Chapter 4C

“7432 Cherry Foster Estate,” I said resignedly, picking at a finger nail, dread coursing through me. Now, even if I did miraculously find a way out, they would know where to find me. And kill me.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” What kind of question was that?! What kind of slave was I going to be? Would I have to marry a Mormon or something?
“Yes,” I lied, trying my hardest not to make it look like I was. Roy was probably pretty good at detecting lies too. Well, maybe if they thought I had a boyfriend they wouldn’t want me to be a slave…? It didn’t add up, but I didn’t want them to know anything about me, so I didn’t tell the truth.
“Name?”
“What?”
“Name of your boyfriend?” He said in a bored tone.
“George.” I blurted out mystery guy’s name before I could stop myself. Great.
“And last name?”
Oh dear…what would his last name be? I couldn’t exactly make that up…
“I don’t know.” I said icily.
“And why don’t you know the full name of your love interest?” Roy picked at the corner of one of the sheets of paper.
“Um, it’s, uh, long, and hard to remember. Something German.”
Mystery guy looked pretty German, right? His blue eyes, light skin…
“Are you in love?”
In love with mystery guy? Heck no. I’d never even talked to him. But should I lie? And what kind of question was that, anyway? I wasn’t here to visit a shrink.
“Yes.” I lied again.
“What do you value most in your life?”
Oh yeah, I should totally tell them that. So they could take it away. What’s something I really don’t value? I thought to myself.
“My fashion line.” I wasn’t totally lying; the fashion line did mean a lot to me, I worked on it pretty hard. But it wasn’t the most important thing in my life. What was that? A week ago, it might have been popularity. Or my money. Maybe my jeweled necklace collection. But things had changed. If I lost all of those things but had the people I loved and my home back, I would be elated. What I valued most in my life, was my life. And by that I meant everything that made me, me. And maybe I hadn’t always made being myself my first priority, being myself the right way. Maybe I did always let Mackenzie trample me and maybe I was judgmental and rude and arrogant and shallow and spoiled like Roy had said…but if I could go back, I would change that.

Roy snickered at my reply, and I faked an indignant glare. He was pretty gullible, I mused. But I was also being recorded, and other people could probably tell I was lying…or not be quite so happy to believe.