When he approached me again as the cars rolled up to the curb, I opened my mouth to make another excuse. Then panicked when I realized that I couldn’t think of one.
“I’ve been trying to give you this all night.” Dustin handed me something withered and black. My headband. “You must have left it on the bench or something. I found it on the ground.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I swallowed.
“Lily,” he started. “Did you—?”
Someone honked their car horn. Asialie beckoned for me to hurry up. Her mom was giving me a ride home.
“Time to go. Bye!” I hollered, already turning to leave. Feeling kind of bad for treating Dustin like that, I looked back. “Call you later. ‘K?”
He nodded, confusion plain on his face. I turned away to hop in the car. I forced myself not to look back, knowing that if I did I would see him staring after me.
As I sat in the back seat of that car, only half listening to my friend’s chatter, a sudden thought sent me shivering. Whatever this person wanted Dustin to do couldn’t be good. And I had a horrible feeling that it had something to do with me.
One Messed-up Christmas Present
December rolled in and with it came winter break, which we were all looking forward to. Everyone was excited. Well, everyone except Dustin. He seemed to become more distant as the temperature dropped. The visits to my window stopped. I first assumed it was because of the snow and all, but I began to think that maybe this wasn’t the case. Something was definitely eating at him. And no matter how hard I tried to get it out of him, he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. I knew it had something to do with what I had overheard at the dance, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to bring that up.
When the last day before winter break arrived, he was as quiet as ever. Even my friends had begun to notice the change. Frankly, the whole thing had me really annoyed, and I decided to make it my mission to cheer him up by the end of the day.
I was trying to figure out how to open my locker, since it was pretty much jammed with the amount of crap I had shoved in there the period before, when I spotted Dustin moping down the hallway with his head drooping. Uh-oh. I called his name, but he must not have heard me, because he kept on walking. I decided to go up to him.
I reached out to touch his shoulder. Before my hand could come in contact, he turned around. His expression was dark.
“Hey,” I said cheerfully.
“Hello.” He sounded kind of distracted.
I started to ask him what was wrong, already expecting the reaction before he cut me off.
“Oh. I was just looking for you. I have something to give you.”
I flashed him a quizzical smile. “Really? What is it?”
“Well, since I won’t see you during winter break, I thought I’d better give you your present,” he said, pulling a rectangular box out of his pocket. He didn’t open it, but instead just stared at it. The bell rang. He frowned and slipped it back into his pocket. “Guess I’ll show you later.”
“OK,” I said, a little disappointed. I was itching to see what it was.
However, I had to get to class. Even though most of the teachers had decided not to even bother with any real classes, my math teacher had not been so lenient. And she would kill me if I arrived late. We quickly headed to class side by side without another word spoken.
Lunch came around and Dustin still didn’t give me his present. I tried not to be bothered by it. He would give it to me soon enough. My friends had decided to hold our gift exchange at the lunch table. I had gotten them all gift cards, which they really appreciated.
Turns out my friends had all pitched in to give me one big present. It sat in the middle of the table. Sitting there was a big fluffy purple teddy bear holding a pink mini pillow. The word Lily had been embroidered onto the pillow. Flowers encircled my name. This had to be one of the cutest presents I had ever gotten. I could not stop grinning.
We continued to talk about our winter plans while unwrapping little presents. Instead of joining in on the fun, Dustin sat to the side, not talking to anyone. I tried to include him in the conversation, but he didn’t respond.
The rest of the day somehow ended, and I got home to an empty house. My little sister Rose and the boys came home an hour later than I did. My parents were still at work and wouldn’t be home until well after dark. So I had a whole hour to myself. Since we had a week off, I didn’t even look at my homework. I retired to my room with a good book, plopped down on my bed, and began to read.
I was only about a chapter in when I heard a soft knocking on my window. With a sigh, I put the book down and opened my window wide enough for a person to crawl through. Dustin came inside, shivering from the bitter cold.
From the looks of it, he had been out there quite a while. Flakes of snow sparkled in his wet hair. A few had even been caught in his eyelashes. He wore a heavy winter coat and gloves that had to have cost hundreds of dollars. The idiot wore no hat or earmuffs, leaving his exposed ears to freeze until they were bright red.
“Are you insane?!” I hissed, hurriedly shutting the window behind him. “You could have frozen to death!”
He shook his head. “I’m stronger than you give me credit for. I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to give you my present.”
He stepped forward and pulled out a familiar rectangular box. With shaking hands, he handed it to me.
I looked down at it, suddenly afraid to see what was inside.
“Open it,” he whispered.
Slowly, I opened it. Gasping, I almost dropped the box. I gingerly took out the beautiful diamond necklace. A golden pendent dangled from the middle. It looked familiar somehow. Where had I seen this exotic piece of jewelry before? Recognition flooded my memory and my eyes grew wide. That picture. The necklace had been his mother’s.
“Dustin, this is your—”
“Mom’s,” he finished for me. “I know.”
I put it back in the box and handed it back to him, shaking my head. “I can’t take this. It’s way too valuable to give to me. Why would you give me something like this, anyway?”
He refused to take it back. “No. I want you to have it. The necklace will look great on you. Besides, there’s plenty more where that came from.”
“But what about your dad? Didn’t he give this to her?” I asked.
He shrugged. “He said it was OK that I give it to you.”
I cast my eyes down. “I-I don’t know what to say.”
Dustin closed my fingers around the box with his warm gloved hands. “Then don’t say anything. Just take it as a Christmas present from my dad and me. Here, put it on.”
With a slight frown, I opened the box again. Dustin helped secure it around my neck. We looked at each other in the mirror. His mother’s jewelry glistened and sparkled against my neck. I had never ever received something as beautiful and expensive as this.
“See, I told you it’d look great on you,” he commented quietly.
Why was he giving me this? Yes, I felt honored that he’d done it, but that didn’t stop me from feeling guilty.
Dustin took a step back. “Guess I should be going now.”
“If you ever want this, just ask and I’ll return it,” I told him honestly.
The ends of his mouth twitched up into a little smile. “Thanks. You know, you’re a good friend.”
“I know how much she meant to you.”
The smile faltered. He seemed to be contemplating something. He took a step closer. I stared at him, wondering what he was doing.
He took a deep breath. “I haven’t been telling you the whole truth. I’m not…I’m not who you think I am.”
His eyes did not meet mine. Dustin reached out to touch the sparkling horse pendent that rested on my collarbone. I stood very still, anxious to know what he was about to tell me. He didn’t say anything else; he continued to study the golden horse. As he flipped it over, I noticed something on the back. It was a small computer chip of some
kind. A tiny green light flashed.
Dustin must have noticed it too, because he stiffened, eyes locked on the flashing green light. He muttered a curse under his breath.
“I’m out of time,” he whispered, talking more to himself than to me.
Without warning, he ripped the necklace from my neck, threw it down on the floor, and stomped on it with all his might.
I gave him a hard shove. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
“The necklace had to be destroyed.”
“But it was your mom’s,” I protested.
He sighed. “The necklace is a tracking device. We met for a reason, Lily.”
I stared at him. He must have been joking. This was a joke, right? But he was dead serious.
I turned away. “You’re crazy.”
He grabbed my hand. “Come with me. Please. You gotta believe me. Your family could be in danger!”
My eyes flicked between his hand holding mine and the urgent expression on his face. His eyes were pleading and full of regret. He seemed completely spooked. Should I trust him? If my family was in danger, then I had to.
“Fine,” I said. “But only for a minute.”
He sighed with relief. “Come on.” He opened the window wide.
How were we supposed to get down? But Dustin was already ahead of me. He took a silver trinket out of his pocket. He pressed a button and threw it onto the ground below. There was a soft popping sound. Then, slowly, a metal ladder began to materialize out of nowhere right in front of my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was impossible.
Dustin hurriedly made a beeline for the ladder. I followed him down, trying very hard to ignore the height. Dustin helped me down the last few rungs. He pressed the button again. The ladder folded into itself about a gazillion times before turning into a shiny little trinket again. He picked it up and stuffed it back in his pocket.
I glanced up at the sky, which had faded to an ugly gray. The snow had begun to fall even harder. I had to blink several times in order to see three feet in front of me. The wind was picking up, throwing around my hair this way and that, making it even tougher to see. I was absolutely freezing, because I only wore a sweater. If Dustin hadn’t gone into complete freak mode, I would have taken the time to grab a coat or something warm.
He took a firm hold of my hand and raced down the street. I tried to keep up, but he was going too fast. He had longer legs than I did. So I stumbled along behind him, begging him to slow down. However, he didn’t appear to be listening. He just kept muttering something about needing more time.
Finally we reached town. The whole place was completely deserted. No one wanted to be outside in this weather.
Neither did I. I longed to be in my nice warm room again and mentally kicked myself for getting into this mess.
I stopped short, demanding that we take a break. Dustin argued that we didn’t have time to stop, but eventually relented. We took refuge on the stoop of one of the closed shops. I shivered violently from the cold. I couldn’t feel my fingers or my cheeks. My whole body felt completely frozen.
Dustin glanced over at me. I glared at him, hugging myself in a sad attempt to keep warm. He started to take his coat off. I opened my mouth to stop him, but my teeth were chattering too much. He removed his coat and draped it around my shoulders. He also took off his gloves, slipping them onto my frozen hands.
I shook my head, working hard to get a sentence out.
“Y-you’re g-gonna get s-sick.”
Dustin laughed quietly, as if afraid someone would hear.
“I’ve s-suffered colder t-temperatures than this.”
I frowned. “When?”
Before he could answer, there was a crack of twigs. Both of our heads turned at the noise. We jumped off the stoop, breaking into a full-out sprint.
Out of nowhere, something came up from behind me and yanked me back. I tried to scream, but a cloth had been put over my mouth. My attempted screams came out muffled, inaudible. I kicked and struggled, but my captor seemed to be made of steel. His iron grasp didn’t loosen an inch, even when I kicked him where it counted.
I looked around for Dustin, wondering if he was in the same predicament. He stood a few yards away, arguing with a suited man. The man’s face was grim. Even in the dim light of dusk, I could see the angry scar on the side of his face. It made him look even scarier. This guy was obviously much bigger than my friend, but Dustin appeared to have the power.
I heard the burly man say, “Yes, sir. I’ll tell him. Please calm down. Your father wished to make the move tonight. Take it up with him. These are just my orders.”
They turned toward me. When our eyes met, my so-called friend turned away. The scary guy gave a short nod to the guy holding me. His hold on me immediately loosened. But it wasn’t enough for me to get away.
About a second later, I felt a sharp stinging on my arm. I cried out in pain and surprise. My eyesight became really blurry. I felt like I was sinking underwater. My legs turned to jelly, and my head suddenly became too heavy for me to hold up. In a matter of seconds, my feet slipped out from under me. Everything began to spin. Sounds became very far away and distant. I was drowning. Breathing turned into a laborious task. I gasped for air, desperate to breathe. Something pressed against my chest and wouldn’t get off. I was hot and cold at the same time. Spots appeared in front of my eyes. I thought I heard the distant sound of a school bus. I wouldn’t be home to get the kids off the bus. Mom was going to kill me.
The last thing I remember before passing out was the strong grip on my arms, which strangely comforted me. At least it let me know that I wasn’t really falling. I saw red. Then black. After that, POW! I was out like a light.
Questions
I was running through the forest, trying to get away from whoever was following me. It was pitch black except for the moonlight. Shadows surrounded me, lurking behind every shrub. Trees reached out to pull me into a bone-crushing hug with their ragged branches. The howls of coyotes and other ravenous animals were carried to my ears by the wind.
Besides that, it was silent. Eerily silent. Somehow I knew finding Dustin would be the only way out of here. I frantically searched for some kind of opening. Thorns scratched at my face and legs. My knees stung from scrapes and bruises. Every bone in my body ached.
I heard what sounded like the roar of a motor. I ran toward it, tripping along. The roar stopped, leaving the forest quiet again. First I shook with anger. Then I fell to the ground, not bothering to get up. I would be stuck in here forever.
Something clamped around my waist, forcing me up. It pulled and pulled, dragging me into the depths of the forest. I fought it in vain. The thing was on a mission. So I let it drag me, too weak to fight anymore.
I woke up with a start. Within seconds, I remembered everything. Groggily rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I searched for my glasses. They were on the nightstand next to me.
Once I had slipped them on, I glanced around. I was in a bedroom, but it was far from the hostile environment I’d expected. The walls were a lovely teal color and decorated with landscape paintings. On the wall beside me was an open window. The bright sun warmed my face. I got up and wobbled toward it, feeling light-headed. I reached out the window. My fingers were stopped by what felt like bars, but I couldn’t see anything but the snowy landscape beyond. Slowly, I reached out to touch the window again. Yep. They were there. How could that be? They would have to have been invisible.
Shaken, I plopped back down on my bed. This was all Dustin’s fault. It was my fault too. I had been dumb enough to trust him. To think he was my friend. To let him climb through my window. And finally, the icing on the cake, to very stupidly allow him to lead me away from my home. I felt like kicking something.
Hot tears ran down my cheeks. Now I had no idea what was going to become of me. Whoever these people were, why did they want me? How quickly would my parents miss me? Would there be a trail for the police to follow? Would someone
put two and two together and figure out what happened?
Oh, jeez. My head hurt like crazy. Then I noticed the bear holding the embroidered pillow sitting at the end of the bed. How did that get there? It had been in my bedroom. Had the kidnappers been back in my house?
A few minutes later, the door opened. A woman who appeared to have stepped right out of a movie from the fifties entered the room.
She smiled warmly. “I see that you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?”
I gave her a look. “Just awesome.” I knew it was rude to be sarcastic, but seriously. I had just been kidnapped and now I was being held prisoner in a strange room. How did she think I was feeling?
She placed her cool hands on my forehead. I noticed a nametag on her shirt that read Doreen. “You must be hungry. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Before I could say anything, she had bustled away.
She had said “finally awake.” I wondered how long I had been out. Everyone had to be looking for me now. Would they find me in time? Before…The truth is, I honestly had no idea what was going to happen to me.
True to her word, Doreen came back just moments later, carrying a tray with tea and a cheese sandwich. She set it down on the table beside me and just stood there with her hands on her hips. I looked up at her, confused. She stared pointedly at the tray, then at me. Finally understanding what she wanted, I took a bite of the sandwich and a sip of the tea. It warmed up the whole inside of my chest. Already my headache didn’t feel so bad.
When I was done, Doreen picked up the tray and turned to leave.
“Doreen,” I called.
“Yes, Miss Mason?”
“Something bad is going to happen to me, isn’t it?” My voice sounded shakier than I meant for it to sound.
Her expression softened. “Don’t you worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
I sat back in bed. “If you say so.”
She smiled and was gone, leaving me alone in the teal room once again.
A few minutes later, I got up and tried the door, just to see what would happen. Locked from the outside, of course.
Wacko Academy Page 3
