Danni just stared at her, not saying a word. Yet again, she was being shifted to another place that probably didn’t want her either. Joe seemed like the only bright spot in her otherwise bleak life.
‘Look, you seem like a good kid who’s had a raw deal in life,’ she continued. ‘I read your file. It’s pretty nasty. I understand you’re still attending the same high school as your sister. How’s that going? Has she tried to contact you?’
Danni thought back to the incident on the stairs, but shook her head no. If she moved schools, she wouldn’t see Joe any more.
‘She hasn’t come near me,’ she said, absently touching her wrist that was still sore from her fall.
‘Okay, good. Now, about this family. They’re nearby so you can walk to school from the house. They have one son, he’s fourteen and sweet as pie.’
So was Beth, around others. But Danni smiled politely.
‘They’re called the Johnsons, nice couple, they’ve taken in a few teenage kids before and it’s worked out well for everyone concerned. I’m going to take you to their house straight away.’
Would she stay at this place for a while? Would it be home? Who knew?
10
Mia Brooks was a carbon copy of her mother. Tall, lithe, dark hair which she wore just below her shoulders and deep chocolate eyes that were almond shaped. A beautiful girl, well-mannered but shy. Despite her good looks, she wasn’t popular. She had never had the desire to be one of the ‘it’ crowd, and they had never accepted her anyway. Jane was her best friend, her only confidant in the entire world. She used to speak to her mother about stuff but lately she had been off the charts weird, happy then distant the next minute. So Jane kept her secrets, of which there weren’t many.
Mia was called out of English class one morning to go to the principal’s office. When she arrived, she saw a good looking boy standing by the front desk looking a little lost. She walked over to him and quietly said, ‘Are you okay?’ She gave him a warm smile; it was obvious he was new to the school.
‘Are you Mia Brooks?’ he asked, his voice deep, his smile matching hers. A camera hung around his neck. He placed his hands around it and brought it up to his eye, snapping a photo of Mia.
‘What are you doing?’ Mia asked, a frown on her beautiful face. ‘I don’t like my photo being taken.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, lowering the camera, ‘it’s just what I do and you’re so photogenic, so beautiful.’
‘Ah, Mia, I see you’ve met our new student, Oliver Marks. I’d like you to show him around,’ said the principal, smiling. Oliver smiled at her too.
Mia had a feeling, a bubbling sensation in her stomach and not in a good way. Something wasn’t right here, yet she turned and began to walk away, hearing the footsteps behind her. He was following her, too closely. She stopped suddenly and turned, seeing him mere inches from her face.
‘What are you doing?’ she demanded.
‘Just following you, Mia.’ He flashed that winning smile at her again.
Her stomach roiled, like something heavy sat in there. She turned back and kept walking, Oliver following, giving her slightly more space this time.
Mia gave Oliver a quick tour of the school, much faster than she’d done in the past. Usually she took the time to take the new kid to assembly so they could get a sense of what the school was about. She skipped this part, though, wanting the tour to end. She introduced him to some of his teachers and after taking a look at his class schedule, her heart sank. He was in many of her classes.
Damn it!
She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she didn’t want to be around the good looking new boy. On the tour, he caught the eye of many of the girls, but instead of being distracted by them, he kept asking her personal questions.
‘Are you from here? Where do you live? What do you do for fun? Do you have a boyfriend?’
Over and over, question after question, it was driving her mad. ‘And that concludes our tour,’ Mia said as they arrived back at the principal’s office. She looked at his timetable one last time. ‘You have English next period, remember where the building is?’
‘My memory isn’t so good. Think you could walk me to my class?’ She didn’t want to. Every part of her wanted to say no. He creeped her out. There was no way she’d be hanging round this guy ever again.
She was a good student, maintaining an A average, which her parents were proud of her for and rewarded her for. She was hoping to keep it up so next year, when she got her learner plates, they would buy her a car. Then she wouldn’t have to catch the bus all the time.
Unfortunately, as the weeks passed, Oliver developed a real fixation on her. It made her uncomfortable, but she didn’t know how to get him to stop. He always chose the seat behind hers in class. She would sit there, knowing his eyes were on her, boring a hole into her skull. Her concentration went right out the window. When called on in class by Mr Simmonds, the maths teacher, she couldn’t recall the question, let alone the answer. Her tests scores gradually slid lower and eventually her teacher began to notice. Mr Simmonds kept her back after class one day.
‘Mia, is there anything going on?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Maybe there’s something going on at home that you want to talk about?’
You mean besides the fact that I’m depressed and scared, and my parents couldn’t give a shit?
‘I hope one day in the future you’ll feel comfortable enough to come to me,’ Mr Simmonds said.
Mia appreciated his offer to help her, but she couldn’t talk to anyone about this right now. She walked out of the classroom and immediately saw Oliver standing near the lockers, taking a photo of her. Mia stalked over to him as he watched her coming, smiling.
‘What is wrong with you?’ she asked loudly, students turning to stare at her.
‘Nothing. What’s wrong with you, Mia? You seem stressed.’ He continued to smile.
‘Because of you!’ she shouted, her voice echoing down the hallway.
‘How about you just calm down a bit, Mia,’ Oliver said, touching her on the arm.
She jerked her body away from him. ‘Don’t touch me,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘And stop taking my photo.’
‘I’m a photographer, besides I’m the official photographer for the yearbook now. I’m taking lots of photos of everyone, not just you.’
Mia felt her eyes well with tears, this was not going as she had planned. She had started out so strong, but he was wearing her down, twisting her words, twisting the story.
‘I think you really need to chill out, you’re acting like I’m paying way too much attention to you, and I’m not. I thought we were friends, you showed me around and were so kind to me.’
Mia’s lip began to tremble. She knew that any moment she was going to cry.
‘Come here,’ he said, pulling her into an unwanted hug.
She pushed away from him, horrified that he had dared touch her. That she had let him touch her. Stifling her tears, she walked away from him quickly.
Mia ran to the nearest toilets and managed to hold in her tears until she had locked the stall door. Bawling, she ran her hands through her hair, chewing on a chunk of her hair, a habit she’d inherited from her mother. Thinking of her mum made Mia cry even more. How could they not see what was happening with her? Her grades had plummeted, she wasn’t eating much, and she was so stressed. She pulled out some toilet paper, blew her nose then wiped her eyes coming out of the toilet stall. Looking in the mirror, her face was red and blotchy, but there was nothing she could do about that. She tucked her hair back behind her ears, smoothed down her dress and opened the bathroom door.
He was waiting there for her. Mia gasped as he grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back into the bathroom. He stood in front of the door, blocking her exit.
‘What… what do you want?’ She stuttered.
‘I just want for us to be friends,’ Oliver said, smiling broadly.
‘I don’t
want to be friends with you. You’re insane. Stop stalking me!’ She gathered up her courage and barged past him, his laughter trailing out the door behind her. Mia ran down the hallway, sweat pooling at the bottom of her back, slick and cold. She wanted to go home and tell her mother, but they were in such a weird place with each other that she felt she couldn’t. Oliver was her problem, and her problem alone.
11
Walking down the hallway, she checked that no one was behind her. Her drink bottle was empty and she needed a refill, but to use the water fountain was a disgusting ordeal which required many moving parts. Usually she had just enough in her bottle to last her the day, but today, sports afternoon had really taken it out of her, hence the empty drink bottle.
After the whole horrible day of the worm incident where she had thought Julie was her friend, she had kept to herself even more, ensuring she stayed away from everyone. Her footsteps echoed down the hall, keeping her heartbeat company. She looked around, fearful, looking out for Julie or her friends.
As quickly as she could, she filled her bottle, willing it to go faster. Finally finished, she turned around, only to find Julie and her friends standing in front of her. How did they get there so fast? How did she not hear them sneak up on her? They must have been hiding, waiting to pounce.
‘Hey there,’ said Julie, flipping her long thick hair over her shoulder.
Her insides turned to water, how the hell was she going to get out of this?
‘Where are you going?’ Julie asked.
‘I… I just needed to fill my water bottle. I’m going back to class now.’ She looked down at the floor, willing it to open up under her, swallow her whole.
‘Hmm, I have something better in mind.’ Julie cocked her head to the side and her two friends lurched forward and grabbed a hold of each of her arms. They began dragging her down the hallway. She took in a series of short, shaky breaths, unable to even scream she was so scared.
She had no idea what was going on. Where were they taking her? Then the lockers loomed ahead of her and she knew what they were going to do to her. She was claustrophobic, her throat beginning to close over at the thought.
Julie ripped open the locker and her friends shoved her inside, slamming the door shut behind her. Immediately she banged on the door, the sound echoing out through the hallway and back into the locker. If she kept banging, people would come, wouldn’t they? They would laugh at her. She stopped banging, stayed perfectly quiet instead even though her heart was racing so hard she thought she was going to have a heart attack.
‘Hey, you comfortable in there?’ asked Julie, rapping on the locker. It reverberated, the noise crashing around the small space in the locker and inside her head. She put her hands up to her ears, but it was no use. She waited until it was over.
She stayed stone still and very silent. She looked at her watch, the hands glowing in the dark. An hour, two hours passed. She had pins and needles in her feet, her legs feeling heavy and dead. She wondered if Julie was still out there, waiting. After three hours, she began to need the toilet. After four hours, she was desperate.
She shifted her feet, which were numb. When she moved, she rebounded off the side of the locker, moving from side to side.
‘So, you’re still alive in there?’
She froze at the sound of Julie’s voice. The bell had just sounded for the third class that she had been stuck in there. Julie had gone to class knowing that she had left her captive in the locker. She swallowed hard. Maybe she should have tried to leave earlier, but what if the door was locked? If Julie found her gone, she’d suffer much worse.
‘I need to go to the toilet, please let me out,’ she begged, hating herself for it. The whine in her voice was evident, even to her but she couldn’t help it.
‘No. I don’t think I will.’ She could hear the laughter in Julie’s voice. The sniggers from other people. Julie’s friends, no doubt. Maybe there were more people out there, standing quietly in the wings. What if there was a crowd waiting, waiting for her to crack?
She felt her bladder reach the point of no return. The piss ran down her leg, soaking the front of her school dress, hot and steamy, pooling in her shoes. There was nothing she could do about it. She held back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. She was horrified, humiliated, and most of all, she could smell herself. She could hear it dripping under the door, no doubt pooling on the floor in front of the locker, shaming her. Her face burned with embarrassment.
‘I can smell you from out here, you little piss ant,’ Julie cackled.
She heard the lock on the door open and suddenly sunlight flooded the locker, blinding her temporarily. She put a hand up to shade her eyes from the harsh florescent lights in the hallway.
Then it started. A single laugh. High-pitched and full of teasing, then one by one, it was followed by a chorus of voices until she could hear nothing but laughter, directed at her.
‘She pissed herself!’ screamed Julie above all the voices. She had been set up yet again. She went to move out of the locker, to run down the hall, to escape the humiliation which she knew she’d never live down.
‘Stay there,’ demanded Julie. She pulled out her mobile and snapped a pic of the large wet patch on the front of her dress. She was beyond mortified.
‘Julie…’ her friend said.
‘I think she’s had enough,’ said the other girl, the one who’d looked remorseful at the worm incident. Now she looked downright uncomfortable.
‘You want some too?’ Julie asked her friend, who shrank back. ‘Okay, you’re right, I guess I’ve proved my point. She’s such a loser.’
Julie walked away, her friends trailing her, one by one. Some looked embarrassed for her, some outright laughed at her. She just couldn’t catch a break. Julie clearly had it in for her, there was no doubt about that, but she couldn’t figure out what she’d done to provoke her. If she knew, she’d try to fix it. School was pure torture, torture that was never going to end, not unless something changed.
12
Danni put her head against the cool window, watching as the houses rushed by. As they drove along, her case worker told her a bit about her new foster family. ‘Michael and Michelle and their son Andrew Johnson. Great people, very caring of their wards. You’ll be well looked after. You have your own room and no one will hurt you there, I promise.’ She turned to smile at her, and Danni managed a weak smile in return. She wanted to get a feel for them herself, she didn’t trust anyone any more. She had been burned too many times. Really, how much more could she take?
They pulled up to the house. It was neatly maintained, a brick house with blooming flower beds bordering a concrete pathway. Danni thought it looked nice enough, but she knew looks could be deceiving. Joan, her case worker tasked with getting her settled into a new home, rang the doorbell. It was opened by an older lady with short curly hair who she assumed must be Michelle.
‘Oh, you must be Danni!’ the lady said, excitedly ushering her inside the house. Joan followed and was pulled into a hug by the woman. Then she grabbed Danni and hugged her too. It was the nicest contact she’d had with another woman in her whole life, and for a moment she let herself be hugged before she gently pulled backwards.
‘Nice to meet you, Mrs Johnson,’ Danni said politely.
‘No need to be so formal here, I’m Michelle, and this is my husband Michael,’ she said, gesturing to the man who’d walked up behind her. He immediately went over to Danni and put out his hand for a handshake. At least he didn’t try to hug her too. She didn’t think she could handle two hugs in one day.
‘Hi, I’m Danni.’ She tried on a smile. This was where she was going to live for the next few months, so she should make an effort.
‘Nice to meet you, Danni. Andrew!’ he called out.
A teenage boy ambled into the entranceway. He stopped when he saw Danni, eyes wide, and mouth open. Danni’s soul shrunk a little bit. She knew that look. If he developed a crush on her, would that becom
e a problem? Could or would he make her life here difficult?
‘Let me show you to your room,’ Michelle said, flapping her hand towards the hallway. The room was plain and simple, but it was enough, it was hers. She would be safe here. ‘Come say goodbye to Joan and we’ll get you settled in.’ Danni went to say goodbye to her case worker, who was talking to Michael.
‘Well, Danni, this is it until next month. I’ll pop in and check on you. Now you’ve got my number, so call me if you need anything. Okay?’ she asked cheerfully, knowing that her obligation had been fulfilled. Danni had been neatly tucked away and she didn’t have to think about her any more.
13
The motel room was dank. There was no other word for it. It was the only motel in town, and their room was dark, with only one small window at the front that looked out onto another building. It had a smell to it that Danni couldn’t identify, and beds so lumpy they put a bowl of porridge to shame. She couldn’t imagine her and Mia staying there for a month, maybe longer. She swallowed with difficulty. She couldn’t afford to be choosy, but she couldn’t help but compare this horribly depressing motel to her comfortable, airy, farmhouse that was full of love. How could Mia be expected to recover here in this godforsaken hellhole of a place? She couldn’t help but think that Beth had chosen this place deliberately. Punishing Danni, and, by extension, Mia. She could have sent them to the next town over, not made them sleep in this shit hole.
There was no food in the room, so Danni and Mia caught a taxi to the supermarket where they purchased some essentials and then a taxi back to the motel again. Danni refused to call it home. Home had burnt down to the ground. They arrived back at the motel and Danni had just finished putting the food away in the tiny bar fridge and the dry food on the dresser when there was a knock at the door.
Surprised, Danni opened it cautiously, the chain still firmly anchoring the door to the door frame.
The Silent Daughter Page 6