Duskwood's Correctional Boarding Academy for Confused Adolescents (LGBT)

Untitled Part 2

I don't think I have ever sat in a car with utter silence for so long before. I checked the clock on the dashboard again. Correction: I have never been in a car without and sort of noise for this long. Six hours. Not a word spoken. Not a single hum or even one song played on the radio. The only sound is the engine gently purring and the tires spinning at high speed beneath us. Breakfast had been a similar affair. I woke up, I realized I had collapsed forward in my sleep, and so I had to accept the fact that I had moved. Now I had to face reality because this was all officially happening. My back,hips and legs were stiff and seriously sore from that awkward position I just slept in, so I had to slowly uncross my legs and take a few minutes to stretch before j stood up. Luckily, I had my own bathroom and it was attached to my room. I decided I was going to take a shower before I went out to face the parents. Surely there would be some shouting and a severe punishment, and that could surely wait. An hour passed and my stomach began growling, I realized I couldn't prolong this anymore, I lived here for fuck's sake. I couldn't hide forever. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and came face to face with my father, who had his fist raised as if to talk. "Oh," I gasped a little shocked, "Hey, Dad." His face twisted, as if somehow that upset him. All he gave me was a quick look over before he turned his back to me and returned down the hall, headed in the direction of the kitchen. I couldn't help but sigh, this was going to be worse than I thought. I followed him, stepping into the light of the kitchen, knowing I didn't have much of a choice. My mother was leaned over the sink doing dishes and my father had went straight to the coffee pot. I stood there waiting for the screaming to begin, they were quite good at it really. It was always an impressive feat how their anger could go from zero to sixty, simultaneously. But it never came. They both simply kept going about their actions as if their disappointment of a daughter hadn't stepped into the room. For a second, I thought it might be because they were going to accept who I was. But then I realized, they didn't just think I was gay; they thought I was a rapist. Still, neither of them made any move to confront me which I had to admit was extremely odd. With a sigh, I walked over to the pantry and moved to grab a box of cereal, when finally, someone spoke up. "No, you don't have time to eat now that you decided to sleep the day away," My mother said, barely giving me a side glance before looking back at the sink,  "I see that you've showered, good. We are leaving in 20 minutes so go pack your things." I raised my eyebrows and ur the door to the pantry, looking at my dad for some sort of clarification. I got none. "Uhm, pack what?" I mean I didn't want to question her at a time like this but I need at least some details. But apparently that was not the conclusion my mother had come to because she have a great sigh before leaving the sink and leaving the kitchen. I followed her and we ended up in the office, where my dad usually kept bills and worked out the more business aspects of our lifestyle. Taxes and what not, I suppose. She walked to the printer and, rather aggressively I might add, grabbed the paper sitting in the tray and thrust it towards me. In dark red ink 'Duskwoods Correctional Boarding Academy for Confused Adolescents' was along the top of the paper. My mouth fell open; of all the ways that I prepared for the parents to react, this was not one of them. Fear gripped me as I realized I would again have to employ my new found rule of statue until proven reality. My mom cleated her throat, "You better get packing." With that, she left me staring at the paper that summarized my life. I was confused alright. My parents were a little bit obsessive and controlling, but they would never go to the boarding school level. Which is a counterproductive thought because here I am, in complete immobilization mode, staring helplessly at the words that just contradicted everything I was just thinking. This all had to be some serious misunderstanding; my parents cruel way of trying to show the severity of the crime I supposedly committed. But my mother never came back with some parental phrase like, "Well I hope you know how serious this situation is now, don't worry, we won't actually send you there," or maybe even "We hope this little scare as made you learn your lesson." No. She had left the room and had yet to come back. Seeing as my plan of complete and total stillness seemed to fail me last night, if this was actually happening, then I had about 12 minutes to pack everything on this list. As I continued reading, my shock was elevated: ',ABSOLUTELY NO TECHNOLOGY OF ANY KIND'  was printed in bold on the first line. Now, I'm not saying I'm some teenager that is absolutely dependent on technology and my life will cease to exist without it, but I'm absolutely dependent on technology and my life will cease to exist without it. There will be no contact with the outside world; boarding school is bad enough, and if I know my parents, it will be of the utmost strictness, but completely cutting me off from everything and everyone I know? That seems a bit extreme even for them. 'No clothing or footwear necessary' which could only mean one thing. Uniforms. 'As many books and photographs of FAMILY MEMBERS ONLY as you so please' This list seemed rather pointless and I realized I would not even need all 10 of my remaining minutes to pack. The only hard photos I had actually owned were of Audra, and even if those were allowed, her face is the last one I wanted to see. I think my mother was really just going for the shock factor of showing me the list. All that needed to be said was, 'some books'. With a sigh, I trudged off to my room and began dumping all of my novels off my bookcase into a duffel bag. At least I really did truly enjoy reading, seeing as books were probably going to be my only companion for the next who knows how long. It was one of my favorite habits and my parents always indulged me, driving me to bookstores whenever I felt my shelves were looking a little scarce. They would let me pick out basically as many as I wanted, so not only did I still have some of my favorites in my possession, but I had novels I just hadn't gotten around to reading yet. I kept on piling books into the bag until my shelves were completely barren. If I couldn't bring anything else, at least I would have plenty to read. I had no idea what I was walking into and when I would be back, so I might as well go prepared. I walked over to my dresser and grabbed one of my framed photos of Audra and me. We are both smiling with our arms wrapped around each other in front of a natural waterfall that we went to see in at one of the national parks one day last summer. If only I had known where we would end up. I forced myself to flip the frame over and pop the back off of it. A tight stack of money we pressed into the back of the photo. I counted how much I had managed to stash from when I started 2 years ago, $230. Not bad considering I didn't have a job and hardly ever got an allowance. I didn't know how far that much would get me if I needed it, or if I would ever get the opportunity to use it while at this school, but I figured better safe than sorry. I divided the bills into four even piles and slipped each one of them inside the dust cover of each one of the four books in my favorite series. After I dragged my seriously heavy duffel bag down the hall and earned a sharp look from my father, he hefted the bag over his shoulder and I had to hold back a laugh as he realized I wasn't just dragging my bag because I was pouting; it was actually heavy. Nonetheless, he lifted it higher on his shoulder and walked out the front door to the car. My mother was no where to be seen, so she must've already been waiting outside. I followed my dad out and gave my house one last look, who knows when I'll see it next. Maybe they will change their minds in a week, or bring me home for Christmas, or maybe they will leave me in that school until I'm 18 and graduated. So at the most, one year, but it's safe to say, if they leave me out there by myself for the entirety of my senior year, I won't be coming back to this house willingly anytime soon after that. And six hours later we are still in this car, headed god knows where. I don't have any sort of idea where this school is located, but right now we are in the absolute middle of no where. Finally, my dad slows the car for what seems like the first time in that entire 6 hours of road. The sun has started going down and it is all sort of gloomy looking. There are dark full trees on either side of us and they seem to go on and on. The lane we are driving along is completely smooth and paved, and it even feels less rough than the miles and miles of black asphalt we were just traveling down. The way the trees are planted makes me surely think that this has to be our final destination; it looks just like any cliche driveway would towards a prestigious boarding school. Except, we just keep driving. The trees keep on stretching down this road and there's not even the slightest show of an end. There are a few twists and turns but no actual sign of stopping. 30 minutes pass before we see any sort of structure. First we pull up to a gate that seems about a mile away from the building itself. My dad rolls down his window and the brisk air floods the car. How could it be so much colder out here than it would be if we were home? There's a little intercom looking device with a screen displaying the words 'Welcome to Duskwoods Correctional Boarding Academy for Confused Adolescents' There's a small red button next to what looks like speaker. Instead of the static sort of quality you would expect from an outdoor intercom, especially one that is quite a distance from its source, a clear crisp voice chirps from the box. "Welcome Blake family! We have been expecting you, please, please, come in!  The large black gate swings open smoothly and my dad hits the accelerator and speeds off towards the Academy. It looks rather small at first, but then slowly grows as we get closer. So much so that by the time the car pulls up to the front doors, the building looks unrealistically huge. At least 8 windows tall (is that even safe?), Duskwood is in the shape of a geometrical U, with its front facing us and the sides almost shielding us completely from whatever lies outside. The school is so big, I can't even see what kind of environment surrounds the building. I think it's not only making me uncomfortable, but the parents seem put off by it too. I already feel isolated, so congratulations Duskwood. Besides its general shocking size, the school has a few other outstanding details worth mentioning. Though it is dark, the gray stones which make up the outer walls seem rather clean. I look at the clock again before my parents force me to get out of the car and it reads 10:16. It's late but it's not that late, but all the lights seem to be off except for the smallest glow coming from the large front door. "This is it," the first and last words I hear my father say before they leave me here. We all get out of the car and I'm not the only one looking around uncomfortably at the sheltering walls. Perhaps they will realize that this is all a big mistake and take me home and we can laugh and stop at a 24-fast food joint and talk about this like adults. But instead of any of that happening, my dad grabs my duffel bag and carries it through the front doors. My mother and I follow. The three of us enter a semi-dark corridor, there is very little lighting except for what looks like antique oil lamps along the wall and a small glow from a room in front of us. The walls look like they are made from the same stone as outside and overall the school is giving a very old-fashioned castle vibe rather than an academy. No one says anything until we cross the threshold from hallway to the apparent reception area. A tall blonde stood up behind the desk that was to the right of us, "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Blake," She smiled cheerfully and shook each one of their hands, "And you, you must be Annaleigh. We are so excited to have you here at Duskwood." She offered her hand to me but I made no move to shake it. I normally didn't feel the need to rebel against authority, but I wasn't just going to be some polite little school girl. I may not go kicking and screaming, but I can sure as hell be an irritable little fuck. Her smile faltered for only a second before she retracted her hand, "Please, sit," she said as she gestured to the three chairs in front of her desk. I took in her features, petite, tight clothing, more than necessary amount of cleavage exposed. For being an authority figure, she wasn't really commanding the right sort of attention, "I'm Miss Kelly, I'm mainly in charge with student processing and conduct. You'll be seeing me again," She winked at me and instead of feeling charmed as I'm sure she intended, I felt incredibly unsettled. Miss Kelly clasped her hands in front of her and continued smiling at the lot of us, "Well, I know you came quite a long way, so I will go gather the legal documents that you will need to sign. Please, take this time to say your goodbyes." She turned and walked through a door along the wall and it clicked gently behind her. "Okay guys, jokes over now, you're not seriously going to leave me in this place, right? Mom?" Her facial expression was hard and she didn't really seem to be looking at me, but through me. "Dad?" He didn't even turn towards me, but instead, rested his elbows on Miss Kelly's desk and waited for her return. "You guys aren't even going to say goodbye to me?" I asked in a whisper, turning my face away from the both of them so they couldn't see how close I was to losing it. My mom must've heard the quicker in my voice because she started, "Oh Annaleigh-," But I never found out what sort of heartfelt encouragement she could have possibly been offering me because Miss Kelly reentered the room, causing my mother to stop short. "I know, I know. Goodbyes are hard," She said, remarking about my sudden emotion change, "But don't worry, you'll feel at home in no time. We're like a family here." I wanted to scream because not only was she acting like this was totally normal and okay, but Miss Kelly made it sound as if being trapped in this place would almost be worth losing everything I already know. She set the papers down in front of my Dad, "I know you're probably eager to get back on the road, so if you could just sign here, and," She continued flipping through several pages of documents. My dad said nothing; he simply compiled and signed wherever Miss Kelly pointed. When he signed the last page I couldn't help it anymore. "You  didn't even read it!" I accused and stood up, yanking the pages from Miss Kelly's hands. "We trust them, Annaleigh. This is a very prestigious academy," My mother spoke gently and reached for the papers. "Conversion Therapy," I read allowed, "Is mainly consisting of Psychoanalysis and Aversion treatments, which can include but is not limited to, electric shock to the hands or genitals,  humiliation, nausea-inducing drugs, homoerotic stimuli/heteroerotic stimuli, masturbatory reconditioning, and corrective rape." By the time I had finished my mother was standing and there was no holding back the stream of tears, "Mom you, can't leave me in this place, this isn't even legal," I sobbed and tried to step close to her, hoping for a comforting hug or some sort of reassurance that she was going to help me. But she stepped away from me. Her face looked slightly shocked but when she looked at my dad for some sort of help or guidance on what to say, he simply held up his hand, as if to say, 'It's not up for discussion.' Her eyes were still wide but she seemed to regain her composure slightly, "You'll be fine, Annaleigh," But she didn't even sound like she believed it. I felt the last bit of strength I was holding onto crumble as I collapsed to the floor and sobbed. My father took this opportunity to stand up and remove the paperwork, permitting them to commit any act of sexual violence they deemed necessary, that was still clutched in my hand. When he handed it back to Miss Kelly she said,  "I'm so sorry, but since you've signed all the paperwork, it's school policy that you exit the grounds until further notice. To you know, help with the process," Everyone was acting as if I had never uttered a word and my mother simply nodded. She gave me one last look before turning in the direction of the hallway from which we came and walking briskly away. The woman might as well have been jogging. My father didn't even spare me a glance, he just dropped my bag on the floor next to me before he calmly turned away, and walked out of the room. I watched them both walk away from me, like I wasn't their only daughter, like my mental health and physical safety wasn't worth concerning themselves with. The tears stopped quicker than I had thought, because if no one else cared about me, then what good was it to cry? I stood up slowly and could feel Miss Kelly's eyes on me. But I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of being the one that I turned to for comfort. Whatever lied ahead, I was on my own. I was definitely scared that Duskwood was going to try to break me, but I couldn't let it, no matter the cost.