by Mia Luxe
We could be the best runners in this damn place. I already know your weakness, Sarah. You underestimate people.
I rub my chest, knowing that if I retaliate I’ll end up getting us all in more trouble. I fight back the urge to slap that look off Sarah’s face.
“I’m sorry to all of you. I didn’t mean to get you extra runs. I’ll do three every morning to help work off the debt.”
Sarah rolls her eyes and sits back down, opening her book.
Stacey feels her finished braid in her hand and perks up. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Running is fun, anyway. It’s only, like, a five-mile run in the morning.”
Tammy glares at her. “Easy for you, Miss. Track Star. Let’s see how well you run when your steroids run out.”
Stacey pushes her gently. “Oh, shut up. I didn’t do steroids. I got sent here because I was using uppers for energy. I had no idea they tested for them. So, newbie. Why are you here?”
“She parked a car in a swimming pool,” says Claudia with wide eyes.
Sarah closes her book, looking up at me. “Really? I didn’t take you for a badass.”
I shake my head. “It was nothing so dramatic. Just a drunk mistake.”
“Oooh,” says Tammy. “Drinking and driving and driving a car into a pool. Was it yours?”
I shake my head. “No, it was my boy… It belonged to someone I knew.”
I almost said it was my boyfriend’s car.
Stacey’s eyes go wide. “Drinking and driving and Grand Theft Auto? You’re our new resident badass. I thought Sarah stealing Tiffanys jewelry was cool, but that’s on another level.”
Sarah scowls, putting her book down. “Four-thousand-dollars worth of jewelry, thank you very much. You make it sound like I stole some shitty necklace. That’s a little different than stealing your friend’s Honda and driving it into a lake.”
I don’t want to start a rivalry with this woman. I just want the time to pass quickly so I can get back to the hospital. Those sick kids expect me to visit and read stories and… And if I don’t get out of here soon, I might not get to see some of them again. If she wants to think it was a Honda, then I’ll let her think that.
Claudia perks up. “It wasn’t a lake, it was a swimming pool. And it was a three-million-dollar car!”
Shit.
“Bullshit,” says Tammy. “There’s no way!”
Sarah narrows her eyes. “I call bullshit too. There’s no car that costs three-million-dollars.”
I shrug. “I don’t know much about cars.”
Tammy raises her eyebrows. “Well, what brand was it?”
“Something that sounded like a bug.”
“Oh, my God,” says Stacey. “You crashed a new Bugatti, didn’t you?”
I cringe, sitting down on my bed, just wanting this conversation to be over.
“Something like that,” I say, suddenly feeling oh-so-weary.
Soon it’s lights out, and I change under the covers into my pajamas. I fall asleep quickly- feeling Sarah’s eyes burning into me as I drift away.
The bell rings the next morning and wakes me up. I get up, wiping the sleep from my eyes. Claudia groans, stretching. In the plastic bag with the uniforms there was a sporty outfit – shorts and an athletic top. I put them on and follow Claudia. Sarah gives me a light push, rushing past me. She says sorry as she passes, as if it was an accident, and it was just light enough that I don’t feel comfortable calling her out on it.
We start to run around the dorms. We pass near the boys who are running. There’s a full nine of them – a cabin-full, in shorts that show plenty of thigh, and tight tank-tops. They have to run a wider track than us girls, and for once I’m glad there isn’t equality between the sexes considering that my team is going to have to run two laps while everybody else only has to run one.
Sweat sheens on the boy’s bodies and I glance over at the other girls in my cabin, who all have eyes wide as saucers as they ogle the young men.
Despite knowing they’re hot guys with good bodies, I feel nothing as I glance at them.
One of them whistles, and another smacks him over the head – probably to avoid getting punished. We run around the camp, slowly passing other groups of girls. When everyone else is finished and gets to go shower off, we have to run another lap.
Claudia starts to flag, and I slow my pace next to her.
“Take it slow and steady. We can do this, I promise.”
She smiles weakly, gasping for air, and keeps running with me. We loop around the cabins once more, and my legs are burning. Claudia pants, barely able to make it to the end.
“Put you arms above your head and keep walking so you don’t cramp up.”
Claudia gasps for air: “Aren’t you coming with me to the showers?”
I grit my teeth. My legs are on fire. I’ve never run this far in my life – but I remember my promise.
“I said I’d do three laps. I’ll meet you at breakfast,” I say grimly. Before Claudia can protest I start running again.
Every step sends pain through my body. I loop the cabins, and now that I’m alone I get into a higher plane. I push through the plateau of pain and just exist. Nothing exists but the fresh mountain air filling my lungs. Nothing exists but the view down the mountain – ancient fir trees and a lake so fresh and clean I can only imagine the feeling of plunging into it.
I almost collapse when I finish. I’m the last one still running. From the cafeteria I can hear people talking, plates clinking, and my stomach rumbles despite the agony of the run.
A smile fills my face.
For the first time since almost being raped by the bastard I thought loved me, I feel some semblance of control.
I trudge to the showers, which are almost empty by this time. While there are walls, the top is open to the early morning sun. It feels so strange to have to shower in public. I’m usually very concerned about keeping my body private. There’s another girl in the shower, naked, and she doesn’t even flinch as I walk in, stripping in the changing room, and stepping into the shower. I hold my hands over my breasts, my cheeks flushed not just from the run, but also from the embarrassment I’ve always felt when I’m naked. The water is cool and refreshing after the morning run. The sun is hot, even this early in the morning.
At first I try to cover myself, but every muscle in my body is aching and the other girl doesn’t even spare me a glance. Instead, I focus on getting clean rather than my modesty. Over the steam I can smell bacon and eggs from the cafeteria, and my stomach rumbles. I feel so hungry and tired, and it’s only seven in the morning.
Zero seven hundred hours. That’s what it’s called here. I need to adjust.
I towel off, moving as quickly as I can back to my dorms. I get into my uniform. I had to wear a uniform in private school and it wasn’t until university that I had the freedom of choosing my own clothes. That freedom has now been stripped away from me again. The uniforms aren’t ugly, but they certainly aren’t the most comfortable things in the world – and I feel like the dress shirt is tight on my breasts.
I walk to the mess hall. There’s still a line of female students getting served a dwindling supply of food.
So, even the cafeteria is segregated. I wonder if classes are co-ed? Tanner Strom obviously doesn’t want any pregnancy scandals on campus.
I gulp as I remember the way he made me feel when I was alone with him.
The mean-looking lunch lady gives me an appraising look and ladles me big portion of scrambled eggs.
“You look like you could use it,” she says, and I feel instant guilt that I thought she looked mean in my head.
Don’t judge people. Not until you know them.
“Thank you,” I reply, realizing that Miss. Turner was just trying to scare me by saying that the breakfast was first come, first served. Even though the food supplies are dwindling, I’m last in line and there’s still no way I am going to go hungry.
I see Claudia sitting apart from everyone else,
and so I sit down next to her. The cafeteria workers start packing up their food.
“Hey, how are you holding up after that run?”
Claudia grimaces, chewing a bite of toast. “I shouldn’t complain. You went around one more time than I did.”
I smile. “I’m sore as fuck. You can complain to me if you like, I don’t mind.”
Claudia winces. “Ugh. It’s painful. I’m going to be aching all day.”
Her eyes widen, looking at something behind me. I turn, and see Sarah approaching.
“Morning,” I say politely, even though this morning I already greeted her once and got nothing but a glower.
“Good morning, Judas,” she growls, obviously sore from the run.
“Look, I said I was sorry! I didn’t mean to make you all have to do extra laps.”
Sarah smiles, a cruel smile that has no warmth behind it. “You’re right. You didn’t mean to do it. I’m just so sore that I can barely stay on my feet, and… Oh! Oh, whoops!”
She pretends to stumble and knocks Claudia’s plate on the floor. She leaves with a smirk, and my jaw drops.
“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry that happened to you, Claudia. Let me help you clean it up.”
I grab paper towels and help mop up the floor, depositing the soiled food onto her now empty plate. Claudia looks forlornly at the now empty buffet.
“I don’t know why she’s picking on me!”
I take a closer look at Claudia. I don’t know if it’s cruel to tell her the truth. No matter if she doesn’t like me after this, I have to tell her.
“Claudia… She’s being extra mean to you because you’re my friend. I think she views you as a weaker target than me. I really don’t mean that in an offensive way.”
She smiles sadly. “Thanks for being honest. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Well, if Sarah thinks I’m going to stop being your friend, she has another think coming.”
I smile at Claudia, whose stomach growls. I move my plate into the middle of the table.
“They gave me all this extra food. Please, help me eat it.”
I hate that it isn’t easy to offer. I’m ravenous, and I could wolf down everything on my plate and still have room for seconds. But despite my own hunger, I’m not going to let Claudia go hungry. Not when she has an eating disorder.
Claudia looks at me, then at the food, as if weighing her options. Finally, she reaches out and takes a forkful of scrambled eggs.
“Thank you. I owe you one.”
“Nonsense,” I smile.
The day passes in a blur. Claudia shows me to all the classes, which are more difficult than anything I was expecting. In school I’m taking a business degree that my father pushed me into – because, in his words, he doesn’t have a son to take over the family business after him.
Here, instead, I go through philosophy and math, sociology and Latin, and by dinner-time my brain is fogged up. I was right to be suspicious. Even the classes are segregated by gender. Obviously Tanner Strom has no inclination for the drama that would come from the breakups and hookups of co-ed classes.
There’s a weird peace to his academy.
I’m so used to posting pictures of what I eat on Instagram, or of mooning over other people’s latest vacations on Facebook. I don’t use my phone more than other people, but it’s weird to be without it. It’s the lack of Internet that really gets to me, though. It’s like we’re completely secluded from the world up here.
We line up in the cafeteria that evening and I load up on chicken and pasta. The dinner is buffet-style, and you get to choose your own portions. The smells are enticing. Everything is mouth-watering, but under closer scrutiny I realize it’s all still healthy.
“I was worried about only two meals a day, but this looks incredible,” I say, looking at the spread.
We only got a little snack at lunch time. A small handful of nuts and an apple during class.
Claudia licks her lips. “You get used to it.”
Sarah starts walking towards us, lowering her shoulder and aiming at Claudia’s tray. I look around for the head of dorms, Miss. Turner, but there’s no-one watching who can stop what I know is about to happen. Sarah picks up the pace, obviously planning to knock Claudia’s tray of food on the floor.
At the last second, I step in front of her, and Sarah bumps into me. My tray wavers but stays still.
“Watch where you’re going,” I tell her in my calmest voice, controlling the lava wave of anger I feel.
Sarah opens her mouth to say something, but when she meets my eyes she thinks better of it.
“I… I didn’t see you there,” Sarah mutters, walking away.
“She was going to knock my tray over again, wasn’t she?”
I nod grimly.
Claudia smiles. “Well, you saved me. Now I really owe you.”
We eat our meals and put our dishes away.
“Well, we have a bit of free time. Want me to show you around the campus?”
“That would be amazing.”
She nods, and I suddenly realize that the discipline of this place is what makes it work. Miss Turner, for example, might be strict, and she might mete out punishments with a heavy hand, but she cares about us. I’m a good judge of people, and I can tell that Miss. Turner wants what’s best for us all, and it’s rubbed off on Claudia.
I sit down at the table and eat dinner with Claudia. It’s delicious and filling. There’s chatter throughout the room, and I think for a split-second that this place might not be as bad as I’d first thought.
It’s strangely relaxing, being away from the real world.
If only I was allowed to leave on weekends to volunteer at the hospital. It wouldn’t be so bad.
Here, I’m safe from assholes like Mike Fuller.
A hush falls over the dining room. I’m in the middle of opening my mouth to say something to Claudia, but I’m stopped by a tap on my shoulder. I turn and my heart sinks.
It’s Miss. Turner.
Shit. What did I do now?
“Hello Emily. How are you adjusting?”
I smile warily. “Slowly but steadily. It’s weird not having a phone.”
“Ah, and you’ve cleaned your plate. Very good. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to enjoy free time with the other girls tonight. Headmaster Strom has requested your presence. Immediately. I take it you remember the way?”
I nod warily, and Miss. Turner walks away.
“Yikes. Most people only go to the headmaster’s office if they’re in trouble. But Emily, you didn’t do anything, did you?”
I bite my lip. “I didn’t do anything that I know of.”
She raises her eyebrows. “That man terrifies me. He’s never been mean to me, or anything – but he’s just so… Impressive, and big.”
She hushes her voice at the end of the sentence.
“I actually think he’s really hot,” Claudia confesses in a whisper, and she looks like I’m going to laugh at her.
I wish she wasn’t right. As frustrating as it is to be trapped in his academy, I’ve always thought Tanner Strom was the hottest guy in the world. Growing up, I’d feel guilt as I stared at him across the dinner table, fawning over his muscles and his bad-boy tattoo.
I ended up going for his polar opposite in the thin and Romanesque Mike Fuller, and it was the biggest mistake of my life.
“You and every other girl in this place,” I say, taking a last bite.
Claudia giggles. “Is that wrong? He’s like, almost forty.”
“He’s thirty-eight,” I reply, remembering that he’s the same age as my dad, who fathered me at twenty. Claudia looks at me curiously – wondering how I’m so well-informed, no doubt. I step up before she can pepper me with questions.
“I’d better not keep the headmaster waiting,” I say, rolling my eyes.
I leave the cafeteria and walk down the hallway to the spiralling stairs that take me up to Tanner’s office. I’m still sore from the run and I look up at the windin
g stairs with trepidation.
This is going to hurt – but mind over matter. I bet this is nothing compared to the Navy SEAL boot camps Tanner Strom had to go through. If he can do it, I can do it.
By the end of the stairs, I’m pulling myself up by the railings. My legs burn. I’m filled with a mixture of trepidation and excitement that I’m going to be in a room with my old crush.
What does he want? Am I in trouble?
I stop in front of his huge wooden door and force myself to lift my hand and knock faintly.
“Come in.”
Strom’s voice is deep and melodic, and I open the door and walk into his office. He stands as I enter, like an old-school gentleman. He’s dressed well, in a suit and tie with a fitted dress shirt that looks like the buttons will explode if he flexes. He always used to wear jeans and t-shirts when he came for dinner. It drives me crazy that I know he’s got a sexy tattoo beneath that suit, but I can’t see it.
“I’ll never get used to seeing you in a suit and tie, Headmaster Strom,” I say lightly, with a little teasing edge to my voice.
He smiles. “And I doubt I’ll get used to seeing you in my school’s uniform. Sit.”
I sit down in front of him, and he follows suit.
“Well, why did you call me up, Tanner?”
“Here you will refer to me as Mister Strom, or Headmaster. You didn’t want special treatment – and you won’t get any.”
His voice is stern now that the pleasantries are done with. It’s strange having to call an old family friend by his title, but it’s his school, and his rules.
“Fine. Why am I here, Headmaster?”
Tanner clasps his hands together. He sits with a straight back, and I fix my posture in his presence.
I let a little too much edge creep into my voice.
“Miss. Jones, you will speak to me with respect.”
A flutter goes through me when he speaks in his firm, demanding voice. I bite my lip. It’s strange seeing him like this. He was always an immovable statue at dinner, a force to be reckoned with. He didn’t talk a lot, and when he did, people listened.