The Love Box

Chapter 22

“I don’t want to be on the dance team,” I told them; they all gawked at me.

“How could you say that?” Sadie shouted at me. “It’s the point of doing dance.”

“You don’t know what the dance team is!” I shouted back at her, “I do!”

“Then what is it?” Sadie shouted at me again. “Tell us.”

“I can’t,” I replied.

“And why not!” Sadie yelled; the ladies behind the counter looked over at us.

I smiled and waved them off, but I saw them eye us every once in a while after that.

“Because Rylie will kill me,” I whispered to them with tears in my eyes.

“Are you serious?” Lizzy asked me as fear ran across her eyes.

“Yes,” I whispered, and I felt more tears fall from my face. I felt relieved to have finally told my friends some of my troubles, but I also knew it was a risky move; a move that I might have had to pay for later on.

Courtney stood up and walked to my side; she hugged me and said, “I see why you started acting different.”

“That’s not why,” I stuttered through my tears, “Rylie’s controlling my mind.”

Lizzy stood up and walked around that table and joined in on our hug; it was a tight group hug, but I didn’t mind it. For the first time in a long time I felt like I actually had friends there for me, and the thought excited me. It made me forget about Rylie, my mind, and leaving; the warmth of the hug made me forget the coldness of the cure that Rylie injected into me.

I realized then that I loved my friends; that’s why they were so important to me. Then I felt another set of hands wrap around me, and I didn’t need to look because I knew they were Sadie’s.

In that moment my family grew from two to five, and I knew that family wasn’t just determined by blood; it was based upon your reactions and emotions towards the people who loved you and you loved back. I thought there wasn’t hope for my family, but I then knew there was. And I couldn’t leave any of my family behind.

When I left; they were going with me whether they wanted to or not.

“After dinner we should practice,” Sadie told me; I heard her fight back her tears as she spoke.

“And after that I need to show you guys something,” I told them; finally they would know the place they had wanted to know for as long as I could remember. They would finally know the place I always went to.

Ladies entered the cafeteria and stared at us; they obviously didn’t know what had happened, and I couldn’t blame them for staring. My friends and I let go of our hug; then we wiped our eyes filled with tears and stood in line as we waited to get our food. We got our food fairly quickly because of the fact that only a few people were in front of us.

After we got our food we sat at the same table we had sat at before we stood in line; we ate in silence again. For once I didn’t like the silence with my friends; since they were going to know everything soon I needed a lot of time to explain it, and it was the perfect time. Other than the place; anyone of the ladies already in the cafeteria could have been one of Rylie’s workers and report the information I said to Rylie. I couldn’t have that happen; it wasn’t just my life on the line anymore. If Rylie knew I was spilling secrets then there’s no doubt that she would hesitate to kill me or anyone that I told.

I finished my food and I waited for my friends to finish theirs; after they did we walked to the library. Courtney walked to the middle of the room and she took her shoes off, so did Sadie and Lizzy, but they stood a few feet in front of Courtney and faced her. Quickly I took my shoes off and stood in between Sadie and Lizzy.