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I was able to find some crackers left over in my bag and ate enough to swallow down my meds, but I haven’t eaten anything else.
The door creaks open, and the heels of my mom's shoes clack along the floor as she walks around the bed. I roll onto my back, staring at her in fear. The first emotion I've shown her besides anger in… I don't know how long.
She stalls a moment, her eyebrows furrowing. "What's wrong?"
"Please don't make me go back there," I whisper.
She sighs, walking to the edge of the bed and sitting down. The springs of the mattress creak, and she reaches out, placing her hand on my ankle that's hidden beneath the covers. "I received a call from the school today." Clear disappointment is written across her face, and it instantly raises my guard.
I sit up. "Mom, do you know what they did to me?"
She cocks her head to the side. "Is there going to be any reason smoking inside the bathroom of a school would ever be okay?"
I slide my hand from beneath the covers, showing her my dark red-and-purple bruises. "One of the teachers hit me. Look!"
She looks down, her eyes widening for a second before glancing back up at me. "You were smoking in the bathroom, Vera. And swearing constantly, from what they say. This isn't Fargo. This is a Catholic school. The same rules don't apply."
My jaw unhinges, my eyes burning with rage and frustration. "Did they also tell you that they threw me inThe Room of Atonement?"
Her eyebrows raise. "Well, they put you on a timeout? Maybe you needed it."
"Mom! You don't understand! There were… Something happened in there!" I squeeze my sheets between my fingers, caught between wanting to strangle the nuns and wanting to strangle my mom. "Something isn't right with that place!"
"What happened in the room?" She stands up, straightening her skirt as she looks down at me. "Was there someone in there with you?"
I shake my head. "No. I heard… voices. I felt something. These people, they don't care if I live or die! That place is fucking evil!"
She chuckles, like I'm playing a joke on her, and she's fallen for it. "Come on, Vera. Think about what you're saying right now! You do realize you were in a school, right? There are voices. The walls are thin! You probably heard other students walking in the halls or something." A genuine smile lights up her face, and it only enrages me further.
"Mom! The walls are solid-ass cement! Why aren't you fucking listening to me!?" I scream at the top of my lungs. I spin around, lifting my shirt to show her the scrapes on my back. “Someone scratched me in there!”
Her face widens in bewilderment for a moment before blanking out. “I really hope you didn’t do those to yourself, Vera. Hurting yourself isn’t going to get you out of the school. And if you are hurting yourself, maybe this is a bigger conversation that we need to be having.”
I want to blow up. Literally fucking explode and take her out with me. “You aren’t fucking listening to me!” I shriek.
Her eyes narrow, and she scowls at me. "This, this is exactly what I'm talking about." She points her fingers at me, only inches from my face. I want to grab her pointy red nail, snap it straight from her cuticle. "I think this school will be good for you, Vera. Teach you some damn manners and respect for authority," she growls, stepping back as she walks toward the door. "I'm done with your bad behavior. I don't want another call from the school again, or your punishment will go beyond what your teachers do to you."
"I'm not going tomorrow." I'm not. No way in hell am I stepping foot back in that school. I lower my shirt, shrugging back under my covers.
She chuckles. "Yes, you are. You're going there tomorrow, and the next day. You better get used to it now, because it isn't going to get any easier if you don't start following the damn rules."
I let out a shaky breath, betrayal ripping through me. "I hate you," I mumble.
She smiles in the doorway, her hand pressing against the frame. She looks evil, just as evil as the nuns who abused me today. "I'm not too fond of you right now either, Vera. If you don't help yourself, no one else will be able to help you either."
She walks out, leaving me by myself.
My hands fist, shaking at my sides. "Ahhhh!" I scream, walking to my dresser and lifting a picture frame from the top. I chuck it at the door, hearing the glass shatter against the wood and falling to the ground.
Walking back to my bed, I grab my bag from the floor, pulling my phone from the front pocket. I attempt to send a text to Sacha.
Me:GET ME OUT!
The red exclamation mark immediately pops up, telling me it's undeliverable. Glancing to the top of the screen, I see there's no service.
How can there be no service everywhere?
I pull up my thread to Leena.
