"Get up

"Get up!" I was yanked from my straw pallet by my hair and thrown to the floor. I had overslept again. Miss Mar was very strict about that. I gasped as I hit the hard wooden floor. "Your lucky I haven't kicked you out on the streets yet, next time I will! There's much work to be done and I expect it to be done, is that understood?"

She looked at me as if I were a disgusting insect; she peered right through me with her dark miniature eyes. But all I could do, was to stare up at her from the dark floors and mutter the only words she has ever accepted from me. "Yes Miss Mar."

I live in the downstairs basement. I hate it down there. It is so dark and cold all the time. I worked at an all boy's dorm. Their parents would send them here when they went to war, or they wanted them to get a good education. As far as I knew the schooling was known to be the best.

As for me, I have always lived here. My mother used to work here, and in return, I , her daughter, was given schooling, and a bed to sleep in. I never knew my father. My mother also never spoke of him. But when my mother died I was left, completely alone in the world. No family at all.

Miss Mar would have kicked me out on the streets and would never have thought twice about it, but instead my mother's friend, Mary, took me in. She also worked at the all boys' dorm. She and my mother had been close friends. I never got to know her much before, because any time I had, was spent with mother. But when she took me in, she became my new mother. She begged Miss Mar to let me stay. Miss Mar finally agreed, but said that I would have to equally earn my stay.

That could only mean one thing, I was to become a slave girl.

Everyday was the same. Wake up, go up stairs, help prepare breakfast, serve breakfast, remove the dirty dishes, wash the dirty dishes, clean the dorms, do the laundry, fold the laundry, and of course tend to every whim of the boys. But there is one boy in particular that I especially hate and have always hated. His name is Alex Collins. Since the day I started working, he has done nothing but make my life miserable. As if it already wasn't. He merely added to my burden, and would laugh when I fell over. He was treated with the utmost care by Miss Mar. She treated him as if he were her own son. He had the finest and biggest room out of all the dorms. His parents were always gone, whether it be on business, or vacation. Most of the time he would simply vent his anger out on me.

I hated him.

Today, I could tell was not going to be a very good day. Miss Mar was already angry with me for oversleeping. And I had missed serving breakfast. There was nothing else to do but to start on the next item on my list of chores to do. Cleaning the dorms, the worst part of the day. I went to each dorm and cleaned it up. Making the bed, vacuum the floor, dust the shelves, fold the clothes, and take the dirt ones to be washed. Which was disgusting!!

I would always go to every other room, before finally winding up at "his "room. I did me best to make sure every other room was crystal clean, and sometimes I overstayed my welcome, arranging, and fixing tiny things that didn't need to be fixed. They would just tell me to get out, or literally kick me out.

Finally it was done! I had cleaned very dorm, except his. I had no other choice. If I didn't show, he would simply tell Miss Mar and then she would be convinced that I was not up to par in my work, and put me out on the streets. Well here I go. I walked up to the door and gave it a quiet soft knock. Maybe if I knocked softly he wouldn't answer and that would mean I could leave. Because as a maid/slave of the house, I needed their permission to enter. If he didn't hear me, I was free to move on to my other chores!

I dreams were quickly shattered though when I heard the quick jab of Alex's voice.

"Come in." I hesitated to turn the knob, for I wanted to prepare myself mentally to deal with him today. " I said come in!" He sounded irritated, not a good sign. I opened the door to find him sitting on his bed reading a heavy thick book.

"Oh, it's you." He said with disgust hanging from every word. I just ignored him and tried to clean the room as quick as possible. "Where were you at breakfast?" He leaned forward on the bed, and smiled his evil grin. "Did you sleep in?" He laughed, and added, "again?" I just tried to focus on my work, the sooner I finished the sooner I could leave. But I could tell that he knew he was getting to me. "You know if it wasn't for Mary, you'd be out on the street begging for food more than you do now."

He just wasn't going to stop. Just calm down Jena, calm down. My face was boiling with anger, I could feet the red in my face, the steam radiating off my body. "If I were Miss Mar, I would have put you out a long time ago, you don't even deserve the treatment you get now. If fact, you aren't even worthy enough to lick the lent between my toes." He chuckled at his own sick joke. His laugh sent shivers down my spine. My heart was pounding like a great drum.

I didn't expect myself to do it but I did. I exploded!

"Shut up Alex, you're just a spoiled rich brat, whose parents don't even have enough time to spend with him. Whose parents love themselves more than their own son! So just shut up and leave me alone!" Well my anger was gone, but I knew I went over the top. Oh crap!

For the first few moments neither one of us said anything, which was rare for him. Then he moved. He closed his book, and set it aside. He looked at me again with his piercing sapphire eyes. They held nothing but anger. He slowly slide off his bed and started towards me. His slow movements scared me, I didn't know what to expect from him. I dropped the basket of dirty clothes and headed for the door.

I had only opened the door a few inches before it was slammed shut by Alex's hand. He stood right behind me, breathing down my neck. My body began to shake. I tried to tell myself that I was just hungry, but the fact was, was that Alex scared me. With his hand still holding the door closed he whispered in my ear, "Look at me." I refused to look at him, I refused to give in. "Look at me Eva." I shook my head. Not even a second later, his arms encircled my body and threw me over his shoulders. I was in shock. He threw me on the bed and pined me down with my arms above my head and his body weight on top of me, so that it was impossible to kick him where it hurt. I closed my eyes. "Eva if you refuse to look at me your leaving to night." My eyes shot open, straight into his blue ones. He smiled, "there we go, that's better. Now, care to repeat your last words?" I was actually going to repeat them but he cut me off before I could speak.

"You won't ever talk to me like that again, do you understand!?" My ears were ringing, with how loud he shouted. "And the next time you do, I will have you whipped! Is that clear?"

"" I couldn't believe how fast I answered. In fact my words weren't really words they were just jumbled up. I inwardly kick myself for letting him instill so much fear into me and having as much power over me as he did.

"Good, now clean up the mess you made, slave." He grinned at the last word he added in. It only made me squirm with anger. He laughed as I tried to free myself from his grip. He lifted up his weight and threw me into the pile of dirty underwear and shirts. I just sat there staring at him with anger in my eyes. Only this time he just smiled and laughed at me. "Go clean my underwear; it's not like your good for anything else, just like your mother." I quickly gathered up his laundry and left the room immediately fighting the tears back that were already starting to come down. In the back of my head as I ran down the hall, all I could hear was Alex's evil laugh. I swear one day I will kill him!