Chapter Twelve
569 Words
Mina woke with a start.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The dormitory, which had been completely silent only moments before, suddenly came alive.
Girls were climbing down from their bunk beds, opening trunks, folding blankets, and moving around with surprising speed.
Still half asleep, Mina sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“What time is it?” she wondered.
She didn’t have a watch.
All she knew was that everyone seemed to be in a hurry.
She quickly climbed down from her bed and looked around, trying to copy what everyone else was doing.
No one looked confused.
No one looked sleepy.
It was as if they had done this a hundred times before.
Later, Mina would learn that it was four o’clock in the morning.
Students weren’t allowed to enter the bathrooms until 4:10 a.m., so the ten minutes before then were never wasted.
Some girls neatly folded their mosquito nets.
Others stretched their bedsheets until every corner was perfectly smooth.
Many had already laid out the uniforms they planned to wear after bathing.
Trying not to look lost, Mina did the same.
She straightened her bed as best as she could and took out her uniform.
Then everyone headed downstairs.
The Round Bathroom.
The name finally made sense.
Buckets of every colour and size were neatly arranged there.
Each student picked up her bucket before heading back upstairs to wait for the bathrooms to open.
Some students lined up for the bathrooms on the first floor.
Others continued to the second floor.
Since Mina’s dormitory was on the first floor, she followed the girls heading there.
She still wasn’t sure if she was doing everything correctly.
Every few seconds she looked around, quietly copying whoever was closest to her.
When the bathrooms finally opened, another surprise was waiting.
Three students shared one bathing cubicle.
Mina froze for a second.
She had never bathed like that before.
The first-floor bathroom had eleven bathing cubicles and ten toilet cubicles, and before long, every space was busy.
Everyone seemed completely used to it.
Only Mina felt awkward.
She tried to keep out of everyone’s way, moving as quickly as she could while secretly hoping she wasn’t slowing anyone down.
Eventually, she finished.
Relieved, she picked up her things and hurried back toward the dormitory.
Just as she reached the entrance, a loud voice echoed down the corridor.
“Ten!”
Mina looked around in confusion.
“Nine!”
Another voice joined in.
“Eight!”
Girls who were still inside the dormitory suddenly began moving even faster.
“What was happening?”
“Seven!”
Realization hit.
Someone was counting down.
She rushed inside, trying to put on her uniform as quickly as she could.
Her fingers fumbled with the buttons.
She slipped her feet into her sandals.
“Three!”
She grabbed her brush but didn’t have time to use it.
“Two!”
She tried to buckle her sandals, but her hands wouldn’t cooperate.
“One!”
Mina hurried out of the dormitory just before the countdown ended.
She let out a quiet breath.
She had made it.
Barely.
Her sandals were still unbuckled.
Her hair hadn’t been brushed.
But at least…
She hadn’t been the last one out.
As the girls hurried toward the morning assembly, Mina realized something.
At Jersoy, every minute mattered.
And if she wanted to survive here…
She would have to learn to keep up.
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