One exit, three windows, none look like they open, but could potentially be smashed.
The thumping in my chest rings in my ears. I’m being ridiculous; I’m at school, in the daylight and I’m new. Who would want to hurt me? I swing towards the exit, needing a time out to get myself in check, but I’m blocked mid-swing. Two large bodies trap me, and I instantly feel like a small car stuck between two semis.
“Don’t say a fucking word, keep your mouth shut, and everything will be fine.”
I don’t know which twin speaks, but I scoff in response. I may be hyper aware of my surroundings, but the issue with me is that when I’m faced with trouble, my mouth has a mind of its own and it likes to get defensive.
Each twin grabs an arm and lifts me enough to half-drag, half-carry me to a table at the back of the room. Dropping me in a chair, they take a seat either side of me, clearly smart enough to know I would try to run.
“Who are you?” one of them snaps. His eyes are so dark they seem black to me. Or maybe their attitude is tainting my perception?
“Who are you?” I mimic.
“Don’t get smart, we can make your life here harder than it needs to be,” the other one adds. I spin to look at him. Are his eyes slightly different? Warmer? Or is it my imagination painting Elsie’s words onto their faces?
“Amelie.” I don’t care if they know my name. I realised with Kalen that they don’t know who I am yet. Which makes me wonder why my incubator hasn’t disclosed that I’m here. Maybe she hasn’t even told them she has a kid – though Principal Knox clearly knows already. I didn’t miss the ‘step-daughter’ title he threw my way. It really wouldn’t surprise me if the others didn’t know, though.
“Why did you transfer in during second year?”
“Isn’t that the point of this place; misfits and fuckups having a place to go?”
“No one transfers in their second year, so you are here for a reason and we want to know what it is...so start talking.”
I’m not sure which one it is, but he squeezes my leg under the table hard enough to leave a bruise.
“I don’t know what you're talking about. One minute I’m in court waiting for community service, and then bam, here I am with no choice in the matter. So how about you back the fuck off and leave me alone?”
“Not a chance in hell. We know you’re lying. Why did he bring you here? He doesn’t do anything unless it benefits him, so you have to benefit him somehow.”
“Who, your father? He’s the headmaster, right?” I play dumb. “Unless he likes high blood pressure and migraines, I can’t see any good reason for him wanting me here.”
“You have no idea what we are capable of.”
“I’m shaking in my boots…. How about you go ask your father why I’m here. I’m fairly sure it’s against the rules to ask anyone that though. Maybe I murdered the last boy who touched me without my consent.”
“You wouldn’t be the only one here who has murdered someone, Princess, ask your little friend why she’s here.” They both laugh. It isn’t possible. Elsie doesn’t look like she could hurt a fly.
“How about instead of kidnapping a girl on her study break, you act like civilised human beings, and ask politely?”
“Watch your back, new girl. Stay away from our brother. We will find out one way or another, by force if necessary.” They both stand.
“I look forward to it. I’m sure you’ll find out very soon.” I wink at them as they storm away.
I wait until they are out of sight to rub my leg, his damn fingernails dug in so hard I swear they broke the skin.
My mind goes to Elsie...I’m not allowed to just ask her why she’s here, but maybe once she trusts me, she’ll tell me. Surely they couldn’t just let murderers walk the halls here?
I decide to give up on study, and go to see my tutor, Ms Davis. Surely our first explosive encounter was a one off?
I find her easily, knocking to alert her of my presence. “Amelie, how can I help you?” I can see the tension in her jaw; she really doesn’t like me. I wonder if she knows who I am.
“Is it true?”
“Come in and shut the door.”
I follow her instructions, but I don’t take a seat. I don’t plan to be here longer than I have to be.
“Now, is what true?” she asks calmly, putting down her pen and looking up at me warily.
“That there are murderers here?”
This makes her take interest. “It depends how you look at it…”
“Murder is murder. I have to deal with enough of that bullshit in my normal life, I don’t need to feel unsafe here without any backup.”
She laughs, the bitch actually laughs.
“This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’, but yes, it’s true that there are some students here who have accidentally been in situations where someone has died. I wouldn’t say there are any cold-blooded killers in the school. We take every student’s safety seriously.”
“Fine, thanks for your time.” I turn to leave. I reach the door when she stops me.
“Stay away from my son. I know who you are, and I don’t want him around the likes of your family.”
I turn back to her, making my way over to her table. I place both my hands on her desk, leaning in close.
“How about we get something straight? I. Am. Nothing. Like. My. Incubator. And I never will be. I didn’t ask to be here, nor do I want to be. As for your son, you’ll find it’s him seeking me out, so you can take that up with him.” I push back and leave this time, maybe now she knows the hatred I have for that woman she’ll back off and leave me alone. Three years cannot go by fast enough.
***
I’m The One blasts through Susan, go figure we can have Spotify here in this God forsaken place. Anyone who hates the Beibs is lost on me, anytime his songs come on you really can’t help but bop along.
I wish I had some sluttier outfits. I sigh when checking my reflection out in the mirror. I have to admit that I rock the tight black skinny jeans with rips in the knees, and a tight black bodysuit that dips low at the cleavage. I let my long dark hair fall in curls down my back. I used to hate my naturally thick curly hair, but tonight I embrace it. I finish my makeup with dark smokey eyes. I think my outfit screams ‘I’m classy but will fuck on the first date’. I set a timer on Susan for six. Everything I need is in a small black clutch.
I grab my hoodie on the way out; the weather here is cold as fuck compared to back home and I don’t have a coat. We would have beautiful sunny days and warm nights by now. I drew a map to get me to the teachers’ parking lot because I didn’t want to risk bringing Susan in case they have some kind of GPS tracking on our devices – which they must do if she’s my walking talking map around this place normally. I wouldn’t put it past them to check up on our whereabouts though, so she’s safer left at home. I also googled directions to the only pub nearby and luckily, it’s a pretty straight drive there. It’ll take about forty-five minutes though, we really are in the middle of nowhere.
Finding the old BMW the teacher in the toilet was bitching about is fairly easy, as I expected. It really is a shitbox, but that works well for me too because Smalls taught me how to hotwire a car before I even started high school. I’d expected more security in this part of the school, and I hadn’t figured out how I was going to get past them, but to my surprise there’s only a gate. Nothing to worry about however, as all the cars have small tags on the wind shields that I expect will allow them to pass straight through.