It's been a few days since my first book club meeting with Mr. Davis and there was now a calming change sweeping throughout my world. It was as if everything about Mr. Davis was more clear, I now can see that there was much more to him than life inside the Academy. Our relationship has been solidified since we both assured each other of our loyalty to it.

Another added bonus, I persuaded Mr. Patry to return my book so I can reread the second chapter for this weeks meeting. Now having a better understanding of the structure of the meetings, I think this week I'll create a list of topics to discuss with Mr. Davis. I think it'll be a clever way of disclosing more of his character traits without risking any fights or lectures. Somehow, in some can unusual way, our meetings were like a blissful journey into the mind of a thrilling stranger.

I started carrying my laundry back to my room when I was stopped by Sarah and Mackenzie who were standing near their doors in the hallway.

"Hey Naomi, are you going to come out tonight?" Mackenzie asked, motioning me towards her and Sarah.

"I hadn't planned on it."

"We're going to have a bonfire, just us and Jessie. You should come! It'll be a lot of fun." She assured me.

Students weren't usually allowed to have bonfires without an Administrator present unless you submitted a request, which was usually denied but it all depends on how well you've been doing so far. Jessie had the best record out of us so she had to have been the one to make the request.

I looked over at Sarah, who was awkwardly nodding her head in reassurance. I started to consider it; I love hanging out with Jessie and since it's Sunday the curfew would be expanded. I've been spending so much time with Mr. Davis, for better and worse reasons, that I swear I forget what the outside world looks like and what it feels like to have fun with people my own age.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? I'll be there."

"Sweet," Sarah said before turning back to her door. "we'll all meet in Jessie's room after dinner tonight. Bring any snacks you have."

"Got it." I nodded at Mackenzie before shuffling my laundry basket and returning to my room.

Completely energized , I started planning for a night out with the girls. The strange thing is how completely polarized everyone would be on the outside, a lot of the female students at the Academy are complete opposites of each other. Their paths surely would never cross one another, but in here we are united only by the common experiences we share - which often aren't pleasant but you have to make friends to survive in a place like this. Student conflicts only leads to trouble with the Administrators. Sometimes it's easy; it can be very comforting talking to someone who understands what you're going through everyday.

I pulled my pillowcase off my pillow to use as a bag and started stuffing it with granola bars, brownie bites, and my last few cans of iced tea that I got after the Easter party we had. I was dressed according to the Academy handbook so I'd definitely need to change after dinner. Pulling out my favorite pair of grey sweatpants that made me feel like a balloon and a light blue shirt, I took comfort in the fact that tonight would be a great relaxer.

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"Mr. Davis?" I knocked on his door and peeked my head inside.

"Yes Naomi?" He was standing at his desk, it appears that he was reading something and studying it intensively.

"I want to let you know...well actually ask if I could go to the bon fire tonight with some of my friends."

"You mean the one here? At the Academy? Sure, it's Sunday." He neatly stacked his papers on the corner of his desk. "Just keep in mind the yard rules and that curfew is 10 p.m."

"Yes sir." I smiled before exiting his office, excited to get dinner over with so I could enjoy my night.

I sprinted down the stairs like it was Christmas time and headed into the dining hall where I purposely sat next to Jessie and the others. At the far end is where I usually sit with Mr. Davis and adjacent to Jasper but sitting together would mean easy access to the door and less of a chance of being stopped by Mr. Patry.

"I'll bring granola bars and I have some cans of tea left." I said cheerfully.

"I have bags of chips, my parents sent them to me last week." Jessie chimed in.

"Your parents sent you snacks? Where do they think you are, summer camp?" Sarah mocked, causing us all to laugh at the irony.

The food was brought out; roast beef and mashed potatoes. Perfect for tonight because none of us had any problem gulping it down. We stuffed our mouths full as much as we could and chewed rapidly. This, of course, drew some attention from the other students and the Administrators but we were all focused on the task set out before us.

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"Hey, let's play 'never have I ever'." Sarah suggested as she chugged her iced tea.

"How do you play?" I asked, exchanging looks with everyone else who had all seemed comfortable enough to play.

"It's real easy." Jessie sat straight and turned to me. "Hold up five fingers."

I did as she instructed.

"We'll all take turns naming things that we've never done, for instance, I'll say 'never have I ever been out of the country' and everyone else who has, has to drop a finger. First person to run out of fingers is the loser."

"Okay, sounds simple enough." I smiled and moved closer to the fire.

"Mackenzie you start." Jessie said as he held up her hand, Sarah and I soon following afterwards.

"Okay..." She smirked and thought hard. "Never have I ever been sent to the Academy more than once." She glanced at Sarah.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sarah dropped a finger. "Never have I ever played softball for my school."

I watched as Mackenzie dropped a finger. "Ha, got ya." Sarah teased.

"Never have I ever been punished for being late." Jessie stated confidently.

The rest of us dropped a finger. I was just punished for this not too long ago and the thought of it was like reopening old wounds. So, I was determined to deter the subject away from the Academy. Surely there has to be something we can talk about aside from the institution.

"Never have I ever been out of the country." I said while glancing at Jessie, trying to see if she would react negatively after I stole her example.

"You're a copy cat." She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"It's fine, she's new to the game." Mackenzie came to my defense. "Never have I ever been suspended from school."

That resulted in both Jessie and Sarah dropping fingers.

"Okay, we need to get Naomi caught up or she's going to beat us all." Sarah said while rubbing her hands together. "Never have I ever been adopted." She beamed at me.

Mackenzie and Jessie went quiet, as if the entire world had went cold when I dropped another finger. I stared angrily at Sarah for attempting to make jokes of my painful situation. I breathed deeply through my nostrils and tried to keep myself from lunging at her.

Mackenzie has two fingers, Jessie has four, I have four and Sarah has two. My target is Sarah.

"Never have I ever kissed a boy." I said sheepishly, trying to act as if her comment had no emotional toll on me so I could crush her in the game.

They all dropped a finger and glanced at each other. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as they instantly turned red with embarrassment. I knew for sure that Sarah had been with a guy in an intimate way, she likes to brag about it in the bathroom, but I definitely did not think that Mackenzie and certainly not Jessie would have.

"Wait a minute, you've never kissed a boy?" Sarah practically leaped out of her chair.

"I said 'never have I ever,' didn't I?" I snapped.

"But I thought you and Jasper were..." Jessie interrupted, trying to break the tension surrounding us.

"Nope, everyone thinks we are but we're just friends."

"Nuh-huh, no way. I ain't buying it." Mackenzie said. "I've seen the way you too stare at each other, there's definitely something there and either you aren't telling us or you haven't realized it yet yourself."

I suddenly got an instant headache, I think it's my subconscious resorting back to Sarah's harsh reminder of my situation. It didn't help that they were all staring at me, studying me as if I was an experiment for their amusement.

"I need a minute to myself." I threw my blanket on my chair and went over to the sidelines, near some bushes where I could hide my humiliation from all of them.

I know Jessie will understand, but Mackenzie and Sarah are too clueless to notice that their actions and words affect others. It felt like my chest was constricting as I started to reimagine my life from an abstract point of view; I am an orphan who has had everyone I ever knew stricken from my life. Strange how a few words can make you recall certain occurrences. I was reminded just then of how it felt to have everyone know about your situation whilst you stand there helplessly.

"Hey are you okay?" Sarah came from the bushes. "We're waiting to finish the game..." She continued but stopped when she realized that I had no intention of turning towards her. "I didn't mean what I said, it's only a stupid game Naomi."

I continued my efforts in neglecting her until she went away, but she isn't smart enough to realize that so it was futile.

"Do you girls have any idea what time it is?"

We both instantly froze, shocked back into the reality of the Academy at the sound of that deep and angry voice. We knew it all too well, and we both knew that we'd soon be suffering the wrath of Mr. Patry. Ducking low, we pulled back some branches from the bushes and peaked through to see his shadow standing in front of Jessie and Mackenzie.

"Run, he won't catch us." Sarah whispered to me.

We could hear their voices in the distance, undoubtedly trying to muster up the best excuse they could deliver to him. We crouched to the side before wildly turning our heads to find the clearest path;

"There, right through those trees." She pointed.

"Alright." I could feel my heart beating like a humming bird.

"Who else is here with you?" Mr. Patry asked.

I couldn't risk getting caught out here, Mr. Davis would for sure cancel our meeting this week because I'd be restricted to the grounds. If we could just make it to the door, I could sneak to my bedroom and act as if I was there the whole time. Before the voices could quiet, we both took off running as fast as we could through the scattered trees. My adrenaline was the only thing keeping me from collapsing on the floor, I felt as if I were running for my life away from a big, bad monster. Sarah was fast and I couldn't keep up but I knew I was definitely out of sight from the group

I turned my head back to see Mr. Patry dragging Mackenzie and Jessie by the underneath of their arms. He was heading back the building, and I was almost there. Thank God for the fog, there was no way he'd be able to see us.

Suddenly I felt as if I ran into a brick wall, it caused me to fall straight on my behind. Resulting in me looking up at Mr. Davis.

"Naomi." Mr. Davis rubbed his lower stomach only for a minute before taking my hands and lifting me up.

Standing there mute and staring into his disappointed face, reality had suddenly pulled focus in my head and I started to panic at the thought of what was about to come. Painful vibrations were shaking in my head as I heard the lid noises of Mackenzie and Jessie pleas mixed with Mr. Patry's hollering.

"Anything to say?" He asked, growing impatient.

Instead of answering, I made the poor decision of running in the opposite direction. Heading towards the west side of the building away from all the noise, I tried to formulate a plot of where to go as I tried to keep my flip-flops from falling off as I hauled ass.

"Naomi Taylor!" Mr. Davis grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me closer to him.

Dammit. What was this guy, a track star? How could he catch up to me so quickly, he's like forty. I am so dead.

"Do you not remember the last time you ran from me?" He spun me around and kneeled down to my height.

"Leave me alone!" I tried to break free his from his grip but he kept me perfectly still.

"I'll handle these two Harold, you take care of Naomi." Mr. Patry said behind us.

Sarah must have gotten away. Figures. She was always quick to throw others under the bus to spare herself, I should have trusted my gut.

"Believe me I will." He gave me a stern look. "You're in for a long night young lady, do you hear me?" He cupped the underneath of my chin.

"Yes."

"Let's take a trip to my office." He stood up and, with his hand firmly around my wrist, guided me back into the building.

"Mr. Davis I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry!" I tried pleading just as the other have.

"Oh not yet you're not, but you soon will be." He answered without even looking down at me, he just kept treading into the Academy.

It hardly took even five minutes to reach his office so I didn't have any time to prepare an excuse, not like it would matter. Mr. Davis is clearly too furious with me and when he's angry, there's little chance of anyone winning.

"Sit down." He pushed down on my shoulder to transition me tightly into the chair.

I was relieved he finally released my wrist, there was a red circle forming caused by his harsh grip and pulling.

"I can't believe that you snuck out..." He started.

"We didn't sneak out!" I immediately jumped to our defense. "I even told you about it..."

"You knew full well that you were outside of Academy property. Students are not allowed past the driveway and yet you went beyond the woods!" He removed his blazer and loosened his tie. "Sneaking out at Braxton warrants the paddle."

I looked up at him in shock, hoping that he would realize the sincere regret in my eyes and choose another. I've never had it before, but I know from others that it's the second worst instrument that an Administrator can use.

"Mr. Davis please! Think about how great the other night was during our..."

"No." He shook his head and raised his hand, instantly dismissing anything I was about to say. "Don't you dare do that, don't use our quality time as leverage to get out of a punishment."

"Sorry." Another mistake.

"Besides, you did much more than sneak out. You put your hands on me, you resisted me, you ran away from me!" He pointed to his chest, giving me a chance to digest the heart-broken look he was trying to instill. "And now you actually have the gall to try to victimize yourself and make me feel guilty?"

I sat back and sighed, there was a lot of truth in his words but they're so out of content that I still have a burning need to defend myself.

"Mr. Davis we lost track of time..."

"It's after midnight Naomi, do you honestly expect me to believe that you hadn't even glanced at your watch within the two hours that you were supposed to be inside?"

Realizing my defeat, I buried my chin in my chest and waited for instruction. I could feel his piercing glare burning into me and I was too angry to even return the action. Flinching after he suddenly moved behind his desk, I watched his every move now. Agonizing on the thought that he would pull out a paddle from somewhere. Instead, however, he sat down at his desk and stared at his computer as if there was nothing bothering him.

Several minutes had gone by and the anticipation inside of my stomach was pounding to get out. He had only hinted of the paddle and yet now he is showing signs that he has no intention of administering a punishment at all. I wasn't even granted acknowledgement, he just sat there as if I was invisible.

"Well?!" I blurted out.

His eyes turned to me and I was met with an intense look, at least there was some emotion being presented so I could read the situation. Ignoring the horrid possibilities that could come, I widened my eyes and shrugged my shoulders.

"Are you looking for me to spank that attitude out of you?" He barked at me.

"I'm looking for you to tell me what's going on? My head is going to explode if I don't know what's going on." I rubbed my temples.

"Exactly." He balled his fists and leaned forward, his knuckles resting flat on his desk as he stood face-to-face to me. "Do you see how you feel right now? That anger you're harboring? The anguish, the fear. That's exactly how I felt moments ago when I saw you weren't asleep in your bed, that you could potentially be in harms way."

I looked down at the ground, my anger suddenly diminishing as he finished his sentence and stared at me.

"I want you in my office at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning, is that clear?" He spoke slowly to intensify his seriousness.

"Yes sir."

"Go, you're to go straight to bed. I don't want to see you for the rest of the night or I may do something I regret." He pointed to his door.

That was the worst thing he could have done. I hate going to bed knowing that Mr. Davis is angry with me, I'd rather suffer the punishment now so he would relinquish his anger and we can begin healing together. But I guess this is part of my punishment. I slumped out of his chair, my eyes never leaving his, hoping that they would convince him to let me stay but he kept that harsh look on his face until I reached the door.