Marilyn Kaye - Gifted - Now You See Me

The doctor nodded. ‘And what’s unusual about you?’

‘I’m a juvenile delinquent.’

‘I see. .’ He eyed Jenna keenly. He wasn’t smiling now. ‘I’d like to hear more about this class.’

Jenna shifted in her chair. ‘I’m kind of tired.’

The smile returned. ‘Of course — you should go to your room and get settled. We’ll talk another time.’

Finally, she was released. When she left the doctor’s office, a woman with a tag identifying her as a ‘resident assistant’ escorted her to her room on the second floor.

‘You’re lucky,’ the woman told her. ‘We’re not completely booked right now so you don’t have a roommate.’

That was a major relief. The last time Jenna had been here, she’d been stuck in a room with a twelve-year-old shoplifter who cried incessantly. Jenna thought she was incredibly stupid — what good would crying do in a place like this? If you were stuck here, you just had to grit your teeth and get through it. She’d tried to be a good role model for the girl, acting tough and invulnerable, but the girl never seemed to pick up on Jenna’s example. At least this time she wouldn’t have to put up with anyone’s tears.

The room looked just like the room she’d had the last time. Twin beds, a white dresser, two desks. The only difference was the picture on the wall. In the last room, she’d had a cutesy picture of puppies. This time, she had kittens.

She threw herself on one of the beds and stared up at the ceiling. Now what? She had no computer, no TV, no music. . She remembered that there was a little library downstairs, by the dining hall. She could go and check out a book.

But there was no time for that now. A bell rang, signalling dinner time. Jenna had no appetite, but she knew she had to show up for the meal. It was one of the rules. She still didn’t know how long she’d have to stay here, but she had no intention of extending the time by breaking any of the rules.

In the dining hall, she picked up her tray and went to an empty table. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay empty. A girl who looked a little younger than she was joined her.

‘Can I sit here?’

Jenna shrugged. Her shoulders were definitely getting a workout today.

The girl sat down. ‘I haven’t seen you around before,’ she said. ‘Is this your first day here?’

Jenna nodded.

‘It’s not so bad,’ the girl said. ‘I mean, I was really scared at first. Some of the kids are mean , you know? Like, they’ve done violent things. All I did was break into a car with some friends and take it for a ride. We didn’t hurt anyone.’

Jenna gritted her teeth. Oh no, this one was a talker. She had to get rid of her.

‘What did you do?’ the girl asked.

‘They found a knife in my locker at school,’ Jenna said.

‘A penknife?’

Jenna shook her head. ‘No, a great big butcher’s knife.’

‘What were you going to do with it?’

Jenna met her eyes. ‘Cut up some people who were getting on my nerves.’ While she spoke, she fingered the cutlery on the table. The ‘knife’ was a plastic thing, and couldn’t do any damage, but the girl got the hint.

Alone again, Jenna pushed the food around the plate and kept an eye on the clock. In twenty minutes she’d be allowed to leave. She set her expression in a scowl that she hoped would keep all potential tablemates away.

A guy ambled towards her. With his zits and his sandy hair pulled back in a ponytail, he looked young, but not young enough to be one of the inmates. When he got closer, she saw that he had on one of those ‘resident assistant’ tags.

‘You Jenna Kelley?’ he asked.

She deepened her scowl. ‘Who wants to know?’

He smirked. ‘Peter Blake, resident assistant.’ He indicated his badge. ‘Can’t you read?’

Jenna glared at him. ‘What do you want?’

‘Just to say “hi”, welcome to Harmony House.’ He pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘What are ya in for?’

Jenna considered possible responses, and settled on, ‘Weapons.’

Peter nodded, and Jenna could have sworn he almost seemed impressed. He probably thought she was referring to guns. Well, let him think what he wanted to think.

His next question was unexpected. ‘You got friends?’

‘Yeah, why?’

‘They can’t visit for forty-eight hours,’ he told her.

‘I know that. I’ve been here before.’

His eyebrows went up. ‘Oh, yeah? Then you probably know the game. How things work here. Demerits, privileges. .’

‘I know the rules,’ she said shortly.

He grinned. ‘Sure you do. After a couple of days, you can have visitors. I’ll bet you’ve got cool friends.’

‘Yeah, they’re OK,’ Jenna acknowledged. What was he getting at?

‘Are they cool enough to do you some favours?’

Still puzzled, Jenna asked, ‘What kind of favours?’

‘Oh, come on,’ he said, ‘I thought you knew the game.’

‘What game are you talking about?’

Peter Blake rolled his eyes in exasperation. ‘Your friends do favours for you. You do favours for me. I return the favour.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Jenna declared.

He grinned. ‘You will. I just want to know if you’re going to play along.’

Jenna still didn’t understand what he was suggesting, but she was pretty certain it wasn’t something on Harmony House’s list of rules and regulations.

‘I’m not playing at anything,’ she said flatly. ‘I don’t owe you any favours and I don’t want any from you.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Yeah? Well, don’t say you weren’t warned.’ He got up. ‘See ya around.’

Weirdo, Jenna thought. What did he want, assault rifles? And what would she get in return — extra helpings of dessert? What a jerk.

But at least he’d helped her pass the time. She could leave the dining hall now.

She stopped at the little library to find something to read, and she was almost pleased to find a copy of Jane Eyre . It was funny, in away. One of the only advantages of being sent here was the fact that she wouldn’t have any homework assignments. Actually, she would get the assignments — the school would send them to Harmony House. But it wasn’t like she had to do them — no one would be checking on her. And yet here she was, voluntarily taking on the task she’d be doing at home.

Back in her room, she settled down on the bed and opened the book. She’d read enough of the book to know that Jane had endured some pretty rough times in a boarding school that was like a jail. Now Jenna could identify with the character even more.

But it was hard to concentrate on reading. Her mind kept going back to the events of the day. Tracey and Emily — all the students must know by now what had happened to her. Madame too. What were they thinking of her?

And her poor mother, who was trying so hard to make up for the bad times. But here was her daughter, getting into trouble again.

Could she ever convince them that she’d never brought a knife to school? That the whole thing had been a set-up? That Jenna Kelley was not a committed criminal?

Over and over, she relived the scene in Jackson’s office. Finally, she put the book down, turned over and buried her head in the pillow. It seemed she would have to put up with someone’s tears after all.

Her own.

WAITING FOR THE SCHOOL bus on Friday morning, Tracey moved away from the other kids and took out her mobile phone.

‘Hello?’

Tracey tried to sound natural. ‘Hi, Amanda, it’s Tracey!’

‘What do you want now ?’

Tracey couldn’t blame her for sounding annoyed. This was the fourth time she’d called in three days. In the background, she heard another voice — Nina’s, or maybe Britney’s.