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I've slept, or maybe I haven't. Maybe I've been awake. I have no idea how much time has passed, but it feels like days, maybe a week.
I've felt fingers along my skin, I've felt the brushing of hair slide across my arms. I've heard voices, whispers.
So many whispers.
The two figures walk up to me, grabbing me by the arms and pulling me out of the room. At this point, my body is depleted. No fight is left as they drag me from the hellish room and down the hall, toward the front office.
They open the door, and the nun that sits behind the front desk stands up, my bag in hand. "Here are your things."
"We expect you back here tomorrow and not tardy this time," Sister Mary says, no smile, no apology. Nothing.
I don't plan to come back here tomorrow. But I don't want to tell them this in case they throw me back in hell.
I nod, grabbing my bag from her hands just as the final bell rings. I keep my eyes averted to the ground as I walk outside, down the steps. My legs give out on the last step, and I grab onto the railing, sitting down.
And wait.
Within seconds, the front doors slam open, and a flood of kids start pounding down the stairs around me. Most of them stare at me, turning around once they hit the parking lot to see what happened to the new girl.
I'm sure I look like hell.
How long was I in there for? Has my mom been wondering where I've been?
My body seems to have a permanent chill on it, and I wish for a second that I had one of my oversized hoodies to keep me warm. I unzip my bag, pulling out my pack of cigarettes and lighter. I tap them on my knee, watching the parking lot empty out.
Then he appears.
Malik.
I see him sitting in his car, his friends sitting in the passenger seats. I stand up, walking into the parking lot. They watch me, their faces blank and emotionless.
Please give me a ride home.
I hope to convey my pleading, my temporary truce just long enough to get me home. He turns on his car, and I breathe out a sigh of relief, hoping, praying, that he's waiting for me.
The moment I'm within a few feet of his car, he presses on the gas. His car flies forward, and all I can see are his eyes in the rearview mirror.
"Hey! Stop!" I beg, having no idea where we are in town. No idea where his house is located. Not having the energy or strength to figure it out myself. For once, I want my mom. I just really want my mom.
He doesn't slow down, cutting his car left and flying down the road, leaving me in the dust.
My hands fly into the air and slap down against my thighs. "Now what the fuck am I going to do?"
"He really is a piece of shit, isn't he?" I startle, my entire body shaking as I turn around.
"Holy shit, you scared me." I press my hand to my chest, seeing Hazel, Piper, and Blaire standing there with their backpacks in hand.
"Looks like your ride home bailed. Need a lift?"
I look off into the distance, seeing the lingering dust settling back to the ground.
I grunt, not in the mood for friends right now. Not in the mood to talk to anyone, really. I feel out of it, discombobulated, and a little bitchy, to be honest. The last thing I want to do is snap at these girls who have been nothing but nice to me.
"I'll just call my mom." I pull my phone out of my backpack, unlocking the screen and scrolling down to her name. I press the call button, only for it to beep at me. "Fuck, out of service." I shake my phone in frustration. "Why is there no signal, like, anywhere here?"
Hazel raises her eyebrow. "If you haven't figured that out by now, I might have to reconsider our friendship."
I try one more time, only to get the same results. "It just… doesn't make sense."
