Chapter Ten: A Peculiar Offer

Mia: meaning popular, or origin.

*

I walked down the hallway slowly, everyone in their own way acting out or understanding the afternoon in their own way. No one closed their doors, so I witness a wide variety of reactions from the girls.

Amia was asleep in her room, curled into a ball on her pillows clutching a weirdly misshaped moose. When I walked past Robyn's room, Ava was with her. They were chatting on her bed, having a back and forth. The next bedroom I passed was closed, but the next one was Bonnie's bedroom. Inside Bonnie was sitting at her desk, tapping a pen against her head in thought. Mia sat cross-legged on her bed, Fritz lying belly up while he received tummy rubs. I could hear the occasional shrieks of Riley in the bathroom with Estelle, trying not to imagine what was going on.

Aside from Estelle, who, according to herself, was violently assaulted with soaps and medicine creams all afternoon, I spent the evening alone. We ended up watching three crime shows, two of which Estelle had managed to guess who the murderer was.

The next morning, as I was on my way downstairs, I caught up with Bonnie, who was heading out. "Where are you heading?" I asked.

She turned around in her chair, "If you must know, I've got to head to school early. Talk with my teachers," she said with a forced smile, "That okay with you?"

I put my hands up in surrender as I got to the bottom of the stairs, "You do you, Bonnie."

"Humph," she said as she went to turn back around, once again her chair jammed, and she couldn't move.

I took this opportunity to talk to her. "Ava had a point though," I said carefully, "There were police cars and everything. Weren't you even a little curious when they came to the dorm?"

"I didn't see them," Bonnie dismissed as she leaned over one side of her wheelchair.

"Did you hear Riley then? She was freaking out something fierce."

"I was downstairs I guess. Noise doesn't travel well downstairs," Bonnie dryly added.

"I got punched in the face," I announced, this granted me her eye contact as I gestured to my cheek. The bruising had started to set in, turning a slight purple and yellow, and the cut began to clot, making it look like something out of an action film. It was both gross and cool.

"Wow, he really got you," she said, suddenly interested in talking to me as she rolled a touch closer.

"Yeah, he clocked me good," I replied. I tried to be funny, "Oh wait, I mean-" I cleared my throat and tried to stand like a delinquent, "You think this is bad, you should see the other guy."

Bonnie stifled a laugh. "What kind of accent is that?"

I dropped my stance, "A bad one if you can't guess it."

Bonnie didn't try to hide her laughter this time. She looked approachable when she smiled, it was a delightful, perky look for her. But just as quickly, the gleeful, surprisingly easy to talk to girl disappeared, replaced with the monotoned, dismissive child as she bowed her head in goodbye and turned her chair, heading out the back door.

Estelle jumped on my shoulders in a surprise piggyback, scaring the absolute crap out of me.

*

Amada and Amia got a ride to school, this time the drivers knew about Alfonso, the rabbit. No one else got to ride to school with them, and when I was riding my bike there I saw the same black SUV head back towards the dorms by 8:15 am.

I got called to the Principal's Office, where I had a meeting with the Principal, a handful of teachers and the Student Councillor, a young brunette lady wearing spectacles, regarding the twins' recent abduction the day before. Mainly just asking for my side of what had happened, and to discuss what was going to happen now. The way they spoke of this made it sound like they had experienced an attempted kidnapping before. The protocols they had in place rolled off their tongues like it was commonplace. They asked me if I felt safe at the dormitory and even considered moving all the girls to somewhere closer.

"Wouldn't you have to do this for all the out of school dorms then?" I questioned.

They 'ummed' and 'ahhed' before Mr Wittman blatantly told me the girls in my dorm were at higher risk due to disabilities or disorders. Eventually, it was the Councillor who explained how they were just as likely to be affected as any other out of school dorms and reminded him of discrimination-based issues that would arrive.

I genuinely believed I shouldn't have been in the room when they were discussing this, and they realised too as they dismissed me moments later.

When I was leaving, Ava was walking down the hallway towards me. We both shared a quizzical look, "Something up?" she asked.

"Just what happened yesterday, protocols and such," I informed.

She nodded, understanding as she stepped into the offices, presumedly to have a similar conversation.

I barely made it out of the hallway when my name was called, "Mr Becks?"

The Student Councillor met me at the door, despite her heels she had moved at a surprising pace. When I said young, I did mean young. As if she had only just gotten out of University, with whatever degree got you into Student Counselling. She was the same height as me and had kind but surprisingly attractive brown eyes.

"Yes, Miss Moore?" She appeared somewhat flustered but composed herself quickly.

"I don't mean to pry, and I'm sure you're sick of people asking, but, how are you?" she asked, gesturing to my bruise, "I'd imagine you'd have quite a lot of attention for that."

By impulse, I touched my cheek. She was correct. My year group, and even younger years had asked me about it. I wasn't quite sure how to handle the questions at first, but I soon figured out merely saying, 'Someone punched me yesterday on my way home from school' was enough. Estelle was jealous of the amount of attention I got, as Riley had concealed where she got hit remarkably well.

"I am fine, Miss. Just a bit shocked," I admitted, "It's not every day I have to engage in a fight."

She nodded, understanding. "Did the altercation have any issues on your heart at all?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. My heart condition classed as a disability, and it could get stressed from surprise or an excessive heartbeat, but so long as I took my medication, I was able to do most things without worry now.

I shook my head. "No. My most recent medications make it beat like normal now," I punched my heart playfully, "Works like a charm. I've been thinking about getting back into sports to fulfil my scholarship."

She gave me an easy smile. "That's wonderful, Landon. Good to hear." She gave me some cherry-picked phrases that were safe to say to students, and some generic but heart-warming statements about how things would be a bit weird but once everything was sorted out it would be calm again. But then the conversation changed to my roommates. "May I pick your brain about Mia and Bonnie Ranks?"

I bit startled, I nodded, and we took a seat on a bench in the hallway. "Has Bonnie been ill as of late? Or had a recent rehabilitation issue?" she asked, "I know things have been difficult for her lately and I just want to make sure she's okay."

I shook my head, "She hasn't been sick as far as I know."

"But you have seen her?" she asked.

I questioned her. "What is this about, Miss?"

She seemed to hesitate but finally said, "She hasn't attended any classes yet. And I know that we're only three days into the semester, but I just wanted to follow up to avoid a phone call to her Father."

I widened my eyes. I had my suspicions that Bonnie wasn't coming to school, but I had assumed she just came late, not at all. "Umm… you also mentioned Mia, is she the same?"

She shook her head, "Mia missed the first day, but she came yesterday," she informed. The Councillor had some papers and flicked through them as she added, "And she has attended today." She dropped the pages, "What's Mia's demeanour outside of school? Is she happy? Sad?"

"She's a bit shy but very polite."

"Do you know if she's friends with anyone? Someone from the dorm or perhaps mentions someone from school?"

I mentioned how she spent most of her time reading alone, or with Bonnie. "The two of them are usually inseparable."

Miss Moore smiled at this and agreed as she jotted something down, producing a pen from somewhere in her hair. "I take it she still hasn't spoken to anyone?"

I shook my head, "Ava tells me she's mute."

"Technically, she can talk, just chooses not to," Miss Moore informed, "She's incredibly shy on school grounds as well." She was about to continue but stopped herself. I assumed to avoid some privacy issue. She altered her questions, "But there's been no suggestion of friends outside the dorm?"

I shook my head. "With all due respect, Miss Moore, she's eleven in High School. I must admit, if we didn't live under the same roof, I doubt she would have much to do with me. Her bringing over friends seems unlikely."

She asked me a couple more questions about Bonnie and Mia, before apologising for taking up my time and dismissing herself. "My door is always open, should you need anything Landon."

*

With the end of the day, the hallways overcrowded with students running to their chauffeurs, the buses or to walk. When I made it outside, many were running to the fancy buses at the gates, while others were going to their club groups. Amongst the people, I saw a significantly shorter Mia weaving between people. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed flustered as she clutched one too many books.

I made a jog for her and made it to her in time to watch a group of older girls make a collective effort to knock Mia over. Her hands were too full to brace herself, and she crashed against the pavement. Mia's stuff remained sprawled on the ground as other students stepped over them, only offering a sideways glance before continuing. Eyes widened, I kneeled to Mia and placed a hand on her back, "Are you okay?"

The outlines of both Mia's eyes were red as if she was fighting tears. She had a deer-in-the-headlights look about her. I scanned the moving students to see the group of girls who had knocked her over, each giving occasional looks as they continued to walk away, stifled smiles plastered on their faces.

I shook my head at their bullying and started picking up some of Mia's books. I heard her sniff, blinking away tears as her breath trembled. One of her hands shook as she tried to collect one of her notebooks, but I watched her nose scrunch up, and her lips tremble. I shuffled closer to her, attempting to shield her sobs from passing kids.

As I looked at the faces, I found Ava, besides Robyn walking towards the gates with half a dozen other students, as she locked eyes with me. I thought she would perhaps come over and make sure Mia was okay, but aside from widened eyes and a hesitated glance from Mia to Robyn, she mouthed an apology and ran after Robyn, trailing behind the group.

Mia's body trembled as she swallowed a sob. I touched her shoulder, "Hey. Come on, there's no need for tears," I assured, "They aren't worth it."

She acknowledged what I said, but quickly shook her head as she adjusted how she was sitting. The fall was harder then I had initially thought. Both of her knees bloodied where the concrete had grazed her. "Oh, Mia…" I breathed as I examined the extent of her injuries. Along with her knees, one of her elbows and palms had been scratched up. She flexed her palm as I gathered up the rest of her things. "Mia, does that sort of thing happen often?"

This was my first year at White Winter Prep, but it hadn't occurred to me that the others had been here before this year.

Mia didn't answer me, she ran her thumb over her eyes, cleaning up her tears as she stood, wincing when she straightened her knees. She held her hands out for her books. I shook my head, holding them comfortably in one arm. "I'll carry these for you," I informed, "I'm also not letting you walk home alone. I've got to go get my bike from the garden shed though."

She dropped her hands and sighed, offering an exasperated expression. Despite this, she followed me, not that she had a choice since I was carrying her books.

I kept giving her a sideways glance, making sure she was walking okay. She took off her backpack and pulled out a large blue water bottle. After taking a long drink, she started gnawing on the mouthpiece as she stared absently at the ground. "Mia," I attempted, "Is it normal for that to happen?"

She stopped biting for a millisecond to shrug before returning to the biting.

"Do kids usually just ignore you when that happens?"

Mia repeated the same action.

"Even the other girls?"

This time she nodded, taking a few mouthfuls of her drink before she opted to put the water bottle away. In the two days I had been around Robyn and Ava, and prior knowledge of being in the dorm, I had recognised a few hand gestures from sign language. Mia made some off-handed gestures that weren't too clear, but I understood 'don't' and 'care.' By the time I had translated this, we had made it to the garden shed where my mountain bike had sat all by itself. I passed Mia back her books to unlock my bike and saw that the shed was open. I slipped my bag off my shoulder and searched around for some loose bits of food, ultimately finding a packet of crisps.

"Won't be a second, Mia," I assured. I glanced down at her knees; the blood had started to drip down. She needed some band-aids.

I pushed open the door and glanced inside, noting the still gloomy atmosphere, I called out to Alexis. "Hey, Alexis!" I stepped inside, leaving the door open behind me. The room remained undisturbed from the last time I had seen it, including Alexis, who sat at one of her workstations, a pencil in hand. When she heard my voice, she turned her head, as she shimmied in her seat the bell on her shoes chimed loudly.

"I see I didn't scare you away," Alexis said, strands of uneven hair falling before her eyes. She didn't seem to care.

"Yeah. I saw the shed opened, and figured maybe you'd want something to eat again," I explained, crumpling the packet in my hands. Alexis tilted her head at the sound and stared at me with unregistered focus.

"Can you do that again?" she requested.

I complied, crumpling up the packet. Alexis blinked at the sound again and reached out a hand, accurately taking the crisps from my hands and making deliberate noise with it. "Interesting…" she mumbled.

I smiled at her sudden fascination. "I would stick around, but I'm walking Mia home."

Her cheeks perked up into a smile, "Mia's here?"

I nodded, gesturing outside. "Yep, by my bike."

She tapped her ankles together before standing, abandoning whatever she was working on to go to the door. I dodged her long strides to look at what she was working on. Her workstation was a large wooden desk, perfect for large scale drawings if she decided to keep it clean. The surface littered with thick books, some written in brail and others ordinary letters, piles of unorganised papers, loose bits of pencil shavings, scrunched up sticky notes and empty looking juice boxes. Sitting in the centre of the chaos, however, was an unfinished picture of a hallway, a simple 3D image drawn in pencil. From the faded lines, I could see she had attempted it several times on the one piece of paper.

"Mia are you out here?" I heard Alexis call.

I heard sudden ringing, followed by some giggling.

I went back to the doorway and saw Alexis kneeled to Mia, who had the biggest smile I had seen from her since I got here. She was holding Alexis' hand and hastily tapping against it, at times pausing before continuing this. I quickly recognised this as a sort of code, as Alexis spoke as if Mia had said something. "And how're you enjoying big people's school?" Alexis asked.

Mia made some short, quick taps. Alexis laughed, "Trust me, they don't get any smarter in later years."

Alexis took back her hands and frowned as she rubbed her fingers together. She pressed her knuckle against her nose and took a deep inhale, deliberating smelling something. "Mia, you're bleeding."

There was no hesitation in her voice; she sounded so sure.

Mai made extra effort to be out of reach of Alexis, who muttered something under her breath. She quickly stood straight and turned to me, her cheeks an angered flush, the simple change intensified by her fire red hair. "Landon why is Mia bleeding?" The question was almost a hiss as if she was angry.

I was about to tell the truth, but saw Mia behind her, shaking her head profusely and animated gestures telling me to hush. I clicked my tongue and obeyed, "She fell over in the playground, scraped her knee and her palm," I informed. Alexis didn't seem convinced, but I added quickly, "I was there. That's why I'm walking her home."

Alexis held a sharp glare as she looked half over her shoulder and sighed. "Very well," she conceded, dropping the issue altogether as she wiped her hand on her school skirt. "Make sure you get that looked at, Mia. Don't need to get your hand infected." She placed a hand on her hip and the faintest of smirks formed, "I remember once when some idiot passed me a screwdriver pointed end first, stabbed me in my hand." She raised her right hand to show off a scar, which prominently displayed itself in the centre of her palm. "Didn't think it was a big issue until it got infected. It got wrapped up in bandages, and I couldn't use it for weeks."

Despite the off-putting story, she seemed to find it funny.

"Anyways, thanks for stopping by," she said. When she walked, she misjudged where the door was and ran into me, her scarred hand pressing against my chest. "Whoops," she grabbed my shoulders and reached around me. "Where's the shed door gone?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

I was distracted by her eyes, her standing so close to me I was able to see how strangely mesmerising they were. They weren't clouded over like I initially thought, they were just a remarkably pale blue, almost fused with the rest of her eye.

I was momentarily at a loss for words as I grabbed her hand from my shoulder and guided it to the frame of the door. She nodded as she took herself to the shed, glad to have her bearings. "Cheers," she said, "Thanks again for the crisps. Won't be seeing you." With that, she disappeared back into the shed.

I stood for a moment in silence, before getting out of the trance and turning to Mia, who had opted to sit on the grass while she waited for me. How long had I just been standing there?

"I can understand pride or whatever, but do you think it's a good idea to not tell anyone about what those girls did?" I asked.

Mia blinked at my question before nodding yes.

I tisked but let it go. "Fine. Let's go." She pushed herself up and walked over to my bike, ignoring the books she had left on the floor. I picked up her notebooks, by the time I looked at her she had somehow mounted my bike, unable to reach the pedals from how high the seat was. I laughed at her attempts as she braced herself against the shed wall. I put some of the notebooks in my bag and pulled the bike off the wall, Mia staying on the seat as I rolled them both along. I held both handlebars, one arm around her in case she did fall. Mia seemed content in leaning against my shoulder as I walked us out of the school, most students had already left. My petals turned on their own, and at their highest peak, she tried to press her foot against it, managing now and then to push off.

Everything was fine, until someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I had expected maybe Estelle or one of the twins, but when I looked it was a man I didn't recognise.

He was the same height as me, if not centimetres taller. He was dressed in business casual and carried a small briefcase. He gave me a warming smile, everything aside from his unshaven stubble and wind disturbed hair, he didn't seem out of place. My first impression was a teacher, maybe a parent.

"Landon Becks correct?" He offered a hand to shake.

I didn't have any hands to shake his hand, so I handed the books to Mia and took his hand; he had a very firm grip.

"You're slimmer than I anticipated, Landon" he informed.

I made an awkward laugh, looking from him to Mia. "Are you here for Mia or something?" I asked. After yesterday's incident, I was prepared to throw my bag at him and ride down the street.

"Oh God no," he said with a slight scoff, "I am here for you, my boy."

I raised an eyebrow, taking another sceptical look at Mia, before addressing him. "I don't know who you are, sir," I confessed. And I didn't. And the more this man spoke, the more likely my last thought of running away became.

"I should hope not," he replied giving me a strong pat on the back. It took me off guard. "You got pretty friendly with my guys yesterday though." A spike of panic rushed through me. My grip on the handlebars tightened, readying myself to hop on at any moment. I saw the slight change in Mia's posture in the corner of my eyes. The man noticed my sudden change and laughed, "Not to worry, Landon. We have no interest in this girl."

I took half a step closer to my bike.

He held his hands out as if approaching a skittish animal. "Before you run away, hear me out. This is a civilised business concern," he informed. He straightened his posture and started walking in the direction we were heading. The spike of panic had turned to a nauseating weight on my chest.

"Are you okay?" I muttered to Mia.

She had a similar look to what I assumed I looked like; her eyes round, startled by this man as she reached out to one of my hands and curled her fingers over some of my fingers. She gulped in response.

I made a long sigh and followed him. He slowed down for us and stayed silent. After about one hundred meters, he spoke, "Beautiful afternoon, isn't it?" he commented, he was looking at Mia, who kept her eyes down as she pressed her back against my shoulder.

"Please don't talk to her," I said. It was then I realised, could I go back to the dorm? Did he know where it was? He already knew my name, so I couldn't have imagined it would take much effort to find an address.

"Straight to the point man. I like that," he said, he suddenly placed an arm around me, the fabric of his jacket an uncomfortable cold against my skin. "Landon, I'm a businessman. And as a businessman I need to make sure everything works efficiently, so I can't have you go around beating up my collectors and ruining certain operations."

"You mean abductions," I corrected, trying, and failing, to shoulder off his touch.

"Mere details," he replied waving away the accusation. It was remarkable how young he looked, so carefree, so comfortable. "I'll level with you, my boy. Surely, you realise how much of a gold mine you're sitting on."

I narrowed my eyes, "Pardon?"

"It's not just the twins, Landon, but all of those girls are worth something. Daughters and the help of rich ass families who would pay anything to stay out of scandal? This could be payday for everyone, especially you, my friend."

I was anxious from his strange use of nicknames for me. "I'm not your friend," I spat.

He seemed offended as he took back his arm. "You hurt my feelings, Landon."

"And you scared the crap out of Amada and Amia yesterday," I countered.

"Oh, they're strong girls," he said with a smug expression, "Kids are like balls, they always bounce back." He made a dismissive gesture, "But I digress. For my business to run, everything needs to go smoothly. We don't have the time, and the resources, to deal with surprisingly agile bodyguards." He blocked my path and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm a reasonable man, Landon, and no harm would come to the girls if they behave." He seemed to brush something off my shoulder, "All you would have to do is turn your head the other way now and then. I promise we will make you look good in the whole exchange so that no one would know otherwise. We would certainly make it worth your while. Pay you handsomely for it."

I was perplexed.

He took another look at Mia, who was now clinging to my arm. "Could be worth your while right now. She doesn't cost as much, but I imagine the Ranks family would want her back."

My confusion was replaced with anger as I grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back. He seemed surprised, and barely caught himself. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say any of that," I growled, "If you don't leave now I will call the police, and If I see you anywhere near them, I will not hesitate to drop-kick you. Now go away!" I was a surprisingly calm looking person when I was angered. I understood one became more intimidating when their voice was level, when they didn't respond with violence, but could easily give off the threat.

The man smirked, composing himself from the shove. His attention wavered between myself and my bike, and I noticed I had let go of it. Mia was standing by the bike, having hopped off it when it almost fell over.

He cleared his throat and rebuttoned his jacket, "I wouldn't be so hasty, Landon. I just wanted this to be civilised, the two of us would have very little to do with each other. I figured you would be all for it, being a scholarship kid surrounded by filthy rich disabled girls." He seemed to find something funny, "The charm will eventually wear off, Landon. I'll let you think about my offer." He turned on his heels and started walking away, still calling over his shoulder as he disappeared. "I'll keep reminding you until then, keep an eye out for them. You'll know what they look like."