Chapter 14
Sleep came surprisingly fast. I hadn’t even realized how exhausted I was until I closed my eyes and was suddenly dead to the world. For once, even dreams evaded me. For several glorious hours, I was in a blissful state of total unconsciousness.
But alas, as soon as I woke up, the dire reality of my current situation came crashing down on me once more, as I knew it inevitably would.
It was around 11 am when I finally came out of my coma-like state. A wave of nausea engulfed me as I awoke and remembered the night before. It was a horrible feeling. I felt completely hopeless.
I went through the motions of my morning: showering, getting dressed, eating breakfast…I was so ravenous when I woke up I felt like I could eat a horse. After all, I hadn’t eaten anything in over 18 hours.
When I finished raiding the pantry, I spent the rest of the day locked in my room. I texted Sam and Michael, filling the latter in on the details of what happened after we got separated the day before. He was appalled, and couldn’t stop apologizing. He also told me that he’d put his fist through the wall when he’d found out that I’d been taken to the D-home. I was alarmed at this thought, but I felt a rush of affention toward him knowthing that he cared so much.
Sam was acting a bit…different. Distant. I couldn’t figure out why, but it worried me. Maybe she was just traumatized from what happened. But if anyone should be traumatized, it’d be me, right? Oh well. I pushed the worry out of my mind. I had too many other things to think about.
Neither of my parents went to church that morning. I assumed that none of us were gonna go to the evening service either. But around 5:30 that night, my dad stuck his head in my door. “We’re leaving for church in 15 minutes. Be ready.”
I wasn’t stupid enough to argue.
I threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before walking out into the kitchen. My mom gave me a once-over and an got a disgusted expression on her face. “You couldn’t have put on something nicer than that?”
I didn’t respond. Instead I went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. I took a sip and looked at my mom. “Are we leaving now?”
“I’m not going. You and your father are.” Just the two of us…wonderful.
For a moment I lifted my shirt up slightly to scratch my side, exposing a bit of my rainbow belt. I guess my mom had forgotten I had it…because that just set her off.
“Alright. That’s it. Take off that belt right now,” she sputtered out angrily, rising from her chair.
I removed it at once, startled by the sudden outburst. She descended on me swiftly and yanked it out of my hand, turning around and heading back toward my bedroom.
I groaned as she opened my door and I followed her in. What was she gonna do now? I waited anxiously for a moment, and the next thing I knew, she was tearing through my closet like a chainsaw.
One by one she ripped out almost every article of clothing in there: My shirts, my ties, even my pants. I felt a piece of my die inside as she took all the clothes that I loved and spent so much timing picking out and shoved them into a black garbage bag. I stood there a few moments, gawking at her speechlessly. Then she left, slamming the door behind her.
I walked slowly over to what was left of my closet, still in shock. I examined the remains and whimpered.
My mom had left two pairs of jeans (my ugliest ones, might I add) and a handful of the most hideous, girly-looking shirts that I hadn’t worn in years. I almost gagged.
After a few moments, the shock wore off and in its place, anger started to set in. How could she possibly feel like she could just go on a rampage through my closet and take all my clothes? What the hell was I supposed to wear?
I stormed over to my bedroom door and locked it before turning and collapsing on my bed in frustration. I laid there fuming for a few minutes until my door knob began to rattle violently.
“Raiden! Open the door!” Came my mom’s angry voice on the other side. What could she possibly want now?
“What?” I snapped quickly.
“Open the door!”
I rolled off my bed and walked over to the door, oozing annoyance as I yanked it open.
My mom stood before me, staring me down. “You’re not to lock your door anymore.”
“What??” What kind of statement was that?
“You’re not to lock your door anymore,” she repeated, a bit more forcefully.
“Yeah, I heard you. I just don’t exactly understand,” I replied in the calmest tone I could manage.
“Privacy is a privilege, Raiden. You don’t have privileges anymore.” I gawked once again. “In fact, I don’t even think you deserve a doorknob at all.” She turned toward the direction of where my dad was. “Dave!” she called. “Come here, and bring a screwdriver!”
God, is she fucking serious?
My father was at my door in a matter of moments, electric screwdriver in hand. My mom pointed to the knob. “Take that thing off.”
Without missing a beat, he went at it. My doorknob was gone in under 30 seconds, leaving a gaping hole in the wood where it used to be.
My dad looked at me, ice in his stare. “Now put on something decent. We’re leaving.”
* * * * * * *
Church was miserable. My dad wouldn’t even let me go to the bathroom because I would be “out of his sight.” When I came back home I had to be extra careful that I didn’t get caught with the iPhone, now that I couldn’t lock my door. I kept Sam updated on everything that was going on, but it seemed like every time I talked to her she grew more distant. I tried to just write it off as stress at first but now it was starting to worry me. What was wrong with her?
I went through the next day in a daze. I noticed the strange looks people were giving me, what with my atrocious outfit and fretful countenance, but I didn’t feel like explaining anything. The only person I didn’t completely ignore was Michael, but he knew to leave me to myself as much as possible.
By the time 8th period rolled around, my brain started working again. Sam was the primary focus of my thoughts, as per usual. I sat in studyhall, silently concentrating on plotting a way to see her again (preferrably one that wouldn’t get me landed in jail).
I had a plan beginning to form in my mind by the time I heard the final bell ring. All I had to do now was run it by Sam and make the final preparations…so I was anxious to get home and call her.
I walked out the door of the classroom absentedmindedly and without watching where I was going. Before I knew it I felt a body collide with mine.
"Oh, sorry," the apology fell out of my mouth instinctively, before i even looked up at who i had run into.
"It's okay..." came a soft, familiar voice. I lifted my gaze and looked into the mysterious blue-green eyes that had always made me go weak in the knees.
"Casey..." I breathed.
"Hey, Raiden," she said quietly, averting her eyes. I bent down to pick up the book she had dropped and handed it back to her, the tension so thick between us you could cut it with a knife.
"I gotta go," I muttered, pushing gently past her and heading down the stairs, the picture of Casey's pained face burning in my mind.
