Chapter 3: School is the other prison

        Anna looked up at the tall, corporate-looking building; Dong Hwa Elementary School. The barbed gates looked angrily at her, their faces full of hatred. Even the walls of her school hated her. Everywhere she went, she felt somebody talking behind her back, even though she knew it was true.

          She could even smell the rancour oozing out of the lockers.

        The teachers hate her too. They didn’t care about her welfare the least. They would teach the classes with the strictest of personalities and get their pay. All of the teachers were hired because of their belief that ‘discipline is a very important key in getting the best grades in the country’. Even if she worked hard, the teachers would always grade her down because ‘her disruptive behavior has pulled her down’. So she learnt her lesson and never tried very hard in class. It was time wasting and she preferred to plan her escape.

            Grey was the school’s favorite color. If the teachers saw anything other than grey, they would confiscate it. Red because it symbolizes anger and love (And fraternization is strictly prohibited), orange and yellow of urine, green of envy, blue because mosquitos are attracted to it, purple and black of emo people, gothic and rebellious ways. But white was just fine. White resembled ‘neat’ and neat was what Dong Hwa Elementary aimed for.

          Everyday from Monday to Friday at ten to eight in the morning, the assembly will start. Everything in straight lines and occasionally, students pulled onto the stage because their hair was a little out of place, or their nametags pinned slovenly. Anna was always called up on stage, and if not, it was because the discipline mistresses were out sick.