Chapter 11
I hold the stare on her for a while until she blinks, I will always win. My father pushes my chair towards her, closer and closer. Though I’d rather not go any further, stop me there. But no my father pushes me until I’m all the way in front of her. I could reach my hand out and touch her if I had wanted to. “Show her where your room is Jeremy, go on. I have to go to work now. I’ll see you when I get home,” His shoes clack on the marble floors, and then he opens the door, and leaves us.2
Leaves just me, Roxy and the open space of opportunity. Out of all the people he had to choose a girl too great. I’m not looking forward to this at all. “So, um, Jeremy where’s your room?” Why is she blushing? “Um, It’s upstairs,” Suddenly the flushing in her face went away and it was replaced with confusion. “Upstairs? But you’re in a wheel chair wouldn’t be easier…” She was cut off soon after, “We have and elevator you know,” I point at the elevator. “OH, that makes a little sense,” Her eyes smiled at me softly. She’s so beautiful I thought, but not a beautiful as Rachel was. My dearest… “Jeremy, you there?” Ops, I zoned off again. “Yeah I’m sorry I’m just thinking about some things right now, let’s go.” 3
She helped me to the elevator, pushing my chair then pressing the button. The doors slide open and she gasps. “What is it?” I say. “You have five floors?” She puts her fingers to her lips and stares at the five buttons in the elevator labeled correctly. Her blue eyes turn to me then. “Yes, there are. Does that surprise you?” She looks down sadly. 4
It pains me, as she looks down sadly. I hate suffering, and I can see it in her eyes. I’m too kind, and I get too attached to everything. Even this new girl’s sadness touches me. “Well, I come from a very poor family. We’re use to living in very small houses. So when your father called me I took the job, for my family,” See, I want to be like her. To have a purpose, she’s doing this for her family. To support the people she loves. But what a horrid job she has been asked to do. Really. My father asked her to be my friend, that’s just wrong. 5
“Fourth floor Roxy,” Roxy pressed the button labeled four and the elevator begins to move. Wow, look how small her hands are though. “Your hands are really small.” “What?”6
“I said that your hands are really small see,” I pick up her hand on put it on mine7
“I guess you’re right,” She smiles; my fingers overlap hers by about an inch. 8
“Um, how old are you?” She pulls her hand back softly9
“I’m sixteen,” 10
“So you lost your ability to walk when you were only fifteen?”11
“Yeah,” I look at her softly seeing the sympathy in the way she looks back12
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all, she doesn’t seem that bad. “I’m sorry” she says13
“What do you need to be sorry for?”14
“Asking personal questions, your father told me not to”15
“Ah, that’s alright Roxy you can ask me anything you want, were going to be friends after all right?” 16
Her face lights up and she smiles at me “Yeah, I guess so.”17
Then our first conversation ends as the elevator opens. And she pushes me out. “To the right,” I command, so pushes me to the right down the hall way. “The whole fourth floor belongs to me, all of my game rooms, art rooms and all of my things are up here. The second, third and fifth floor are my father’s for personal reasons, I really don’t know what are on the floor but I am forbidden from going g on them. The 1st floor is just for show.” She looks at me and stops. “But then where are the kitchen and living room and dining room?” I smile at her. “I have my own up here; this floor is one of the biggest.” Her amazement continues. “REALLY?” “Yeah,”. She continues to walk down the hall. “Right here the last room,” She pulls into my room and she stops. “Oh my god, this is amazing” My room has four walls, and is quiet big. Two walls white two black. I themed it likes a black and white room. IN picture frames all around the room are pictures of different types of still life. They’re of course are all black and white pictures. In either black or white picture frames. I black plasma TV hangs on my wall opposite to my bed. “Jeremy, this is so amazing where did you find these pictures?” 18
“Roll me over to the drawers near my bed.” She rolls me over to my white drawers and I open one. Then I pull out my professional camera, and hand it to her. “WOW, you mean, you took all these pictures?” so turns to look at the pictures on the wall. “Yeah, it’s a 2,000 dollar camera, its works really nice,” she goes up to one of the pictures. Up to A picture of a girl laying on the floor in a long black dress. “Wow she’s so pretty, you took this one too?” 19
The picture she’s pointing at, took me a long time to take. It’s a 400 dollar dress. With lace trims, the girl with short black hair is lying down and facing the right side of her face at the camera. In the background is a waterfall, it’s beautiful. “Yeah,” She looks the picture up and down. “Who is this? Is she a model?” my face turns pale and I turn my chair around “No, she was a friend of mine” Roxy turns around and follows me. “What do you mean was?” She hands me my camera and I set it on my desk. “She died,” I hear her gasp from behind me. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that,” I look down sadly “It’s alright; it’s not your fault. It’s not like you knew.” 20
“How long ago did she die? I mean, sorry I don’t want to bombard you with questions if it still pains you-”21
“It’s alright; she died almost a year ago now. It was an accident, a miscalculation on my part. It’s over and down with now.” 22
“I’m sorry…”23
“I know you want to ask questions…just go ahead” 24
Her hand hangs down “Ok, what happened?”25
“She was killed, murdered ruthlessly.”26
“Jeremy,” She reaches out her hand to me and touches my shoulder27
“Yes Roxy?” I turn my shoulder to see tears in her eyes28
“I’m so sorry,” 29
“Roxy, why are you crying? Please don’t-”30
“No it’s alright, I’m such an Emotionalist I’m sorry. I know you think it’s weird that I’m crying over all of this. But it affects me somehow, I’m so weird” 31
She then wipes her tears, and her hand falls from my shoulder. “C’mon lets go,” I move myself out of my room and down the long hall way. “Where are we going?” She looks at me. “Where do you want to go?” I stop. “What do you mean?” 32
“Well we have a computer room, theatre room, indoor pool room, art room, music room, library, kitchen and living room,” 33
“Wow” 34
“It’s a little much for you?” 35
“Yeah, and it’s just on this floor?”36
“There are more rooms then that on this floor you know”37
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?”38
“Yeah,” I laugh39
“What are you laughing at?”40
“You, I guess we can go to the photography room sense you like my picture”41
A smile lit up on her face, her teeth were perfect. I have been fortunate to have a friend like her. She doesn’t seem that bad. She doesn’t seem like the type of person that my father would hire. Maybe, just maybe I will enjoy this. Having like a friend I guess. Being able to tell someone my secrets. 42
I doubt it43
“So Jeremy what’s in the photography room?”44
“Photography?” 45
She laughs, following me down the hall way. Then we stop and I open a small door on the left hand side. 46
“Here we are” 47
I push myself in the room slowly and she follows me into the darkness and I close the door48
“it’s so dark in here I can’t see!”49
“Just wait a moment.” 50
I grab a small remote out of my pocket and press a small button51
Dim light aluminates the four walls around us and an option menu come up on all the walls, the options listed are 2006, 2007, and 2008. I click 2008 and a picture comes up on the walls. Projecting the picture on all the walls, And After a while the picture changes. Again and again is happens. Roxy twirls in amazement. “Wow, you took all of these pictures too?” I smile as a picture of Niagara falls come up “Yeah, these are the pictures from last year, Or all the ones I took last year I mean.” The picture changes and a small girl with a umbrella appears. “Where do you take all these pictures, and get all of these models?”52
“That little girl I saw on the street one day when I was running last year, I stopped and told her how pretty she looked and I asked her parents if I could take a couple pictures of her with her little umbrella. The pictures turned out great, and I posted them online a little while back. The pictures I took got into some magazine. I got plenty of money, which I gave to the little girl’s mother and father. Most of the models are not models, just real people.” 53
“Jeremy, you’re so amazing, I imagine rich kids very selfish. I was very wrong. I’m sorry,”54
Though I can only see the parts of her face lightened up by the screen she’s looking at me. She doesn’t look sorry at all. She looks sad. I wonder why.55
“Roxy, its ok I mean I thought you weren’t going to be nice at all either. I mean my father asked you to be my friend, I didn’t know if I could a respect a person who took that job”56
“What?”57
She looked at me very confused58
“Your father didn’t ask me to be your friend, is that what he told you??” 59
I sighed and put my head down. My stupid father, god what’s wrong with him? I mean why would he tell me that? Then I felt her hand on my face as she tilted my head back up, and looked at me. 60
“Jeremy,” She looked at me softly, why was she so kind and gentle? Why didn’t she treat me differently?61
“Yes Roxy what is it?” her hand moved down my cheek and then she pulled it back. Then I closed my eyes for a moment and I don’t know why, but it did then I opened them again. She was still there. 62
“We need to go to bed now.” 63
“Yeah I guess you’re right,” 64
Roxy pulled away, and headed towards the door65
This is going to be a long week I thought66
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