Lessons Unlearned

Chapter 2

I climb out of bed the next morning, glancing over at William, who is still sleeping curled up with a red plaid blanket. I see the bags of clothes that Conrad and Janice brought over last night are now sitting in the middle of our bedroom floor. Jaclyn or Trevor must have brought them up here after William and I fell asleep.

Sitting back down on my bed I stare at the bags intensely. I've been wearing same clothes for two days now, I need to take a shower. The thought of wearing clothes that my kidnapper's parents bought makes me sick to my stomach. I stare at the bag for a solid 5 minutes before deciding on showering. I crave a shower and clean clothes.

Standing up from my bed, I rummage through the bags. I try to find something simple before I settle on a black long sleeve shirt, and some red skinny jeans. I make my way out of the bedroom, opening the bathroom door. I drop my clothes on the floor closing the door behind me.

Glancing around in the cabinets in the bathroom I look for a towel and some soap, but unfortunately I don't find any. I mentally prepare myself for having to go talk to Jaclyn.

Creeping down the stairs to see Jaclyn sitting at the table with her parents having a conversation about who knows what, and Trevor is slaying over the stove making some breakfast.

"Good morning sweetie did you sleep well?" Jaclyn asks as she spots me. Trevor turns his head to look at me and also extends a greeting.
"Good morning Kiddo." Conrad and Janice just give me a warm smile but don't say anything.

"Good morning. I was gonna shower, but I don't know where any towels are. Is there some shampoo and conditioner I could use as well? My hair is getting pretty greasy." I hesitantly inquire not even wanting to talk to them.

Jaclyn stands up. "Of course I will get you some." She heads up the stairs and pulls out a towel, shampoo, conditioner, and some shower gel from the hall closet as she hands them to me.

"Thank you." I thank her before turning back to the bathroom. Jaclyn puts her foot in the door blocking me from closing it.

"Come downstairs when you're done. Understand?" She stares into my blue eyes with her cold green ones.

"Okay, can I shower in peace now?" I question with annoyance she nods her head and leaves. I roll my eyes after closing the door not wanting to do it in front of her.

I turn on the hot water on full blast. Stripping my dirty clothes off I step into the steamy warmth. The scalding hot streams of water travel down my body instantly warming it up.

I take the bottle of sweet strawberry scented shower gel and squirt some in my hands. I lather up the soap and wash my body. After I finish washing my hair and rinsing all the soap out I get the towel Jaclyn gave me. I step out of the shower feeling better to be clean. I towel dry my body and then wrap my hair in the towel while I get dressed. I throw on the red skinny jeans and a black long sleeve shirt I had picked out.

I hang up the towel on the hook in the bathroom, then pick up my dirty clothes and head for the stairs. Going down the stairs with dirty clothes in hand Jaclyn comes up to me and takes the clothes. I follow her as she takes them to the laundry room. Well at least I know where it is now.

As we move to the living room and I take a seat on the end of the couch next to Conrad and Janice not wanting to be right next to Jaclyn.

"Where's your brother Annalise?" Jaclyn finally breaks the silence after about 5 minutes.

"He's still asleep." I reply while staring at my hands not wanting to look at anyone.

Trevor pokes his head into the living room.