Page 16 of Knox Academy Omnibus
“I lost it,” I say in a tiny voice, looking back down at my plate. “I’m really sorry, Sir, I think one of the students took it from my bag. I didn’t want to report it because I’ve never had anything so expensive and fancy before and I was so ashamed to have lost it already.”
I feel the atmosphere of the room shift and I know I’ve played a blinder. I may also just have outed the incubator as being piss-poor. I can’t imagine that the Knox family knows shit about her past life. She’s certainly cleaned up her image since she left us.
“Okay. Leave it with me and I’ll sort something out.”
“But she got a detention! She has to be punished!” Incubator starts to shrill, back against me already. The caring mother act didn’t last long at all. “That’s it, Amelie! You were at the school one day and you already messed up. You’re not having phone privileges this month!”
Before I can jump in and kick off about how unfair that is, Monty surprises me by coming to my rescue.
“No, honey,” he says placatingly, placing a calming hand on the incubator’s and patting it gently. “If this is going to work, we need to keep home life and school life separate. Leave it with me; I’ll fix Amelie’s punishment. It can start after her birthdaythough. Turning eighteen is a big deal, and no-one deserves to have that cancelled.”
I know they expect me to be grateful and to thank them, but I don’t and I’m not. The only small positive to come out of that speech is that I get to use the phone still, so I quickly and silently start eating, saying grace forgotten, and planning to disappear with it straight after dinner and to run up huge overseas calling charges. I mentally compile a list of people I can call, after family, just to piss the incubator off when she gets the bill.
We eat the meal in silence, the twins throwing daggers at me with their eyes whenever the parentals aren’t looking. Even Kalen keeps his head down; not making eye contact with me. No little touches, no flirting...nothing.
I eat quickly and ask to be excused from the table. Monty agrees before the incubator can say no.
“May I have my phone, please, to call myfamily?” I ask politely enough, but I emphasise the word family to send a clear message: I don’t belong here. I never will.
“Of course,” Monty says after a beat when the incubator ignores my request. He gets to his feet and tells me to follow him. Out in the hallway he opens a dresser drawer and passes me the rose gold iPhone. “Can you put it back here when you’re done?” he asks. He makes a big deal of trusting me to do this, but we both know he’ll be checking I've returned it before I’m allowed to leave.
“Of course, Sir,” I comply.
“Monty, please.”
“Thank you,” I say. “Is there somewhere I can go, for privacy?”
“You can use any room in the house, Amelie. But at the top of the stairs, first door on the right, you will find a room that is yours if you want it.”
I nod and take off for the stairs. I consider snooping around a bit - he practically gave me permission to do so - but impatience wins out and I decide to just go to ‘my’ room and call. Digging for dirt can wait; I need my family first.
Immediately, I dial Aadi’s number and hit the option to video call. A message pops up on the screen telling me that‘this feature is unavailable on this device’.What the fuck? I quickly go to the settings and check everything is enabled. It is. Why can’t I video call? I’m allowed to speak to, but not see my family? I want to hurl the phone at the wall but I don’t. It’s a precious commodity and I know it won’t be replaced if I lash out in a fit of anger. Instead, I take a deep breath and dial the house phone.
I stay on the phone as long as I possibly can. I speak to dad and Chelsea, Aadi and Smalls. There’s no one else I want to call after all, and when we hang up, I allow a tear or two to fall. I miss them all so much. I want to go home. From what Sawyer was saying on Friday, I’m nowhere near as bad as the other kids in this place. I don’t deserve to be here. I wonder if the incubator pulled strings with the courts to get me sent here. I’m notthatbad a kid.
“Amelie? The car is here.” Monty’s voice calls up to me some time later. I didn’t bother exploring. I didn’t even check out my room. I just threw a few clothes from the closet into my bag.
“Coming,” I call back. I quickly check my reflection. Happy that they won’t be able to tell I’ve been upset, I head downstairs, the phone stashed safely in the bottom of my bag on silent, the decoy in my hands, already turned off like a good little daughter.
When I get to the bottom of the stairs I put the phone away, and then the dining room door opens and they all traipse out to stare at me. Fucking weird, if you ask me.
“Where’s the phone, Amelie?” The incubator narrows her eyes at me, suspiciously.
“Back in the drawer, like Monty said.”
She marches over to check it and I feel my cheeks flame as the twins smirk at me. I catch Kalen’s eye and he’s gazing at me with pity. It makes my blood boil so I flip him off whilst the parentals aren’t looking. He chuckles softly, which just makes me angrier.
“Okay. You may go. We will see you on Tuesday for your birthday meal,” the incubator reminds me. As if I could forget. It’s my birthday - my eighteenth no less - but do I get to celebrate it how I want? Hell no, I have to bow down to the controlling whims of this bitch. I grind my teeth and nod once.
I turn for the door and she gives a sharp tut which makes me pause.
“Amelie. Aren’t you forgetting something?” she hisses.
Huh? Is she expecting me to kiss her or hug her or something? Cause there’s no fucking way that’s happening...ever.
“Thank Monty for having you,” she insists. My whole body ignites with embarrassment and shame. I’m a guest. I’m not part of the family at all, am I?
“Really, honey, that’s not necessary. It was a pleasure to meet Amelie outside of school. I look forward to Tuesday.” He smiles so graciously at me that I have no choice but to mumble a hasty “thank you” or risk looking like a spoilt brat.
