Chapter 3D

“Having fun?” He asked.
“Go to hell,” I said, trying to stuff the black stilettos into the bag.
“You’re going to need those.” He sat down on the sofa next to me and watched my failed attempts.
“Why?” I asked incredulously.
“I don’t know, I didn’t pick out your outfits. But you will need them, I presume.”
I gave up trying to stuff them into the bag and leaned back against the couch with a heavy sigh.
“Why are you here?” I closed my eyes.
“I’m here to escort you to the shower, so that you can freshen up.” He seemed confident when he said this, but I could tell that he really didn’t know why I was being taken to the shower. I asked anyway.
“Why do you-they- care if I’m freshened up or not? You’re holding me off in my own room anyway. It’s not like you have to come smell me.”
“I don’t know.” His flat, but honest reply didn’t startle me.
I stood up, grabbed the tank top, the sweater, underwear, and the sweatpants, plus the makeup, and put it into a bundle. Even though the jeans were more fashionable, I didn’t want to give the impression that I was like, slutty or something. I wanted to be comfortable. No one at school was going to see me, anyway. He stood up too, quickly and lithely. He was built kind of lean and muscular. He seemed athletic. Did he play basketball or something?
“ASHELY.” His yell broke me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah?” I murmured.
“Come on.”
He opened the door, and I followed him. Sure enough there was a guard outside of my room, as well as a security camera. There was probably one in my room as well, now that I thought about it.

He grabbed my wrist tightly as we passed the guard, so as to ensure that I didn’t try to escape. Like he needed to worry. I didn’t even know how to get out the door, much less, escape guards.

As soon as we reached the shower, he leaned against the wall next to the door of the bathroom and gestured for me to enter. I did, and shut the door behind me, turning on the bright light. There was a huge mirror and a huge shower, too, plus a toilet. I went to the bathroom first, since I hadn’t gone in about a day. (They’d taken me once yesterday).
Then I undressed, set up my clothes on the toilet seat and my makeup on the counter, and took a long shower with the soap and shampoo. I felt much more refreshed when I stepped out, like I had a new outlook on life. Showers always seemed to do that to me. I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing but a nice long shower and I felt ready for whatever happened next. I threw on the skimpy lingerie, sweatpants , and the black tank top, plus the huge sweater, which I was definitely grateful for. Then I applied the makeup, minimally, and brushed my hair. Well, that was definitely an improvement. I didn’t feel like a raccoon who’d been stuck in the trash too long anymore.

When I opened the door, the cool air blew into my face at full force. I had gotten used to the humidity of the bathroom.