Lennon Rose inserts the key into the lock, and when it clicks, the trunk pops open slightly. There is silence from inside. Lennon Rose slips the keys into her pocket and moves back a pace. She casts a concerned glance at Leandra, but the headmaster’s wife doesn’t say anything. She crosses her arms over her chest impatiently before whistling for Garrett like he’s a misbehaving puppy.
There’s continued silence from the trunk, and I pull my brows together with confusion. Did Garrett pass out? Is he scared? I open my mouth to call to him just as Garrett’s hand grips the bottom of the trunk, nudging it open wider. When I see him, I’m taken aback. He looks like a feral beast. His eyes are bloodshot ashe blinks in the sunlight, his hair askew and greasy. He bares his teeth and darts his gaze around at all of us. My blood runs cold when he trains his eyes on me.
“Stay calm,” I say. “We—”
But I don’t get to explain. In a swift movement, Garrett jumps out of the trunk and rushes for me. My hands are up defensively, but he knocks them aside and punches me hard in the jaw. I cry out, losing my balance and falling backward into the gravel of the driveway.
Garrett quickly spins, and then he’s on Lennon Rose, his fist knotted in her hair. He’s cursing and spitting and thrashing, but Lennon Rose fights back deftly. Her every swing lands, her scratches drawing blood across his cheeks. She plants her knee firmly in Garrett’s gut, knocking the wind out of him. But Lennon Rose is unprepared for the extreme violence of this particular boy, a boy unconcerned with anything other than vengeance.
Garrett grabs Lennon Rose by the shirt collar to pull her close before bashing his own forehead into her face. Blood immediately begins to flow from Lennon Rose’s nose, and she looks dazed.
My eyes drift toward the trunk as Leandra walks calmly in that direction. She reaches inside, pulling up the carpeting.What is she doing?
There is another wet thud as Garrett punches Lennon Rose. I scream for him to stop, scream for Lennon Rose, as I climb to my knees. When I do, Garrett glances at me with hatred in his eyes, blood running down his cheeks from where Lennon Rose shredded his skin.
“You’re next, bitch,” he mutters before licking the blood offhis lips. He spins around and hits Lennon Rose hard enough to knock her to the ground.
Before she can recover, Garrett begins to kick her, attack her. He’s going to kill her, all of us, if I don’t stop him. I grab a rock, a good-sized rock, and grip it as I get to my feet. A flash of movement catches my attention, and I look over in time to see Leandra test the weight of a metal tire iron in her hands, still calm, still poised. She glances at me with no noticeable acknowledgment, and as Garrett wraps his hands around Lennon Rose’s thin neck, pinning her on the ground, Leandra swings the tire iron.
She blasts Garrett across the head, knocking him straight to the gravel. She doesn’t stop there. She walks over, her stiletto heels crunching the small stones, and holds the tire iron over her head before bringing it down on Garrett’s scalp three more times.
I stare wide-eyed as the rock falls from my hand, a heavy thud next to Garrett’s body. Lennon Rose spits out a mouthful of blood and slowly gets to her feet. Her lip and nose are bleeding, and she dots them with the back of her hand before spitting again. She doesn’t say anything as she looks down at Garrett Wooley’s body.
“You…,” I start to say, my words barely gasps. “You killed him.”
Leandra sighs, squatting down to study Garrett. “It’s a shame,” she says. “I guess now we’ll never know.”
“Know what?” I ask.
“If he was anything more underneath. What are they without redemption? Now he’ll always be the bad guy.” She shrugs, not seeming to care one way or the other.
Girls with Rebel Souls
Raised on guilt and apologies.
They wanted to make you behave.
Stripping away your instinct of self-preservation
In return for their praise.
“Real love is sacrifice,” he says.
Keep his home.
Cook his dinner.
Lay in his bed.
“That’s all you’re good for anyway.”
You want to free yourself to:
Chase your dreams.
Forge a path.
Build a life.
