Imprisoned by Christine Kersey Read Free Book Online Page B

off. A moment later it stopped on my floor and I hurried toward the storage room/office to get my supplies. I hoped Kyle wouldn’t be there so my lateness would go unnoticed.
    He wasn’t there. I smiled, relieved, then gathered my supplies onto the cart and wheeled it out of the room.
    “You’re late, Morgan. Fifteen minutes late.”
    I stopped, caught off-guard by Kyle’s sudden appearance, but quickly collected myself. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t realize the time, and then everyone was trying to get on the elevators at the same time.”
    He frowned. “Look, I know it’s your first day, so I’ll let it slide this one time.” He paused. “Next time you’ll have to give up some of your evening to make up the missed time.”
    “Okay. It won’t happen again. I promise.”
    He nodded. “We’ll see.”
    Angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake, I pushed my cart down the hall and knew I’d have to wait to ask for a transfer. How could he recommend me now? Why would he even want to?
    I worked the second half of my shift, my arms becoming like lead weights as each minute passed. I felt like a wimp, but just wasn’t used to all this scrubbing. Finally it was time to stop. I’d cleaned all four bathrooms and done most of the vacuuming, but I needed to get to class. Taking my cart back to the storage room, I pushed it into a corner.
    Kyle was nowhere to be found. Sighing, I went to my room and changed out of my sweats and into a pair of my jeans, then went into the bathroom, which was very clean, and freshened up.
    As I left the bathroom and walked toward the elevator, I realized I didn’t know where the classrooms were. Hoping the elevator would know my schedule and only give me the option of the correct floor—although I wouldn’t object if the first floor was an option—I waved my card in front of the reader and waited for the elevator to arrive.
    A moment later the doors slid open and I stepped inside. When I waved my card in front of the reader, only the button for the ninth floor lit up. I pressed it and felt the car begin to move upward. A moment later I stepped into an open area where several teenagers were walking toward rooms with open doors.
    I had no idea where I was supposed to go, but I noticed an office straight in front of me and headed towards it. The woman who sat behind a desk ignored me. I stood there for a moment, trying to be patient, but finally said, “Excuse me.”
    The woman looked up from her computer screen, which I couldn’t see, but since she seemed annoyed at being interrupted I had to wonder if I’d kept her from shopping or something. She stared at me, an expectant look on her face.
    “I’m new,” I began. “I’m supposed to have class now, but I don’t know where I’m supposed to go.”
    “What’s your name?” she asked, a fake-friendly smile on her face.
    “Morgan Campbell.” I wondered if pretending to be nice was a job requirement at Camp Willowmoss.
    The woman typed something on her keyboard, then walked to a printer and grabbed a newly printed sheet of paper and handed it to me. “Here you go. This lists your class schedule. The numbers are on the classroom doors, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding your way around.”
    I took the paper and glanced at it, then looked back at her. “I think I’m going to be late. Do I need a late pass or something?”
    She sighed, plainly feeling put out by my request. “Let me get you one.”
    When she turned away from me, I shook my head and frowned, but gave her my own fake smile when she handed me the pass. “Thanks.”
    I walked out of the office and took a closer look at the paper she’d printed, then scowled. Even though I only attended classes two hours a day, I still had four subjects I’d be studying. The classes were on a rotating schedule where today I had Math and English, and tomorrow I had Social Studies and Science.
    Exhausted from working all day, I trudged down the first hallway I