The room was more like a prison. There were no walls to separate the bedroom and the bathroom. 

The whole floor was laid out in small square tiles usually found in bathrooms of older homes. 

In the corner of her room was a small hole dug out in front of the limp green hose. Next to the hose was a small porcelain toilet. 

"I can't believe that's the bathroom." Claire cringed in disgust. Though the room looked clean at first glance, if she looked at the walls carefully, there were signs of mildew and mould growing in the four corners of the room. 

On the small table, Claire spotted a brown hand mirror. 

The hand mirror was splintered like spiderwebs, and a layer of grime was tattooed over the surface. Still, it was able to get the job done for Claire to see the face of the body she had inhabited. 

Upon seeing the girl's face, Claire almost hurled the mirror across the wall. 

Her lips were dried, cracked along her bottom lip. Also, there was light bruising around her eyes. If it weren't for Claire's own expressive eyes shining in the girl's eyes, she was sure that this was a girl who had given up on life. 

Nothing of this body resembled Claire's old body. 

At least, it didn't resemble her adult body.  

She stared at her unusual pink eyes. There was no way those were coloured contact lenses. Claire was tempted to poke her eyes to check but decided that that was foolish. 

Sighing, she carefully placed the hand mirror back on the table. 

Again, her bangs fell across her face. God, it was annoying having her bangs cover half her eyes every time she moved!

Opening one drawer at a time, she noted that this girl had no personal possession to speak of. There were no pictures or diaries for Claire to gather pertinent information about this world and the previous owner of this body. The only information Claire had were flashes of memories the body seemed to shove into her mind on a need-to-know basis. 

"Ah-ha!" Claire opened the last drawer, finding nothing but a thin mustard-coloured rubber band. 

Pulling her hair and bangs back, she tied it in a high ponytail. 

The bruising around her eyes faded to light yellow-green. It was still unpleasant to look at, but it was better than obscuring her vision. She wasn't used to walking around with long bangs in front of her eyes anymore.

Her body automatically walked towards the thin rectangular wardrobe. 

In the wardrobe, there were three hangers, with one hanger being empty. One of those clothes was a plain white sleeveless dress with the number 007869 embroidered along the curve of the collar in black thread. 

The other outfit was what her hands naturally grabbed for. 

"I guess this is the clothes you want me to wear," Claire mumbled. 

It was strange having her body move on its own accord, as if Claire was watching a cut screen of a game. It wasn't unpleasant by any means. On the contrary, it was helpful that her body knew what to do and where to go. If not for that, she would've been stuck in this room or died in a ditch somewhere from wandering around to places she shouldn't have entered. 

She quickly changed into the new outfit and sighed wearily. 

"Seriously, what is with these shitty outfits!" Claire groaned as she looked over her clothes in dismay. 

The clothes could hardly be called clothes. A strip of yellow cloth covered just enough of her nipples. It was a tight fit, and Claire felt self-conscious that her boobs would spill out any second now. From the breast band, three silver chains hugged her middle. 

These chains were the only thing that held her pathetic excuse of a skirt from falling to the floor. 

The skirt was short. So short that the bottom of her ass was hanging out. 

A slight breeze, no, walking was enough to reveal her whole vagina to the world. 

Did this girl not have any underwear? 

Her eyes trailed down to the bottom of the dresser, and three neatly folded underwear presented themselves. 

"Thank God." Claire picked the light pink low-cut underwear and sighed in relief that she didn't have to walk around exposing the stranger's intimate parts everywhere. 

Though Claire still had many questions, she knew the only way to get any answers was to seek them out. 

She took in a deep calming breath. Then, with renewed vigour, she walked out of #007869's room. 

 

◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈

 

She was thankful that her body went on autopilot and directed her to the main foyer. 

The foyer was filled with girls of varying sizes and different coloured hair. However, they all wore the same outfit as Claire. 

Her eyes widened when she realized she was the only one who had the sense to wear underwear for this outfit. 

She hoped this wouldn't draw any attention. 

"Oh my," a shrill voice punctured Claire's ear. "Do you girls smell something rancid?"

Claire wanted to groan. It looks like she had spoken too soon. 

Another batch of memories resurfaced and played in front of Claire's eyes. 

The owner of the annoying voice was named 009675. 

A slight smirk touched Claire's lips. The two cronies 009675 clung to were not worth remembering to this body. 

The bully had shoulder-length thick dark green hair that curled at the end. She had sharp pink eyes, the same shade as Claire's eyes. 

That bitch made 007869's life miserable for the last five years. Because of her, 007869 was on Mistress Dread's shit list. 

She was also the main culprit of why 007869 often went to sleep hungry, as the bitch had tampered with her food far too many times to count. 

Claire's mood darkened as a memory flashed before her. There was a time when the bitch had dosed the food with poison, and 007869 was out of commission for a month! The poor girl was in the infirmary, vomiting and crying for help in the empty room for days. 

The worst part of it all? No one believed 007869 despite the clear evidence that she was poisoned. 

In the end, 007869 realized that her truth didn't matter, that she didn't matter.

The girl's feelings of loneliness and fear echoed and resonated within Claire before they dissipated. 

This body may be nineteen years old, but Claire's mind was seven years older. She had dealt with her fair share of bullies during her youth. Though something told her that punching the bitch's face would earn her something more severe than an expulsion. 

The hand clawed at Claire's shirt, or breast band, and pulled. 

It was no surprise her breast spilled out. 

"I'm talking to you, trash," the bully snarled. 

The two cronies chuckled, barely making any effort to conceal their amusement. 

Claire assessed the room. Some girls talked amongst themselves, oblivious to their surroundings, and some stared blankly at the giant ornate door up ahead. Barely anyone gave two shits about what was going on. 

So, it's like that, huh? Claire smirked. 

In response, Claire pulled at the bully's band and snapped the band back. 

"Kya!" The bully let go of Claire's top and rubbed the faint red mark across her bare breast. "What the hell is wrong with you?" 

"I could ask you the same thing. Leave me alone," Claire said with an even tone. 

The bully's eyes widened. Her cheeks coloured red, and her eyes turned glossy. "H-h-how dare you say that to me? I'm your better. I'm your-"

The girl in front of her was positively throwing a tantrum.

"Shut up. I don't care. Go away while I'm still being nice, bitch." 

"Y-y-y-you!" The bully pointed her fingers at Claire, and the tip of her fingers trembled. "W-who do you think you are?" 

Claire stepped forward until their chest touched. 

The bully pushed back, wrestling for dominance.

There was one thing she had always hated. Why did people bully the weak? The weak did nothing wrong. So, why did being quiet and meek award them with nothing but pain? 

Claire's body trembled. The two feelings battled, one of fear and one of resentment. 

In the end, Claire's true feelings consumed the smouldering weak fear. After all, this body's original owner also wanted to stand up to her long-time bully. 

"I had a real shitty morning, so piss off." Her voice was barely above a whisper. 

"Y-you!" The bully eye's sharpened, and her hand raised to strike Claire across the face. 

Casually, Claire blocked the slap. She squeezed the girl's cheeks with her other hand, forcing their lips to pucker up like an octopus. 

The bully strained from Claire's grasp. 

See, 007869? The bully you fear is just a pathetic little girl. Claire raised a brow. "You talk way too damn much."

"7869! 7869!" A voice called out, but Claire paid them no mind. 

Staring into the bully's eyes, the bully looked away with tears lining their eyes. 

Once I leave this body, I hope the owner of this body remembers this. 

"Don't talk to me. Don't approach me. Don't even look at me. Do I make myself-"

"7869!" Someone grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her off the bully. 

The bully wiped her lips and took several steps back. "You-you're crazy! As if I want you anywhere near me!" 

Like a dog with its tails between its legs, the bully and her cronies pushed through the crowd and left. 

"Y-you shouldn't get into a fight. It-it's wrong." The same soft voice hugged Claire's arm to their chest. 

The girl had mint-coloured hair braided into two pigtails. She wore large circular glasses and had doe-like pink eyes. She, too, wore the same outfit as everyone else. 

"005490," Claire mumbled. 

Finally, a friend! Well, more like this body's friend. 

005490 furrowed her brows together. "W-what did you do to my friend?"