"How do you know that?" Jesse asks.
"You should hear the talk in the locker room." Tera rolls her eyes again. "They're pathetic. They think if they hang around you enough you're going to ask them out."
"Meaning… steady girlfriend?" I inquire.
"Yep. You should have known better than to mess with those prissy girls."
I shrug. "I didn't mess with anyone."
"Uh-huh," Tera replies, rinsing her plate in the sink. She turns around and the light in her eyes is gone. Something major's about to go down. "Look…"
"What's going on?" Linc asks.
"I stopped home to pick up my sketch pad. Mom was 'entertaining' again," Tera says softly, looking down.
"What happened?" I ask. "Did someone hurt you?"
Her head snaps up and she looks at me. "No."
"But?" Jesse prods.
"But they wanted to. I managed to get out of the house before they could catch me."
"What the fuck?" Linc shouts. "And Mom was going to let them?"
Tera nods.
I stand and walk over to her, pulling her to me. She's shaking.
"It's all right, T. It'll be all right. You can stay here as long as you need to," I inform her. I know my dad won't have a problem with it, and even if I do have issues dealing with Tera being a hot chick, friendship comes first—and she's one of the best ones I've got.
Linc looks at me. "I think it's time to talk to your dad when he gets home."
I nod. "Yeah. It's time he knows what's going on—withallof you." I give Kennedy and Ethan pointed glares but they're looking at their plates. I've seen enough bruises on those two to know something bad is going down.
Their moms are into drugs and whoring for their next fix. It's why they spend most of their time here. I think my dad already knows, but it's time they tell him straight out. I think I know what's going on over at Ethan and Kennedy's houses too, and if it's as bad as I think it is, something needs to be done fast.
