Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight Andrews, C. (books for students to read TXT) 📖

one believes her, it will help. Should Gia get violent or physical, I want to know immediately, understand?”

“Yes, Dr. Foreman.”

“Good. How did she defend herself? Did she tell you anything else about her Posy? Claim she did anything?”

“She said she worked on the horses like I am.” The more I told her that was true, the less I might have to tell her what I feared to tell her, I hoped.

“Yes, well, of course it was Gia who worked on the horses. You believe that, don't you?” she said quickly.

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. As I mentioned before, Mindy troubles me more and more these days,” she suddenly said, changing the subject. “She's really regressing.”

“Regressing?”

“She's becoming more and more like she was when she first arrived here. She's too aloof, too distant most of the time. I think she's actually getting worse in some ways. I'm getting bad vibes these last few days. I want you to keep an eye on her, too, for me. Keep track of what she says, does, whenever you're around her.”

“Everything she says?”

“You'll know what I want. Enjoy the magazine, but be sure to get your homework done first, understand?”

“Yes, Dr. Foreman.”

“And no one else is permitted to read it, not even over your shoulder.”

“But. ..”

“I don't want to hear that they have,” she added, her eyes full of threat.

I nodded.

“You're excused.”

I rose and started for the door.

“Phoebe.”

“Yes, Dr. Foreman?”

“I think you could look a lot prettier than that so-​called actress, even in those ridiculous clothes. I can see you in a modeling career someday. Would you like that?”

I nodded.

“Good. I'll see what I can do about finding you a good modeling school when the time comes.”

Every time she offered to do something good for me or said something nice to me, I felt worse.

Why was that?

Why should I care about anyone else anymore? Shewas right after all. They would all forget me and have nothing to do with me once we all left this place, especially if I returned to my neighborhood in Atlanta or someplace like it. I was tempted to reveal the rest of it, describe exactly what Gia was planning to do tonight.

“Was there something else you wanted to tell me, Phoebe?”

Did she know already? Was she expecting me to tell? Was this another test and was I failing it?

What kept me from telling her, I do not know, but I couldn't do it.

“Yes,” I said. “Thank you.”

She smiled. “You're welcome, Phoebe. Most welcome,” she said, nodding slowly.

I turned and left the house.

On the way back to the barracks, I was tempted to throw away the magazine, but I worried that she might ask me to return it. I know I was becoming what Gia called paranoid, too. I couldn't help looking around, searching for hidden cameras, microphones, or perhaps one of the buddies watching me from a hidden place.

Robin, Teal, and Gia looked up when I entered. They were already working on math problems. I noticed Mindy was still not back.

“Where did you get that?” Teal asked quickly, eyeing the magazine.

There was no point in lying about it. “Dr. Foreman gave it to me, but she warned me not to let anyone else look at it.”

Teal immediately recoiled, pulling her head down and her arms back. “Oh, we can't look at it. Only the special Phoebe can look at it. Big deal. Who cares about some stupid magazine anyway?” She returned to her homework.

Robin stared at me with an expression of disappointment.

“I didn't ask for it. She gave it to me.”

“Of course she did,” Gia said. “She did the same thing with Mindy soon after I arrived. It's another one of her little ways to set us against each other and depend on her.”

I wanted to warn her not to say so many terrible things about Dr. Foreman aloud. Surely a hidden microphone or two were in the barracks, but if I warned her, Dr. Foreman could hear the warning as well.

I said nothing and they returned to the homework. Gia asked me to join them and helped me with my assignments. I put the magazine under my cot and got my books and notebook. After a while, we all wondered what was keeping Mindy. Even alone, she should have finished by now, we thought. Of course we had no way to tell how much time actually went by since none of us had a watch and there were no clocks, but Robin estimated it was nearly a good two hours.

M'Lady Two appeared in the doorway and told us to prepare for bed.

“Where's Mindy?” Teal asked.

“It's none of your business where Mindy is. Your business is where you are.”

I thought Teal was going to say something else, but she looked at me and then turned to her cot. Before we were all actually ready to go to bed, M'Lady Two shut off the lights.

“My business,” Teal muttered. “My business is getting out of here.”

No one said anything more. The air felt so heavy, even the starlight streaming through the windows looked droopy. I closed my eyes and hoped I would fallasleep quickly, but I didn't. I saw from the way Teal was lying that she had, and Robin had turned her back to me and looked very still as well.

When Gia poked me, I nearly jumped and screamed. She had moved so quietly to my bedside.

“I don't like it,” she whispered. “If Mindy's not back by now, Dr. Foreman has her, and there's no telling what will happen to her. Did she indicate she was unhappy with her in any way?”

I hesitated. Should I report what Dr. Foreman had said to me?

“Yes,” I whispered. “You should be careful about what you say, Gia. I really do believe there are microphones hidden around us.”

“It doesn't matter. She knows what we think. Okay, let's go.”

“Go?”

“To the basement, like I said we would.”

“But, with Mindy gone and all, don't you think it would be more dangerous?”

“That makes no difference. Don't worry. The buddies are already