JASPER'S POV:

Last night was the first time I had the chance to speak with my brother, without the restrictive supervision of my father, in almost a month. Because he does not know everything that my father did, my dad has tried to keep me from 'filling his head with lies' every chance he has. Unfortunately, this means distancing us as much as possible. Luckily, though, my brother spent the night at our grandma's so I was able to reach him through there.

I could hear the disappointing tone in his voice whenever I told him that I wouldn't be coming home at the end of this month. He has every right to be angry at me, I just wish he knew exactly why it is I have been here for so long. It's really hard hearing that from your little brother, knowing that you can't be there for and with him. To sit on the bed and listen to the radio with him, to take him outside and play catch, to make sure he acts right and keeps his grades up...our conversation really took a toll on me.

I'll admit it's been a whole since I could hold my head up high. The last month has taken me through a twister of emotions between punishments to my father's surprising visit and then, of course, my luxurious, extended stay. The most recent conversation between us has been something that I must consistently be reminded of every morning I wake up at the Academy. I've been in and out of here for so long that I sometimes forget what it's like to be anywhere else but the Academy. That there are places specifically designed for people to have fun. My last trip home was almost five months ago...and I was sent back here after not even twelve days.

Consequently, taking the advice from both Administrators, I've been having weekly visits with the student counselor. Through these sessions, I've been made aware of how my absence in the family is affecting everyone. He has made it abundantly clear that my absence is not healthy for me, my father, and certainly not for my brother. Therefore, his recommendation was that I try to make amends with my dad to help bridge the gap between me and the rest of the family members.

It's not the first time I've heard this advice, and I used to believe that it would be a betrayal to my mom and our family, but after the talk I had with my brother last night....it sounds like my only option.

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NAOMI'S POV:

"Mr. Davis?" I asked as I slipped to the in-between of the frame of the hallway and his office.

"Naomi, good morning. Come in and shut the door." He motioned me forward and I obeyed.

"Good morning, you wanted to see me?" I asked quietly after feeling a drop in my lower stomach upon seeing the ruler sitting in the middle of his desk.

"I said to come after chores, have you completed yours?" He glanced down at his wrist-watch, almost as if he were waiting for something.

"Yes sir. Are you feeling better?"

He smiled slightly as he straightened the cuffs creeping from his blazer sleeves and then adjusted his tie.

He took a moment to formulate an answer. "Yes, thank you honey. Our book club meeting was exactly what I needed and I appreciate your concern and constant consideration."

"Good." I returned a smile, trying to ignore the strange feeling that I was about to get into trouble for something.

After a brief pause, he stood from his desk, pushing in his chair in a slow and careful manner before continuing. "However, I want to inform you that we are going to return to normal. So I will not hesitate to correct any misbehavior." Folding his arms across his wide chest, he stared down at me.

"Yes sir."

"Now, Mr. Patry told me that you, once again, were up past lights out, reading instead of sleeping as you should have been...you neglected to mention that to me since this happened." Reaching down to grip his belt, he shot me either an intense warning or, God forbid, a hint of what is to come.

He waited for a response, but I had no idea what to say. All I could think about now was that ruler sitting immediately in front of him. I was hoping that Mr. Patry would have forgotten the incident himself so I wouldn't have to suffer Mr. Davis' wrath, but I should have known better.

"Well?" He asked impatiently.

"I, I am sorry. I just wanted to finish the next chapter..."

"You are held to the same expectations as any other student attending Braxton Academy and no form of special treatment will be granted."

Nodding my head, I turned my gaze away from the ruler and tried to fix it on him.

"From now on, if you are punished or reprimanded by Mr. Patry or any other member of the staff, for whatever reason, you are to tell me within a reasonable amount of time. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir, it's clear." I said a little unsteady.

He stretched his arms forward to give him some more wiggle-room around his elbows before coming over to the front of the desk. Turning one of the chairs to face me before assuming the seat, I felt an immediate pounding in my head. My heart then sank immediately as he fixed his position by sitting straight and opening his legs slightly. A very familiar position of his for when he gives over the knee punishments. Don't get me wrong, getting a spanking is horrible as is...but it's even worse when you didn't even see it coming.

"Come here." He rested his hands on his thighs.

I could visibly see my chest extending further and further as my heartbeat increased. However, recalling the last punishment I got from him, I tried to silence this fear and comply with his directives. I slowly moved toward him, almost to the tip of his knee. He stopped me, only for a moment, before taking the underneath of my elbow and bringing me more forward.

"Mr. Davis, please don't." I said in fear as I began to resist.

"Stop it, come here." He suddenly pulled me in between his knees, forcing me to come face-to-face with his chest.

Turning me to the side, he leaned me against his left knee as he tenderly grabbed my hand. "It's okay, settle down and tell me how you are doing. We did not get to talk about you much yesterday and I want to make sure there isn't anything you need to talk about." He said nicely.

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JASPER'S POV:

Unfortunately, since it is Wednesday, I had to wait until after breakfast to go to the phone room and make a call. It was located off the left of the kitchen, down the hallway that runs adjacent to the common room. It was open to all students from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the week days and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the weekends. Of course, exceptions were made for emergencies.

I knew it was a big leap to just suddenly call and try to work things out with my dad, but this was the only way I could get some immediate response from him. It's my only chance of going home and reuniting with my brother, so it's a risk that I know I have to take. My main goal is now getting home. Maybe I'll get lucky and my dad will overturn the extended time I was given.

Peeking my head inside, I was fortunate enough to see that there was no one there. Let's hope it stays this way for the duration of my call. Carefully taking the phone from the wall in my hand, I slowly dialed each number to my home phone and waited with apprehension during each ring.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Aunt Vera, you...uh, it's you." I fumbled.

All this time I had been focused on my father being the largest obstacle in this situation that I had forgotten about the one person that had been playing both sides in the family.

"Yes it's me." She responded quickly. "Do you need something?" The malice in her voice was unhidden.

"Yes, is..." I tapped my finger against the phone, trying not to let my mouth get carried away due to her rudeness. "Is dad around? Can I talk to him please?"

Hesitant, I could hear her slowly exhale while contemplating the consequences of handing the phone over to my dad.

"Al-alright." She finally said.

"Thank you." I managed to say before she began walking through the house.

I can do this, I can do this. This has to be done. At least just do everything you can Jasper. I kept telling myself during the short time I had before the phone reached my father.

"Yeah, hello?" He answer in a distant tone, immediately revealing that he was busy doing something and he had no intention of being bothered by a phone call.

"Dad? Hi, it's me."

Wow, that was conventional. Great job Jasper.

"Yeah, I could have guessed that. Why are you calling? Did you get more time?"

I had rehearsed in my head so many times what I was going to say to him but his assumption really hindered my thought process as I tried not to immediately lash out. Taking a deep breath, I began replaying my agenda in my head to rekindle my script especially for him because he required a different form since we were never close. Even before I discovered the affair.

"Do you have a few minutes? I wanted to talk about the last time you were here."

I could hear ruffling papers in the background, he was obviously in his study. "Mhmm."

"So, since then, I've been doing some thinking about everything. Not just my time here...and I realized that it's been a while since I tried to listen to you."

"Okay, what exactly am I supposed to do with that Jasper?" He mildly added. It was becoming evident that he was not trying to engage.

"Dad?" I said quickly.

"Yes?"

"Do you think you could take a minute and listen to me? Please?" I asked nicely.

He put something down on his desk and then I heard the loud release of the air from his old leather seat as he sat down.

"Alright, I'm listening."

I took another deep breath to dissipate my anger, trying not to deviate from what I wanted to say.

"I have always been really resentful and angry with you after I found out, and then I was even more angry with you when you got defensive. When you acted as if nothing was wrong...but now I realize that I never gave you the chance to explain or gave you the benefit-of-the-doubt. So I am sorry for that." I pulled back from the phone so he could not see how emotional I was becoming.

"Oh, oh okay, you finally realized that you don't know or understand everything. It's about time." He responded snidely. "You want to come home, don't you?"

"Well...obviously I want to come home, but I don't want to continue having this problem."

"You mean the problem being that you get sent back to the Academy? If you hadn't been so disrespectful then maybe you would not have been sent there in the first place."

Balling my fist, I pressed it firmly against the wall. He was making it extremely difficult to do this. He knows as well as I do that the reason why I was sent here was because he was afraid I would damage his reputation by exposing him.

"Dad please..." I could feel the heat rising inside of me. "I am trying to apologize and give you the chance to explain..."

"Why should I explain myself to you? You are my child, I do not have to explain anything to you." He barked.

"But it would help me understand why my father slept with my emotionally manipulative bitch of an aunt while my mother laid in bed dying of cancer!" I hollered back, completely oblivious to anyone who could be near.

I heard him lean back in his chair, "You brother has accepted my relationship with your aunt and you should too. Until then you will have no place in this family."

There was a loud bang as he aggressively hung up the phone. Doing the opposite, I gently returned the phone back to the wall to avoid drawing anymore attention to myself.

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NAOMI'S POV:

"Christ!" He exclaimed after turning the corner following exiting the main door frame. "Naomi."

"Jasper, hi...I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you." I said quietly.

"How much of that did you hear?"

I pursed my lips, trying to decide whether or not to let him know. "I heard most of it, but I wanted to wait out here so you would have some privacy."

"Well I kind of ruined that for myself by yelling." He balled his fists and shoved them as deep as his pant pockets would allow them.

"I'm so sorry that it didn't work out for you, but maybe you can try again now that you at least got a more insightful response from him than you normally do." I took a step closer to him after glancing to see if there was anyone behind me. "Is there anything I can do?"

He angled his eyes toward mine, keeping them focused immensely on me. "No, there's nothing to do because it's never going to work out."

"Jasper, I know this is unexpected but you should keep trying..."

"Why? What can I do? I've stretched myself beyond my means and the consequences that I've rendered..." He stopped his fit of rage because he was begrudgingly running out of steam.

Dangling his head to the side, he out a vocal exhale followed by a slight ironic chuckle before whispering: "I don't know why I thought this was a good idea."

In that moment I could feel every emotion he had just been phased with, even during just that one phone call. It was radiating off him like a strong scent that left him in utter disappointment and clouded him in hopelessness.

"I-I need to get out of here." He turned away from me. "Will-will you meet me tonight after dinner by the corner window?"

"Of course, try to settle yourself until then."

I waited until he walked away before turning to the phone room myself and picking up the nearest one. Even though I felt extremely bad for him, there was nothing I could do about it now. That will have to wait until tonight. So now I must remain dedicated to my own agenda.

For the last several days, I've been dialing in my home phone number. Expectantly awaiting for someone, even if it was not anyone in the family, to pick up the wall phone. Even though I knew it was unlikely, I tried to remain optimistic and hopeful that something will get me closer to finding my parents.

Hello, no one is available to take your call right now. Please leave your name and number and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

I always wait until the end of the auto pilot before hanging up just in case someone would seize the opportunity of picking it up before the sender had their chance to leave a voicemail. Strike one. Next, I dialed in my mother's number and reached the disconnected dead-end as always. My fathers was just the same.

"Shoot."

I hung up the phone and began walking toward my room, trying to formulate a plan inside my head of any other options I had right now. Unfortunately, since I was too young to do anything too active such as taking a trip there, even though Mr. Davis and I had done that several months ago and the house was deserted, or calling anyone else.

But there has to be something else I could do. I know my family like the back of my hand, there has to be some sort of clue that could get me even somewhat close to their location. Upon returning to my room, I grabbed a spare notebook and my favorite pen and began making a list of every phone and home number of every regular place we were familiar with. My mother never knew how to be quiet, there has to be someone she confided in other than my father.