Imprisoned by Christine Kersey Read Free Book Online Page A

have a physically demanding job?”
    He laughed and everyone at our table looked at us.
    I felt my face redden and turned back to my meal, ignoring him.
    “Morgan here wants to know if they give us extra food if we have a . . .” He turned toward me. “What did you call it? A ‘physically demanding job’?” He made air quotes as he spoke.
    The others grinned or laughed and I felt foolish. “I’ll take that as a no.”
    “The point is for us fatties to lose weight,” Alyx said. “If we burn more calories, all the better as far as they’re concerned.”
    I looked at each person at my table. None of them seemed fat to me. Well, maybe Piper was a little pudgy, but the rest seemed like they were at a healthy weight. “How thin do they expect you guys to get?”
    “What do you mean, ‘you guys’?” Billy said. “You’re here just like us. You have to lose weight too.”
    I looked at Billy and thought, I’m not like you guys. This is your world, not mine. As soon as I can figure a way out of here, I’m gone. But what I said was, “That’s what I meant. How thin do they expect us to get.”
    “What do you mean?” Billy said.  “Don’t you know your own goal weight?”
    I thought about my conversation with Mr. Madsen that morning. He told me I needed to lose at least twenty pounds. “Of course.”
    “There you go, then.”
    “What about you?” I asked him.
    “What about me?”
    “No offense, but you look like you’ve gone a little past your goal weight.”
    Alyx giggled next to me.
    “What’s so funny?” I asked, turning towards her.
    “Sorry,” she said. “It’s just that Billy never needed to lose weight to begin with.”
    “What do you mean?” I looked at Billy. “Then why are you here?”
    “Enough of this.”  He stood, obviously not interested in sharing his secrets. “I have to get back to work.”
    I watched him walk away, then turned back to the others. “What’s his story?”
    Alyx shook her head. “It’s his to tell.”
    I must have looked disappointed, because she leaned close to me and whispered, “You wouldn’t want everyone to know what you did, would you?”
    But I didn’t do anything , I wanted to scream. Instead I pressed my lips together and shook my head, deciding it wouldn’t do any good to argue.
    I unwrapped the power bar and ate it, remembering the claims I’d read on the packaging at home that it contained an appetite suppressant. I hoped it was true because I knew by dinner I’d be starving.
    “You should probably get back to work, Morgan.” Alyx said.
    “What time is it?”
    She pointed to the clock on the wall across the room. “Twelve forty.”
    I stood. “Please tell me that clock is fast.”
    “Unfortunately, no.”
    “Great.”
    “See you at dinner.”
    I said good-bye to my tablemates and hurried to the nearest trash can, tossing my utensils and milk container, and setting the plate and tray in its place.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Though I was in a rush to get back to the sixth floor, I had to shuffle along with the herd and wait my turn to get on the elevator. When I finally made it on, I noticed that most of the buttons were lit up. With so many people needing to get on at the same time, and everyone waving their cards in front of the card reader, the elevator would need to stop at nearly every floor.
    Maybe this is a flaw in the system that I can use, I thought, fresh hope filling me. My gaze ran over the numbers and I immediately noticed that the first and second floors were not among the options. I wondered if they ever were.
    What about Billy? If his job is outside, wouldn’t he have to go to the first floor?
    The idea of working in the garden became even more attractive. I decided I’d talk to Kyle after my shift and ask him to recommend me for the job. But first I would have to impress him with my work—and being late certainly wouldn’t help.
    Sighing, I waited as the elevator stopped on the fifth floor and several boys got