Change the World / I'm Not Alone, C.T. Lang [short books for teens .txt] 📗

Chapter One: (Roy's POV)

"Oi! Stupid-head!" Dana was so eloquent. "I'm gonna have your head for a football!"

I slowed to a jog to reply over my shoulder. "You'd never catch me, retard!"

That made him mad. Panting, I sped up and rounded the corner, flying up the whitewashed stairs.

"Retard? I'll give you retarded, you little nerd!"

Now he had to be joking. Had he forgotten what had happened last time he messed with me?

"Feel like going back to juvie? I hear you found some friends there!"

"Shut up, Montana!"

I was laughing full out now, and I even forgot to run.

"Montana? That's so old, Juvie!"

He didn't like his new nickname.

"Juvie juvie juvie, where have you gone?"

I figured he gave up, since he couldn't scare me anymore.

I figured wrong.

I saw it happen in flashes. A burlap sack flew over my head and down past my protesting arms. It muffled my voice as I yelled, and he must've tied it tight, because next thing I knew my feet were lifted off the ground as he dragged me… somewhere. Damn. This is not good.

"Good morning, Principal."

"Good morning, Dana. What's in the sack?"

"Now was my chance! I struggled, but the shaking he was doing gave me a headache. I tried to scream.

"Just some salmon I'm takin' down to the freezer for the lunch tomorrow. Guess I got used to helpin' out 'round places."

Oh, this was TOO much. He was using my captivity to make him look like the Citizen of the Month or something. How bloody ironic.

"Well hurry up, then. Here's the key."

"Thank you, sir."

I guess that exhausted his limited vocabulary, because we were definitely moving again, at a fast jog. I had no idea Dana was so fit: he was carrying all 90… err, 97! pounds of me over his shoulder, and still making good time. Wherever we happened to be going.

I found out sooner than later that he was going to make good on his promise of the freezer. "Oh Lord," I thought, "Dana's lost it. He's really trying to kill me! I'm gonna die of hypothermia before anyone finds me!" The last struggle at my life was something I thought I'd rather die than do: I begged Dana. It was hard to draw air through the thick sack, but I pleaded as loud as I could, "Please lemme go!" I got a sharp kick for my efforts, and I keeled over on my right side. He didn't bother to pick me back up. Instead, with a barking chuckle, he shut the door, saying as he did, "Sweet dreams, Montana!"

I was doomed.


Chapter Two: Frozen

My fingers were the first to freeze. I knew this because the low body temperature had made me very alert to what happened with my body.

I tapped them together, and felt nothing. They were like little, undersized bricks. I was scared, and I tapped my heels together. Thank God, I could feel them.

After my toes froze (I giggled with hysteria when I realized this rhymed: toes froze) the next to go were my eyes. They didn't do me any good, and at first I didn't know. I thought I was just asleep. But no, I was aware of every sound in the cold, cold freezer. Every whir of the machine, every tick of the kitchen clock. It was maddening. I missed my eyes.

After I lost my shoulders and knees, I decided to go to sleep. If I ended up dead here, I wanted to die peacefully, not trashing around as I had been. I thought of what my mom had said about falling asleep if you were scared: to think of things that made you feel better. I thought of Beatrice… her bright hair, the way she had beaten Dana last time, the way she laughed at my fears. I thought of the owls we had saved from Mother Paula's destructive plans, their solemn faces safe at last in the preserve. I thought of my parents: my mom with her sweet, childish way of talking to me, and my dad, with his great jokes and caring words.

Then, I bit my lip. I didn't want to think of Mullet Fingers. It was… t-too hard. Even my thoughts were stuttering with shivers. Still, the thoughts came, memories of those days at the lost beach, our current project at Sandy State Realty Co., the baby turtles we were watching, rescuing from the predators. It was safe to think of the animals, the birds and the dogs and the snakes, the fishes, the tadpoles and the crocodiles. It was forbidden to think of Mullet. I licked my lips, tasting frozen salt. Why was I crying? The obvious answer was that I had been shut in a freezing hell for… how many hours? Two, three now? I gave up counting the seconds, afraid of losing my mind like I had lost my hands and feet, stolen by the cold. I couldn't see, but I could still think. I made myself remember the names of the baby lizards we were raising after the mama had been hit by a trucker on the interstate. Skipper, Funnel, Crawl, and Slate. My face softened for a moment as I tried to smile. I remembered Mullet feeding Slate out of a bottle, the milk running down its slippery skin. I remembered when Funnel bit me, and Mullet pressed a bandage on my finger, laughing at the fierceness of the tiny thing.

Flashback:

"It's not funny!"

laugh snort "No, it's not. You're right…" laugh "It's horrible, the way a 3-inch reptile can send a hiccup teenage guy into tears." Peals of laughter.

"I wasn't crying!"

"Yes you were!" He swiped a dirty finger across Roy's face. "What's this, if not a tear?"

"Yea, well, I was shocked, not scared."

More laughs. "Are you sure?"

"Shut up!" But now Roy was laughing too.

"You okay now?"

"Yes, I'm fine! Now, can I have my finger back?" But he could hold it forever.

"Not yet… there. Now you can stand up to anything." But the genuine care slid in with the teasing made it all worth it for Roy…

Back to Future:

I fell back into reality, which doesn't make sense since I couldn't fall, I couldn't even blink. It was pathetic. I was pathetic. I was kidnapped and stuffed in a freezer, for God's sake! How could Dana be so cruel? Surely I would die before the lunch lady found me, and the ambulance came, I would die… and I hadn't even thought of Mullet, except once. Good for me, Roy. Good for me.

Then I knew nothing.


Chapter Three: Raising the Temp

A feeling woke me. Sounds weird, normally I get up whenever my alarm clock rings, or it gets too light out for my eyes to stay closed. But this time it was a feeling. Someone was touching my neck. Then I heard a soft voice, "one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four…" I opened my eyes, and immediately shut them again. It hurt. A lot. It was so bright out. But my head was spinning. The hand moved to my forehead, and it tingled, like when your foot falls asleep and you try to take a step. I guess it was still frozen. Suddenly, everything was tingling, as I tried with a lurch to feel what was awake. Nothing. Everything was still frozen solid. So I tried to think. I'm lying down. That's different. Everything hurts. It's light out, so I'm not in the freezer. And it's light out, so it must be morning. I figured I must be in the hospital, and someone must've found me. I'd find out when I woke up fully. Hey! I thought, maybe I'm in a coma. At first the thought was pretty cool, since I could skip school and Dana would be SO busted, and maybe go to jail again, but then I remembered Mullet. We were supposed to go to Sandy State tonight, no… er, last night. He'd think I abandoned him. I was really mad about that. He couldn't think I'd do that! He just couldn't! I had to do something. But first, I had to open my eyes.

So I did. Sorta. A slit of sunlight streamed in, but I stopped there. I noticed I was breathing really heavy, in and out, in and out, like a marathon runner. I still couldn't move anything else, but I was sure glad to be able to see a little bit. I could hear too, because I heard a familiar voice.

"He's up! Bea, Bea! He's up! He's up!!!" Was that Mullet? No, Mullet never got excited. He never cried out like a girl.

"Oh, I'm so glad!" Bea's smooth voice sounded satisfied. "I knew the compresses would work. Google never lies."

I took a chance and opened my eyes a crack more, and oops. They rolled back into my head, and I slumped back. Ow.

I was being supported by the two of them, and someone was rubbing my scalp.

That felt soooooo good. I didn't try to open my eyes again for another few minutes, until Bea asked, "Roy? Roy? Can you hear us?"

Then I snapped my eyes open, because I didn't want them to think I was totally helpless.

"Good." The rubbing stopped. Aw, I liked the mini-massage. And it had waked me up. He (or she) was an expert.

Now I looked around. Bea stood leaning over me, a thermometer in her hand.

"Open up, Cowgirl." I pressed my lips open a little, as far as I could.

She took my temperature. "Whew… only 84 degrees F… that's pretty bad. You reckon we should we take him to the hospital?"

Another hand came over my forehead. That feels familiar.

Then he spoke.

"Naw, Roy's strong. Ain't you, Roy?"

It was Mullet. I was NOT weak. I had to say something.

"Mhmm."

Smooth. But Mullet wasn't laughing. He took the compress off my chest and put it on my forehead.

"I'm not a doctor, but I bet he'll do a lot better once we get his temp up a little, and look at it this way, Bea, at least he won't have a fever to break!"

"Yea… oh my gosh! How will we explain this? How do you explain hypothermia and partial freezing body parts in Florida?"

"You just gotta tell the truth, Bea. That piece of crap Dana locked him in the freezer."

"But how did I find him? I was at soccer practice till seven!"

"Oh… okay, you found him afterwards!"

"But just how was I in the school kitchen after they locked up?"

"Good point."

Bea made an exasperated noise. "What time is it?"

Mullet checked the clock, and I realized we were on the boat. "Eleven-thirty."

"That's late. They're probably looking for him. What do we do?"

I tried to speak, and found my tongue was stuck. I gave up, and watched them try to sort it out.

"We'll… take him to the police station and pretend he was robbed!"

"Now that's just stupid, Mullet."

"Well, what do you think, then?"

"I think I have to call his parents, to stop them from