Kidnapped

Back to school

I sat there in the wheelchair and looked up at the large stone building in front of me. It looked just like I remembered it, with the towers and the tall windows, but it all felt so unreal to me. So much had changed since the last time I went to school and I couldn't help but feel like I didn't belong there anymore. But then where did I belong? With James! I ignored my inner voice.

We had spoken with each other almost every day since that first phonecall. Even though it was nice to hear his voice it wasn't the same as talking face to face, and I remembered the promise we made each other in the basement. That we would never be more than friends, once we got out. And now we were out, but my feelings were still the same for 'him. I still loved him with all my heart. I tried to tell myself that it was natural. That you can't go through something like that together without having feelings for each other, but deep down I knew I was wrong.

Grandma and Jonas came up behind me and grandma but a soft hand on my shoulder. She didn't need to say anything, just her simple touch helped to calm me down. She would be coming with me for the first couple of days to help me get settled. I still had those strange blackouts once in a while, and the doctor told me I should have someone with me at all times, in case it happens.

Grandma started to push me towards the building and Jonas tagged along. My heart was pounding hard in my chest. We were a bit late, because I didn't want to come at the same time as everyone else. I didn't want everybody to stare at me, like I was some kind of freak.

A couple of days earlier I had followed dad to the local supermarket to get out of the house for a while. It had been really uncomfortable, because everybody had stared and some people I didn't even know had come up to me and shook my hand. I had felt really selfconsious and I just wanted to sink through the floor and disapear.

The school was very quiet when we came inside. Everyone was inside their classrooms. My class was waiting for me on the first floor. Classroom 123. They knew I was coming. The teachers had told them.

Jonas went on before us and stoped at the right door. How he did that without being able to see, I don't know. He simply opened the door and went inside. I could here nothing. Just complete silence. Then my teacher's voice.

"Hello Jonas, nice to see you again. Welcome back!"

Jonas had been absent from school ever since I got back, because he wanted to help me recover. He said he wanted to be there for me, just like I had been there for him when he needed me.

Grandma started rolling me towards the open door. I wasn't ready. I needed more time. In that moment I longed back to the basement. In that moment, when I just sat there while the wheelchair moved forward, the basement felt like a safe place. It was a very odd feeling to have, considering all the terrors I experienced there.

The wheelchair rolled into the room and suddenly I was sitting there, in front of my class. In front of people had known for three years. My friends. They were all staring at me.

I thought of the reflection I saw every day when I looked myself in the mirror. My skin was still miscolored from bruises and there was still a few small cuts left all over. That was what my classmates saw that day. I felt weak. I felt ashamed.

I didn't want them to see me in that way. I wanted them to see me as they had always seen me. The weird, funny girl who everybody kinda liked. Not as the girl who got kidnapped for three months.

Suddenly there was a scream from the back of the class and Matilda stood up. She had tears rushing down her face. She ran up to me and dropped to her knees in front of me and then she hugged me so hard that my injured ribs cried for help.