A secret room? I would never have imagined. What else could my parents be hiding from me? 

I was set to explore when I heard my mum scream “Paul!”I ran out of the basement to see her hovering over my sister’s unconscious body.

My name is Paul. My family is not regular, as you might have deduced. My parents were extreme disciplinarians, I’m talking; food, leisure time restrictions and even sending their children to live in the basement as punishment, this was how I discovered the secret room. My sisters and I are introverts, a personality obviously influenced by the kind of upbringing we had.

Investing solely in my studies kept me in my Dad’s good books most of the time. I did this because my punishments were always the worst. That didn’t last long, some of my classmates were jealous, they couldn’t fathom how I always topped the class. Then the rumors began, I had been stealing test questions. My calm look was just a facade.

On the day things fell apart, I was in a Biology class when the school secretary called me to report to the principal’s office. The principal had gotten wind of the fake news and I was summoned by the school’s disciplinary panel.

I watched in despair as my classmates testified against me one after the other. It broke my heart but I didn’t have friends so no one could vouch for me. My class teacher looked betrayed, I was the student she would always brag about and now the pride was being replaced by shame.

My dad’s eyes screamed disappointment; disdain written all over his face. “How could you bring such shame to this family?!”, 

From the corner of my eyes, I could see my mum shake her head in disgust, “The apple is truly never far from the tree”, she said under her breath. I wondered what she was talking about.

“You’ll move into the basement until the school asks you to resume".

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