We are just roommates

Chapter 2

I walked through the gates of the orphanage and there she was standing and waiting for me with her hands on her hips. Her expression was scary and I gulped and lowered my head before I stood in front of her.

“Where the hell were you, you good for nothing child?” She asked angrily. She was our guardian in the orphanage. She was a woman in her fifties with no family, so she was here to make our lives a living hell.

“I am sorry, Mrs. Morris, I lost track of time.” I told her while looking at my shoes.

“I can see that. You will spend your night in the punishment room. If one more time you come back after curfew, you can just move in there.” She said and walked back inside the building. I let out a sigh and followed her. I went to my room, which I shared with ten other kids, and packed my stuff to take them to the punishment room.

“What are you doing? Do you think it’s a hotel or something? You can’t take anything with you.” Mrs. Morris said from behind me and I looked at her in disbelief. Usually I can bring my blanket and pillow.

“But…” I started, but she cut me off.

“No buts… this is a punishment room for a reason. Now go, I don’t have all night.” She said, and I hurriedly put everything back on my bed and headed to the punishment room. I was familiar with it already since I spent a day here once a week, but usually my diary and my bedclothes were with me. This orphanage had three punishment rooms and they used them quite often. Last time I was there, it was because I had a stain on my t-shirt when I got back from school. This was a dark room, without windows or any lights or furniture. Usually I made myself comfortable in the corner and wrote in my diary with the help of a small flashlight while my blanket kept me warm, but now, I don’t have anything. It was cold and dark in here, and I just wished for my parents to be there with me.

‘Why? Why has my life turned out like this? What did I do to deserve this? Why did my parents leave me alone in the hands of these people?’ I am asking this question all the time from no one in particular , but I never get answers.

I lay down in the corner of the small room and hugged my knees to my chest to keep myself warm as much as I could. It was really cold in here so I just tried to fall asleep quickly. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come, but I feared it too at the same time.

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I woke up the next morning with a groan because my whole body was in pain from sleeping on the hard floor. I was sneezing constantly and my nose was running. ‘Great’. I had enough problems and now I have caught a cold as well. What else could go wrong?

“Kylie Jones, did you seriously ditch school yesterday?” I heard Mrs. Morris' voice from outside of the room. Sh*t, I guess the school called the orphanage about me leaving school yesterday and here I thought this day couldn’t be any worse.

She opened the door of the room while fuming in anger.

“Sorry Mrs. Morris. I… I didn’t feel good.” I said while coughing.

“Get up and head to school. You won two more days in here.” She said and stormed out of the room. I let out a sigh and rubbed my eyes while I got up and headed to my room. I took a fast shower and hurried to get to school. I didn’t need to add a detention to my day.

I felt so sick. I didn’t want to be here, but I didn’t want to be in the orphanage either. I lay my head on my desk while the teacher was speaking. Luckily, a tall guy was sitting in front of me so I could have some rest. My head was pounding and I think I had a fever too.

When the bell rang, I headed out of the classroom with half closed eyes and, to my bad luck, I bumped into someone. I looked up to find myself in front of Kevin. My eyes widened and he looked surprised too. My heartbeat fastened and I felt like I would faint at any moment.

“Look at you, so desperate for his attention.” Damian, Kevin’s friend, said and burst out laughing. I looked at Kevin, who just looked at me without any emotion on his face.

“Sorry.” I murmured under my breath while I looked downwards and tried to walk past them, but Damian got hold of my arm. I winced in pain because his grip was too tight but he didn’t loosen it.

“Where are you going in such a hurry? We just want to talk to you.” He said and I could hardly hear him because of my pounding headache. I was starting to feel dizzy so I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. Maybe it would be better if I went to the nurse for some medicine.

“Let me ….” I started to tell him, when suddenly everything went black and the last thing I heard was Kevin’s voice faintly.

“What did you do to her, Damian….?” This was the first time I got to hear his voice so closely and it sounded angelic.

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I woke up in an unfamiliar room and I felt slightly better. I looked around to find myself alone in the infirmary. I tried to sit up but my head was hurting like hell. The door of the room opened and the nurse walked in with a smile on her face.

“Hi there, are you feeling better?” She asked and I nodded my head. “You should have stayed at home today if you were sick.” She told me.

“I am fine, I didn’t want to stay behind in my studies.” I told her and she smiled at me. “Can you tell me how I got here and what happened?” I asked her.

“Two boys carried you here, they said you fainted in the corridor. One of them wanted to stay with you till you woke up, but I sent them to class. I think it's better if you go home and rest for a few days.” She said and I frowned. Two boys? My last memory was talking to Damian and … Kevin. Were they the ones who brought me here? That can’t be it, maybe two other boys did when they left me lying in the middle of the corridor.

“Thank you, but I feel much better now. I will just stay. I have only three more classes,” I told her with a smile.

“Alright, but if you feel worse, don’t hesitate to come back.” She said and I nodded my head again.

“Thank you.” I told her and left to go to my next class, which had already started. It looked like I was out for twenty minutes only. I walked into the classroom and handed my pass to my English teacher and walked to my seat. I didn’t look around, just kept my head low while I sat down and took out my books from my backpack. I felt like someone was watching me, so I looked around slowly to meet a pair of blue eyes. I turned my head away as quickly as possible as I felt my face heat up. Why was he watching me?

“Pssss…” I heard from my left and turned my head to see Damian with an annoying smile on his face. “What happened?” He asked in a whisper and I shrugged my shoulders and focused on the teacher again. Luckily, he didn’t have more questions and he left me alone for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, I was the first one who left, because I didn’t want to hear Damian’s teasing anymore. I was tired and I felt like the medicine that I got from the nurse was starting to wear off. My head started to hurt again and now I regretted not going home when she had offered.

“Are you really that desperate to act like fainting just to get his attention?” I heard her annoying voice. Jade was coming in my way with an angry look on her face while her two minions were following her. I had a bad feeling that this wouldn’t end well, for me.

“I don’t know what you are talking about Jade and I am not in the mood to find out either, so leave me alone.” I told her and tried to walk past her, but she tripped me with her feet and I fell to the ground weakly.

“Look at her, she can’t even walk properly.” Jennifer said while they were laughing at me.

“Listen here b**ch, crave it in that dumb head of yours, Kevin is mine. Don’t try tricks to get his attention.” She said venomously.

“Are you listening to yourself?” I asked her angrily while I stood up. My head was pounding and I felt I had a fever again. I didn’t want to listen to this right now. “I didn’t want any of you to find out. You were the one who told him about me. You were the one who bullied me yesterday because of it in front of him and now you are the one who is here shouting while bringing his attention to me. Are you really that stupid?” I asked her and pointed with my finger towards him who was standing behind her with Damian and listening. She gaped at me and I walked away before she could say anything. I was done with school for today.

I headed to the infirmary to get a pass for the rest of my classes and I will head back to the orphanage. I was too sick and weak to deal with them.

“Kylie?” I looked back to see Myra jogging behind me. “What the hell just happened?” She asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

“She is so annoying”, I told her while she walked with me towards the infirmary.

“Not that, I heard that Kevin carried you to the infirmary earlier, is that true?” She asked and I stopped in my tracks.

“What? He did what?” I asked her in disbelief. I didn’t think for a moment that he was the one who carried me there, I thought maybe two other guys did when the nurse told me.

“Yes, you heard me right, that’s why Jade was so mad. The whole school is talking about it.” She said, and this whole situation made no sense.

“Maybe he just felt sorry for me because of his friends and actually I fainted in front of them, so I think he just felt responsible for it and wanted to be a gentleman.” I told her and she nodded her head.

“Maybe, are you okay by the way?” She asked.

“I am fine, I just caught a cold because I needed to sleep in the punishment room again, but without my bedclothes at this time.” I told her with a sigh.

“That woman is not normal, you should complain about her.” She said and I just shook my head in defeat.

“To who?” I asked her and she stayed quiet.

“You know, you can always come to live with us. I am sure my parents wouldn’t mind.” She said and I let out a sigh.

“I know and thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to be a burden, I just need to survive three more months and I will be off to college.” I told her with a half smile.

“Alright, but promise me you will come to me once things turn worse.” She said and I hugged her.

“Thanks and I promise.” I told her and she ran off to her next class while I went into the infirmary. The nurse gave me a pass and medication, so I was free to go home. She advised me to stay at home for a few days and actually this sickness came handy because I didn’t need to come to school and I didn’t need to sleep in the punishment room either, because I was sick and Mrs. Morris was afraid the school would find out the reason for my cold.