Imprisoned (10 page)

“Okay. Between my job and yesterday’s workout, I’m pretty sore though.”

He smiled. “You’ll get used to it.” He took his textbook out of his backpack, then looked at me. “So, has Beth given you any more trouble?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, yes.”

“What happened?”

I decided not to mention the mess she’d left in the bathroom. After all, I wasn’t certain it had been her doing, though I suspected it was. Instead, I told him about the confrontation I’d had with her in my last class.

He laughed softly and nodded. “I wish I could have seen that.”

“What do you think she’ll do to me?”

He chewed on his lower lip. “I don’t know, but let me put it this way. It won’t be pleasant.”

What had I done?  I had thought Lori was bad, but it sounded like Beth was ten times worse. “What should I do?”

“Not much you can do, I’m afraid. I guess just try not to be alone with her.” He glanced around then looked back at me. “It’s always good to have a witness.”

Fear shot up my spine and I felt my face pale.

“Good afternoon, class,” a woman who was obviously the teacher said from the front of the room. “Today we’re going to talk about the periodic table. But first all arise for the pledge.”

During the lecture I found my thoughts going to Beth as I worried what she was going to do to me.

Chapter Ten

At dinner I decided to consult with my new friends. “Do any of you guys know a girl named Beth that’s on our floor?”

Piper glanced at Cassidy, then looked at me. “You mean that bully with stringy brown hair?”

I hadn’t really noticed her hair, but now that she mentioned it, it was kind of stringy. “Yeah.”

“Why? Has she been picking on you?” Piper said, then took a bit of her wheat roll.

“You could say that.”

“You should just stay out of her way,” Cassidy said.

“It’s a little late for that now, unfortunately,” I said.

Piper’s eyebrows went up. “What happened?”

I described the incident in the gym the night before, my suspicion that she had left the mess in the bathroom, and then the confrontation in class.

“Dang, Morgan. What were you thinking?” Alyx said.

I had to admit that they were right. It was stupid of me to respond to her like I had. Now I was sure I had just made things worse, but what was I supposed to do? Let her bully me? “I don’t know. But I can’t change it now.” I noticed Billy hadn’t contributed anything to the conversation. “What do you think I should do, Billy?”

“How should I know?” He took a large spoonful of soup. “My motto is, stay out of everyone’s way and they’ll stay out of mine.”

Wow, I thought. This place is a bad mix of high school and prison. The desperation I felt to get out of here went up several notches and I began to feel panicky, like if I didn’t get out of here now, today, I might not make it out of here alive.

“Look,” Alyx said. “I think you’ll be fine. Just make sure you’re never alone with her.”

“That’s the same advice Harley gave,” I said as I looked at my food. Miraculously, my appetite had diminished, but I suspected that was due more to stress than to anything else.

“Who?” Cassidy asked, her face angry.

“Harley?” I said, noticing everyone at my table staring at me.

“When did you talk to him?” Alyx asked.

“I met him in the gym last night, and today I sat with him in Science. Why?”

Alyx looked at the others before looking at me. “He’s a troublemaker. You should stay away from him.”

He had seemed perfectly nice when I had talked to him. “What did he do?”

“Look, I don’t want to get in to it. Just,” she hesitated. “Be careful what you tell him.”

“Okay.”

Everyone ate in silence after that, and my curiosity grew.

Piper finished first. “Well, I’ve got tons of homework to do. Like usual.” She stood and gathered her things.

“Me, too,” I said, standing. “Plus I’m still supposed to do my workout.”

“’Kay. See you guys,” Cassidy said as Piper and I walked away together.

“What homework do you have?” Piper asked me as we dropped off our trays and headed to the elevator to join the small crowd.

“Math and English. What about you?”

“I have homework in all my classes.”

“Well, technically so do I. But they’re not all due tomorrow.” We stood at the edge of the throng. “So what’s the deal with Harley, anyway?”

Piper glanced around, then in a whisper said, “You know that empty seat at our table?”

“Yeah.”

“Harley used to sit in it.”

“Oh.” I let this sink in.

“Come on,” Piper said as she moved toward the open elevator.

Though I was dying to know more, I had a feeling she wasn’t going to satisfy my curiosity. Well, maybe I could find out from Harley. As we rode the elevator to our floor, I actually looked forward to going to the gym.

“See you later,” Piper said to me as we each went to our rooms.

I quickly changed into my workout clothes and headed to the gym. First, I went to the office to check-in. A different girl was sitting behind the desk as I swiped my card. She ignored me and I left and went to the small room where the towels were kept. Even though it was only my second day here, I felt more confident since I’d gone through the routine once already.

No one was in the warm-up area yet and I wondered if I’d gotten there too fast. Or maybe Harley didn’t normally come at this time. I began stretching, but I was nearly done when Harley and a couple of girls joined me.

“Hi,” I said to him, smiling.

“Hey, Morgan.”

I kept stretching, even though I’d already been there for ten minutes, hoping I’d have the chance to bring up my questions in a natural way. But as long as the other girls were there, I couldn’t really ask my questions. Just as I was formulating a way to bring up the empty seat at my table, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was.

“Move it along. You’ve warmed up long enough,” Mr. Muscles said.

I really hated this guy and couldn’t understand why Alyx thought he was nice.

“See ya,” Harley said.

I went to the elliptical machine and climbed on. There wasn’t a speed control on it so there was no way for Mr. Muscles to force me to go faster than I was comfortable going. At least that’s what I thought.

After I’d been going for several minutes, he appeared next to me. “You need to step it up a notch.”

“I can go for longer if I go this speed.” I realized that was the first time I’d spoken to him.

“Doesn’t matter. You’re heart rate isn’t high enough for a productive workout.”

Productive workout? What did that even mean? Not only did I not want to do a productive workout, I didn’t want to exercise
at all
.

“Morgan, don’t make me ask you twice.”

Who did this guy think he was? And what would he do if I didn’t comply? I pretended like I hadn’t heard him and continued at the pace I was going.

He stood there, staring at me, but I ignored him and focused on the row of treadmills in front of me.

“Have it your way.” Then he turned and walked away.

The thrill of victory swept over me and I couldn’t help but smile. My joy was short-lived, however, because a few minutes later two Enforcers walked up to me.

“Hello, Morgan,” Hansen said, a malicious smile on his face.

I flashed back to forty-eight hours before when I’d shoved my knee into his groin in my attempt to escape and he had dropped to the ground. Now, seeing the look of anticipation on his face, panic flooded my veins. I was still on the elliptical machine and one Enforcer stood on either side of me. I had nowhere to go.

“You need to come with us,” he said, grinning.

I looked at the other Enforcer, whom I’d never met, but he seemed bored with the whole thing. “Where are we going?” I knew fear was plain in my voice, but I couldn’t help it. I was terrified.

“Over there.” Hansen pointed to an unoccupied treadmill.

What were they going to do? I climbed off the elliptical and tried to make eye-contact with other kids who were working out, but it was obvious no one wanted to get involved. Anyway, what were they supposed to do? Even though they liked to call us campers, we were prisoners and the Enforcers were our guards.

I walked past Mr. Muscles, who glared at me. More than anything, I wished I could pick up one of the free weights and smash it through his teeth. Anger pulsed through me, helping to displace the fear.

When we reached the treadmill, I stopped next to it.

“Get on,” Hansen said.

I glanced at him, then stepped onto the belt and faced the controls.

He reached past me and pressed the buttons to start the belt moving. “Next time Austin tells you to move faster, you move faster.”

I began to jog as the belt moved under my feet and the speed picked up.

“Now, you’re going to run on this machine for thirty minutes. No stopping or slowing down.” Hansen clearly enjoyed delivering this bit of news.

I scowled at him, but he just smiled.

“You’re here to lose some of that flab, Morgan, and whether you like it or not, we’re going to make sure you do.”

No one had ever flat-out called me fat before. Like I said, I knew I could lose a few pounds, but in my home world I was perfectly fine. Here, however, no one had a problem when people called me names, locked me up, and then
forced
me to run on a freaking treadmill for thirty minutes. What a nightmare.

“Are you going to watch me the whole time?” I panted, hating the idea of them standing there, enjoying my suffering.

“Yes. We’re going to stand here for thirty minutes to make sure you complete this disciplinary action.”

Is that what they called this bizarre form of torture? Discipline?

Then Hansen laughed.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

He sneered. “There’s just a lot of jiggling going on.”

My face was already red from exertion, but I felt the blood rush to my cheeks nonetheless. Evidently this discipline included humiliation. Well, I’d show them. I grabbed the arms of the treadmill and lifted my feet off of the belt and onto the motionless sides.

Sharp pain in my legs made me nearly collapse and I saw that Hansen and his diabolical partner had each whacked one of my bare legs with their batons.

“Keep going,” Hansen growled.

My legs stinging, I managed to get my feet back on the belt and began jogging without being thrown off the treadmill, but my hands were still holding the arms.

“No touching the treadmill,” the other Enforcer said, forcibly removing my grip on the arm.

Seeing no other option, I let go and kept jogging. My lungs began to burn and I thought I was going to throw up my dinner. Maybe I can throw up in Hansen’s face, I thought, feeling a small bit of pleasure as I imagined doing just that.

I looked at the timer on the treadmill and saw it had only been five minutes. Twenty-five minutes to go. I knew there was no way I could make it that long. Not at this pace.

Another ten minutes passed and I thought I was going to die. “Please,” I begged, my pride slipping away. “Can we slow it down a little?”

Hansen pulled a small device out of his pocket and read the display. “Nope. Your heart rate is right where it needs to be.”

His attitude angered me and I worked up enough oxygen to say, “What are you? A freaking doctor?”

He just laughed and continued watching me suffer.

When there were ten minutes left I felt my strength draining. If it were up to me I would have stopped long ago. As it was, I had no control and the only thing that kept me going was the fear of falling. The belt would throw me backward and I was certain I would smash my face into the floor.

When there were six minutes left it happened. I slipped. But they must have been ready for it because they grabbed my arms before I fell.

“Come on, Morgan. You’re almost done.”

Hansen and his partner held on to my arms to keep me from falling, but my feet were having trouble keeping up with the moving belt. The men lifted me higher, helping me get my feet under me and I succeeded in getting my balance. They released my arms and I kept going, hating them and everyone here with every fiber of my being.

At three minutes to go, Hansen gradually slowed the treadmill down, allowing me to begin catching my breath. Finally the thirty minutes were over. Placing my hands on my hips, I stood on the motionless treadmill and worked to drag oxygen into my lungs. The Enforcers were still there and I wondered what fresh hell awaited me next, but then Austin showed up.

“Next time, Morgan, you’ll do what I tell you,” he said. “Yeah?”

Knowing I had lost this round, I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Gentlemen,” he said to Hansen and his partner. “You may go.”

“See you around, buddy,” Hansen said.

Then they fist-bumped, like they had just heard good news or won a game or something. Fury at all three men blossomed within me, but my complete impotence kept me from doing anything about it.

“I think it’s time you work on free weights,” Austin said to me.

Since I obviously had no choice in the matter, I did as I was told, using my anger as energy to get through the rest of my workout.

Chapter Eleven

When I got back to my room I looked at my legs where Hansen and his friend had hit me with their batons. As I suspected, bruises were forming on both legs, reminders of my “discipline”. Now that I was alone I collapsed on my bed and sobbed, reliving the horrendous experience in the gym. As fat tears dripped down my cheeks, I pictured Hansen’s face and the pleasure he had seemed to derive from making me suffer. What kind of person enjoyed something like that? He was a monster.

I replayed the nearly unbearable memory over and over in my mind and realized that even though I had been thoroughly humiliated and even though I believed the punishment was cruel and unusual, I had refused to let them break me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that that was exactly what they were trying to do. For criminals like me, they wanted to break our spirits so that we would comply with the absurd rules of this society.