Imprisoned (21 page)

“Twenty minutes,” he said. “Then you can go back to what you want.”

For a moment I considered refusing. Evidently he sensed my resistance.

“Do it, Morgan.” His voice was soft, but I heard the threat beneath it.

My nostrils flared and I bit my lip, trying to keep from telling him where to go, but I climbed on the machine.

He pressed some buttons. “I’ll be watching your heart rate.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t disappoint me.”

I forced my feet to move, fury growing inside me with every step, but I kept going. I had zero choice in this place and the people here reinforced that idea at every turn. Soon sweat began dripping down my neck. Though I knew these workouts were good for my body, I couldn’t allow myself to appreciate that because my rage at being forced to do them overrode any other feeling.

When the twenty minutes were up, I used my towel to mop the sweat off of my face and neck. I was able to complete the rest of my workout in peace. After a shower, I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling, imagining how my escape would play out.

When everyone was sleeping, Piper, Billy, and I would set the fires. We would be forced to evacuate and when we were outside and everyone was distracted, we would make our move and run out of this place. We would need to cut the chips out of our arms right away—I felt a little tremor of fear as I imagined the pain—but then we would be free. I would find the tunnel and I would get back to my world.

Fantasizing about walking into my house in my world and the relief I’d feel to be in a normal place made the anger and frustration of this place recede, just a little.

When it was time to meet with my counseling group I actually looked forward to it, but only because of the conversation I would have with Billy afterwards. If he joined us, I believed our chances of success would increase. When I’d told him before dinner that Piper and I were making plans, he’d seemed very interested. I hoped that I hadn’t misread him.

Chapter Twenty Three

Billy was already in the classroom and I sat in the empty seat next to him.

“Hey, Morgan.”

“Hey.”

“How’s Piper?” He grinned when he said it and I hoped that meant he really was interested in helping us with our plans.

“She’s great. Such a planner, you know?”

He smirked. “That’s what I hear.” He glanced around, then his voice dropped to a whisper. “I’d like to know more about those plans.”

My heart leapt at his obvious interest. “When can we talk?”

“Come early for dinner tomorrow.”

“Good evening, everyone,” Mrs. Reynolds said as she walked into the room.

I nodded at Billy, then faced our counselor, my mind racing ahead to our meeting the next day and what his reaction might be.

Mrs. Reynolds sat in her chair and held up her tablet. We all scanned in our cards, then sat. “As always, we begin with the pledge. All arise.”

We stood, and when we spoke I said the words without thinking, my mind on the escape plans. “I pledge to always follow the rules and to take care of my body. I will strive to put the good of all above the desires of one. A healthy me is a healthy world.”

“Be seated,” she said. “Very good. Now, as you all know, we’ve been given the privilege of receiving new power bars. I want to know what you all think of them. Do you like the flavor? Does the appetite suppressant work well?”

Most of the kids nodded.

“It tastes better than the old ones,” one kid said.

Several of the kids nodded in agreement.

“And are you all making sure to eat your two bars at each meal?” Reynolds asked, her eyes meeting those of each person.

When she looked at me I felt my stomach lurch, but told myself that no one knew I had been giving my power bars to Beth. I nodded, along with everyone else.

Then she pulled two power bars out of her bag. “Someone here is lying.”

The blood drained from my face and I knew I’d been caught. Those had to be the bars that were missing from my room.

“Would that person like to confess now?” Her gaze probed each person’s face and finally stopped on mine.

My tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of my mouth. Finally I was able to loosen it and speak. “I . . . I was saving them for later.”

“What do you mean, Morgan? Why do you need them ‘later’? What happens then?”

“In case I got hungry.”

“You stupid girl. Don’t you understand the concept of appetite suppressants?”

Shocked that she had called me stupid, and in front of everyone, I didn’t know what to say.

“For the next two days you will
only
receive your two power bars at each meal. No other food. You must eat them before leaving the cafeteria. Understood?”

I nodded, alarmed that I would have zero bars to give Beth. I knew she wouldn’t care that I’d been caught and I feared what her reaction would be. I was certain that she would say the deal was off.

When the counseling session was over—and for me these sessions were more like punishment meetings than any kind of counseling—I went to my room and got ready for bed. Alyx wasn’t there and I wondered where she was and if she would receive the same meal restrictions as me and if she would be pissed at me again.

As I lay under my covers waiting for sleep to overtake me, all I could think was that I was glad this horrible day had finally ended.

I woke early the next morning and went down to the kitchen. Even though it was Sunday, the meals still needed to be prepared and the dishes still needed to be washed. As I stood in front of the sink elbow-deep in hot, soapy water, I felt a sense of calm to be doing something that wouldn’t get me in trouble or cause someone to hurt me. Between Hansen punching me, falling into the pit of spiders and being punished for hiding the power bars, the day before had been the worst day yet. I hoped things would only look up from here.

At the end of the first shift I was starving, but as promised all I got were two power bars—although they did allow me to wash them down with skim milk. Piper and I sat together at a table, away from the other kitchen workers.

“So, did you talk to Billy?” she asked as soon as we sat down.

“We’re going to meet before dinner.” I eyed her egg-white omelet and  fruit and felt my mouth water.

 “Should I come?”

“Maybe let me talk to him alone first. You know, see what he says. But if he agrees, we should all definitely get together.”

“Okay.” She put a slice of cantaloupe in her mouth.

I unwrapped my first power bar and took a bite. As I chewed, I thought about Beth and what I would tell her. She wouldn’t care what excuses I had. Only that I wasn’t giving her my power bars. As I ate the second one, I hoped that the appetite suppressant was all that it was advertised to be. Otherwise by lunch I’d be famished.

“How come you only have power bars?” she asked.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

After we’d eaten we rode the elevator to our floor.

“Hey, I’m going to work out,” Piper said. “Do you want to come too?”

I had always been on my own before, but I liked the idea of working out with a friend. “Sure.”

“’Kay. Get changed then come to my room.”

When I got to her room she was ready and we headed to the gym. Before walking in, I stopped and looked around.

“Who are you looking for?” Piper asked.

“Mr. Muscles.”

“Who?”

“Oh, yeah. Austin.”

She laughed. “He’s probably off with Alyx somewhere.”

My head jerked toward her. “What do you mean? Like getting clean towels or something?”

She grinned. “Or something.”

I remembered how Alyx had defended him when I’d said he was a bully and I had wondered if she had a crush on him. Then I thought about her reaction when he’d come on to me the other night. She had seemed jealous. “Why would she do that? Isn’t she afraid she’ll get caught?”

“I guess she’s blind when it comes to Austin.”

When I thought of the two of them together I had to stop myself from gagging. Pushing the image away, I focused on the positive—if he was with Alyx, he wouldn’t be here to harass me. But then I saw Hansen walking around in a pair of sweats and remembered that he had covered for Austin before. Two peas in a pod. They were so much alike, they must be best friends.  “Great,” I muttered.

“What?” Piper asked.

I motioned with my head toward Hansen, who hadn’t seen me yet.

“Oh.”

“Maybe I should come back later.” But then Austin would be there. I didn’t know which of them was worse. Then I realized I did. Hansen. Definitely Hansen.

Piper grabbed my arm as I began to turn away. “No, please stay.” She paused. “You can’t let him stop you from doing what you need to do.”

I hesitated. If I didn’t give him a reason to bother me, maybe he’d leave me alone. “Okay.”

Piper smiled. “Good. Now let’s warm up.”

After we stretched out, we got on adjacent treadmills. As I jogged, I glanced in Hansen’s direction, but he hadn’t seemed to notice me yet. There were a lot of kids working out and I hoped he would be too busy bothering them to see me, but my hope was in vain.

“Look who we have here,” he said a few minutes later as he stopped next to me.

I glanced at Piper, who had a look on her face like she was sorry she’d made me stay. I was sorry too.

Hansen followed my gaze, then looked at me. “Nope. Your friend can’t help you.”

White-hot hatred pulsed through me, the intensity of it taking me by surprise and making me bold. “Why do you hate me so much?”

He looked as surprised by my question as I felt. “Because you’re a fat slob who took advantage of one second of my inattention, that’s why.”

“I’m really sorry that I hurt you,” I lied, knowing I would do it again in a heartbeat. “I was just scared.”

“Uh huh.” He stared at me. “How’d you like the spiders?”

A ripple of revulsion rolled through me at the memory.

He laughed, then walked away.

I watched him retreat, glad that he hadn’t done anything worse than taunt me. I hated that he had the power to do even that, but at least he hadn’t hit me or worse. I turned the treadmill down to a slower pace and looked at Piper. “I’m done. I’ll come back later.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

When I got back to my room I still had an hour until I had to be back in the kitchen, so I used the time to finish homework that was due the next day. As I worked I wondered why I was even bothering. With any luck I’d be gone soon. But the way things had been going, chances were that I would get in trouble for not having my homework done long before I escaped this place.

When I got to the kitchen for my second shift, Beth cornered me right away. “Remember your promise.”

I nodded, hopeful that I could steal a few power bars to give her.

Half-way through my shift, Piper stopped by the sink.

“Hey,” she whispered. “I think I might be able to get a knife today. Can you cause a distraction? Maybe drop a bunch of pans on the floor or something? I just need Mrs. Coleman to lose track of what she’s doing for a minute when we’re putting the knives away.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Just watch for when we’re putting the knives in the drawer.”

She walked away and I got back to work. I kept looking her way, watching for the right moment. Finally, when there were about ten minutes left in our shift, I saw Mrs. Coleman unlock, but not open, the knife drawer.

I shoved two large pans off of the counter and they clattered on the concrete floor. All eyes shifted my way, including Mrs. Coleman’s. I made sure not to look at Piper, not wanting to draw any attention to her. “I’m so sorry,” I said, bending to pick up the pans.

“You scared the crap out of me,” one girl said.

“Sorry,” I muttered as I set the pans back on the counter.

Mrs. Coleman shook her head, then turned back to the knife drawer. I was afraid she’d notice a missing knife, but I didn’t know how they were arranged and hoped Piper had been able to get a small one that wouldn’t be as obvious if it was gone.

When our shift ended, we got in line behind everyone else at the lunch counter and collected our meal. Well, everyone else collected a meal. I collected two power bars. The appetite suppressant had actually worked pretty well. I was hungry, but not starving. And I found myself actually craving the bars.

Piper stood in line behind me and we went to our usual table. The rest of our group wasn’t there yet.

“Did you get it?” I asked, eager to know if my distraction had worked.

A slow smile grew on her face. “Yes.”

I smiled back. “Awesome.” I paused. “Where are you going to put it?”

“Can you keep it in your room?”

“I would, but they searched my room yesterday and I’m afraid they might do it again.”

“Why’d they search your room?”

“I have no idea why.”

“How do you even know they searched it then?”

“You know how I’m only getting power bars to eat?”

“Yes.”

“It’s my punishment for saving them. Last night at the counseling thing, Mrs. Reynolds called me out on it. It seems they found two power bars in my room that I’d stashed there.” I paused. “That’s how I know they searched my room.”

“Oh. Well, I guess I’ll keep the you-know-what in my room then.”

“Probably a good idea.”

A few minutes later the rest of our group was there. I looked at Alyx, thinking about her and Mr. Muscles, unable to believe she’d take a risk like that over him. He was so not worth it. Then I noticed that she had her regular meal. Surprised that she wasn’t being punished too—like when I’d forgotten to weigh myself—I unwrapped my first power bar.

“Where’s the rest of your food?” Cassidy asked.

I glanced at Billy, who’d been a witness to Mrs. Reynolds announcing my punishment, but he ignored me. “I just love them so much, it’s all I wanted to eat.”

“Oh.” Cassidy looked confused, but she let the question drop and went back to her meal.

I looked at Alyx, wondering what she was thinking, but she seemed to be in her own world. Probably thinking about her nasty boyfriend, I thought with disgust. It didn’t take me long to finish my lunch and I watched my friends eat their tofu and vegetables. Even though I liked the power bars and they did a good job of keeping me feeling full, having the same thing at every meal was less than satisfying and I found myself wishing I could have some tofu too.