Sweet Harmony (32 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A week later, Annamarie lay on
the bed after a therapy session. Her king-sized mattress was top quality, but she couldn't seem to relax. Talking about the kidnapping for an hour and a half made her feel queasy. Plus, she'd spoken about her life at the academy and her relationship with her mom too. She rolled onto her side and studied the wall that was covered with rock band posters. Suddenly, she wished she was back at the academy again. Right now, she'd be under the oak tree eating breakfast pastries. Daniel would come and yell at her and she'd yell right back. There would be no annoying therapy, no sessions with a private doctor.

There would just be Daniel.

She groaned and grabbed her head.
Don't think about him,
she told herself, staring determinedly at the wall. As crazy it was, the rock band posters mocked her. Why did every single guy, even the ones with piercings and black hair, look like Daniel? It was revolting. As much as she loved classic rock, the posters had to go. She couldn't live every second seeing Daniel in the musicians' faces.

She hopped to her feet and
yanked the posters down. Just as she removed her Led Zeppelin picture, somebody knocked on her door.

"Come in," she said.

It was Yuri. Since it was early Saturday morning, the kid wore a silk crimson robe over his expensive black pajamas. He was eleven going on eighty. Probably she should have heckled him senseless, but right now she was too busy trying to get rid of everything that reminded her of Daniel. Seeing him everywhere was a sign of weakness, dang it!

"What are you doing?" Yuri watched as she tore another poster from
the wall.

"I'm g
etting rid of all of these," she said.

"It's not that I don't approve—I've always found hanging posters on the wall to be
juvenile—but why have you suddenly decide to tear them down?" Yuri asked. "Whenever Dad asked you to get rid of them before, you always said you'd remove them when you're dead. I don't see any ax wounds or anything, so I'm assuming you're very much alive."

"Hardy-har-har." She rolled her eyes. "I just don't want
them anymore, okay?"

No way was she confiding in her
pre-pubescent little brother about her love life.

"Fine. Don't tell me." He sighed. "I approve
of what you're doing, at any rate."

"I'm glad I have your approval."
Not.
"How come you decided to visit me anyway?"

Normally her little brother avoided her like the
Black Plague. Besides, it was Saturday. He usually hung out with his friends in town.

"
Well..." Her brother's face went pink again. Was there something wrong with him?

She tossed the posters on
the floor and plopped down on the bed.

"Sit with me a minute, little bro," she said.

"Stop calling me that!" Yuri sniffed indignantly but sat down next to her.

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes.

Her brother sighed and pursed his lips. She still couldn't figure out how somebody so young could manage to look so old.

"What's eating you?" she asked. "Do you need advice? Are you having girl trouble?"

"If I was having girl trouble, you'd be the last one I'd talk to. I'm not even sure you are a girl." Yuri's eyebrow twitched. "No, the reason I'm here isn't because there's something eating
me
. I'm worried there's something eating
you
."

Okay, t
his was worse than girl trouble. Even her little brother had picked up on the fact she was depressed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She let out a nervous laugh.

"You've been home a week and you only come out of your room to go to your lessons. You don't drive me crazy like you normally do. You don't eat, either." Yuri sighed. "There is obviously something wrong with you. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want the old Annamarie back. You know, the one who once replaced my face cream with paint."

"You actually miss me picking on you?"
She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah
. I can hardly believe I'm saying the words myself." Yuri nodded solemnly. "It feels like it's only me and Dad living in the house. I guess I never realized how boring life is without your explosions."

She was touched.

"I'm sorry I haven't been myself lately, but the last couple of weeks have been hard." She shrugged. "It may take me a little while to find myself again."

"I know. Getting kidnapped would
scare anyone. Then there's the situation with Mom..." Yuri nodded solemnly. "I know that you think I'm just your idiotic little brother, but if you need somebody to talk to, I'm here."

The boy wasn't even looking at her
because he was so embarrassed. She wasn't normally the type to choke up, but she could feel tears burning her eyes.

"Come here, you." She seized him and pulled him into a hug.

The two of them embraced for thirty seconds before the first tear trickled down her cheek. She didn't want him to see it. There was only one thing to do—tickle his side. Her little brother was always defenseless against her magical fingers. She immediately attacked.

"Annamarie, stop it." Her little brother's
face contorted as he laughed uncontrollably. "H-hey."

She straddled him,
tormenting him senseless. His perfect hair became messy and his robe wrinkled.

"Give!" she cried. "Say uncle!"

A second tear fell down her cheek. She sniffed, but it was drowned out by the sound of Yuri's rambunctious laughter.

The door creaked open and her dad stuck his head inside.

"What's going on in here?" he asked. "Yuri is laughing so loud my walls are shaking."

For a fleeting second, she and her dad made eye contact.
Oh crap
. She immediately hopped off the bed and turned her face away. With an indignant sniff, Yuri marched toward the door.

"Dad, Annamarie was tickling me,"
Yuri said.

"And you look like you enjoyed it," her dad pointed out.

"I most certainly did not." Yuri sounded nervous. "That would be childish."

"Mmm-hmm."

Yuri muttered something and then left the room.

Her gaze remained fixed on the wall. Only a few tears had escaped, but
she could tell that her eyes were swollen. She might as well wear a 'Hey, I'm weepy!' sticker on her forehead. Pretending to be busy, she scooped up the posters she'd tossed onto to the floor and clutched them to her chest.

"Are you okay?" her dad asked.

"Of course." Her voice sounded bogusly happy, even to her.

Her dad sighed but didn't leave.

"Your walls are looking bare," he said. "Why are you taking down the posters? You love them."

"I just thought the room would look a little better without them," she lied.

"Do you realize this just makes me worry about you even more?" Her dad groaned.

"You don't have to be worried." More bogus happiness. Hurrah!

"I really think I do," he said. "I can tell you want to be left alone, so I'll go. Just make sure you come down to dinner today, okay? The doctor told me that you've lost weight."

Darn it. Stupid doctor, ratting on her.

"Just a few pounds here and there." She shrugged, still keeping her face turned away. "I'll be down for dinner. Really you don't have to worry."

"Okay…" Her dad sounded hesitant to leave, but then he shut the door with a
click.

Finally I'm alone again,
she thought, sinking down to the bed.

****

Annamarie stared at her steak but didn't take a bite. Her dad cleared his throat and eyeballed her. Even her brother, who usually was focused on eating, watched her like a hawk. She picked up her fork and forced herself to take a bite of meat, even though she'd rather chew rocks. With how her dad looked at her, he might use a funnel and force the food down her throat. She'd rather not go through that.

"How
's the steak?" her dad asked. "I thought the chef did a good job. It's perfect."

It could have tasted like dirt and she wouldn't have noticed. Food had lost its flavor.

"It's fine," she said.

"I think the seasoning is adequate," her brother said, his eyes still on her.

Geez, her brother sounded so pompous, just like Daniel. Darn it. She was thinking about the guy again. The fork slipped from her fingers and hit the table. That only made the staring worse.

"S
orry." She picked up her fork again and speared another bite of steak.

Silence fell for a few minutes. It was strange how something as great as eating could become awful when she felt bad. Finally, she decided she'd had enough. She hadn't eaten much but
at least she'd had something. Her dad should be appeased. It wasn't like she was going to die from a few small meals.

"I'm done." She tossed her napkin on the table.

"Hold on a second," her dad said.

For a moment she was worried he was going to make her finish her plate.

"Yeah?" She chewed her nails.

"I want to talk to you before you go hide
in your room again," her dad said. "It's about Nathan."

Even the mention of the
guy's name made her remember the warehouse. Her body went into fight mode despite the fact she couldn't defeat a memory.

"What about him?" she asked.

Her dad paused, then grunted and wiped his mouth on his napkin.

"I don't have much of an appetite tonight either," her dad said. "Let's go to my office
and I'll explain."

She nodded. Yuri looked intrigued but didn't whine about not getting to hear what was going on. Probably he was trying to
act adult again.

Her dad
led her to his office and shut the door behind them. Even the sight of the large mahogany desk gave her the chills. Normally she was only brought into the office when she was about to be yelled at.

"Sit down, sweetie." H
er dad waved at the leather armchair in front of the desk.

She
sunk onto the seat, feeling like she was in the principal's office. Her dad went over to the desk and opened a drawer. He handed her a piece of paper from inside.

"Mrs. Carmichael sent me some information about Nathan," her dad said. "The police are keeping in touch to
o. They're going to need you to go back to New York to testify."

She'd forgotten about
testifying. That meant she'd have to look Nathan in the eye. Would Daniel be in court too? She didn't know much about what testifying entailed. It was enough to make her wrinkle her nose.

"You okay?" her dad asked.

"Um, yeah," she said.

"You look pale," her dad said. "I just want you to know that I'll be there
for you through it all. I'm not making any more mistakes."

"Thanks, Dad."
She nodded.

It was hard to say what scared her more—
staring into Nathan's face or seeing Daniel's reaction when he saw her in court. She'd have to find a way to evade him somehow. That would be tough considering the fact she wanted nothing other than to be close to him.

"You should read the email
from Mrs. Carmichael." Her dad pointed at the paper. "You'll be intrigued."

Anything was better than thinking about testifying. She looked down at the
message.

Dear Mr. Chadwick,

I'm writing to inform you that Nathan Dawson is being held at Bare Hill Correctional Facility. I have spoken with his mother, Mrs. Dawson, and have been informed that Nathan is attempting to make the insanity plea.

Once again, I offer my sincerest apologizes for what occurred at Harmony International Academy of Music.
As principal, I should have noticed a problem. I understand your reasons for removing your daughter from this school, but please know that I would welcome her back at any time. If you do choose to re-enroll her, I assure you that she will be safe due to extra security precautions.

Please accept my apology and re
consider enrolling Annamarie Chadwick at Harmony International Academy of Music. Her antics are missed by the faculty as well as some of the students she has made friends with.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Philomena Carmichael

She met her dad's gaze.

"The woman is really persistent," her dad said. "She wants you to go back to the academy. Are you sure you don't want to
re-enroll—"