Arabella's P.O.V

　　"Girls up! Breakfast will be served in eighteen minutes. Move now!" The matron screamed, almost shattering my ear drums in the process.

　　All the girl jumped out their beds creating a systematic thudding sound, whilst I simply groaned and grabbed my pillow to cover my ears. I needed more sleep.

　　A person needs an average of nine hours of sleep, whereas I need about 14. I'll take a nap whenever I can.

　　"Ari come on. You're gonna get in trouble again." Lilia whispered into my ear, whilst frantically shaking me like a mad woman.

　　Lilia's always been a stickler for rules and punctuality. Me being late automatically puts our dorm on the radar, and Lilia will do anything to stay unnoticed.

　　I should too. I should be trying to stay as low as I can but I'm not one for authority. I make my own rules.

　　Not by choice, it's just in my DNA I guess. I get it from my mother. One of the only things I know about her was that she hated rules and even tried to escape multiple times, causing her untimely death.

　　I protested when Lilia resorted to pulling on my arm as a form of getting me up. Eventually she managed to pull me into a seated position and then she grabbed the spray bottle hidden under my bed and started to squirt me with it.

　　I coughed and sputtered as the water hit me with such a force that I had no choice but to open my eyes and wake up. I glared at her, whilst she giggled.

　　This was our daily morning. It was also the only form of fun we ever have. Each of the girls in our dorm have hidden spray bottles underneath their bunks, that we've collected over the years.

　　They're old bottles that were once filled with cleaning products, but now we use them as a tool to cool us down in summer, do our hair or even in water fights.

　　There are six of us in total, meaning three bunk beds placed around the small box room. We have a bathroom connected to the room that barely fits two people in so timing is key.

　　When we were seven and all fully able to speak, read, write and organise, we devised a timetable which made sure that everyone gets the same amount of bathroom time. Right now we're on minute four, meaning that it's Rachel's first minute in the bathroom.

　　The girls know I'm the slowest at getting out of bed so I have the last three minutes, which I'm perfectly content with.

　　"Here," Lilia muttered, throwing me my blue dress, whilst she slipped hers on.

　　Lilia's my best friend and the closet thing I have to a family.

　　We've been bunk mates since we were four years old. We do everything together, well mostly everything, it's not like I'm gonna let her watch me pee.

　　She's my partner, meaning that, we clean, study, socialise and eat together. We only really need each other.

　　Don't get me wrong, the other girls in our dorm our my friends too but I don't love them like I love Lilia.

　　"Lilia, minute twelve." Yasmin calls out, sending Lilia into a frenzy. She quickly folds her clothes, throws on her slippers, grabs her comb and brush and rushes into the bathroom.

　　I take off my shirt, exposing my bare breasts, but no-one really cares. Nudity isn't really a problem when you've been sharing a room and bathroom with five other girls your whole life.

　　I fasten the clasp of my plain nude coloured bra and then pull the blue dress over my head. I put on my black slip on shoes and then started tugging a comb through my tangled hair. I grab my half a crescent shaped necklace, the only thing I've got left of mother, and quickly do the clasp.

　　"Minute 15." Carly calls out and I grab my toiletries, high fiving Lilia as we pass each other on the way. We have a running joke amongst the girls that the Matron does this in order to improve our tag team abilities.

　　My stuff falls out of my arms onto the sink and I rummage through the mess until I find my brush and toothpaste. I squirt a tiny bit on, as we only get one tube a year, and then frantically brush my teeth.

　　I quickly do my stuff and then look into the mirro for one last check.

　　My tanned skin is clear, thank god I got over those teenage acne years, and my long raven locks are placed into a tight plait that's slung over my shoulder.

　　I'd like to think I'm pretty, I'm mean definitely not the most beautiful, some of the girls here are gorgeous. For example, I would kill for Lilia's golden curls or Carly's full lips.

　　With my straight small nose, sharp jawline and naturally rosy lips, it's enough to make heads turn, which is great considering the whole point of this place. What really makes me stand out however, are my eyes. They're a very dark shade of cerulean blue with hues of green swirling inside them.

　　The Matron says that they'll be the thing to get me bought. Confused, I'll explain.

　　You see around three hundred years ago, the world went to shit. I'm talking nuclear wars, atomic bombs, complete and utter destruction and loss.

　　Once all the death and war stopped there were only 6 remaining humans alive. They hid in caves at the top of Mount Everest to avoid the chaos and practiced witchcraft using ancient drawings and scribes found on the walls.

　　Yes, magic is a thing but unfortunately only people who live in the kingdom or very remote parts of the sectors practice. I've personally never seen magic performed up close, although the prospect of it is very appealing to me.

　　They began to repopulate the Earth, using a special fertility spell only they know to this very day.

　　As the human population grew, they knew they needed to re-establish control and order. They believed that democracy was the cause for the end and therefore introduced monarchy back into society.

　　The oldest and most powerful, gave one continent to each of the remaining humans to rule and watch over. The Kingdom of Dahlia, which is where I unfortunately live, I believe used to be a place called America.

　　The oldest ruled over Dahlia with an iron first to ensure the past didn't repeat itself and he spilt Dahlia into six sectors, not including the main Kingdom.

　　However as the human population grew over time, new traditions, ideas and rules came into place.

　　The biggest one of all, woman are less. Yes, society has reverted back into their old sexist ways, at least here. Women are viewed as nothing and are seen to only have two purposes in life: produces babies and give pleasure.

　　That's what the whole point of this sick 'academy' I live in. We're taught how to be the perfect domesticated housewife.

　　We're taught all about cleaning, sex and childcare but we also learn the regular things you would have learnt three hundred years ago. Maths, English, history, geography, science etc.

　　They don't want us to be stupid, I mean after who wants to have a dumb wife. The smarter, prettier and more fertile you are, the more you're worth on auction day.

　　Auction day is the day that all girls dread. Once every girl on your floor is 18 you're taken away to the auction house, where you're tested, stripped, and graded out of ten.

　　No-one ever gets a ten, since no-one's perfect and the whole thing is disgusting. Once we're graded, we get put on display like show dogs for two weeks.

　　That two week period is the only period of the year, in which males can buy themselves a wife. It's complete and utter chaos but as crazy as it sounds, you're actually considered lucky if you're bought.

　　The other girls who aren't are shipped off to labs, where they get impregnated by in- vitro and kept there until they give birth. The scientists try and get as many children as they can out the women, before they 'dispose' of them.

　　If you give birth to a girl they are taken away to the academy and if you give birth to a boy they are taken away to be raised and trained to be a worker.

　　Either way, you don't get to raise your child.

　　The academy houses girls of every age and has a floor for each. Since I'm 18, I live on the top floor.

　　Once the last girl turns 18, we'll be shipped out and the girls below us will move up here, then those living below them will move up to their floor etc.

　　It's a continuous cycle of misery that will never end.

　　This whole process occurs in every one of the six sectors, the seventh sector is the main kingdom where the royals and those born of high nobility live. In other words, the snobs.

　　My mother was subject 1875, whilst my father was test tube 45. God knows how many half siblings I've got running around but I'll never know. None of us will.

　　It's forbidden to talk about our parents, I'm one of the only people who knows the fate of their mother and has something to remember her by. For as long as I can remember, I've always worn this necklace and I'll continue to wear it until the day I die.

　　As I said before she was a rule breaker and the Matron never lets me forget it. Apparently her constant disobedience was the cause of her fate. She would have been bought at the highest price it wasn't for her mouth. I'm the same, but I know I how to control myself.

　　I will not spend my life being a human incubator. I want something better, something more.