Page 18 of Sin Bin Bully

It’s the largest bathroom I’ve ever been in, as well as the fanciest. Even the mirror is elegant.

I look at my reflection in it. My curly hair is messy, probably from when he threw me on the bed. My makeup is smudged from the crying. I look exhausted and scared. I’ve never seen my eyes so wide.

When I leave the bathroom, I walk towards the bed and lie down in it. It’s been a long day, and even before this party I was tired. But I’m terrified to fall asleep, not knowing what I’ll be waking up to.

Who knows if I’d even wake up in the same place.

My mind goes back to the kiss we shared on this very bed, moments before he locked me in here. I drag my hands to my mouth, remembering how good it felt to be lost in him, to finally give into the pull…

What a fucking idiot I am.

Where did it go so wrong? None of this makes any sense to me.

I spend what feels like hours going over every interaction I’ve had with him in my head. The time I ran into him beating up Matthew. When I first met him at the team party. The first time we spoke.

Eventually, I drift off, unable to keep my eyes open any longer.

A rayof sunlight shining directly in my eyes wakes me up. At first, I forget where I am. My eyes remain closed, and I start thinking about my morning routine.

Get up, shower, make breakfast, go for a run. I don’t have practice anymore, so I have a full day of studying ahead of me. I need to apply to some jobs, but that won’t take up too much time.

I lift myself up, opening my eyes. As soon as I see the room around me, I pause. Everything that happened last night slowly comes back to me, one horrible scene at a time.

“Hello?” I say out loud. No one answers, but that doesn’t mean someone isn’t in here.

My heart starts to speed up instantly, and that stressed feeling comes back. I jump to my feet and check every inch of the room, in the closet and in the bathroom. He’s not in here.

But someonewasin here, because there’s a huge cart full of food sitting at the foot of the bed. And judging by the heat still coming off of the eggs and pancakes, they were in here recently. Probably right before I woke up.

A chill runs through me, imagining someone coming in here while I was sleeping. They could’ve done anything they wanted to me.

I sit back in the bed, my back against the headboard. After some thought, I make the decision to not eat the food. It smells incredible, and my stomach is growling nonstop, but it would feel weird to eat it. That’s what he wants, obviously, and why would I do something he wants me to do?

Hours go by, and no one comes into the room. I don’t hear any noises outside, either. There’s no TV or anything to entertainmyself, so I spend most of the day pacing back and forth and looking out the window. Below, Washington D.C moves on, completely unaware that I’m trapped up here.

Pulling myself away from the window, I walk back to the food cart. Everything has long been cold, but at this point, my stomach feels like it’s eating itself. And maybe not eating is a bad idea. Maybe I should use the food to fuel myself so that I can try to fight anyone that comes in here.

First, I take a sip from the glass of water. My throat welcomes the liquid, having had none in almost twenty-four hours. Next, I pick up a piece of bacon. Despite being old, it still tastes delicious.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I devour all of it, even the cold eggs. I guess I hadn’t realized how hungry I actually was.

When the cart is completely empty, I drink the rest of the water. My stomach feels so full that I almost feel like I need to lie down. I stand up and walk around the bed, lying in the spot I fell asleep in last night.

As soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes start to feel droopy, like I can’t keep them open. I start feeling dizzy as well, like the room is spinning.

When I try to lift my head up, it barely moves. A few seconds later, I completely lose consciousness.

9

SAM

Sam

“Yes?” I ask, answering my phone.

“Your mother is here, she’s asking for you,” the receptionist informs me.

“She doesn’t know the way up?”