I don’t like this. This is wrong.
Why can’t I move?
Why can’t I speak?
“What the fuck is this?”
His voice.I know exactly who that voice belongs to, and it breaks the spell I’m under.
I whip around. “Hayes, what are you doing here?”
“Me? I came here because I thought you might’ve been sad about missing prom,” he’s yelling at me, but his eyes are focused on Mr. Arkett. “Why the fuck are you touching her?”
“She was upset. I was only comforting her.” He puts his hands up, trying to convey innocence, and I can only look at him in shock.
I didn’t expect him to admit that he was behaving inappropriately, but hearing him sound like such a coward is jarring.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Hayes accuses. “He’s why you’ve been so distant with me?”
“No. I mean… I don’t know, maybe.” I’ve always prided myself on being a smart girl… But that was the absolute wrong thing to say.
Mr. Arkett starts to back away, fleeing to the safety of thegroup when Hayes snaps. He lunges at him without warning and tackles him into the fence.
“No!” I scream, hearing the wind knocked out of my teacher, before he takes him to the ground.
That’s all it takes to garner attention from other students, and the swarm starts gravitating towards us.
Jensen’s punches are wild and erratic, hitting Mr. Arkett in the face over and over again until I realize he’s lost it completely. He’s crazed…
“Hayes! Stop!” I beg, screaming his name until my throat is raw. “STOP!”
He throws blow after blow, even after Mr. Arkett has long been out of it. It feels like the entire school is watching as teachers shout and run towards us.
My fingers tear at Jensen’s shirt, but it’s no use. He’s fueled with fury, and I’m nothing compared to him.
That’s when I see all the blood.
It’s everywhere, spraying out of Mr. Arkett’s face each time Hayes’s fist connects.
Raw flesh splits open, flooding his face in red.
My stomach lurches, and I fall to my knees in the grass. “Hayes, stop!” I beg again, barely able to get sound out.
Noah rushes over, pulling me further from the violence happening, but I fight him as he does, even though my body is weak and I’m near fainting from seeing the blood.
“He’s a fucking psycho. Stay back,” Noah warns, forcing me to stay in one spot.
Everything in front of me happens in slow motion.
One of the football coaches rushes Hayes, tackling him off of the lifeless teacher, but he doesn’t stop. He keeps fighting to get up like a rabid animal. Flinging his armsand kicking his legs as he yells.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” A voice demands, and time stops altogether. Hayes’s blood-spattered torso goes limp as his father arrives on scene. Accompanying him is half of the police force.
He grabs Hayes by the collar, yanking him up off the ground. “You’ve embarrassed me for the last fucking time, boy. You’re finished.”
He tosses his son to the officer on his left and wipes the disdain off his hands. “Throw the book at him. He’s no son of mine.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
