The Academy - Friends vs. Family (3 page)

She stood in silence in front of me,
considering, calculating. I pursed my lips, unsure if I should suggest she eat.
How would she untie me, anyway? The knots weren’t fashioned with expertise.
They were a garbled mess. If I could reach them, I could possibly undo them,
but from my position, there was no way.

She nodded as if replying to a question
that wasn’t asked. She bent over and she started the water in the tub, hitting
the shower lever.

The water shot out cold. I gasped,
crying out. I focused simply on trying to balance myself on the chair and keep
my face away from the spray.

“You won’t move,” she said. “You should
have known better. You’re doing this to yourself. You will never talk to a boy
again at school. You’ll never even think about touching one or crossing that
line ever again.”

She twisted the knobs of the shower
until they were all the way on hot. She shoved the stool and I almost toppled
over on her. For someone who was sick, it surprised me she was able to hold me
up.

When she had positioned me how she
wanted, she aimed the shower head. She pushed it until the water was going over
my face and shoulders and down my front. No matter how I moved, I couldn’t
escape from the water spray. The best I could do was cower my shoulders,
putting my face down to get some relief from the constant stream.

When the water started warming up, at
first I was grateful because the cool water left me shivering.

The water heated quickly.

I started crying. I bent my head
forward, toward my chest and trying my best to get my face out of the flow. My
voice filled the bathroom as I knocked my wrists and ankles against the wood.

“Please,” I cried out. “I’m sorry. I’m
so sorry. Don’t leave me here.” I sobbed, took in a breath. I couldn’t see her
anywhere. I was facing the wrong way.

No reply.

Was she already gone? I rattled on the
stool. I was drowning in the onslaught of water, nearly scalding. My legs
cramped already at being in an awkward position and having to force myself to
balance. I was tempted to fall over anyway but worried more about cracking my
head open on the bathtub. Would it help? Would she leave me mangled and broken
in the tub or put me back into place?

“I’m sorry!” I shouted. If I could get
out of this, I would do whatever it took to never let her catch me again. I
promised myself to be more careful, to get rid of those notes and any hint of
the boys. I’d been slacking. How could I have ever known she would go this far?

Panic forced my breath to catch and it
was hard enough to breathe under the onslaught of scalding water.

I twisted my head to the left, waiting
there for as long as I could stand it. When the water was too hot, I turned my
head again to the right, catching a different angle. The water felt like it was
burning the tender bits of skin around my eyes, at my ears, and along my lips.

I sobbed. I called for Marie. I called
for dad. I knew they weren’t there, but I didn’t know what else to do. I called
for my mother. “Help me,” I cried out. “Please stop! Please!”

Motion nearby caused me to pause. She
came back! She realized she’d gone too far. I never cried like this for
kneeling in rice or for any of her other punishments
Please
.
Just
turn the water off. That’s all. I’ll stay here for hours. I’ll do it. Just not
with the water.

A hand gripped my hair, forcing my head
back. A cup lip smacked at my mouth. I breathed in vinegar and lemon.

I opened my mouth before she had a
chance to strike me with the cup again. I swallowed, forcing back my sobs. I
was only halfway done when my stomach lurched and I started purging. The cup
was pulled back. I tilted my head away, still with the onslaught on hot water
against my painful skin. I emptied my stomach into my lap. Stomach acid mingled
with the lemon and vinegar against my raw skin.

When I was done vomiting, the hand was
back and I was forced to drain the cup. When I was finished, the glass was
dropped into the tub. It cracked against the basin, shattering. I was puking
again on myself, sobbing, feeling my throat scratching. I wanted to take in
water but my throat was burning and the water was too hot.

The shower curtain was pulled over,
shadowing me against the light. I heard the inside lock flip and the door
closed. I twisted around, peeking through the water.

If Marie came looking for me, it might
look like I was temporarily in the shower. She might not think to check on me
at all. My mother had thought ahead enough that she didn’t want anyone freeing
me before she came back.

I was alone.

When the hot water died about thirty
minutes later, I was still crying. I felt the phone at my back pocket and I
couldn’t get myself to even attempt to save it. I was sure it was broken now.
What could I do with it anyway? The guys couldn’t come save me because my
mother would stop them, perhaps even call the police on them and have them
arrested. Would they ever forgive me if one of them ended up in jail?

If I kept my head tilted forward, it
gave me just enough breathing space that I could take in some clean air without
breathing in water droplets. It was extremely uncomfortable. I held it for as
long as I could to allow myself to catch my breath.

Soon, my tears died off. My breathing
was ragged, my throat stinging. I tried drinking water but I coughed it up
quickly and the coughing irritated my throat further.

At least the water was cool.

I stared off into space a lot. The
feather blue paint along the edge of the shower near the ceiling looked a lot
like a shirt I’d seen Luke wear to school. I thought of his blond hair and the
contrasting dark brown eyes, when my neck started hurting and my face couldn’t
stand another moment of the constant spray.

The sliver-like gleam of the faucet
reminded me of Victor’s medallion. I thought of his finger tracing along my
skin as he held my hand between classes. I thought of Silas hugging me, strong
enough to pick me up off of the ground. Memories swept through me of North’s
intense brown eyes, and the feel of his fingers massaging my scalp, of
Gabriel’s curses and stealing my hair clip, of Kota’s smooth fingers tracing my
cheek, and of Nathan making faces at me when I peeked back at him during
geometry.

I even thought about Mr. Blackbourne and
Dr. Green. I thought about Greg and Mike and Rocky and other people at school
that I’d met. I thought about Mr. Hendricks and Mr. McCoy as little as
possible, but when I did, I kept thinking how even though they were faulty in
many ways, they probably never had to deal with this. Greg was vulgar, Mike was
brass, Rocky was arrogant. None would dare tie me to a chair in the shower.

Most of the time though, I thought of
the boys. I wondered if Kota was worried about me. I wondered if they tried to
text but I was shaking and sobbing so badly before that I thought perhaps if
they tried, I wouldn’t have felt it. Or the phone really was broken. Victor
would be so mad when I showed him the phone later. I wondered if they even
noticed I was gone.

I wondered when my mother would come
back for me.

Hours passed, I didn’t know how many. My
back was sore. I was shivering. My skin felt raw and heavy, like clinging
plastic wrap covered it. I kept my eyes closed, my head down for as long as
possible, and shifted in my chair. I got used to the way it would rock back and
forth. At one point, I tried to twist my body so the chair would move. It did,
about an inch. The stool tilted so badly I was afraid it would fall over.

I was tempted to let it. I twisted my
body to look behind myself. If I fell in one direction, I would crack my head
on the faucet. If I went the other way, I would be on my side, still tied up
and helpless. If I tried falling out of the tub, I would probably end up upside
down and still unable to move.

My hands felt numb. My feet did, too. I
wasn’t even sure if my feet were still up on the vertical spokes of the stool.
I wondered if I was doing more damage to my ankle and the bruised bones. My
butt was asleep as well. Every piece of me felt so cold. When the air
conditioner kicked on, it got so much worse that I was shivering, rocking
precariously on the stool.

I was slumped over, almost passed out
when the chair started to careen forward. With my heart in my throat, I leaned
back, trying to balance myself out. I caught it just in time and rattled back
into stabilizing. I couldn’t fall asleep. I willed myself to stay awake. I bit
my tongue, my cheek, anything to force my eyes open. I stared off at the wall.
How long was she going to keep me in here?

More time passed. I tried counting the
minutes. My throat was scratchy, and despite sipping the water falling around
my face, I still coughed it up. I tried my voice, but I couldn’t hear myself.

My skin felt so tight and sore, I wanted
to scrape it from my body. Every little drop of water against my face felt like
a sting.

I moved my arms, hitting the edge of the
stool and slapping my hands against the wood of the chair. I wasn’t sure if my
mother or Marie could hear me if they were nearby, but I was desperate. Would
my mom come back and do something else?

I was desperate enough to take that
risk. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but it felt late. I’d do anything to get
out of the shower.

If I passed out, I knew I would die.

S
aturday

I stretched my arms against the resistance of the cord toward my
hip pocket. I didn’t know if I could reach anyone. I didn’t know if the phone
still worked. All I knew was that I had been forgotten.

With what little room the rope gave to me, I scrunched my biceps
and tugged my shorts down to better access the pocket where the phone was. My
fingers clipped the edge of the phone and it started to slide out. I clutched
it, gripping at the phone tightly until I heard a crack. With numb fingers, it
was hard to manipulate. I was shaking badly, afraid I would drop it. It was my
only shot.

I bit my lip and held the phone up. I straightened my body against
the onslaught of cool water to block the spray the best I could from reaching
my back and the phone. It was difficult not to try to peek over my shoulder to
find out if the screen lit up.

I used my thumb to punch at it, trying to remember exactly what I
needed to select to reach the guys.

Please, please, someone. Anyone. I don’t care who. Please work.

If it wasn’t broken, I only had seconds before the water spraying
around me might break it for good.

I jabbed the phone with my finger, hitting at random for what I
thought would be the guy’s applications, ones Dr. Green had installed on my
phone. I jabbed again; aiming for what I thought would be one of four square
buttons of different colors. I was unsure of which one I was pushing. Black,
red... Not that it mattered. I thought this constituted an emergency.

I kept pushing, just in case my first attempts didn’t work. A
ringing buzz sounded, so faint against the fall of water around me. I’d dialed
someone.

Please. Please, anyone. Be there.

The ringing stopped. A click. “
Aggele mou
?”

I swallowed, willing my voice to work. “Silas!” I squeaked out. I
grasped the phone, trying to be steady. I wasn’t sure he could hear me at all.
The water was spraying louder than I thought I was speaking. “Silas, Silas...
help. Please. Silas.”

Quiet. I twisted and a sudden muscle spasm struck me hard against
my legs and back. The phone slipped from my hands. I was too slow to catch it.
It fell and skimmed down into the tub. It cracked against the basin, sliding to
the drain.

I sobbed, calling out to Silas, crying out his name over and over.
I could only hope he heard me. I could only hope he understood. I needed him.

I closed my eyes, my heart was wild in my chest. I slapped my
hands against the chair. I rocked back and forth on the stool until I felt too
unstable to do it anymore. If Silas was still on the phone, I wanted him to
know I was there. I didn’t want this fragile connection severed.

I was drifting off again when I heard footsteps in the hallway and
my head popped up, despite the stab of pain in my neck and the water pouring
into my face. I shivered hard, causing the stool to shake underneath. I didn’t
care who it was, even if it was my own mother who would only have me get on my
knees or move me somewhere else. I would go anywhere. Did Marie come back? Did
Silas hear me?

The footsteps moved away and I cried out in my raspy voice.
“Help!” My voice was lost to the stream of water. I called again and again,
grunting, groaning, destroying the last of my vocal cords to try to lure
whoever was out there to come back. I slapped my hands against the wood of the
chair. I rocked on the stool.

Voices sounded. Low and deep. The guys! I rocked on the stool.

The voices came closer. “I double checked, she’s passed out,”
Nathan’s voice drifted to me. I quieted to hear. “I’ve looked everywhere.
Sang’s not here.”

I am here! I slapped, slamming my wrists against the wood. Please
hear me!

“Who’s in the shower?” Silas’s deep voice echoed.

“It’s got to be Marie,” Nathan said. “I checked her room, she’s
not in there. Maybe Sang’s out in the woods. I told her not to go without me.”

No, not Marie! In a panic, I clutched my knees together against
the stool.
Please hear me, please hear me
.

With what little strength I had left, I jumped, trying to lift the
chair with me to slam myself back down against the tub.

Thunk.

My butt slammed against the flat part of the wood. Pain radiated
from my tailbone through my spine. A sharp pang connected against my ankle. I
gasped, a wash of red covering my eyes at the agony.

More silence. Were they thinking Marie was finishing up and were
they trying to get away?

“Silas!” I squealed. “Nathan!” I knew they couldn’t hear me. I
collected myself. I pulled myself up again, twisting my ankle as I drew up the
stool and slammed it down against the tub. I rocked forward, and leaned back to
stop myself from slipping off into the tub.

“That’s not Marie. That’s Sang,” Silas said. The doorknob rattled
and a thud pounded against the door.

I twisted my face away from the door, shaking, crying quiet sobs.
Thank you, thank you.

The floor shook, a loud crack thundered, mixed with splitting wood
as the door broke away from the frame, slamming up against the wall. I vibrated
with shivers so hard against the stool I was sure I was going to fall over. I
was ashamed, cold, tired, in pain. I was embarrassed they had to come for me. I
was so sorry to drag them into this. What would I ever do without them?

The curtain was pulled back. Silas loomed over me, his face
contorting into a rage so strong that I wanted to cower but I wouldn’t allow
myself to do it.  

“Fucking shit,” Nathan said. He looked confused, disbelieving his
own eyes. He reached out for me, diving into the cold water and wrapping his
arms around me. “God damn it Sang, why the hell didn’t you call us sooner?”

Silas reached down, pulling at the stool. “She’s fucking tied up.”
He growled and helped Nathan, pulling me and the stool out from the shower.

They lowered me onto my side against the floor of the bathroom. I
coughed against the tile.

Nathan put his warm hand against my cheek. “Sang?” he called to
me. He brushed my hair away from my face.

“Nathan,” I said as loud as I could, but there was nothing to my
voice.

His blue eyes lit with tears. He shook his head. His eyes drifted
from my face to my bound hands and feet. He grumbled something and turned back
to me. “I’m going to break this damn thing, okay? Don’t move.”

I nodded but on my side, I was shivering uncontrollably. I wasn’t
sure if shivering counted as moving.

I heard Silas speaking but I couldn’t see him. “Kota? We’ve got
her. No, she’s not okay. Bring Dr. Green. We’re taking her to Nathan’s.”

Nathan stood over the stool. Silas slipped down and hovered over
me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. Nathan kicked at the stool. I was
jerked but Silas held on. The wood split. Another kick and my hands in the
cords pulled away from the stool. He worked on freeing my legs, breaking the
smaller wood slats and sliding the rope free.

Silas collected me in his arms, picking me up. I was still shaking
so bad, but I felt his warmth and leaned against him, burying my face into his
shoulder.

The water was turned off and a moment later Nathan held out a
towel. Silas readjusted until he had the towel wrapped over my body.

“Let’s get her out of here,” Silas said.

“No shit,” Nathan said.

My eyes closed as Silas thudded down the back stairs. I breathed
in the night air.