Suburbia (h.s)

chapter three.

The four walls around me seemed to grow smaller with each passing hour. For the first day, I refused to leave the room. Harry came in every so often, smiling and dropping off plates of food for me. He didn't try to coax me out with his words, only with food. Toast and bacon, a sandwich, a bowl of pasta. It seemed each new plate was an attempt to see what would break me. Sitting on the bed, I glanced down at the line of them, untouched, and exactly where he had left them each time. They created a buffet on the floor. It's not that I wasn't hungry. I was, in fact my stomach seemed to unravel on me every time I glanced down at the full plates. But I felt that I couldn't give in. In my mind, eating the food would mean I was accepting what Harry had done to me. I couldn't bear to give him that satisfaction.

To distract myself, I'd instead stare out the window for seemingly never-ending periods of time. But I wasn't rewarded with any glimpse of neighbors or movement. Wherever Harry had brought me seemed quiet, even secluded. I never heard any voices from outside, cars honking, or tires crunching gravel. It was strange. From my view of the window, my best guess was that we were on a cul-de-sac. Still, even on a dead end street, I'd expect at least some kind of proof that other people existed. It would only take me seeing one person for me to jump into action to flag them down and grab their attention.

When the window proved to be fruitless and I grew tired of watching for nothing, I spent time exploring the attached bathroom and the closet for anything useful. There wasn't anything there either past cotton swabs and clothes.

By the time that the second night rolled around, I had determined that I was wasting my time by playing it safe and waiting for someone else to help me. I'd come to the realization that it was very possible that nobody would be coming anytime soon. How would anyone have known where I was? My phone was left behind, and as far as anyone in my life knew, I'd had no contact with Harry since he'd moved out. My parents didn't even know he existed.

As the sun disappeared and darkness crept across the room, indicating the arrival of nightfall, I waited until Harry came to say goodnight as he'd done the night before.

I'd arranged myself in bed, tucking myself under the quilt and pulling it up to my nose. I took care to keep my breathing even and unsuspecting. Underneath the covers, my fingers gripped onto the sheets tightly as if to stabilize myself. And then, when the newly familiar sound of the door knob turning reached my ears, I quickly shut my eyes to appear that I was sleeping.

I could picture Harry in my mind, standing in the door frame, looking over me. I must have convinced him I was asleep, as he stood there silently for some time. I heard him gather some of the plates from the ground, lightly stacking them on top of each other. Then, I heard the sound of his body shifting gently through the room, and it took everything for me not to startle when I felt his hand come from behind me, brushing some strands of hair past my face. His hand was warm on my cheek.

"Sleep well, my love." His voice was a whisper. I made no movement, focusing only on my breathing. After a moment, his hand removed itself from my face, and I sensed him walking away. The sound of the door clicking closed told me I was safe to open my eyes again.

After this, I waited. I counted to 2,000 in my head, and then again, and a third time, just to be safe. It took everything in me to fight the urge to fall asleep, the softness and warmth of the quilt against my skin making it a difficult task. When I'd feel my eyelids begin to flutter, I'd force myself to sit up, raising my arms above my head to bring myself back to alertness.

When I decided I'd waited long enough, I took care to let my feet hit the carpeting softly, avoiding any quick movements. I tucked a pillow under the blanket, the classic parent-fooling way teenagers snuck out of the house at night in movies. Even though they were usually found out. I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least make the effort.