by Sam Crescent
Take what from where? She hadn’t even talked to him.
He walked into the principal’s office and took a seat.
“Your parents called me to let me know you were returning today. Seeing as your classes are all the same, what we have decided is your teachers will be giving you a file each of the lessons you’ve missed. We’re hoping that by the New Year, you’ll be all caught up and we won’t have to hold you back during graduation.”
“All of my classes.”
“It’s really important work, Noah. I’m sure a fine man like yourself could understand that. Of course, if it proves to be difficult, we can make allowances, and you’ll work through the summer, and graduate next year at the start of term. There is that possibility.”
“Right.”
He stared down at the desk, needing a moment.
“Don’t worry, Noah. We’re all here for you. Your lessons plans are exactly the same as last year. You’ll be a bit behind, but that’s fine. Like I said, all of the work will be handed to you. Assignments will have the necessary deadlines, but we’re all going to be here for you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m getting that a lot. Have you seen Skye?”
“Skye?”
“You know, Skye Carver, this tall, brown hair, bright, cute, sweet.” He didn’t know why he used the word “sweet” to describe her.
“I’ve been advised that you two are to be kept apart. It’s not exactly difficult. Before your … incident, you weren’t in many of the same classes anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“No, wait. You don’t have to do that. I mean it. Seriously, why is everyone so intent on keeping me and Skye apart? I don’t get it. We’ve done nothing wrong. We were there for each other, and you’re treating it as some kind of punishment.”
“No, of course not. This is not a punishment at all. We just think—”
“We?”
“Both of your parents came in to see me. You and Skye have been very … quiet about what happened. We know from what we’ve been made aware of, it wasn’t a good experience.”
“Our incident was a kidnapping, Howdes. We didn’t have any incident.”
“Again, I appreciate that, but this is what is being asked of me, of all of us. We think you both need a clean start. She will no longer be tutoring you. Skye has also been moved from your science class and has a few rearrangements made to her schedule, but she will be fine with it.”
“Wait, why have you rearranged her and not me?”
“We didn’t feel it was necessary for you.”
His anger was starting to build. They were throwing him into a cage, and they didn’t even see it. If they did, they didn’t care. He was starting to get really fucking annoyed. All he wanted to do was to talk to Skye. Why couldn’t they see that? He wasn’t a monster. He’d never fucking hurt her, and right now, they were treating him as if he’d hurt her at the first opportunity. Skye had been right by his side through everything, and he wasn’t going to turn his back on her.
“This is something I’ve spoken about to your parents. We’ve been looking for a counselor, one you and Skye could use to talk through your problems.”
“No.”
“Noah, you haven’t given it a chance.”
“I’m never giving it a chance because it’s fucking pointless. All of this is fucking pointless.”
“Noah?”
“No, I’ll just head to class. Thank you for your time.”
Getting to his feet, he walked out of the room and went straight to the toilets. No one was in there, and as he gripped the edge of the sink, he shut his eyes. Blood pounded behind his temples, and he felt his rage begin to build. Being kidnapped, fighting for his life and for Skye’s, he’d done a lot of bad things, and it had been easy to do. Murder was such a dirty word, and yet, in self-defense, it wasn’t so dirty.
He and Skye had faced so much together, and now they were being torn apart by their own fucking parents. He was finding it a lot harder to be away from her and he wondered if she felt the same for him? Did she miss being with him?
How was she?
He had so many questions and no outlet for them. Just a place deep inside himself that he couldn’t allow to answer. On the outside, everything was okay. But he was starting to lose it every passing day that they kept on ignoring his requests.
Lifting his head, he stared into the mirror.
He didn’t see his reflection.
He saw everything he was forced to do and even heard Skye’s scream as she was being hurt. Held down, forced to take him, otherwise they were going to hurt her. Mitch had hurt her as well, taken her against her will and laughed as he did.
Turning on the tap, he saw the men lined up, ready to fuck her. The men they’d had to kill for sport, for the amusement of others. Then of course, he saw the man that was raped for trying to escape, before it was Noah’s turn.
Each memory was blistering and burning inside his head. All of this was his and Skye’s little secret.
He hadn’t told a soul, and he never would. Splashing water on his face. He tried his best to clear the darkness from his mind. If Skye didn’t want to see him, he could handle that. Being kept away from her because their parents thought it was in his best interest, well that fucking irritated him more than anything else in the world.
They didn’t have a right to keep him from her. The only person he’d listen to was Skye. If she asked him to stay away, he would.
Until then, they were together and staying together. No questions asked.
First, though, he had to find her.
****
Earlier in the morning, Skye made her way inside the school. She arrived before most of the students had even gotten there. The few that were there didn’t care who she was or what she went through. They only cared about their own problems, and she was more than fine with that. Talking about her problems wasn’t something she was interested in.
Holding onto her brand-new books, she went straight to her locker. She needed to place the books inside before heading down to the principal. She’d gotten everything brand new because her things had been stolen. When she asked Denison if he’d located her bag and belongings, he’d shaken his head.
Everything had been lost or burned, or tossed out. He told her there was no trace of either of them being in that place. The only evidence they had was their description of their cell. The sketch that had been designed from their description of Mitch had come back without a match. There was no trace of him anywhere. That was all that placed them there at this time.
As she stared at her locker, it seemed so normal to her.
This was the hardest part of being taken, how normal everyone and everything was.
Her parents were still the same supportive selves even though they were both worried, both scared about how she was dealing with her kidnapping and being trapped, caged in like an animal. Her new favorite hobby right now was standing under the shower and washing her body.
Being forced to wash and bathe in front of an audience or being blasted with cold water had made bathing now a pure luxury, one she would never take for granted again. She did it as often as possible.
Lifting her hand, she did the code and her locker opened. Placing her books inside, she took a deep breath and felt … calmer. Lighter. She could do this.
Of course, she could do this. It was easy to do.
Next, she went to the principal’s office.
One look from Tracey, the receptionist, and she wasn’t so sure.
“Ah, Miss Carver, your parents told me you’d be coming in today. Please, come in. I’ll take it from here, Tracey.”
She moved past him, being careful not to touch him. She still didn’t handle being touched well. A hug from her father left her very uncomfortable, which she hated.
“Right, so, let’s see. I’ve been talking with your teachers. You were pretty much up to speed with everything before your … incident. They’re going to give you files of work fo
r you to complete. We’re hoping you’re fully caught up in the New Year. If for whatever reason, you’re not able to graduate, we will extend your time into the summer to complete all necessary assignments and you can graduate at the start of the new term. Now, there have been some changes made to your timetable. After talking with your parents and the Kings—”
“You talked to Noah’s parents? Is he returning today?”
“That I can’t say. Both of your parents have expressed an ideal … separation. Now, I can’t expel either of you because you’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. So I can’t change anything that is happening on that front. However, the classes you and Noah were in prior to your incident have been changed.”
She took the new timetable from him. “I’m the one that has been moved. Is this at Noah’s insistence?”
“We believe that it would be easier for you than for him.”
“Why?”
“You’re … your grades are higher, Skye. You can handle the workload.”
“And Noah cannot, and because he plays ball, he gets special treatment.” Her hands started to shake, and she took a deep breath.
“I don’t think that’s a nice thing to say.”
“I better go,” she said. “I don’t want to be late my first day.”
Without another look at him, she left the office, ignoring Tracey, and went to the bathroom.
A couple of girls were there, and she went straight into a stall.
“Isn’t she the girl that was taken?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard they did loads of experiments on them.”
“Noah’s more handsome than ever.”
Until a new scandal broke, this was the kind of crap she was going to have to take, and she hated it. Pressing her hands to her face, she took deep breaths. It was hard to do. She missed her bedroom.
She refused to believe for a second that she missed her cell. The place that was so cold, so lonely, but it had Noah there.
Noah without judgment.
Dropping her hands from her face, she tilted her head back.
“Skye, you can do this. It’s not that hard. You’re a strong woman. A capable woman. You can do this. It’s just school. Get your shit together and face whatever it is they’re going to throw at you.” She whispered the words, opened her eyes, and then left the toilet. She splashed some water onto her face before she did.
Staring at her new schedule, she saw it wasn’t that different. She had a couple of different teachers, but it wasn’t like she’d never had them before.
It was fine. If she took it one day at a time, she could do it. It was that easy. Nothing new or complicated.
She rounded the corner of the corridor and came to a stop in time to see Rebecca and Noah kissing.
He didn’t waste any time in getting back with his on-again, off-again girlfriend. She rubbed at her chest. No one saw her, and she was able to watch him. He seemed happy to have her in his arms, not that she could blame him. They were a couple whereas she and Noah, they were nothing.
Pushing some of her hair out of her eyes, she turned on her heel and headed to class.
Seeing the making out spectacle wasn’t on her agenda. With the books she’d need already in her bag, she found homeroom and took a seat.
The teacher was already there, and the moment he caught sight of her, he dropped the marker he was using.
“Miss Carver,” he said.
“Hi, Mr. Peach. I know I have you for English, but I was wondering if you had the extra work with you. I’d like to get started if that’s okay.”
“Yes, of course. Of course. Anything you need, let me know.” He moved toward his bag and took out a folder. “It is all in there. Whatever you need let me know and I’ll help you.”
“Thank you.”
She took the file and made her way into the back. Opening it up, she stared at the worksheets, and once again, she was reminded of her … incident.
It’s what a lot of people called it.
All of them apart from Denison. He called it what it was, a kidnapping. It was such a dirty word, and yet, it now revolved around every single area of her life. Her parents were heading back to work, and they were so worried. Denison reminded them of the cops he had around town. No matter where she went or what she did, there would be a cop.
One glance out the window and she saw the cop parked outside with all of the other kids.
It wouldn’t be odd at all. Everyone knew why he was there. Of course they did; the entire town knew part of what the fuck was going on. She and Noah knew the whole story.
She started to work through the necessary sheets, making a note of the books she’d need to read to complete some of the pages when people started to file in.
“I heard she was coming back today.”
“I saw Noah here as well.”
“I heard they ran away together.”
“No, they were totally kidnapped, and I heard they had to do things to each other.”
It didn’t matter what they said. Unless Noah spilled the truth, no one would ever know. It would be their secret, and for now, that was all she wanted. No, not just for now. Forever. She didn’t want to be reminded of what they went through.
If she could wave a magic wand and have the past weeks disappear from her memory she would.
Still, for the rest of the day until lunch, she dealt with the whispers and the pointing. She was under no illusion that all of the whispering and the pointing wouldn’t grow old.
She hadn’t packed a lunch for herself, and as she made her way to her locker, she wished she had. The thought of going into that room with everyone there … it scared her. She put her books inside her locker, played with the strap of her bag and wondered if it would be so bad to skip the rest of the day.
Her parents would find out, but that wouldn’t be so bad. They kept expecting her to lash out, to do something crazy. Why not give them a little taste of what they were so worried about?
Don’t do it.
Skye jumped as hands landed above her head. She quickly spun around and was shocked to see Noah, standing so close. His hands trapped her between his hard body and the metal behind her.
“Noah.”
“Skye.”
Glancing past his shoulder, she saw people were staring.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve tried to see you. I’ve tried to call around, but your parents kept me away. I wanted to see you at the hospital, but alas, they didn’t want me anywhere near you. Do you want to keep me away?”
She stared into his blue eyes. They were so bright, and she shook her head. “We can’t talk right now.”
He brought his hand off the locker beside her and slammed it back down. “Don’t tell me we can’t talk or see each other right now. I’m talking to you, and I’m very much seeing you with my own two fucking eyes.”
“You’re causing a scene.”
“It’s not like the ones we had to deal with. Their eyes can look away.”
She felt sick to her stomach.
He turned behind him. “You guys got places to be? Fuck off.”
“Noah, this isn’t like you,” she said.
“You know what I don’t like?”
“Nope.”
“Being ignored.”
“I’m not ignoring you.”
“No?”
“No. I can’t stop my parents, okay? I wanted to see you. I didn’t know if you wanted to see me.”
“I came to your house several times.”
“I know that, but this is different. Don’t you feel it? Everyone is watching us.”
She gasped as he suddenly grabbed her arm, and before she could stop him, he’d marched her into the boys’ locker room in the gym. No one was around.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked.
He stroked a finger down one curl. “This is new.”
“I had it cut.”
“I can see that. Want to tell me why?”
Before the kidnapping her hair had been down to her waist, so long. She’d never wanted to have it cut. In a stupid way, she’d wanted it like some of the princesses from her favorite movies. They all had long beautiful hair and princes to love them. She had nothing.
“I couldn’t stand to have long hair. He used to … hold it, and it hurt. I promised myself if I got out, I’d cut it. There’s no other reason here, I promise.”
He stroked a lock, and he twirled it around his finger. “I like the change. It suits you.” He didn’t stop touching her. His finger stroked across her cheek before he cupped her face. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been wanting to touch you? To know that you were fine? It has been driving me crazy.”
Tears filled her eyes at the torment she saw shining back at her. “I don’t know what to say, Noah.”
“Tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.”
“Mean it.”
“Noah?”
“Do you miss me? I can’t sleep at night without you. I need to feel you against me.”
She tilted her head to the side, moving her face away from his touch. “This isn’t fair.”
“I know it’s not fair.”
“No, why don’t you get Rebecca to sleep next to you? That may help your ability to sleep.”
She went to move, but he caught her arm, keeping her in place. It was useless fighting with him. Noah was used to getting what he wanted.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I saw the two of you together. You’re dating again. It’s fine. I get it.”
“I’m not dating her.”
“You were both kissing.”
“You’re jealous?”
“I’m not jealous.”
He smiled. “I think you are.”
“You’re crazy.”
“I like that you’re jealous.”
“I’m not. I don’t ever feel something like that.”
“I would be if I saw another guy kissing you. You think it was easy for me knowing that Mitch had you? What he was doing to you?”
“Don’t, Noah. Don’t bring that here.”
“I can’t help it. Some nights I wake up and see the pain in your eyes and all I want to do is hold you. I can’t do that because you’re not beside me anymore.”