(Layra)

  I get so angry I can feel my face turning red. I try to look at him with a smile and thank him, but my frown won't fade. I don’t laugh at traitors; I don’t laugh at people who easily "eat humans."

  He looks at me with a smile I wish I could wipe off his face with a punch from the bottom of my heart. Suddenly, his gaze goes blank, and he asks, "Are you okay?"

  I am so consumed by rage that I can no longer control myself. I say, "Am I okay? No! Do you know why?" I whisper the rest: "Because I decided not to eat humans."

  Then I grab him by the collar and repeat loudly, "Because I decided not to eat humans!"

  He stares at me with a bewildered look, as if he knows nothing. In a dazed and confused state, he stammers, "I... I don’t understand what you mean..."

  Nora whispers in my ear, "Let him go! What are you doing?" But I don’t answer. I glance at the librarian. Maybe he’s realized that I know their secret. I grab Elai by the collar and Nora by the wrist, dragging them both.

  Elai protests, "Hey, I can walk on my own... There’s no need to—" I quickly yank his collar to shut him up. I find the empty music classroom, pull the three of us inside, and lock the door.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I release Elai’s collar. Leaning close to his face, I snarl, "You filthy traitor! You lowly cannibal! You act like you know nothing. Scum!"

  Nora pulls me back by the shoulder. "Hey, hey! What are you doing to him?!"

  I shout with a savage voice, "Why don’t you understand? The school turns children into food and makes us eat it!" Then I glare at Elai, who’s still pressed against the wall. "And that bastard knows, yet he still eats that cursed food!"

  Elai exclaims, "Me?! I don’t understand... The school, I mean—"

  I’ve calmed a little, but fury still burns inside me. "You’re really good at acting. But you’re also messing up and giving yourself away."

  With the same bewildered look he’s held for minutes, he says, "So I told you the school turns kids into food? Does that even make sense to you?"

  I let out a loud, hollow laugh. "Oh, God! Elai, you’re such an idiot. You said, 'I’ve seen things with my own eyes that you can’t even imagine.' That explains everything!"

  He gives a crooked, knowing smile. "My God... You really think I eat humans?"

  I stare straight into his eyes. "We all eat humans."

  Nora laughs mockingly. "Layra, you’ve lost your mind. We were all sent here from across the state to study, not to be eaten. You must not have slept well last night."

  I lower my head. I need to think. How can I prove it? They won’t believe until they see. I don’t want my nightmare to become theirs, but I can’t let them eat humans... or be eaten.

  Finally, I look up and say with determination, "Do you really want to see? Do you need to see it to believe?"

  Nora and Elai stare at me, motionless.

  "Fine," I say. "Then I’ll show you."