Chapter 2: Sleep is for weeners
I yanked on the iron chain fettering me to the wall, but to no prevail. Screaming in frustration, I flopped down on the cold cement floor listening to the sounds of the basement. If I focused, I could hear the steady drip of a pipe and the scurrying of rats feet. Also... footsteps? He was coming down here again! Pounding down the steps came a man in his forties who was obviously drunk. He had a stubbly beard, light brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. My father and tormentor. He yanked on my bonds, hauling me to my feet. I whimpered as he looped the chain around a hook on the ceiling, my dad flipped a switch and I slowly rose into the air, my feet barely brushing the floor. After tugging all my clothes off, I squirmed under his creepy glare. The chains were to prevent me from trying to cover myself with my arms,
After that, he just left the room. Even though I was alone in the room, I still felt vulnerable. It's like walking around your house naked. There's nobody there, but you always have that feeling that someone is going to walk through the door and be scarred for life. It was just my luck that someone DID come bursting through the door. A police officer by the name of Jackson. As soon as he saw me dangling there, he whipped around and put his back to me out of respect for my privacy. For that... I can't even begin to tell you how much I was thankful for.
"Can you tell me how he got you up there?" he asked gently. "There's a button to your right... It looks like a... like a light switch." I replied, almost in tears. Upon finding it, Jackson slowly lowered it down. After giving me a minute to put my clothes back on, the officer turned around to find me crying quietly on the floor. I was so happy. All this... it just seemed too good to be true. Kneeling down next to me, Jackson tried to coax me out with soothing words. When that wasn't working, he told me he was just going to have to pick me up.
Now, I can't handle being a damsel in distress at all whatsoever. At the first mention of this, I scrambled to my feet. Seeing that I was unstable to walk, he softly gripped my arm in his left hand and tugged me in the right direction to freedom. When I stumbled out the front door, I was surprised to find that it was nighttime in the summer. There were so many police cars in the street that I thought there must be a dead body. And there was.
Lying in the middle of the street was my dad. Very much dead. Even though I hated his guts for what he did to me, it still hurt to see the man who my mom fell in love with, the man that came to all my dance recitals as a kid, the man that I had taken half my DNA from, dead.
Letting a sob escape my lips, I turned away and let myself be guided to a nearby ambulance. Although I didn't need a gurney, the medic still wanted me to come with them so they could catalogue the damage from my abuse and give me a check up to make sure nothing else was wrong. What I found funny about the whole situation was that they gave me a blanket.
"What on earth is this for?" I asked the nurse. "Shock," she replied. When I muttered something about how I wasn't in shock and tried to shrug off the blanket, she just put it right back on. "I am not in shock!" I called after the nurse when she walked away. "Shock, please,,," I muttered under my breath.
Groggily, I sat up and checked the clock. 2 pm, Wow, I didn't sleep long at all this time, I thought. Until I saw the date.
I LOST A WHOLE DAY!
Rolling out of bed, I hastily put took a shower and put on clean clothes and went school shopping. After coming home, organizing my things and eating dinner, it was seven o'clock, so I "went to bed". Tomorrow was the first day of school after all. Fantastic. A whole new year of jocks and bullies. Once I was sure that everyone else had gone to bed, I snuck up to the roof. Leaning against the railing, I looked out on the glittering city and my thoughts wandered to Percy.
He seemed nice and different from other boys that went to our school, but I felt like he would betray me just like everyone. Once he went to school and saw how I was a social outcast, he'd get a hotter girlfriend than me and hang out with all the other douche-jocks and their cheerleaders. I reached up to wipe my cheeks and sniffled. Why was it so hard for me to have friends?
I just stared at the horizon, so lost in thought that I didn't hear someone come onto the roof. They just gave a little cough to let them know they were here, and I turned my head just barely enough to see who it was.
Standing there was Luke, captain of the Varsity Lacrosse team.
Let me just say that he was hot, but that didn't make him any less of a disrespectful d-bag. Damn it. I really hated him and just hoped he hadn't seen my face. I had straightened my hair for free at the mall today just for kicks. I looked like a completely different person from the back.
"Hey beautiful," he whispered against my ear in a low, husky voice. "What are you doing on the rooftop so late?" asked Luke.
He was flirting with me! Ooh, if only he knew who I was, I thought.
"I have to go," I muttered as I ducked under the rail and slipped off of the ledge. I heard him gasp behind me and I smirked to myself. It never got old. As soon as I landed and turned to enter my window, I found it closed. Desperate to get into my room, I knocked frantically hoping Matt would hear in the room next to mine.
A lot of clanging was coming from above, and when I glanced upwards, I saw Luke following me.
"Hey! Wait up!" he called, frantically trying to run down the stairs and catch up. The moment he had his back to me, the window slid up and I clambered inside breathless.
"Oh my gods, thank goodness you heard me Matt..." I trailed off. This wasn't my room. Someone yawned behind me, and I turned around to find the one and only Percy.
I was also embarrassed to find that he was only wearing boxers. Blushing furiously, I turned away.
"Do you always pound on people's windows at four in the morning?" he asked. I was about to reply when I heard Luke outside.
"Hello?" he called. I hit the deck and crawled directly below the windowsill, desperately trying not to be seen. Percy looked down at me with a confused look on his face, but I pleaded with my eyes and mouthed 'help me'. Percy turned and opened the window again, but this time all the way up. Putting on his best 'I just woke up' look, Percy called out to Luke.
"What the hell, man! It's like... four in the morning!" said Percy. Luke just scowled at him. "I mean, I understand the whole 'looking for someone' thing, but why so early?" Percy asked. Luke's eyes softened.
"There was this beautiful girl on the roof with straight blonde hair and a real tan, but before I could get a good look at her face, she just jumped off the roof." said Luke.
"You don't say," said Percy, glancing down at me. "Well dude, it looks like you're in love. If I see her, I'll definitely let you know." Percy was actually a pretty convincing liar. "Thanks," Luke mumbled as he climbed the stairs. As soon as the window was closed again, I let out a breath I was holding.
"Thank you so much for letting me in, you have no idea... Anyway, I'm sorry for waking you up. I'll just be out of your hair now." I made a move to leave, but Percy blocked my path.
"You wake me up at four in the morning, you owe me an explanation," he said, crossing his arms. Taking in a deep breath, I let it all out quickly.
"IwasupontheroofbecauseIdon'tsleepmuchwhenLukecameupandgotcloseandpersonalsoIjumpedontothefireescapethinkingitwasmine,butmineisontheothersideoftheroofandIassumedthatmymomhadclosedthewindow,soIbangedontheframetowakeupmybrotherwhohastheroomnexttomine." I said very fast.
(TRANSLATION: I was up on the roof because I don't sleep much when Luck came up and got all close and personal, so I jumped onto the fire escape thinking it was mine, but mine is on the other side of the roof and I assumed that my mom had closed the window, so I banged on the frame to wake up my brother who has the room next to mine.)
Shoving past him, I said "Thanks again for everything, especially covering for me."
"Anytime," replied Percy, in wonder.
And with that, I swung my legs out the window and climbed the stairs to the roof.