For the rest of the time I just watched the other girls swimming or attempting to swim and it was then that I realized that Elise was not present there. Jeez! If being a punisher means I get to skip the classes I have no use for then I want to be one but.....if killing or torturing fellow students is also something attached to the position then I don't want it even if I get to skip classes. Time moved like a snail and it felt like centuries had gone by before the siren was heard. I sighed in relief just as one of the trainers announced that we were free to go. My relief was short lived as the woman walked towards me with a solemn look on her face.
"You didn't swim." she said and I nodded,"Why? Does this look like a joke to you?"
"It's not a joke. I nearly drowned earlier so I was told to sit out the class." I said in my defence trying hard to keep my voice steady.
"If you a a walking corpse then don't exert yourself to become dead weight for the staff members." she said with a scrunched up and contorted face.
"But it wasn't my fault!"
"Then I suppose sleep walking wasn't your fault either."
'Watch what you are saying ma'am. I have never sleep walked up until now. Something must be.wrong with your messed up facility.'
That's what I'd like to say but then again I don't have a death wish or anything remotely close to it. Instead of my imaginary outburst I only looked down at my feet.
"I don't want to see you here tomorrow. Not even your shadow." she practically spat out those words and some of her saliva splattered on the fleece I was covered in.
I'm grateful it didn't land on my face or anything. She walked away in anger and I stuck out my tongue at her retreating figure. As if sensing that I was doing something foolish she turned around and halted her steps to glare at me with a frown. My tongue was already back in my mouth and I just stared at her.
"What are you still doing standing there?" she asked.
"Nothing. I wanted to give this back to that lady." I said pointing at the fleece and Christabel.
She didn't respond to me and continued to walk, her eyes still on me. I looked at Christabel who had somehow made it to me. She extended her hand and I unwrapped myself from the fleece and handed it to her. She took it with a little tug that told me that her affiliation for me was gone. I didn't try to stop her as she started to walk away and I also left to change my clothes. I was back in the uniform and left the building. I saw Markus and Oliver exit from their side and I waved at them. They couldn't come over to me though because of the number of staff members present there.
We briefly returned to our dorms to change out of the uniform. I have no idea what I'm going to wear today. In my eyes the clothes I have with me are inappropriate to some degree. My loose trousers make my butt jingle and wiggle and most of my dresses have splits in all the wrong places. I was lucky enough to find Ollie's baggy sweater in my clothes and I paired the black attire with grey sweatpants and left the room. I had only a breast holder underneath the sweater and I silently prayed that Ollie wouldn't demand that I give it back to him. I didn't leave the dorms because I noticed that the other girls were leaving with their uniforms, probably going to wash them, so I returned to the room as well and grabbed my uniform as well as my detergent.
I am happy mom had taught us to wash clothes otherwise I would not have managed to live here. It was harder to wash the stupid dress! The material was stiff when wet unlike how it was when dry. The detergent seemed to make the material even stiffer and I groaned in frustration. We used the bathroom to do the laundry so the girls close to me turned to look at me like I was a plague of sorts. I smiled at them awkwardly and continued washing and I clapped for myself once I was done. The shirt was just as challenging but it only took me half the time to get it cleaned. I rinsed the uniform twice before following the other girls out to hang them. It didn't take too long and soon we were heading outside to eat.
Markus was there already sitting with two plates and I guess one of those is mine. I waved at him from where I stood and he waved back. I started walking towards him when a girl suddenly stepped in front of me. I looked her up and down and took in her features; hourglass figure, plump full lips, big round brown eyes, long lashes and..... beauty.
I looked her straight in the eyes as she stared at me with great intensity.
"Look at the badge darling." she said rolling her eyes at me.
I'm not sure why I even looked down but I did. Celine, vice head girl.
"And?" I asked her realizing that she wanted to frighten me with her position.
"And stay away from Markus Dupree." she answered with a glare.
"Oh..... Jealous much?" I taunted her and her glare intensified as something in her eyes lit up.
"Say that again you wench." she said with gritted teeth.
"Don't worry. We are just friends." I said waving my hands in front of me.
In as much as I want to tease her she is still the vice head girl. I walked away before she could say anything else. I sat next to Markus who was looking at Celine with narrowed eyes.
"Apart from the fact that we aren't allowed to date she is the other reason I chose to remain single." he said finally looking at me.
"You were scared she would hurt someone?" I asked glancing at her.
"She could and still can. She's got this thing with Elise so she can get people taken to the sewing room."
"Well then she doesn't know I have a tighter thing with Elise. Don't worry about that."
He looked at me slightly confused but he smiled anyway. His smile was quick to fade so I looked at Celine to see if she was doing anything but he turned my head back quickly, almost like he was slapping me and I glared at him. He looked down at his lap and then he moved closer to me to whisper.
"Does this mean you are my girlfriend?"
I'm certain my face turned bright pink because of how his warm breath cascaded over my face and I looked down at the floor. Before I could say anything else I heard Elise say something right next to me but I didn't hear exactly what she said.
"What?" I asked turning to look at her as Markus moved away.
"Second offence Rogers and you too Dupree boy." She said seriously looking down at her plate of food,"Eat."
Markus has two offences? Now I do too. I looked Markus who seemed to not be bothered by the news.
"Your brother has three offences by the way." Elise said and my heart dropped.
Markus and Oliver obviously had no idea what happened in the sewing room else they wouldn't be pilling offences like this. They could possibly die! We could die.
"What did he do?" I asked in disbelief.
"He was bullying people for all three offences." she answered nonchalantly as she took a bite of a piece of steak.
"Ollie's not a bully!" I defended him with my fist slamming the table.
"He was reported as one. If he can prove his innocence then the offences will narrow down to one." she responded chewing slowly.
What was he doing to be seeing as a bully? It must be his manner of speaking and relating to people. I told him he wouldn't be understood easily; I warned him about it even at our previous school.
"Hello." I heard Ollie say.
I looked behind me, at him, and he was waving as he came closer to our table. I stood up from my chair and glared at him before I was hit by a wave of nausea and had to sit back down.
"Vee.....Are you alright?" he asked rushing to me even though Markus was already holding me.
"I'm fine." I said rubbing my temples,"What did you do Ollie?"
He knows I'm upset. Between us, I'm the weaker twin. He squatted beside me and took my hand in his own. He took deep breaths and by his actions I can tell I won't like his answer but I'll wait to hear it.
"They were calling you a witch. So I decided to stand up for you." he said in a weak voice that had my heart melt into a pool of water.
"Elise." Markus called out and we all looked at him,"If they called Liv a witch then didn't they break rules themselves?"
"They did; indirectly and I have informed Sr Drevin about it. She said she'll deal with it. But I still want them in the sewing room."
She looked at me when she said 'sewing room' and it sent the image of the dying boy right to my face like a slap.