Caged (Caged series Book 1) Read online

  "To answer your question, no. My adoptive parents adopted me because they wanted another girl."

  "Well, aren't you a lucky one?"

  "They adopted me from a bad foster home, and before that I lived with my mother who neglected me most of the time."

  "Tragic," I said sarcastically.

  Miss Shy clenched her teeth, then took a breath, "Even through all the neglect I still loved her."

  There was a flash of me hugging Arnold after I won a fight.

  "I did whatever I could to please her. I even tried making her money by selling my toys," She smiled slightly, "We were desperate, and hungry. One day she met a guy and...I guess she fell in love, or at least with his money. For a while she could get him to stay around, but then he started disappearing more and more and we started to get desperate again. My mom cried all the time, and there was nothing I could do to get her to stop.....I prayed that things would get better, and it seemed like it did. The guy finally came back, and the night he came over they celebrated. They drank, and got high..." Miss Shy's hands started to shake, but then they stopped, "My mom fell asleep early that night, and him...he's the reason I was taken away from my mom. It was her fault too, but back then I blamed him. If he just didn't do what he did, I would have still been with her. I haven't seen her since..."

  I just stared at her. She had just told me that she was raped, and I had nothing to say. It made me feel terrible, and I wish that she never told me. It made me think back to the rough times I’d endured while living with Arnold.

  I could still hear the cord whip through the air before it hit my back, and feel the cold air whirl around in the basement making me shiver. Arnold was breathing hard and sweating by now, and I had grown tired of crying. He did something that he regretted, and he was punishing me for it. Telling me how this was my fault, and that my parents died because of me....

  "Rose...Rose....where are you?"

  My eyes teared up and I looked down at the floor. I couldn't shake it off. My hands were shaking, and I started feeling hot everywhere.

  "Talk to me Rose, where are you? I can help you through this."

  My breathing turned to heaving. I felt like I was choking on the air I inhaled and was going to faint. I didn’t want to think about them, or him anymore. I didn’t want to go back to that place.

  "Rose, honey-"

  "SHUT UP!!!" I jumped up out of the chair, “I don't need your fucking help! I don't need to think about these things anymore! Why the hell are people so interested in bringing up my past? Huh? What’s it going to do for you?" I slammed my fist down on her desk and she jumped, "Nothing like that has ever happened to me! Ever! I'm not like you, and we don't have shit in common, remember that!"

  The door flew open and a security guard and the principal were standing at alert. The secretary was even peeking over from her desk.

  "Everything alright?" The principal asked.

  The security guard came in and grabbed me by my wrist. His tight grip took me right back to where I started, only worse.

  "Let me go," I said looking up at the security guard, "You really want to let me go."

  "Rose, try to keep yourself calm," Miss Shy said, "Think about your dog, Leon. He made you happy right?"

  I was still glaring at the security guard, and then to the principal, "Tell him to let me go, or I will break his arm," I turned back to the security, "He obviously didn't tell you about me. I could end your career, and it would be his fault."

  "Just let her go," Miss Shy said, "She got worked up, and it’s normal. There's really no trouble here."

  I turned back to the principal, and then was let go. There was too much on my mind to go back to class, so I just decided to go back to the second best place.

  Chapter 10

  I walked into the library and took in the warm air. They must have had the heat on blast today.

  The librarian from yesterday watched as I walked towards the back of the library, and with my anger still raging, I was close to flipping out on her as well, but I didn't want to be kicked out, so I was going to have to control myself. Besides, I figured she was just watching me because I’m a minor that’s not in school during school hours.

  In the back of the library, on the far right, I found that there was a spot cut off from the rest of the world, where I could be alone. I found it the other day, and figured that I could read the rest of my book there in peace once I got the chance. When I made my way back there, though, I noticed that someone was already sitting on one of the large beanbags facing the opposite direction. There were two more bean bags left available, but I preferred to be completely alone.

  As I turned around my book bag bumped into a pile of books that were sitting on the table. I sighed and bent down to pick them up, and while gathering them I noticed that most of the books were my kind of books: fantasy. Some were funny, some had action, and some had adventure. There was no one around but the person on the bean bag, and he didn’t seem to be claiming the books, so I saw this as an opportunity to check them out.

  As I stood up, I sorted out the ones that I wanted and sat the rest down.

  "You could at least ask," The girl from the bean bag said.

  It was Lorena once again. I didn't recognize her because she wore a black hoodie that hid her red hair, “Oh, sorry I didn't know they were yours," I put the books back down and just stared at her. It was awkward with us just looking at each other, and I didn't really know what to do or say. Made me wonder why I've been wanting to see her so much, because when I do its just awkward...like now.

  "Sooooooo," Lorena's smile made the awkwardness disappear, “You wanna sit down, orrrrrr....."

  "Oh, ummm no, I was just coming back here to be alone, but then I saw that this spot was taken already."

  "This spot’s always taken. I'm usually the one sitting back here."

  "Oh...." Once again we were staring at each other.

  "I'll be leaving in a few minutes, so you can have it then, or you can sit with me until I leave," She pulled her hood off and turned back around.

  That queasy feeling in my stomach came back and it was like my six pack was flexing as hard as ever. I didn't want to just stand there and be anymore awkward than I already was, so I walked over to the red bean bag and sat down.

  Lorena sat across from me with her body leaning to her left side while holding herself up on her elbow and reading the book that she picked out yesterday.

  "So, what was your excuse today?" I asked.

  Lorena read for a few more seconds and then looked up at me. I could tell that she wasn't going to tell the truth again because of the guilty expression on her face, "I'm still not feeling well," She looked back down into her book. On the corner of her lip I could see that is was a little red. It had been busted, but was barely noticeable.

  "That sucks, I was looking forward to seeing you. Hope you feel better tomorrow," I leaned back on the bean bag and stretched out my legs.

  Lorena closed her book and put it in her bag, then she slowly sat up. She seemed to be in a worse mood than yesterday.

  "Hey...” I said softly.

  Lorena knew what I was thinking when she made eye contact with me. It was as if she wanted to tell me something, but for some reason she didn’t.

  "Is everything alright?" I asked as kindly as I could.

  Lorena swallowed, and took a moment to answer. She didn't speak, but nodded her head looking exhausted.

  "You want me to walk you to your car?" I asked, "I can carry your bag."

  "No, I'm okay," She looked towards the door as if waiting for someone to walk in.

  "You don't look okay," I looked towards the door and then back at her. People like me noticed things that others couldn’t. I guess after fighting for so long it wasn’t hard for me to pick out injuries, and I spotted a few on Lorena.

  She frowned, "I'm fi-"

  "Your ankle is swollen, your lip is busted, and it looks like you hurt your ribs. You fall down the stairs or somethin
g?" I gave her a gentle smile. She didn't answer, so I just got to my feet and helped her up, "I thought you lived alone?"

  "I do," she answered, sounding a little annoyed. She reached down to pick up her bag, but I went ahead and grabbed it for her.

  "Just lead the way."

  We both walked out of the library and to her car that was parked right in the front. Once she got in, I tossed her backpack in the passenger seat and leaned in the window.

  "Do you need me to do anything else for you?" I asked.

  "No," she shook her head, "But thank you."

  I sighed and then smiled, "I am a fighter. If you ever need me, I got your back."

  Lorena just nodded.

  "I hope that I see you in school tomorrow,” I shrugged.

  "You will," She smiled again, but this time it was genuine.

  I stepped back as she began to roll up her windows, then I watched as she drove off for the second time.

  When she was out of sight I walked back into the library, and went to sit down on the bean bags. With Lorena gone there were no longer any distraction from the thoughts that had occurred earlier. Anger started to rise again as I thought of Mrs. Shy, but then her calm face and slight smile made me calm down again. Mrs. Shy really wasn’t so bad. It’s just the fact that she’s another one of those prying counselors that want to study me, and I don’t want to be studied. I just want to be normal like everyone else.

  I pulled out my book from my bag and began reading, but couldn’t really focus on the words because I kept thinking back to Arnold and his practices. All of this anxiety and anger was starting to make me feel tired.

  This really wasn’t a good start to my school year. My new life was starting to be ruined already.

  * *

  “Do you see anyone?” Winee asked, peeking around the corner with me. We were checking to see if the coast was clear down the long hallway that lead to the stairway.

  “No,” I answered, “But still, be quiet. We can’t let any of the maids see us.”

  “Half of them don’t even like Arnold. Would they really tell?”

  I sighed, feeling like the big sister that had to keep the younger sister out of trouble, “They’re all afraid of him. Of course they will tell. We aren’t supposed to go outside when he’s not home. It’s a rule,” and I knew exactly what happened when someone was caught breaking rules.

  Me and Winee tip toed down the hall and down the long stairway and was relieved when there were still no Maids in sight. Once we made it to the bottom of the steps, we then tip toed towards the back hall that led to the back door.

  The house that we lived in was a very big one. It had three floors and about five rooms that stretched down a long hallway. Arnold was a pretty wealthy man compared to my parents...

  “Come on,” I said. We ran to the backdoor and quickly opened it. Once we got outside we then ran to the woods in the backyard where no one could see us.

  “What time is it?” Winee asked.

  I pulled out the small watch from my dress pocket, “three o’clock. Arnold doesn’t get back until six,” I put the watch away. Arnold always had us looking presentable, and the clothes we wore were always set out for us in the morning. Even though we fought, we still had to look like ladies. I usually wore the bright colors while Winee wore the dark ones. Today I had on a pink dress, and she wore a dark blue one.

  Winee looked back towards the house in disgust. She hated it there while I had begun to get used to it. I knew that I shouldn’t have thought that way, but I did, and it couldn’t be helped. I had actually started to like Arnold no matter how scary he was. He just had this way of being fatherly, in replacement of mine...

  Winee took off her dress to show that she had on a training bra, and some spandex shorts, “you ready?” Winee had a serious look on her face. She had been training whenever she could so that she could win all of her fights like I did. Losing meant punishment, and neither of us wanted to be punished.

  I took off my dress and neatly folded it, showing that I had on the same clothes, “Yeah,” I said. I wasn’t going to go easy on her. Neither Fike nor Cleo did for me, “Come on,” I left myself wide open for her.

  Like I thought she would, Winee charged at me. I braced myself by putting my arms out and bending my knees knowing that she was going to try and take me down first. When she made contact she wrapped her arms around me and tried to do just that, but she still wasn’t strong enough. She was just like me when I used to go against Cleo: filled with drive, but still weak.

  I reached over and wrapped by arm around her neck, then I tightened my grip and tried to choke her out. Winee started punching wildly hitting my back and my sides, but they didn’t hurt. They probably would have if I wasn’t used to feeling pain.

  Once Winee realized that the punching wouldn’t work she tried to push her way out of my grip, but that just made me tighten up even more. I then used my right fist to start punching at her ribs, and the pain made her fight harder to get away from me. After hitting her in the side a few more times, Winee started to slow down. I didn’t show any mercy and decided to swing my body to the left as hard as I could. He body followed and she crashed to the ground.

  Winee lay there coughing, and saw me coming, but didn’t get up in time. I went ahead and mounted her, then started punching her in the face. When blood started leaking from her nose she tried to shield herself with her arms, “Rose!”

  I continued punching her, and it felt like I couldn’t stop. She was just so small and weak, and I couldn’t stand that about her. It’s not like I was mad at her, but I needed her to learn that losing wasn’t an option. Resting wasn’t an option, and this is what happens in the organized fights, only there...you might die.

  “Rose!” Winee frantically put her hands up, hoping that I would stop, but I didn’t care. I didn’t see her hands. I didn’t see anything but her blood, and then her tears...

  I stopped punching her when I saw a tear fall from her eye. Tears were falling from mine too. Her hands were still out, trying to stop me, and she looked afraid of me.

  “Sorry,” I said. My voice had cracked. I didn’t really look at her, or at what I was doing. Her nose and head was bleeding, and her cheek was scratched. There was blood on the rock next to her and I panicked at the thought that I might have hurt her badly.

  Winee started crying like a baby, but then I covered her mouth with my hand and leaned in close, “Shh, you can’t cry here. Don’t ever cry after a fight.”

  Even though I was saying that, tears were falling from my eyes too. I had really hurt my friend, and if I hadn’t noticed that she was crying I would’ve kept going. What is wrong with me? Why did I do that to her? She was so hurt and afraid, “I'm sorry, Winee.”

  * *

  “Rose.....” a voice called, “Roooose?”

  I opened my eyes to see Abigale standing over me. She had a concerned look on her face.

  “Hey, you alright?” She asked.

  Sitting up, I wiped my eyes and yawned, then I checked the time on my phone, “Yeah, I’m OK.”

  “Heard you had an intense session with Miss Shy,” She reached out and helped me to my feet.

  “Who told you that?” The thought of the whole school knowing what happened made me feel sick, “It wasn’t even that bad,” I said, “Where did you hear that though?”

  Abigale smiled, knowing what was running through my mind, “Don’t worry, I just heard the secretary up front talking about it. Looks like you’re pretty famous in the office.”

  I sighed with relief. Looking down at my phone again, I noticed that I had ten missed calls from my crazy Aunt Shannon. Abigale peeked over, “Wow, you have a stalker.”

  I smiled, “Abigale, why are you out of school so early? We still have an hour left.”

  “Ahhhh, I didn’t really feel like sticking around. School can get really boring.”

  “So you came to the library?”

  “Yep, same place you thought to escape to- but
hey, I brought a friend.”

  Abigale pointed towards the door where Cameron had peeked in, “C’mon we’re going to go do something productive.”

  I frowned in thought, “Get your head out of the gutters Rose,” Abigale waved for me to follow her to the door. I stood there for a moment, trying to decide what I wanted to do. Should I go with them, or should I just go home? I figured I should call Shannon back before she called the police.

  I put my finger up to Abigale who was waiting with Cameron by the door. Then I called Shannon back.

  “Rose? Rose? Where are you! What are you doing?”

  I sighed, “Shan-”

  “I got a call from your principal. He said you just left the school-”

  “Shan-”

  “You’re messing up already Rose? We moved all the way out her for a clean start and you messing up already. Go home? Go home right n-”

  “I have to study. Bye,” I hung up and turned off my phone, then I put it away in my book bag.

  Chapter 11

  I sat in the backseat behind Cameron. Abigale played loud rock music, while Cameron was texting on his phone. For some reason I felt a pinch of jealousy from the thought that he was texting some girl, but then I shook it off and smiled. Cameron was cute, but he wasn’t my type. I haven’t really dated, but I knew I didn’t want some ladies’ man like him. Too much drama would come with that package.

  Looking from Abigale, to Cameron, and then counting myself. We made a pretty odd group of friends. It was almost like we didn’t really fit in with each other. Abigale was kind of like me, but was more level-headed, and pretty goofy. Cameron was also funny, but he was that cool kid in school that all the girls liked, and all the guys wanted to be cool with. He was a wrestler and, from what I heard, a very good football player....then there was me. The short tempered, laid back, not so funny, and serious half the time wrestler with an unbelievable background and a criminal record. How is it that I came to become friends with these two? Not to mention that I had just gotten to this school, and the only reason Cameron and Abigale even talk to each other is because of me. It turns out that they have a few things in common and enjoy hanging out together.