Caged (Caged series Book 1) Page 3

  I stared down at the card, and then reached to pick it up. The name on it said Lorena Rojas. I stood up while still looking down at Lorena's picture. She was very pretty with her red and blond hair. I couldn't see her eye color, but they sort of looked blue...

  "Hey," someone stopped in front of me, "can I have my card back?"

  I looked up and saw Lorena standing in front of me. Her eyes were very blue.

  "Oh, sorry. You dropped it," I handed it over to her.

  Lorena smiled slightly, "You’re new here aren't you?"

  "Yeah," She really didn't notice that I was the one who sat behind her, "I'm Rose," I held my hand out for a handshake.

  "Nice to meet you, I'm-"

  "Lorena..." We shook hands while holding eye contact. It was awkward for a moment, but then she gave me a full smile, "...yeah, I saw your name on your I.D. Where are you from?"

  "Columbia. I mean I'm from here, but I was born in Columbia, and then I came here with my family."

  I nodded, "Oh, ok, no offense, but I couldn't tell if you were mixed, or white..."

  Lorena laughed, "I get that a lot. No one can ever tell my race. Don't worry, I'm not offended. At least you didn't just assume I was a Puerto Rican," The late bell rang and Lorena looked at the time on her phone, "Crap, I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow."

  I nodded and watched as she walked towards the door.

  "Nice meeting you!" She yelled back.

  "Yeah, you too," I waved and then just stood there.

  Mrs. Pond was standing behind her desk, "Aren't you a little late for class?"

  "Oh, yeah," I had completely forgotten I had a third period class.

  Chapter 6

  So far, school was going good. Mostly, everyone there was kind and welcoming. At lunch, I sat alone up until a group of girls made their way around to my table and introduced themselves. There was Ashley, Amy, Tiara, and Paulina. Not one of those girls were my type of friends, but they were cool to talk to.

  Halfway through lunch, a few boys sat down with us. One of them was the boy I was talking to in my first period class. His name was Cameron. He greeted me with a weird handshake that I couldn't follow through with, and started talking to me about wrestling. The others around the table listened as we went over our hardest matches, and laughed about embarrassing things that's happened during our previous season. Eventually, the girls around the table started asking me a million questions about wrestling, seeing as they've never met a girl that did such a heavy contact sport.

  When the subject moved from me to other school related subjects, I started looking around and observing the cafeteria. It was a lot bigger than the one in California, but didn't have as many students. All the faces here were so unfamiliar....except the one standing by the door.

  Miss Shy was watching me, along with the principal. I figured that they were making sure I stayed out of trouble, but the fact that they were watching made me angry, and I'm sure it showed all over my face.

  "You cool?" Cameron asked.

  I nodded my head, but didn't say anything the rest of the lunch period.

  I finally made it to my last period class and sat in the front. I had been the new student so many times today that I didn't feel so new anymore. I even spotted a few people that attended previous classes with me.

  The bell rang, and the rest of the class entered the room. My math teacher, Mr. Robinson, immediately started teaching. Ten minutes into the lesson I started to get bored and slouched back into my chair. Out of all my classes, this one was the worst. I just had to get stuck with a dark haired monotone teacher.

  There was a knock on the door, followed by muffled giggling. It sound as if there were a few students that were a little late. Mr. Robinson opened the door, "This is the last time you three can be late or its detention."

  Jessie walked into the classroom laughing, "OK, won't happen again," on her way to her seat she made eye contact with me. I tensed up and held my breath. Of all the things I didn't need....

  Surprisingly, I went the entire class without being bothered. Jessie was on the far side of the classroom, so it wasn't that hard to ignore her. Besides, she wasn't really trying to get my attention, she was just whispering to her friends and texting. In my peripheral, I could see her turn in my direction every now and then, but I didn't assume that she was looking at me.

  My mind went back to what she had said earlier. She said she had to make sure it was me, which meant that she knew something about me. If she told anyone about what happened in Cali, the whole school would think that I was crazy, and no one would want to be associated with me, let alone near me. What happened wasn't completely my fault. I had just lost control.....

  The bell rang and it was time for school to let out. Just like in middle school, the class was in a rush to leave, and I found myself doing the same. If I wanted to avoid conflict I was going to have to get out of that class fast.

  Jessie and a few of her friends were looking directly at me now. I picked up my books, but then dropped a few on the floor while I was standing up. When I crouched down to get them Jessie and her friends started laughing, and I started to get angry.

  If she did know anything about me, she knew that I could beat her senseless, so why was she targeting me? I could easily drop these books and crack that jaw of hers. I guess because she had friends behind her, she thought that she could handle me, but as soon as her friends saw what I was like they'd think twice about helping her.

  I picked up the books that I dropped and faced Jessie. If she didn't come off the way that she did earlier, I would say that she was pretty, but her bitchy attitude made her look unattractive.

  "What’s funny?" I asked.

  Jessie bit her bottom lip and shook her head, then asked, "Why'd you transfer here?"

  I clenched my teeth and didn't respond. I didn't know how...

  "Hellooooo? You deaf?" She asked.

  Out of nowhere I felt my anger building. My chest was starting to burn, and I began breathing heavily, almost heaving.

  "Damn, getting mad already? You must be a lot worse now than what you used to be huh?"

  I dropped my books and balled my fists. I didn't want the students here knowing what I did, and she was trying to bring the truth out of me. She wanted to show them what I was like, so that they would say that I was crazy and have something to talk about. I didn't want to be in everyone's conversation, or the gossip of the school. My best chance at avoiding that was to avoid her, and just let it go.

  "Jessie, get out of my classroom," Mr. Robinson ordered, "and Rose, I need to talk to you."

  Jessie sighed, and exited the class, followed by her friends. I took a deep breath and calmed down, then I turned to Mr. Robinson, who was looking at me with a frown on his face like I was the one who did something wrong.

  "What?" I asked in an aggravated tone.

  Mr. Robinson rubbed his chin, "You need to ignore her. It’s no secret what you did in California, and none of the teachers want history repeating itself."

  My heart dropped. Everyone knew what happened?

  "I didn't do anything," My voice cracked. The butterflies in my stomach were making me feel sick.

  "From what I was told you have a very short temper, and any sign of hostility coming from you-"

  "Means absolutely nothing," I began picking up my books for the second time.

  "You can be very dangerous, Rose. I won't tolerate any fighting or arguing in my class, and especially not from you."

  "Shut up," I stood up and started walking towards the door.

  "Rose, I'm still talking to you!"

  "I don't care," I waved back as I exited the classroom. That teacher didn't know a damn thing about me. He was just going off of what he was told, which was history. It’s not the new me, because I'm different now. A lot different. So what if I get mad? People do that. That doesn't mean I'm going to attack anyone. I have control over myself now, and whatever I do is now fully thought through, whether it’s a good
or bad decision, like the one I'm about to make right now.

  I saw Jessie walking alone in the empty hallway. She had on her headphones and was bobbing her head to whatever she was listening to. I sped up my pace and was headed in her direction with the intention of just talking to her and finding out what exactly her problem was.

  Just as I was gaining on her, I saw Lorena exit Mrs. Pond’s class. She stopped walking when she saw me and waved.

  Whatever I was just feeling went away, and I started to feel calm again, "What are you still doing here?" I asked as I slowed down.

  "Oh, just had to talk to Mrs. Pond really quick."

  It was an awkward silence.

  "What are you still doing here?" Lorena asked.

  "Mr. Robinson wanted to speak with me."

  "Oh gosh, what was he bitchin' about now?"

  I shrugged, "He just wanted to clarify some things with me."

  We started walking towards the double doors that led outside.

  "Last time me and him spoke he was giving me detention for reading during class."

  "Wow," I laughed, "You do read a lot though."

  Lorena smiled, "I love reading. It’s my favorite hobby."

  "Any sports?"

  "Volleyball, but only for fun. I don't really play on a team. You?"

  "Wrestling."

  Once again, it was an awkward silence.

  "Do you need a ride home?" Lorena asked, "It’s getting a little cold out."

  "No I'm fine. My house isn't far."

  Lorena nodded. We both were walking towards the front door when I remembered that I needed to get my things out of my locker. I didn't want to turn around and get them though, I just wanted to keep walking with Lorena. I'll probably never put my finger on it, but it was just something about her that was familiar, and it made me feel somewhat comfortable.

  We walked out of the front doors and down the stairs. I looked up and saw that it had started snowing out. Lorena looked back at me as she crossed the lawn to get to her car and I waved goodbye, then started to power walk home.

  Chapter 7

  I regretted not getting my things from my locker, and since I was holding my books, I couldn't even wrap my arms around myself. Every snowflake that fell down on my shoulders made me feel even colder. It was kind of like the time I traveled to New York with Arnold and had to train in the winter. He was getting me ready for a fight that was being held in the snow by some old deserted factory. It was the first fight that I had noticed just how much blood is lost while competing. I never really noticed before, because the floor that I usually fought on was already covered in someone else's.

  Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I decided to think about something else. Anything that could cheer me up would be nice, but so far nothing big has happened. I looked up at the grey sky and watched as the light snow came down on me. That cold feeling went away, and I started to feel warm inside. It was the first time I felt snow in years.

  A car horn went off and I became alert again. When I turned to see who it was, I saw that it was Lorena. She waved for me to get into the car, and without thinking twice I did.

  "Thanks," I sat my books down on my lap and put my hands in front of the heater.

  "I felt bad about leaving you walking, hope you don't mind," She put the car in drive and pulled off.

  "Oh, no not at all. I appreciate it. It’s been so long since I felt snow- it’s going to take some getting used to."

  "Tell me about it. Where you from again?"

  "Cali," My house wasn't far from here. I gave her the directions and then sat back and relaxed, "So, this car yours?"

  "Yeah, now it is. It was my mom's."

  I smiled, "Must love you a lot to give you this." She drove a 2013 Toyota.

  "Well, actually she passed away a few months back, so I got everything she owned."

  I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just didn't say anything. If she got everything her mother owned then I guess there was no father around. Just like me, she had no parents.

  "So, who do you stay with?" Lorena asked.

  "My aunt.....you?"

  "I live alone," A smile formed on her lips, almost as if she were proud, "I went ahead and got an apartment and a part time job. My grandparents from afar pay half the rent."

  "That's awesome. So you’re eighteen?"

  "Yup."

  "Yeah, can't wait until I'm old enough to do all that. Shit, I can't wait until I learn to drive."

  Lorena pulled up to my house and sat in the driveway. I saw my aunt peeking out the window, then hurrying and shutting the curtain.

  "Don't mind her," I shook my head in embarrassment.

  Lorena laughed, "Tell her I come in peace."

  I opened the car door and stepped out, "Well, thanks for the ride," I shut the car door and started walking towards the house. Lorena rolled her window down.

  "Hey," she called, "Maybe I could teach you to drive sometime?"

  A smile crept up on my face, "Yeah, of course."

  "OK, cool, see you tomorrow," She rolled her window up and pulled out, then she drove off.

  I turned back around and walked to the front door. Before I could put the key in, the door opened.

  "Why are you so late?" Shannon asked.

  I stepped into the house and looked at the time, "It's been thirty minutes."

  "So what? You’re supposed to come home right after school, no exceptions."

  "Whatever," I started walking away from her when she grabbed my upper arm with force.

  "I'm still talking to you!"

  I pulled my arm away and approached her as if I were going to hurt her. She backed up into the door, trying to keep her distance. This was something I did to make people feel fear. I only tried to scare them, so that they wouldn't make the same mistake.

  I got real close to her and looked her in her eyes. She was afraid. It was obvious from her heavy breathing.

  "I'm not a kid anymore....don't put your hands on me again," I stepped back, then turned around and went straight to my room.

  Despite what had just happened, and about what happened in school, I felt happy. It was a weird feeling that I haven't had since I lived in Cali. I mean, I knew what happiness felt like, but this time I had butterflies.

  I took off my mother’s earrings, and sat my father’s Rolex down next to them. My parents were smiling at me in the picture, or at least that's what I always told myself. They were taking this picture so that they could give it to me as a welcome home gift, and when I never returned they decided to just hang it up on a wall next to all their pictures of me.

  Our house had so many pictures of family, friends, and, of course, myself. It was my mother that always went crazy with the picture taking. She said that when you take a picture, it was a live memory on paper, and since Daddy couldn't even remember their anniversary, she figured taking a lot of pictures would be a good idea. Daddy would laugh and argue how he always remembered their special day, and argue that she was the one who had forgotten. I would just sit in between them and listen to them go back and forth, then I would tell him that his memory really was bad, and that all of our pictures were a good idea. One day I heard my teacher talking about photography, and ran home to tell mom that that's what I wanted to be in the future. I wanted to be a photographer......

  I skipped my daily workout and decided to go to bed early. I had succeeded on finishing my first day of school, and even though there were a few problems, I handled myself well. I got mad, but I didn't flip, and when I was provoked, I didn't respond. I did well.

  Today was the first day of my new life, and it looked like I was having a good start. All I have to do is ignore the negative, and only let in the positive. So far the only negative was Jessie. All I have to do is ignore her.

  * *

  I woke up late one night and got out of bed. It was weird not sleeping in a cage, because I was so used to it, but eventually I grew to like having an actual bedroom.

&nbs
p; Looking over at my clock, I saw that it was 12 O'clock A.M. It was way past my bedtime, and if I were caught out of bed then I would get locked back up for the night. I don't know what woke me up, but I couldn't go back to sleep without seeing what it was, so I tiptoed out of my room to see that all of the lights were off. No one was up. Not the maids, there were no workers, not even Arnold.

  From far down the hall I saw no lights, and I also saw none from behind me. I sighed and turned to go back to bed, but then I heard a loud thump from under me. Usually, around this time. Arnold would be playing poker with his friends, or in his office smoking a cigar. There were never any loud noises this late, because he didn't want anything to wake me. It was very important to him that I got all of the sleep that I needed, with me being his big money maker and all.

  I had to see what that noise was. Arnold said that we would be having a new friend soon, and I wanted to meet him or her as soon as they got here. Excitement rose up inside of me and I quickly tiptoed down to the stairway. It took a while, but I finally made it to the bottom of the steps and saw a light shining from under the front door. I could also hear Arnold's voice from outside.

  I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I did start to notice that his voice was getting closer and closer. He was about to walk in and see me awake and out bed. In a panic, I ran to the first dark place I saw, and that was the entrance to the basement. The place I hated most.

  I closed the door and stood there for a second. I could hear Arnold stepping inside and closing the door, then he walked passed the basement and I sighed with relief.

  Disappointed that no one was coming tonight, I decided that I was just going to head back to bed, but then I heard a noise coming from downstairs. I couldn't make it out at first, but then I realized that it was a person.

  "Hello?" I whispered as I walked down the stairs, "Who's there?"

  There was sniffling, but no response.

  "Are you OK?" I asked. There was still no response. Just sniffling, and a soft crying.

  I walked to the table on the far side of the room and took the flashlight. Once I turned it on I quickly pointed it in the direction of the sniffing sounds.....