.”
Lupe walked off, cap and gown in hand. Her Familiar bounced beside her, and I watched them go with a sort of reverence. She’d gotten therapy, found friends who cared, and earned a degree. Now, she was free.
I knew a lot of programs for troubled kids were abusive and full of problems. Kids left more traumatized than they’d come in. At the same time, there was a need for rehabilitation programs for people who needed a little extra help to get on the right path.
I wished the Institute could be better, because everyone within its gates needed it to be. It really could be a wonderful school, if it wasn’t darkened by the terror that went on behind closed doors by the guards, some of the teachers, and the Warden himself. It didn’t have to be a place where bad kids went to be punished. It could be a space where hurting kids went to heal.
I craved to grace that graduation stage and feel proud of my accomplishments. I hadn’t gotten to walk at my high school graduation, and I wanted to make up for that. I wanted my parents to cheer and cry as I received my diploma. I wanted to have a graduation party, and celebrate with my friends.
We could all do it. Charlie and I could graduate. We could get jobs, buy our cottage, maybe even have cute little babies. We could live anormal life. The Institute didn’t have to be the end, as much as it felt like it was.
I was completely enraptured by this vision by the time I rolled into the Arts & Crafts room. Marcus gathered the supplies we needed for our group project with Kallie, while Charlie wrestled around on the floor with Oberi. Professor Celosia was busy teaching a group of girls in the corner how to make clay sculptures, so she wasn’t paying attention to us.
Beside the table was a painting that Marcus had finished yesterday. It looked like his home, Octavia Falls, in wintertime. Snow dusted the streets and lined the limbs of barren trees. A soft light glowed from shopfronts, and cats were littered throughout the scene. It appeared so peaceful, and the lighting of the painting changed color when you looked at it from a different angle.
“You’re so talented, Marcus.” I sighed as I observed the painting. “It’s like you’re actually there.”
“Thanks. It’s a textured painting. I’ve never done one before,” Marcus explained. “I actually heard about this exhibit where they have paintings that blind people can experience, so they can enjoy them just like sighted people can. You use a special kind of paint that gives depth and texture to the canvas, so when blind people touch them, they can actually make out the details of the scene.”
“Really?” Charlie perked up.
“Yeah. I thought that it was really sad you couldn’t enjoy art like the rest of us can, so I decided to make one for you,” Marcus said. “Come and see.”
Charlie got up from the floor, and Marcus placed his hand on the canvas. Charlie lit right up when he began to experience the painting. His fingers moved over the different textures, ridges and raised lines. “Wow. This is… I can’t even describe it. It’s… incredible.”
“What’s it like?” I asked in interest.
