Chapter three

As my eyes fluttered open, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head, causing me to wince.

Still disoriented, I rose from the cold tiled floor, resting my back against what felt like a door.

It was a small space, no window in sight. No light peaking through any cracks or bulbs.

My heart began to pound loudly in my chest, realizing how small this space was.

Had I been kidnapped?? Oh god.

I squinted my eyes in an attempt to make out the figures in the darkness– and then it hit me.

The whiff of detergent invaded my nosetrills. I was very much familiar with that smell.

To support my findings, I heard the chiming of a bell followed by a swarm of different voices.

I was in the janitor’s closet. In Hamilton high.

How on earth did I get here??

The last thing I remembered was Cody walking with me and… and?

And what?

Nothing came to mind.

All I got was a piercing pain shooting through my skull. Again.

I hissed, my eyes shutting on their own accord from the pain.

I reached for my phone in my pocket. I paused.

I checked my back pockets. It’s not there.

I squirmed in the darkness, using my hands as an antenna as I searched for my phone.

It must have fallen from my pocket.

I did not venture far out of fear that I may stumble on dead rats, even though the pungent smell was nowhere in the atmosphere.

If I was going to find my phone, I needed light. I was already practically blind without my glasses, the darkness was an added disadvantage.

As I rose from the floor, i felt a sudden pain shoot through my muscles.  I winced sharply, gripping the door handle tightly for support.

I’ve never exercised a day in my life, but it feels like I just finished fighting in a boxing marathon.

It hurt everywhere.

What the hell happened to me??

My weight caved into the door handle, causing the door to open unexpectedly.

I stumbled out, thankful I didn’t fall and embarrass myself as usual.

I avoid their gazes as usual and turn back to the closet, squinting my eyes and scanning every corner.

My phone wasn’t there.

My breathing became somewhat erratic as I marched through the crowd of students, looking for one person.

He should know what happened.

He should know how I got here.

And then I paused when I hear the announcements ring through the halls.

“…make sure you use your weekend wisely and study for your exams. Also…”

Weekend?

Today was Friday??

I went out with Cody on Wednesday.

I look down at my clothes, and I’m wearing the same clothes from that night.

I was out for over a day???

My eyes welled up as I continued my search, my heart racing in fear in my chest.

What could have happened to me?

“Laura Brown. Report to the principal’s office.”  The voice stopped me in my tracks.

It must be because I missed a day of classes. It was out of character, obviously they’d notice.

I rushed to the principal’s office as fast as I could, hope rising in the midst of the confounding peril swirling in my brain.

If I told her about what happened, she’d help me.

Once I reached, I heaved heavily as my hands resigned to my knees, begging for air.

After a couple deep breaths, I straightened up and knocked on the door.

“Come in.” The response was immediate.

I walked in and I was faced with the principal, Mrs Spencer, who sat upright behind her desk, and two other men, who seemed too casually dressed to be teachers nor parents.

“Have a seat, Laura.” Mrs Spencer spoke curtly.

I quickly sat, and wasted no time. “Mrs Spencer, something terrible happened to me, and my phone was stolen, and I think I was kidnapped and I can’t remem-“

“Laura.” She cut me off sternly, “The board of Hamilton high received some… disturbing information.”

“Disturbing?” I asked quietly, my brows furrowed in confusion.

What did that have to do with me?

She gestured to the men seated by her right, and one of them handed her a laptop.

She clicked a few buttons and turned it to me, and what I saw with my eyes shot all the breath out of my lungs.

It couldn’t be.

It wasn’t possible.

“Th-this i-isnt me!!” I yelled wide eyed, tears streaming from my eyes.

She let out a sigh of disappointment, “Your face is all over that… obscene video, and you’re still denying it?”

I looked at it harder, like if I stared at it hard enough, the face would turn into someone else.

But it didn’t.

It was me.

Naked in a bed that didn’t belong to me.

Being screwed mercilessly by two men whose faces were blurred out.

I clamped my hand over my mouth as I watched myself be manhandled by these men.

And I didn’t struggle.

I was awake.

And I let them do that to me??

Is that why my whole body hurt like hell?

How could I not remember this?

“I swear to you, I was kidnapped!! I couldn’t possibly-“

“For someone who was kidnapped, seems to me you were enjoying it a bit too much.” One of the men snickered, eliciting a chuckle from the other.

“I swear to you, I don’t know these men!! I was kidnapped!!!” My voice comes out in a desperate plea.

“We also received information that you have been using psychedelic substances on school grounds, which is against school policy.” She stated, causing my heart to plummet to my belly.

“D-drugs?Me??” I breathed out in disbelief, not believing my ears.

“There were traces of the drugs found in your urine sample and in your locker.” One of the men spoke curtly.

My world was spinning as I gripped the handle of the chair tightly.

What was going on?

I rose from my chair and reached for her hands, but she withdrew them immediately, like she had just been burnt by flames.

“Mrs. Spencer… please, I’m being framed! Ive never done drugs in my life! And this video, these men… I don’t…” I burst into a fit of tears as I collapsed into the chair.

This was too much.

My world was crumbling down before my eyes and i couldnt even remember how.

I couldn’t remember a damn thing.

She clears her throat before she speaks again, “Hamilton high is too prestigious to be affiliated with such debauchery. And so, with immediate effect, your scholarship and the recommendation letter to Harvard university are withdrawn and you are hereby expelled.”

She paused for a moment, ignoring the broken look on my face as she reached for some documents in her drawer and placed them in front of me.

“Consider it a blessing that the board isnt pressing charges. They’d like this to fade away… quietly.”

With shaky hands, I reached for the documents before me and I could barely see the words written.

Partly because my glasses were missing and partly because the tears couldn’t stop.

“You are to leave the premises with immediate effect.”  Her words blurred in my ears as I rose, and marched out of her office.

As I walked through the hallway, I became more aware of their stares.

They must have seen it.

“She truly is a pig.”

“Who knew anyone would want to fuck someone like her.”

“I almost puked watching that video. It was morbidly disgusting.”

I began to pick up the pace, my body aching with every step I took.

It cannot end like this.

I needed to find him.

He would help me, he would explain to them.

How foolish of me to believe that.