Moments In Silence

Chapter 2

        I had so much energy pent up inside of me from stress and particularly my conversation with Mr. Hyde that I felt the need to get rid of it before it seethed inside me any longer. I knew the gym and track would be filled with students and their respective sports teams practicing for their upcoming meets, so I figured it would be best just to walk around the school grounds and get some fresh air.

                One thing that I liked most about Mithridates Academy was the fact that it was so spread out. It didn’t feel like a high school with cramped rooms and hallways filled with nervous teenagers. Instead, it felt a lot like a college with old brick buildings and wooden benches. All students that came to this school were there for a reason. Mostly though, they had rich parents who wanted their children to get into a particular profession or a certain college. It was nice at times knowing how high the stakes were. It kept most students in line and eager to work hard and even more eager to please. At other times, it was interesting how convenient it was that all these students knew each other or grew up with one another. It left no room for a poor scholarship student with no money and no name.

                I of course, didn’t come from a rich family, at least not anymore. I don’t even remember my father because I never really got to know him. He died when I was six, and although he apparently had a productive company, he left us with nothing once he passed on. Actually less than nothing, he left us with so much debt our house and all our things were taken away and we became homeless. I remember the numerous toys that filled my pink room, and the countless dresses I was made to wear. I even remember my nanny who took care of me in place of my mother and father. She was a nice lady, with kind brown eyes who sang to me to cheer me up. I also remember the way she cried when she handed me over to my mom the day we left.  And then there I was, a six year old being carted off with a woman who I recognized as my mother but never actually spent time with and I had to do what she said and go where she went.

                We went from place to place for a while, trying to find family or close friends who would take us in for a few days at a time and help us in any way they could. But it wasn’t long before my mother started doing things her own way, not seeing the results she wanted from her so called “friends”. My mom went from relationship to relationship. Many times we stayed with them, only leaving once the money ran out or the wives figured out that they’re husbands were cheating on them with some hot young mother with a small daughter.

                We continued on like that for a while. I never really minded, but then again I didn’t know any better. It wasn’t until I was ten that I fully realized what was going on. I finally figured out how my mother got us our nice clothes and could afford for us to stay at nice hotels or go to expensive restaurants. She manipulated these men into taking care of us and paying off her debts. The moment things got a little sketchy or too serious, she packed us up and moved on.

                Although I knew her methods were wrong, I didn’t fight it or throw a tantrum over it. I knew better. I knew that if I wanted a place to sleep, clothes to wear and food to eat I had to follow her lead. Even if that meant playing part of her scheme to attract her boyfriends. She would dress me up or make me say things to get these guys to pay attention to her. As I got older and dare I say, more mature, she played it even more. But in all seriousness, who wouldn’t want to date a young good looking woman with an even younger, pretty daughter? The dresses got skimpier, and the makeup darker, and then there I was acting alongside her as her wingman, and not as her daughter.

                I hated it. I hated every second of it but I did what I had to do. I put up with my mom and her angry rants and flying backhands, and I even put up with the looks and subtle touches her boyfriends would give me once I started to look like a woman and not a child. I did it all knowing that I would one day get away. I knew that one day I wouldn’t be attached to my mother’s hip and I would be free.

        When we came to the New England area when I was 14, I knew it was important to make the best of what I could when it came to school. It would have been my ticket out and away from my mother, not that I particularly needed it anymore seeing as I was alone now. But college was the dream. A nice college away from my mom and her boyfriends, surrounded by books in a library somewhere nice and sunny. And to get to that college, I needed to get into a good high school.

                I was stuck in public school at first, of course, my mother didn’t care about my education or where I went, just as long as I was gone for most of the day. When I was 16, I applied for a full ride scholarship to Mithridates Academy. The scholarship was meant for underprivileged students, and there was a lengthy application process. It involved extensive admissions testing, as well as an interview with the dean and student council. Surprisingly I got it. I never expected to, but I like to think that my hard work paid off. It also wasn’t too bad knowing my mom’s boyfriend at the time was good friends with the dean’s family. Not that I thank him for his help or anything. But then again, it’s not like I asked him to not talk to the dean on my behalf. Sometime there were advantages to having a creepy older man for a stand-in dad.

                But even though I was in a good school that would help me pave my way to a good college, I still had to stay with my mom. I got myself a part time job at the local movie theater so I could save as much money as possible for my future endeavors. I also never told my mom or her boyfriends of my job, I just told them I went to the movies for film club and that’s why I always smelled of popcorn once I went home.

                Seeing as I was on my own since my mom left, that cushion of savings I had for myself was no longer a cushion. I would have needed to use it eventually to find a place to stay for the next few months and be able to feed myself and transportation to wherever I needed to go. But I didn’t know how to go about it all. It was too late in the semester to get a dorm at the school, I had no friends who I went to school with, and no family around. At this point, I was regretting the location of the academy. Sometimes nestled in the hillside isn’t exactly the best for close amenities.

                Before I knew it I had circled the campus twice. The sun was low on the horizon and the last of the students had already begun to leave the school grounds after their practice. I headed back to the English classroom.

        For the past few days I was sleeping at the school. I hid my bags in one of the downstairs storage classrooms where no one would find them alongside one of the gym mats I took to utilize as a makeshift bed. Once I was sure everyone had gone I would go down and grab my things and bring them back upstairs to the classroom. Sure I could have slept down there, it would have made things easier in the long run. It would limit my potential exposure time and allow me to sleep a bit more, but it was also stuffy and cold. I felt more comfortable sleeping in the English classroom than there. So that's exactly what I did.

                Just like the days before, I closed the window blinds, shut the door and moved into a corner of the room. I laid out the mat and pulled out sleepwear to change into. I had just undressed when I heard a noise. I could have sworn it was the main door to the building, but it always got locked once the janitor left for the day, so it couldn’t have been. I dismissed it knowing the building was old and it was just the pipes. So I ignored it and carried on. I put on some leggings, and was just about to pull my t-shirt over my head when I heard the door to the room open.