Number 12

Chapter 9

Jake’s POV

I followed Sam when she walked out the other day. Father told me too. She ran to a lake, and I could barely keep up with her. She didn’t see me but she almost did. I know that Sam and Michael hate me even more as I have to enforce Sam’s punishment. I was really glad that tomorrow is Friday as we have a game.

I woke around one o’clock to screaming. It was the same as last night and the nights before. I always woke up at this time with Sam’s screaming. She never noticed and Mother said that we shouldn’t tell her. I really want to know what the nightmare was but I couldn’t ask. I got up to get a drink and I looked into Sam’s room.

She was in the middle of a pile of twisted sheets. She was sweaty but wasn’t awake. She was wearing a tight fitting singlet and shorts. She turned in her sleep and I walked away from the door. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and it was Sam. She looked tired despite just waking up.

‘Why don’t you say?’ she asked.

‘About what?’ I lied easily.

‘The screaming and nightmares. I know you all heard me’ she said and walked away. I stood there for a minute thinking about it. I wonder how she knew but maybe Michael told her.

Sam is up and waiting for me the next morning, technically it is the same morning. I know how much she hates riding with me. She has a bowl of yogurt but she isn’t eating it, instead she is just stirring it.

‘You ready?’ I ask her. She glances up at me. Her eyes are bleary and tired like she hasn’t slept and she looks annoyed. She got up and walked up the door. I followed her.

Sam wasn’t sitting with us at lunch again. She sat with Luci. Michael sat with us but he wasn’t really talking or eating. I don’t think that I had thought about the effect that Sam’s punishment would have on him. I tried to talk and explain to him why I was enforcing it but he wouldn’t listen.

Sam was talking outside the changing rooms talking to Luci. Luci was a cheerleader but she didn’t seem like a stereotypical girl. She wore plain black short and a blue shirt. I was glad that Sam had a female friend.

Coach was waiting for us on the field as we had a home game. This meant that we had an extra hour to warm up and train.

‘We will start with running three laps in bare feet’ Coach told us. I sat down to pull my shoes and socks off. Sam was already and standing. I glanced at her feet and noticed something. Her left foot was swollen and purple. You could see some of the bones sticking out slightly.

Running in bare feet felt nice. You could feel the grass under your feet. After the three laps, I came to a stop. Coach gave us a minute break and Sam disappeared.

‘It’s a miracle she is even walking on that let alone playing’ Nathan said, clearly talking about Sam’s foot. His parents are both doctors so he knew quite a bit. I noticed that Michael was standing to the side with his arms crossed.