Page 23 of Trust

“Seriously?”

His mouth twitches.

“You’re resourceful enough without sharp objects.”

Fair.

Since he’s showing no sign of leaving, I eat and do my best to ignore him hovering at the corner of my vision. I am grateful for the food, though, but I’m not going to say that out loud.

He doesn’t speak at first. Then, as if he’s offering me a gift, he says, “Chris.”

I lift my head.

“Figured you should know my name,” he adds. “So you can use it and don’t need to resort to insults.”

I snort with a grin and a half-full mouth.

“Here’s how this goes,” he continues, holding up one finger. “Don’t do anything stupid. Watch your language. Stay put. You follow that, we’ll get along fine until you go home after the elections. Push me again—”

Now there are three fingers up. He lifts his chin, his voice low, eyes on mine.

“There’ll be consequences.”

Leaning back in the chair, I cross my arms and ankles and swallow the rest of my food before I speak.

“Is this the part where I say, ‘Yes, Drill Sergeant’?”

He doesn’t rise to the bait, simply lifts an eyebrow. “If you prefer.”

I roll my eyes and fix my attention on the tiny window, mostly to stop myself from hurling my empty plate at him. My right knee starts to bounce as an awkward silence stretches.

“What am I supposed to do all day?” I ask eventually. “Stare at the wall? Count the knots in the wood?” I’m unable to keep the sarcasm out of my tone.

His expression turns into a smug smile.

“Get caught up on schoolwork and start prepping for your SATs.”

That makes me laugh.

“Oh, wow. So this is both boot camp and boarding school. How convenient.”

“Your father thought so.”

My amusement evaporates.

“You need the bathroom?” he asks, abruptly ending the conversation.

Instantly, I nod, grasping the opportunity to avoid sharing the same space with him.

“Can you manage that without acting out, or do you need company?”

He’s clearly had enough of me for the day.

“I’ll be good,” I mutter with fake sweetness as I get up.

Every reckless cell in my body screams at me to do something stupid, but risking him joining me kills the impulse quickly.

I do what needs to be done and drag myself back to my cell. The dishes are gone and a thick wool blanket is spread over the mattress along with a puffy pillow. He also put some more water next to the “bed”.