The rumor mill is in overdrive, especially when Finn and Parker are no-shows, and gossip is rife about The Bulls gunning for their asses.
Couldn’t happen to two more deserving people, and I have zero remorse for the fact they’ll pay for my crime. I couldn’t give two fucks whether they live or die.
Beth is in my English lit class, and I wait until the teach has arrived before entering the room. I purposely head toward Beth’s seat, glaring at the girl sitting behind her until she gets up and moves. Then I spend the full forty minutes sending daggers at Beth’s back, breathing down her neck, kicking the back of her chair, and poking her with my pen.
She’s stiff as a board, and quiet as a mouse, enduring my torment, because I’m sure she’s freaking the hell out.
Finn and Parker are MIA, the school is scheduling interviews with students to try to uncover the truth, and, although there’s no proof, because the guys have sent the freshman into hiding—preferring to seek justice the vigilante way—if it comes out, she is most likely facing an aggravated assault charge. She’ll do time.
She knows all this, and she won’t want to do anything to draw attention to herself, so she stays quiet, and I get to torment her in peace.
It’s juvenile and petty, and completely beneath me, but I’ll take the enjoyment where I can.
By the way she hightails it out of class, I know she’s pissing her pants, and I fully intend to torture her any chance I get over the next couple weeks. By then, we should have a plan to ruin her.
“You enjoyed that,” Caz says, coming up to my desk as I stash my books.
“Not as much as I’d enjoy breaking her nose and shoving her teeth down her throat,” I honestly reply.
He slings his arm around my waist, steering me out of the room. “I’m starting to forget what it was like before you barged your way into our lives.”
“Dull and boring as fuck,” I quip, leaning my head on his shoulder in a rare show of vulnerability.
“Hey.” He stops in the middle of the hallway, tipping my chin up. “She’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that, Caz.” I shake my head, worrying my lip between my teeth. “What if she’s not? She’s my best friend. The only person I truly know to have my back no matter what.”
He brushes hair off my face. “We’ve got your back, princess.” He rubs his thumb along my cheek, peering deep into my eyes. “The question is, do you have ours?”
_______________
Thursday is onestrange as fuck day. I wake up to Mom perched on the edge of my bed with her finger pressed to her lips. “There’s no cameras in here, right?” she whispers, anxiously looking around.
I rub sleep from my eyes as I straighten up in the bed. “No,” I confirm over a yawn. “I removed them. Why?”
She glances at the fading hickeys on my neck, frowning. “I need to ask you something.” She moves her gaze to my face, straightening up. “Did you take anything from the study after Dad died?”
If Mom’s asking questions, I guess something must’ve gone down or Sinner is resorting to her doing his dirty work.
Sneaky prick.
And he obviously thinks I’m a complete idiot.
“No, of course not,” I say, deliberately appearing confused. “What would I have taken? I did find Saint and the guys in there recently going through Dad’s stuff, so maybe, you should ask them.”
“I will,” she says, but she can’t look me in the eye, so I know she’s lying.
“What’s going on, Mom?” I’m not expecting her to tell me, but there’s still some teeny, tiny part of me that’s hopeful.
She stares at me for ages without speaking, and I can almost see the wheels turning in her head. It’s the first time we’ve been this close for weeks, and I’m only now noticing the purple shadows under her eyes and the newly formed worry lines at the corners of her mouth. Her voice cracks a little when she eventually speaks. “I know our relationship is a little tenuous right now, but I need to ask you for something.”
Is this woman for real? A little tenuous?Try it’s fractured and splintered with little chance of salvation.And she’s the nerve to ask something of me?Not fucking likely. Still, curious minds want to know. “What is it?”
“Stay out of the house as much as you can over the next few days.”
“Why?”
She knots her hands in her lap. “Just stay out of Neo’s way, sweetheart.”
