by Anna L
“What are you doing in my room,” I asked, quickly shutting the door.
“I just wanted to see what you were up to.”
“Ok, well I just finished dinner, so you can leave now.” I went over to my desk to grab my phone so that I could call Brent. “Where is my phone?” I turned around and Sam was smiling at me.
“Oh, you don’t need that,” Sam said, standing up.
“Actually I do. You broke into my house, you idiot!”
“Do you really think that I care?”
“What is your problem? I want you out of my house now!” I ignored his question.
“I’m afraid, I can’t do that,” Sam said, with a smirk.
“And why is that?” I asked, putting my hand on my hip and raising an eyebrow.
“Well you see,” Sam paused and took a step towards the window. “When I was climbing through your window, my foot hit the ladder and it fell. I came here by myself, so I could have someone put the ladder back against your house.” Sam was smiling, and I could tell that he was happy.
“What,” I asked, in disbelief.
“The ladder fell,” Sam said, his smile vanishing.
“And you expect me to believe that the ladder fell by accident?”
“Yes. I do!” Sam’s excitement came back to life.
I walked over the window and looked down. Sure enough the ladder was lying on the ground. I turned around and then jumped. While I was looking out the window Sam had walked over to me. He was
Chapter 19
Do you need something?” I asked. Even though I already knew what he wanted, I still felt like asking. I tried to take a step back, but the window was the only thing behind me.
“What is the point of even asking if you know what I want from you?” Sam was looking in my eyes, but I wasn’t looking at him. I was looking behind him. Sam’s eyes scared me.
I didn’t respond. He took my chin in his hand, forcing me to look at him. I struggled a little bit and Sam smiled.
“There is no point in struggling against me. I’m always going to win.” That smile never left Sam’s face.
“Well, you’re not winning this one.” I basically spit the words at him.
He smiled again and put his other hand on my back, pulling me closer to him.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” He kept smiling. “Where is Brent tonight?” I didn’t answer. “Hmm?”
I started to look away from him again and he jerked my head back so that I was facing him. I winced because he bent my neck the wrong way.
“Oh, sorry. Did I hurt your neck?”
“Shut up!”
“Give me what I want!”
“No! Are you crazy! After everything you have done to me, my sister, and Brent?”
“If you put it that way, then I guess I am crazy.”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I punched him in the stomach. He let go of me and stepped aside. I didn’t waste any time. I ran towards the door
Sam must have recovered quicker than I thought he was going to. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward him. I was only inches from the door knob. I thought that my arm was going to come out of my socket. I yelled, but it was cut short, because Sam’s hand came over my mouth.
“You speak or try to get away one more time, and you will never see your family or Brent again. Do you understand?”
I nodded. I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or if he was just saying that to scare me. I was shaking again.
“Now I want to be able to trust you. So, I am going to let go of you. Then I am going to shut your window and come back. If you move, well you know what happens then.” Sam he let go of me. I don’t think I even took a breath. I didn’t want him to think that I moved. I was actually scared of him.
He walked over to the window and slid it shut and then locked it. Why did he need to lock the window. I wasn’t going to jump out of it.
“Thank you for not moving. Now I want you to walk over here to me.”
I slowly walked toward him. I was shaking. I should have ran downstairs when I knew there was someone in my room.
When I was a foot away from Sam, I stopped walking. He obviously wasn’t happy with that because he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. We were only inches away from each other now.
“You don’t like to listen, do you?” Sam asked me. I didn’t respond in any way. Once again he put one hand on my chin and the other on my back. I squirmed a little bit, but then he pulled me into a very tight hug. I could barely breathe. I relaxed and put my arms around him. I gave up. I was too tired to fight anymore.
“You don’t listen, but you learn very well.” Sam was pleased with himself, even though he didn’t get exactly what he wanted—yet.
Sam smelt really good. When I gave him a hug, I almost forgot about what was really happening. It was like Sam was putting me under a spell. The first couple of times that I had talked to Sam he seemed really nice and sweet. Since then, he has just bullied me and been mean to me. Right now, his sweet side was coming out, and I liked that sweet side.
It seemed like the hug was never going to end. Finally he let me back away, but only as far as his arms could go. Both his hands were on my lower back.
He kept staring at me. “Can I have what I want now? What you promised me?”
A crap. I forgot that I promised him that I would give him a kiss. I thought that I could get away saying I didn’t promise. Now, I was screwed for sure.
“Let’s make a deal. I still have your phone, I’m still in your room, and I have a secret for you, but I can’t tell you what it is. Sorry.” Sam smiled at me, before he went on. “If you kiss me I will give you what you want. Except for the secret. You will figure that out soon enough.”
He pulled me closer to him again and he grabbed my chin. He lifted me up so that I was on my toes. Our lips were so close together. I was so tempted to kiss him. I was under his spell again.
“Can I talk now?” I asked him, smiling. “Yes.” He whispered and then our lips touched. That little touch was all the Sam needed, but he wasn’t going to stop there.
He kissed me for what seemed like forever, but I knew it wasn’t really that long. One of his hands moved up my back and rested on my neck, pulling me closer to him still. I wrapped my arms around his neck to see if he would stop faster.
Finally he stopped kissing me.
“Thank you.” He was smiling again.
“So can I have my phone now?” I asked.
“Is that all you really care about?” Sam paused and when I didn’t answer he went on. “Let me ask you a question. And don’t lie because I will know.”
“Fine.”
“Did you enjoy that?”
“That kiss?” I smiled, a little embarrassed. “A little. But don’t get any ideas, because I still like Brent more than you.”
“Yes, I know that you love him. But I just wanted to know if that kiss was really that bad. There could be another kiss if you would like.”
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I never want a kiss from you again. I want you to leave me alone. And I want my phone too.” I stomped my foot.
“I’m afraid that you will be seeing me a lot after tonight, but right now I can’t tell you why. A kiss might come later though, and yes, you can have your phone.”
He reached into his back pocket and grabbed my phone. He handed it to me and then gave me another hug. I tried to back away but Sam was stronger. He just laughed and hugged me harder.
“And now, you can go. Now.” I said, shooing him away from me.
“Yes, Catherine. I will see you tomorrow morning.”
“Wait what? Before school?”
“Yes.”
“What? Explain to me now!” I was so confused. I thought that it was just me, Brent, and Margaret.
“No, you told me to go.” Sam was smiling at me again.
“Sam, stay here and tell me why you will see me tomorrow.”
“So you want me to stay now?”
“No, I don’t. I will figure it out tomorrow morning. You can go.”
“One more kiss?”
“No!”
“Fine. Goodbye Catherine! I had fun tonight!”
I didn’t respond. I watched him pull a string and the ladder was pulled up to the window. I didn’t notice the string before. I hated him even more now.
Sam climbed out and down the side of my house without saying anything else. I shut the window as soon as I could. I locked it and then went downstairs.
I was in a bad mood now. My eyebrows were all scrunched up and I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Sam had made me so mad, and the worst part is, is that I bought his whole story. I even halfway enjoyed the kiss. That is just disgusting. He broke into my house, told me lies, stole my phone, made me kiss him, and then left me on the edge with so many questions. This is no fair.
Chapter 20
When I got downstairs there was nothing really going on. The boys were playing video games again and Margaret and Mom were in the kitchen cleaning up. How long had I been upstairs?
“There you are. I was wondering where you had gone,” William said standing up.
“I was in my room,” I replied.
“Oh, well I was just going to come up and talk to you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and I would still like to talk to you. So we can go back up to your room?”
“Yeah, sure.” I gave him a confusing look.
We walked up the stairs without saying anything else.
When we got to my room, I sat down on my bed and William leaned against my desk.
“So, what have you really been doing up here. I thought that I heard you scream, but I was pretty sure that I was imagining things.”
“Oh!” I began to laugh. “You really want to hear what happened?”
“Yeah, I do.” He looked a little confused.
I began telling him my story, beginning with what I heard during dinner. By the time I finished my story I thought that William was going to explode. I told him everything. Even what I felt like after kissing Sam.
After thinking about the kiss, I realized that I actually liked it better the Brent’s kiss, which worried me. Maybe that was why I was so worried about seeing Sam and Brent tomorrow morning.
“Okay, that was not what I was expecting at all,” William was still trying to figure everything out.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I think what you did was right. Maybe not in Brent’s mind, but I think that listening to Sam is better than him kidnapping you. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I guess. I still feel bad about it though.”
“I guess that’s what happens when you ‘cheat’ on your boyfriend, whether it is forced or not.”
“Yeah, I guess. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Worrying about me and helping me out.”
“Oh, yeah. No problem, that’s what I am here for. I will stay with you until the last minute tomorrow morning. Ok?”
“Yeah, ok. Sounds good.”
“Ok, well I am going to go back downstairs. I’ll talk to you later then.”
“Ok. Bye.”
“Bye.” William left the room.
I sat on my bed and thought about what happened tonight. William was right though. About everything. I should feel bad. All I wanted to do right now is talk to Brent. I guess I don’t have to feel that bad. Brent would understand. Right?
I went over to my desk and grabbed my phone. I had two messages.
The first one was from Brent.
Hey! Sry to bug u again. About meeting early in the morning, I think that we should meet at least 30 min before school starts. I want to make sure we have enough time. What do u think?
I needed to tell Brent about what happened tonight first. That was going to take a while to.
I think that will work. I need to tell u something too, but I don’t think that 30 min. will be long enough.
Brent was probably going to go crazy over my response.
I moved down the list in my inbox to my next unread message.
Have u told Brent about tonight yet?
I didn’t have to look at the name to know it was from Sam.
Why do u care?
I replied. Sam just made me so fricking angry!
I sat on my bed. There was so much going through my head that I just wanted to go to bed, but I wanted to stay up and see what Brent and Sam had to say to me.
My phone vibrated. I expected it to be from Brent, but Sam responded.
Don’t tell him anything.
Sam said.
Once again, what if I already did?
I replied.
My phone buzzed at me. This text was from Brent.
Ok? What do u have to tell me?
Brent seemed to be more relaxed then I thought. What do I say now? According to Sam, I couldn’t tell him. I’ll wait to see what Sam tells me.
My phone vibrated again.
If u did then u won’t be happy tmrw. Plz tell me if u already told him!
Sam was hiding something from me. I already knew that he was going to be at school early tomorrow, but he knows something I don’t.
No. I havent told him….yet.
I replied.
Sam must be right next to his phone because my phone vibrated right away.
Plz dont tell him. I want to be there, with u, when u tell him. It’ll be great! If u tell him when Im not there, u will never see Brent again and u will never get rid of me. U got that?
I didn’t know what to say to that. How come I am always threatened with not being able to see Brent? What were they going to do? Well, I wasn’t going to figure it out.
Fine. I won’t tell him. Happy?
I texted Sam. Why does he keep winning.
Sorry I can’t tell you right now. I will tell you later.
That was my final response to Brent. Hopefully he won’t get too angry. I pressed the send button at the same time that my phone vibrated again.
I will be happy! See you tmrw!
Sam said. I swear! I was going to kill Sam. I hated him so much! UGH! I wasn’t even going to respond to his text.
My phone vibrated. I was scared to look at Brent’s response.
Ok? I trust that u will tell me.
Ok. That wasn’t that bad.
Thank you. I will see u tmrw morning! Goodnight.
I was hoping Brent would understand.
He responded quickly this time.
Good night. Stay safe plz.
I was happy now. Well not happy exactly, but definitely ready for bed.
Chapter 21
When I woke up Tuesday morning, Sam and Brent were the first thing on my mind. I also had butterflies in my stomach. I shouldn’t be excited to go to school. Not today at least. This could be the worst morning of my life. Sam might make me tell Brent about everything, and there is some big secret that I am not allowed to know!
I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. I was getting ready and then Margaret knocked on the door to the bathroom.
“Hey!”Margaret sounded wide awake.
“Hi.” I replied, still half asleep.
“You excited for school?”
“Why would I be excited for school? I am never excited for school.”
“Yeah, good point. I guess I don’t know why I’m excited. The last time I was there I was kidnapped and tied to a chair. I shouldn’t be excited.”
I grimaced at the thought of what happened the other day. “Yeah, probably not.” Wasn’t Brent supposed to talk to Margaret and I about not going to school for awhile because of what happened?
“Hey, we are going to talk to that guy who drove us home. You coming right?” Margaret asked.
I paused and thought for a second. “Shoot! I forgot we have to be there 30 minutes before school starts!”
“Kate, Margaret! We have to go in five minutes!” William even sounded excited.
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“Okay,” I yelled back.“I have to get ready!” Now I was really nervous.
I got ready in five minutes and was in the car driving to school, basically on time. Brent wouldn’t mind. We were only going to be a few minutes late. We would have been even later if we would have had to walk. Thank god my mom was able to drive us today.
We pulled into the parking lot of my school and my mom, who we encouraged to drive us, dropped us off at the door.
“Thanks for the ride,” I yelled as I shut the door.
My mom drove off and Margaret, William and I were left standing on the sidewalk. It wasn’t long before I heard my name.
“Cat!” Brent must have come up behind me. He gave me a huge hug and lifted me off the ground. Evan was behind him. Margaret looked confused.
“Hi, Brent!” I was actually happy to see him. I felt safer now. The butterflies and all my thoughts about Sam vanished for the time being.
“Hey Margaret. I am glad you came this morning, because I actually had to talk to you about something.” Brent paused and looked and Margaret and me before continuing. “I was talking to the school board this morning and I lied to them. I told them that you guys are going on a trip and won’t be going to school for a week or so. I also had them call your mom and they told her that you were allowed to skip school. They have agreed to let you stay home for the rest of this week. I couldn’t get them to excuse you from all of your homework from this week. But other than that, you are all good to go.”
“Really?” Margaret asked her smile coming out.
“Yeah! So, you can actually walk home and go back to bed if you want,” Brent said. He squeezed my hand. He was pleased with himself.
“I think that I might actually do that! Bye Katie and William. I’ll see you later!” Margaret basically skipped home. She seemed to be pretty happy.