“She’s fine,” Stacey said a bit coolly as she placed a hand on Noah’s arm. “Let Collin put her to bed, and you should come warm mine.” Stacey nearly purred.
Noah seemed torn for a moment before he reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, okay. See you guys later. If you need me, come find me,” Noah said before walking past us.
I tried to seek out his eyes, but it was clear he was distracted.
I didn’t know what woke me up, but hours later I woke up with a dry throat and dry mouth. I wanted to continue to lay in bed, but I knew I needed a drink. I got out of bed, realizing I must have fallen asleep before I even got to the apartment. My boots had been removed, but I was still fully clothed.
I went to my drawers first and pulled out a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. Looking at my phone, I realized it was late, so I was sure Collin was asleep. I wasn’t too concerned with him seeing me in my skimpy night clothes.
I exited the room quietly, since his room was right next to mine. I didn’t want to wake him up. Tuesdays and Thursdays were our early days; our classes started at 8 AM. Tomorrow I would be left to my own devices for two hours. He had three classes, compared to my two.
I already planned to pack a duffel bag of gym clothes. I was going to visit their state of the art gym facilities and start my strength training. I was going to come up with a schedule, like the one I had before.
I crept down the hallway and noticed a dim light above the stove. I was going to grab a glass of water when I heard a hushed voice and saw that the sliding glass door on the balcony was wide open. I peered around the corner and noticed Collin was on the phone with his back towards me.
“I don’t know,” he was saying. “Yes, I’m sure. I have the block on. She shouldn’t be able to use her gift,” he was silent for a moment.
“She did run into Noah,” he continued. “When she returned from her run, I noticed her tracker showed that she was here. No. No. She was only down there for maybe 10 minutes. Yes, they didn’t seem to recognize each other…Yes. Yes. I understand how important it is to keep them separated…No, she hasn’t said anything about a gift or suspecting she may have one…Yes, sir, I understand…Yes, I am aware how important it is for her to trust me, fall in love with me…Yes. Yes. Okay…Yeah, I have classes…okay, I will see you tomorrow morning.”
I hastily retreated to my room. Horrified at what I just heard. What kind of block did they have on me? Could I remove it? How were they tracking me? It only confirmed my suspicions that I could never trust Collin—he was my enemy.
Chapter 4
The next morning, I woke more exhausted then I was the night before. I had tossed and turned for the rest of the night. I was torn between running away and staying, ingratiating myself even further so I could learn how deep this deception went. I gave up trying to sleep long before my alarm went off. I decided to hop in the shower and get ready for the day.
I was grudgingly happy to see a wide selection of hair care products specifically for curly hair on the bathroom vanity, along with a hair straightener and a hair dryer. I quickly took a shower and walked back into my room, with my new hair stuff. I stood in my towel as I looked through my closet. I had been spoiled with a walk-in closet at Will’s. I was a closet snob now, even though Ella and I shared a closet in the trailer, and the dorm I stayed in across the way wasn’t much better.
Thinking of Ella, I wondered once more where she was, who she was with, and if she was happy. I also needed to figure out a way to contact Judge Myers.
My door was pushed open behind me and I spun around, startled, grasping the towel to my chest. “Collin,” I gasped.
He looked at me appreciatively. “Sorry,” he said with an unrepentant grin. “I was just making sure you were up.”
“I am,” I snapped. “Can you knock next time?”
He took a step forward. “Oh, come on babe. You enjoyed being all over me, what happened?”
Whoever he had talked to last night was pushing him to ingratiate himself further with me. It made my stomach ache and my skin crawl. Until I could figure things out, I needed to continue this charade.
I tried to hide the annoyance at his lies. “I still don’t feel like…me. Can you give me more time?” I pleaded in a small voice as I looked down at my bare feet.
He took a few more steps forward before I saw his larger feet next to mine. He grabbed my upper arms and kissed the top of my head. “Of course, babe.” I hated it when he called me babe. Baby was the endearment Remy used for me. It was too similar.
“Thanks,” I said brightly. “Can you close the door behind you? I need to get ready, and it takes forever to straighten my hair,” I told him.
“Hurry up, we have an hour before we leave,” he joked.
I turned back to the dresser and closet and decided to put on a pair of skinny jeans, tan boot cuff knitted legging warmers, an off white sleeveless blouse, a light weight camel colored leather jacket, and leather camel colored tall boots. My wardrobe choices had changed significantly since I left home and met Jemmy. I no longer found the need to hide my body in ill-fitting dark and drab clothing. I didn’t have to make myself look as unappealing as possible. At least whoever shopped for my wardrobe bought clothing I was willing to wear.
I quickly applied some foundation, bronzer, natural color eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. I made sure to add additional concealer around my eyes, hoping the bags and tiredness disappeared. The makeup I found in my vanity was all brand new. Another thing I took care to do now. The only time I used to wear makeup was when I worked at the bar and had to make myself look older.
If they were trying to convince me that this was all my makeup and wardrobe, maybe they should have made my makeup look used and removed the tags off my clothing. If I were to confront Collin, I sure he would have an answer ready for it all.
I decided to straighten my hair for the day. It would save me from having to wash it for a day or two. I had a lot of hair. Not only was it long, but it was thick. I hated washing it if I didn’t need to.
It took me roughly 40 minutes to get ready. I grabbed my duffel bag, book bag, and books for the day. I had Introduction to Sociology and History of Performance Arts today. Collin had already informed me that we had a lot of ‘gifted’ people attending this school—he failed to mention we were both gifted. He said we enrolled me in this class to get a better appreciation and understanding of the people around us. I tried to act convincingly surprised and fascinated by the possibility we lived and were around people that had abilities.
“You look really nice,” Collin assessed me as I entered the kitchen. “Would you like some cereal?”