The Curse of Betrayal (32 page)

“Hello?”
 

“Where’s Aribelle?” I need to know. I’m not playing games or beating around the bush. I just want to know where the hell my daughter is and what happened to her. I probably look like a mad woman but I’m through caring.

“What the hell? Ryder? What are you talking about?”

“Where is my daughter?”
 

“Maybe I should come down for this conversation. Calm down, Ryder.”

“Ollie! Quit stalling, where the hell is she?” I ask him.

“She’s dead, Ryder. She never made it.”

I don’t hear the rest of the conversation. The phone falls from my hands to the floor, and I collapse, landing half on the couch, half on the ground.
 

Luckily, Professor Onassis grabs the phone on the floor and finishes talking to Ollie. I tune her out, so I have no idea what they say. All I know is a daughter who I never met is dead, but worst of all, I didn’t even know she existed in the first place.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

curing the numbness

It’s Friday. One day since I found out I had a daughter. One day since I found out she was Ollie’s. And one day since I found out she was dead. I don’t remember much from last night other than Professor Onassis bringing me to her private house on campus. Nurses poked and prodded me all night as I tried to sleep. They said I was in shock.

I expect this by now. I can never be allowed happiness.

I remember only random moments after that. Bits and pieces stay ingrained in my mind, while others, probably on purpose, are blank. I remember Onassis dragging me around, bringing me from room to room. I remember lying in bed and having people stare at me, question me. I heard Professor Onassis tell people I had a bad vision, and oddly, it assures me that I can trust her, since she never elaborated further.
 

I was released to my own dorm that night, where Kara was waiting, mascara run down her face in dark streams. I could barely look at her, because I knew it was my fault she was somber—just like it was my fault she was attacked. But I guess the selfish part of me was glad that she was upset, too.
 

We cried, holding each other, for a long time. Ari came by, but I think it was awkward between us. To be honest, I hardly remember him other than his red stained eyes, which I could hardly look into since once again, I made them that way.

Ollie came next and that was much worse. I remember it well. He tried to console me and tell me how sorry he was, but it just broke me. I thrashed about, mid-mental breakdown until the nurses came in to remove the problem. He left willingly. Then they gave me medicine to numb me—I tried to tell them that I was already numb. But nobody listens to the crazy girl.

Around midnight, after the nightmares infected my sleep to a point where I was scared to shut my eyes, a nurse came by and gave me some pills. She left me a full bottle on the nightstand and instructed me to bring it with me for the field trip. I took the pill and then almost immediately felt better. It removed the pain and made me forget, if just for a moment, that I was so sad.

February 24
^th

Hey Ryder,

Just checking in with you. I never got a response to my email. I hope it didn’t upset you or anything.
 

I got an email from the school about your field trip. Be safe. I mean it. I hope you make wonderful memories and have a great time. Email me back so I know you’re alive!

Love you

Daddy

Sent from my iPhone

With no emotion, I sit on my bed, watching Kara get ready for our big day. It sucks because I don’t want to go on this trip at all, but I feel like I have to for my friends—plus it’s mandatory, so they say I don’t have a choice. I’m packed—thanks to Megan’s help; I’m ready—thanks to Lisa; and feel a fraction better—thanks to my magic pills.

“You ready, girl?” Kara breaks me out of my trance, which feels like a constant state of mind now.

“As I’ll ever be.” I slide off the bed and bend down to get my duffle bag filled with sweatshirts, long underwear, and boots. I have to admit, Megan packed me well, and I can tell because the sound of candy wrappers crinkles in my bag. Inwardly, I smile, thanking her for being such a good friend even when I’m losing my mind.
 

Kara and I walk out of the dorm together and meet Lisa, who’s waiting outside with her two pink, rolling suitcases. I have to roll my eyes at that—she would have suitcases that look like Paris Hilton’s and wear boots with heels to the middle of the woods. When we all get to the admin building, three large coach buses line up beside the curb, ready to cart us to our weekend getaway.
 

“There’s Megan.” Lisa leads us to the middle bus where Megan stands, rocking on her heels, looking nervous as hell. When she sees the trio of us walking towards her, she perks up and smiles.
 

“Hey!” she calls out enthusiastically coming to my side first.
 

“Ride together?” Lisa looks over and asks her. Megan nods back before focusing her attention back on me. I wish for once she would just stand up for herself. Maybe I wanted to sit with her or something. But whatever. I don’t care enough to make a scene.
 

We hop in the second bus of the lineup and shove our bags into the overhead compartments. Lisa takes up her whole area so Megan has to shove hers under her seat—but it ends up taking up most of the aisle. It’s not even close to fitting, and I can just imagine someone tripping over it later. For some reason, this gives me a little spark of humor.

After claiming the aisle seat, Kara scoots in and sets up her seat in our row—iPod, headphones, bottle of water, and a bagel, all laid out on her lap in an organized fashion. I set myself up with my own music, plugging my headphones into my ears. I turn it up to a thundering level so I can’t hear anything else and lean back in my seat, relishing in the deep screams telling me how much life sucks.
 

The bus driver gets on the overhead speaker and lets us know that we are watching Ratatouille on the way to the cabins, and I pout. Not because of the movie choice but because I can
still
hear everyone. My plans of drowning out my peers in music have been compromised. The others mimic my whines, groaning that the movie is for you kids, but the driver ignores them, putting the disk into the hidden player somewhere up front. Once the announcement is over, Ari and Magdelina get on the bus last and sit in the first row—together.
 

Because of everything that’s happened lately, I want to attack. Kara has to hold me down from going up there and erupting. “Relax. He’s yours.” She cools me down, but her words still annoy me.
 

He’s not mine. But I just nod and slink into my rigid cloth seat, seething over the fact that she gets to sit with him—even after every conniving thing she’s done. The dream where he dissed her floats into my mind, and once again, I feel sorry for Magdelina because Ari doesn’t love her. Yet she still grovels at his feet desperately like a pathetic wench.
 

The first fifteen minutes of driving go quickly, and the movie begins. Nobody really pays attention to it, though. Instead of watching, Lisa starts up a game of
sweet and sour
. The interesting this about the bus is that the windows aren’t tinted, so the other drivers on the road have a crystal clear view of us.

The point of
sweet and sour
is to do something stupid or funny and guess what reaction the driver beside you will give. Mikey volunteers to go first. He leans up against the window and then pulls his pants and underwear down so the driver next to us gets a full moon of Mikey’s hairy, bare ass.

The man driving frowns and raises his middle finger, making everyone else laugh, but not me. Hating that I can’t even enjoy a fun game, I reach into my bag and down another happy pill. I shut my eyes and wait for the magic effects to take over. A few minutes and some sour responses later, I feel lighter.

Kara’s next up to go. She leans over me, and right as a guy pulls up next to us in his little Honda, she pulls up her shirt and flashes the guy. He honks the horn and gives her a thumbs up—sweet. He tries to stay in line with us, probably hoping for some more boobs, but traffic gets in the way and we lose him.
 

I laugh so noisily that I almost tear up. My laugh sounds normal and bubbly, which is surprising to my ears. It’s my turn next, so I try to come up with a really clever idea. I remember the candy Megan packed in my bag, so I quickly reach up and grab the bag of Twizzlers from my duffle in the compartment above.

I grab eight red strands and settle them on my lap so I can get started. When we pull up to a girl driving next to us, I know this is the perfect chance. I put one Twizzler up each nostril, one Twizzler in each ear and four hanging out of my mouth. I look ridiculous, but if I get a good reaction, I know I’ll be the best and maybe even the funniest without having to flash a body part.

I start making a crazy face in the window. The girl looks up at me when I shake my hands in the air to get her attention. She looks horrified as she tries to decipher what’s coming out of my face. She blinks over and over to make sure she’s seeing correctly, while glancing from me to the road. I start laughing hysterically, blowing my cover.
 

Collapsing back on my seat, I pull the Twizzlers out and toss them onto the floor, not wanting to eat them by mistake. Everyone starts cheering and high five-ing the air towards me.
 

“That was hysterical!” Kara snorts.

“Perfect.” Mikey slaps me on the back from his seat behind me. He laughs and a couple other guys chime in. I glance to the front of the bus and see Ari smirking at me. I can’t help but blush at how juvenile I must look. Lisa chimes in, breaking my stare with Ari, chatting about what she’s going to do for the next car.
 

Lisa has to lean onto my seat to get a good look for a car since the bus is in the slow lane. She furrows her brows and looks hard at a big truck. Her hand moves forward and the truck beside us starts moving side to side on the road.

I get a bad feeling in my stomach, like this isn’t such a good idea anymore. She’s playing with the truck, but just one wrong move and it will flip. She moves him back and forth, using the air to control its movements.

She finishes, placing the car back in the right direction, and she gets some good feedback from some kids in the back of the bus. I think she didn’t really do it for the game, since the truck driver had no idea why he was moving between lanes—more to show off her powers to everyone.
 

Mikey decides to go next, again. He ends up goating the car—pulling his pants down and shoving his balls against the window. The reaction was the most sour I think I have ever seen. The woman in the car actually slowed down and changed lanes to get out of view of the disturbing window. I practically pee my pants while laughing so boisterously.
 

“That’s it!” Professor Nike, walks down the aisle towards us. “Game over,” he calls out, looking at just us in the middle of the bus. I cower in my seat, his voice so commanding. My laugh is instantly halted.

“Come on, Professor. It was fun!” Mikey groans, tucking his package back into his pants.

“Find a book or something to read. Or maybe try doing some homework,” Nike glares at Mikey, but in a lighthearted way. I know they’re close because of the soccer team. But he’s still a teacher, and I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side.

“Fine,” Mikey gives in, sitting back in his chair in defeat.

After that un-topable turn and Professor Nike’s intervention, the game ends so most of us do our own things to pass time. I get bored listening to music, so Kara and I grab the cards Megan packed and start playing Egyptian Rat Screw. It’s hard since the cards slip and slide with each turn, but it kills a good amount of time.
 

My pill wears off way too quickly, so I plug my headphones in again, trying to tune out my feelings and forget for a little bit. I end up falling asleep until about an hour later when Kara nudges me awake.
 

“We’re here.” She leans over me and stares out the large bus window. We pull up into the middle of nowhere. Literally all there is is openness and dark woods.
 

Once we pass through the camp gates, I stare out at the sprawling estate. There’s woods and fields as far as I can see. Down the drive, there are ten cabins near the edge of the woods and a large building smack dab in the middle of the field.
 

The building looks like a huge ski loft with wooden walls and an evergreen roof. An awning with tall columns greets us near the entrance where it meets with the dirt road. The buses pull up to the front of the main building, and everyone piles out, stumbling over each other and their bags to get off the hot bus as fast as possible.
 

I quickly grab my duffle bag, take Kara’s outstretched hand, and run off the bus so we don’t get lost in the tumble of things. All of us students huddle together outside, waiting for instructions of what to do next. The sun is setting—although it’s still early. It’s freezing out, so we try to get warm by using each other’s body heat.

Magdelina is announced as my group’s leader. I’m livid, but I refuse to let her ruin the trip. Instead, I plaster on a happy face and start to follow Kara to our cabin.

But before we get far, I’m summoned from behind. “Eury,” the familiar deep voice calls out. Kara gives me a reassuring look and nods for me to wait up for him.

“Hey,” Ari says when he stops in front of me.

“What’s up?” I ask as I hike my heavy bag over my shoulder. My response is clipped, and I instantly feel bad for my poor attitude. I can’t help it, though.

“I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” I look up, trying to gauge why he’s asking, but his expression takes me off guard. He looks nervous, like he’s treading on thin ice around me.

“I’m fine,” I tell him—the same thing I’ve told everyone since my vision occurred.