“What?” Emily said, her eyes wide with shock.
“Why would you do that?” Brittany said.
“That’s not exactly true,” Taylor said at the same time as Brittany.
I held back a grin, my self-pity lifting a bit to watch them act exactly as I had predicted.
“Then what happened?” Emily asked, looking at me.
I sat forward. “All I know is that I was asleep, Lori woke me up, then punched me in the stomach.” I paused for emphasis. “It really hurt too.”
All eyes moved to Lori.
“What the heck, Lori?” Emily said, her true feelings for Lori filtering through like sunlight through partially opened blinds.
“She’s not telling the whole story.” Lori sat up straight in her chair, anger clouding her eyes.
“Which is?” Emily pressed.
“I know how much you admired Hannah’s bravery.” Lori made air quotes on the last word. “But sometimes there are consequences.”
“You mean with Beth?” Brittany asked.
“Duh,” Taylor said.
“What happened?” Brittany seemed even more interested now.
“During my morning shift she cornered me and told me she wanted me to give a message to Hannah. Then she punched me in the stomach.”
Emily and Brittany gasped.
“And you hit Hannah?” Emily looked confused by this part. “Why would you do that? Couldn’t you just tell her what Beth did?”
Lori smirked. “I thought the message would be more effective if I delivered it the way it was meant to be delivered.”
Emily didn’t say anything and I wondered what she was thinking. Then she turned to me. “Are you okay, Hannah?”
“What about me?” Lori asked. “I’m the one Beth punched. And she hits really hard.”
“Are you okay?” When Emily asked Lori, she didn’t seem to have her heart in it.
“I’ll live,” she said.
She turned back to me. “What about you?”
“I’ll live too, I guess.”
“What are you going to do now?” Emily asked me. “About Beth, I mean.”
“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. She had taken things to a whole new level and I didn’t know what else she was capable of.
“She’s going to stay away from her, that’s what,” Lori said. “Otherwise she,” she pointed to me, “Will have me to deal with. I don’t need Beth on my case.”
Lori was not my priority. She didn’t even make it onto the priority list. Amy was my first priority. Getting out of this place was next, and last was getting the information for Jack and Dani, but only because that was the agreement I’d made with them.
Lori looked at me. “Agreed?”
I nodded. I had no plans to intentionally provoke Beth, but if she bullied Amy and I was there, I wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.
We ate the rest of our lunch without the topic of Beth coming up, and I kept a surreptitious eye on Amy after she sat at her table. No one bothered her and she seemed a little happier today—maybe having me here standing up for her helped raise her spirits. The thought certainly raised my spirits.
After lunch, when I went to the supply closet/office to pick up my cart, Kyle was there.
“Hi there, Hannah. How are things going?”
I was sorely tempted to tell him about Jessica skipping work, but decided I didn’t want to be a snitch. “Okay.”
“Good.” He paused. “Okay, then. Get to work.”
Well, duh, I wanted to say. Why else was I there? I had only stopped because he asked me a question. I gathered supplies from the shelves, loading up my cart, then headed to the bathroom where I’d left off earlier. I found I wasn’t working quite as fast as I had when I’d been at Camp Willowmoss the first time. I could only assume it was because I’d gotten more out of shape and it was harder to work for long stretches without getting worn out.
By the end of my shift I hadn’t had time to get everything done—one bathroom hadn’t been touched at all—but I hoped Kyle wouldn’t notice. It wasn’t my fault anyway. If Jessica had done her share we would have been done early.
I put the cart back, freshened up, then got my backpack and took the elevator to the classroom floor. I had Social Studies first. When I arrived most of the kids were there and I recognized one of them. Piper. She was the one who had originally suggested escaping this place and she was the one who’d taken the knife that we used to cut out the tracking chip, but she’d backed off from escaping just days before Billy and I got out.
I remembered how the compliance drug had made her more conscientious about following the rules and how she’d wanted to turn the knife back in and confess that we’d taken it. When I looked at her now, I wondered if she was still being a stickler about following rules.
I decided to sit as far from her as possible—no point in taking a chance on her recognizing me. I found a seat across the room from her and a little behind her. I got through Social Studies without her noticing me, then headed to Science. When I walked in I immediately saw Amy sitting at a table by herself, so I walked over to her.
“Is anyone sitting here?” I said, using my Hannah voice, which I only used around Amy.
“Oh, hi, Hannah.” She smiled. “No. You can sit there.”
I slid into the seat and took out my Science book.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said, then stopped, looking a little embarrassed.
I looked at her. “Yeah?”
“Well, as long as I have to be in this place, I can use as many friends as I can get.” She laughed. “It’s not like I have people lining up to be my best friend, but it’s only fair to warn you that if certain people see that you’re my friend, you might not like what they do to you.”
I thought about Beth’s “message” and had no doubt that Amy was not exaggerating. “Okay.”
Sadness flitted across her face. “So you can change your mind if you want.” She looked at the desk. “I’ll understand.”
My heart broke as I looked at my little sister. What have I done to you? My throat ached as a lump formed there, and warm tears pushed into my eyes. She must have taken my silence to mean I was reconsidering being her friend, because her shoulders slumped. I found it hard to speak around the lump in my throat, and forced back the tears that had formed. “No, Amy. I want to be your friend. I don’t care what everyone thinks.”
She slowly lifted her head and turned toward me, undisguised hope in her eyes. “Really?” Then uncertainty replaced the hope. “This is Lori’s idea, right?”
“No,” I said with a ferocity that surprised me. I dropped my voice to a whisper. “I hate Lori.”
Amy seemed to finally believe me, though I could only imagine the care she needed to take at any overture of friendship. I wondered how many times she’d been burned by people pretending to be her friend.
She smiled. “Will you sit with me at dinner?”
Her request was unexpected and I hesitated. What would this mean for me? Would Lori make my life more difficult? Would everyone turn against me? But this was my sister and the only reason I was even there was because of her.
Amy frowned at my silence. “I’m sorry. Maybe it’s too soon to ask that of you. You only got here yesterday.”
What kind of loser was I? First, my choices got my sister sent here in my place, then I try to be friends with her, but then when she makes a simple request I worry about what people will think? Really? “Of course I’ll sit with you.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
Her face lit up. “Yay!”
I laughed despite the worry that whispered in the back of my mind.
When class finished, Amy suggested we go together to our floor to drop off our backpacks, then go to the cafeteria together. When we arrived at the cafeteria and got in line to get our food, I could tell Amy was excited to have me with her. I’d only seen two other girls sit with her—and I was grateful to them for being f
riends with her—so I was certain she was quite pleased to have another person to add to her group.
We collected our meal, then headed to Amy’s table. As we walked, my gaze wandered to Lori and the other four girls. They didn’t seem to notice me—at least not yet—but I had to admit I was nervous about the way Lori would respond.
“This is my new friend Hannah,” Amy said as we sat at her table.
The other two girls looked me up and down and I wondered if there had been other “new friends” who had turned on Amy.
“Hi,” I said, trying to show my sincerity through my smile.
“Hey,” they both said.
“This is Chloe and Amber,” Amy said. “Chloe is my roommate.”
Both girls were about Amy’s age—thirteen—and both were overweight. I wondered where Amber’s roommate was since it seemed most roommates sat together at meal time. Maybe she wasn’t willing to risk being associated with Amy.
“Hannah and I have two classes together,” Amy said, seemingly trying to pull the other two girls into a conversation.
“That’s cool,” Chloe said, then looked at Amy and ignored me. “Hey, Amy. Were you able to get that load finished after I left?”
“You must work in the laundry too,” I said.
She glanced at me. “Yeah.” Then she went back to pretending I wasn’t there.
Clearly, she didn’t trust anyone who suddenly showed up wanting to be Amy’s friend. While I appreciated her protectiveness, I was Amy’s sister and I couldn’t help but feel offended by her behavior. I put my feelings aside and ate my dinner—and put a chunk of power bar in my pocket.
Toward the end of the meal Chloe looked just past my shoulder and said, “What does he want?”
I looked over my shoulder to see who she was talking about and saw Hansen approaching our table. I quickly looked away, but my heart hammered in my chest and I hoped no one was monitoring my heart rate.
Amy looked too, then gasped and whipped her head around to face forward. Obviously these girls were familiar with Hansen and his tendency to be mean. I’d seen him abuse Amy in the gym just the evening before, but wondered how often he harassed her in the cafeteria.
My back was to him and I just hoped he would ignore me—not that I wanted him to bother Amy—but I was terrified he would recognize me. Then it would all be over. Suddenly a sharp jab bit into my back.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Who are you?” Hansen asked, obviously talking to me.
My eyes widened and I met the stares of Chloe and Amber, who were sitting across from me.
“This is Hannah,” Amy said. Her voice wavered ever so slightly.
“I wasn’t talking to you, loser.” He jabbed me again. “Turn around when I’m talking to you.”
I had enough of my wits about me to turn the camera on before slowly turning in my chair. Even though the video would be better if it showed his face, I kept my gaze glued to the floor. I really, really didn’t want to meet his eyes.
“Why are you sitting with this table full of rejects? Or are you a reject too?” He laughed. “You’re here, so I guess you are a reject.” He paused and I hoped he was done. “Who’s your roommate?”
Uh oh. I stayed silent, really not wanting to answer his question.
This time he shoved me in the shoulder. “Look at me and answer my question.” Anger laced his voice.
I lifted my gaze enough to look at his face and the fury there was clear. I had a sudden flashback to the night I’d stabbed him and his promise to me. I. Will. Kill. You. My heart pounded so hard I thought it would burst.
“Who?” he demanded, no hint of recognition on his face.
“Lori,” I whispered. “Over there.” I motioned in the direction of the table where she sat with her gang of admirers.
Hansen glanced toward them, then back at me. “You’d better learn to show some respect.”
He didn’t deserve any respect, as far as I was concerned, but I kept my thoughts to myself. He walked away, and I was able to breathe normally again. But then I saw him walk straight to Lori and say something to her. He motioned towards me and she looked at me, her eyes narrowed. Then Hansen shoved her shoulder and walked away. Lori threw daggers with her eyes and I felt every one of them land in my gut.
It was too late to do anything about it, so I turned away from her glare and back toward Amy and her two friends.
“I’m so sorry, Hannah,” Amy said.
“It’s not your fault.” I couldn’t stop the shaking in my voice.
“And now we’ll never see her again,” Chloe muttered.
So this had happened before. “No.” I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere.” If Amy could handle the awfulness of this place, surely I could stay by her side.
“We’ll see,” Chloe said.
I turned off the camera in my glasses and sat there for a minute. “I have to go do my workout.”
“And there she goes,” Chloe said.
“No, really. I haven’t worked out yet today and this is the time I go.”
“Me, too,” Amy said. “Maybe we could go together?”
“Sure.” I glared at Chloe, daring her to say something, but she just stared back.
Amy and I dropped off our trays, then went to our floor. “I’ll come get you after I change,” I said.
“Okay. See you.”
I put the pilfered piece of power bar in the box springs then changed into my workout clothes. I was nearly done when Lori burst into the room.
“You can’t sit with that girl,” she yelled. “If you do it’s like I’m sitting there too. I might as well just come sit with you and get it over with.”
“What did Hansen say to you?” I finished tying my shoes.
“Who?”
“That Enforcer.”
She looked at me funny, like it was odd I would call an Enforcer by name, and I realized it was odd. “He said it was a bad idea for you to sit there and that I should learn to control my roommate.”
I bristled at the idea. She would never control me. “You can sit with me at Amy’s table if you want.”
Her mouth fell open. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Are you going to let that Enforcer control you?”
“Well, no. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to openly defy him, do you?”
“So now you care what I think?”
Her eyes narrowed—an unattractive look for her. “It was a rhetorical question.”
“I have to go to the gym now.” I took a step toward the door, but Lori grabbed my arm.
“Hold on, Hannah.”
I stopped and looked at her and she let go.
“We have a problem here. For some reason known only to you, you seem to have this need to help poor little Amy Campbell. Well, she doesn’t need your help. She’s doing fine on her own.”
“Really? That’s not what it looks like to me. To me it looks like everyone treats her like a pariah because of something her sister did.”
“And why should you care?” A look of exasperation came over her. “You just got here yesterday. Why can’t you just follow the rules?”
I tilted my head to one side. “So there’s a rule that I can’t sit with my—” My face blanched. I’d almost said my sister. “My friend,” I said instead.
“Oh. So now she’s your friend? Someone you just barely met?” She shook her head. “That makes a lot of sense.”
“Are you done?”
Lori sighed. “I’m getting really tired of you, Hannah.”
Like I cared.
“Go on.” She waved her hand, like I was dismissed. “We can talk about this later.”
I walked past her, then rolled my eyes as I left the room. When I knocked on Amy’s door, Chloe answered and let me inside. Their room looked just like the one Lori and I shared, although Amy’s side was just as messy as her room at home.
“I’m almost ready,” she said as she put on her shoes.
A moment later
we headed toward the elevator.
“Earlier you said I reminded you of someone,” I said, wondering how she would respond. “Who do I remind you of?”
Amy looked at me and frowned, then smiled in a forced way. “Just someone I used to know.” She paused, seeming to consider her next words. “Someone who used to be important to me, but now I hate her with all my heart.”
The blood drained from my face and it felt like my heart had broken in two. She hates my guts. She hadn’t just said it to Austin because he provoked her. She actually means it.
She must have seen my reaction because she quickly said, “Don’t worry. I still like you. I know you’re not her.”
Oh little sister, I wanted to say. If you only knew the truth.
The elevator arrived and we got on. Stunned by her comment, I just stood there as she waved her card in front of the reader and the car moved downward.
“Hannah, are you okay?” she asked.
Feeling more dejected and hopeless than I’d felt in a long time, I just nodded. Here I was putting my future at risk by coming here to get my sister out and she hated me with all her heart. That was a pretty strong statement. But could I blame her? She probably thought I was off in some paradise, avoiding the Enforcers, and having a great time while she was stuck here in this hell called Camp Willowmoss—her freedom gone, treated like dirt, and she hadn’t even done anything wrong.
It was no wonder she felt as she did. But my mission wasn’t to make her like me again, it was to rescue her from this place. First I had to get her to trust me, then when Jack and Dani came to get me out, she’d go with me and we’d both be free. I wasn’t sure where she’d go afterward—I was sure the Enforcers would be after her too, once she escaped—but at least she wouldn’t be here.
When we arrived at the gym we checked in, got our towels, and went to the warm-up area. A couple of other kids were there, but they looked at Amy and left.
“At least we get this space to ourselves.” She smiled as she bent to touch her toes.
“I didn’t know you were such an optimist.” In reality I didn’t know my sister very well at all. She’d always just been a thorn in my side, not a friend. I kind of liked having her for a friend. She was kind of cool.
Hunted (Parallel Series, Book 3) (Parallel Trilogy) Page 17
