Now that I had to look a little closer, I still held that opinion, but he was more athletic than I’d originally given him credit for.At least in appearance.Obviously, working out was part of his daily routine.He had a solid abdomen, and when he moved, his too-small shirt lifted to expose the top of what Hayat once jokingly referred to as the Ken-doll V when she was mouthing off to some gym-bro who was bothering my sister.Sixx had that same V, but I called it his Adonis belt.On him, it was sexy.On Gaviria, it made me want to puke.
I made it all the way up to my last class of the day, Physical Education, before I couldn’t take the anxiety twisting in my stomach any longer.Without letting anyone know, I skipped and walked home.It was only a little over a mile, and I needed time in the coastal air to think.
A few searches on my phone hadn’t revealed anything dramatic about the teacher harassing me.I’d hoped I could put his name into a search engine and magically have all his secrets revealed to me.But that was wishful thinking.Logically, I knew the only way I could do a deep dive on the asshole was to involve someone with more dark-web skills than I possessed.And yet, I didn’t try to call Mieke.
Soon, I promised myself as I quietly unlocked the front door and attempted to tiptoe up the stairs.I could hear Hayat and Abi in the living room, and I wasn’t up to hanging out with them.Thankfully, my parents were in their pre-tour mode, checking off their to-do lists to prepare for being away from home for the coming weeks.
After a quick shower, I changed into sweats and another one of Sixx’s hoodies before starting on some of my coursework.I was speeding through all the makeup assignments.Sixx had even helped me understand most of the Bio I extra credit the night before, and I submitted it via the online classroom portal.My teacher had been impressed and given me double the promised points.It helped to bring my grade back to where it should have been, but I still had to get at least a B+ on my final exam.
That was one more item I could scratch off my own to-do list, and it gave me room to breathe a little as I worked on figuring out the real clusterfuck.Frustrated, I did another search on Gaviria, this time using one of the pictures of him from the school website.To my surprise, it got me a hit.
As the information loaded, my stomach knotted tighter and tighter.Nausea lifted into the back of my throat, and my vision dimmed around the edges.A cold sweat broke out along my entire body as I read the article.
It couldn’t be the same guy, I told myself as my brain attempted to process the words I was looking at.Pacific Coast Cartel.Drug pipeline.Gang war.Gun smuggling.Human trafficking.Of the long list, I found myself clicking on the highlighted words “underground fighting club” when the picture that accompanied them drew my attention.
Bodies wrapped in white sheets lay on a dirt floor inside a warehouse.Agents wearing FBI jackets were in the background while a forensic expert was crouched down collecting more evidence.
Eight dead following raid on warehouse where PCC allegedly held fight club.
The article was dated two years prior.Five of the bodies were victims of losing their fights—because, apparently, the cartel was into the whole fight-to-the-death gladiator thing—while the other three deaths were PCC members who had shot at the agents during the raid.
Despite the stupid decisions I’d been making recently, I wasn’t an idiot.I knew that the reverse search on Gaviria’s picture that had led me to the warehouse fight was a huge red flag.Could my teacher be a member of the Pacific Coast Cartel?Chances weren’t zero, and that was enough to cause my stomach to roil.
Gaviria had the build of a fighter.But would my school—which was full of not only celebrity children like myself, but those of politicians and foreign royalty, for fuck’s sake—really allow someone like Gaviria to work there if he was connected to a cartel?
Sure, there could have been an oversight.Maybe he’d hidden his identity.He might not have used his real name.But it still felt weird that an establishment under the kind of scrutiny my school constantly was would make the kind of mistake that put their students in close proximity to a potential cartel member.
Closing out the tab, I cleared my search history.I knew that wouldn’t erase my digital footprint, not completely, but I wasn’t really thinking about any of that.My mind was stuck on the whole PCC thing.That fight club.The possibility that my teacher was in a gang.
And his attention was focused on me.
I was in so much trouble.
—
Mom found out that I’d skipped my last class on Tuesday and started asking questions.While my heart jumped and that stupid—smart—voice in the back of my mind screamed at me to spill everything right there at the breakfast table, I kept mutinously quiet.Which pushed all of Mom’s buttons.
By the time Evan honked his horn from the driveway, alerting me to his arrival to pick me up for school, she was all fired up.And I just sat there, glaring off into space while Hayat made her world-class waffles.She hadn’t left since she’d arrived to help with Abi, and I was glad for her presence.
I stole one from her plate after grabbing my bag and stomped out without a word to anyone, making sure to slam the door behind me.Because apparently, I needed to show the neighbors exactly how mature I was.
Evan gave me that sheepish smile with his cheeks slightly pink, his deep dimples popping.That was the look he got when he knew he’d done something that made me mad.Like unintentionally letting slip that he hadn’t driven me home the day before.Because I’d skipped.
“I’m sorry, Ali.Really.I had no idea your mom didn’t know you left early yesterday.With how sick you were on Monday, I thought you might have had a doctor’s appointment.”Remorse filled his aquamarine eyes, those damned thick lashes fluttering in that innocent way that begged forgiveness.“Please don’t be mad at me.”
Taking an aggressive bite of my waffle, I sat quietly.Heaving a sigh, Evan drove us to school.The entire trip, he attempted to engage me in conversation, but I chewed my waffle angrily.My pseudo-brother was a freaking narc, not to be trusted with the smallest detail of any secret.
Even if he hadn’t known to keep silent about my skipping class, he was such a pain in the ass.I would have covered for him without asking a single question.After fifteen years of friendship, growing up as practically siblings, where was the loyalty?
Pulling into his spot in the student lot, he groaned.“Are you gonna skip again today?Tell me now so I can either skip with you or at least know to avoid our moms tonight.”
I shrugged, unsure what I would do when it came to my last class of the day.
“Okay, here’s an easier question.”He slouched forward, his kind eyes scanning my face.“What’s up with skipping the end of school?It’s not like you.And it’s only PE.You show up, you participate, you pass.But you’re not showing up.So…”
Another shrug.My throat tightened.All the things I couldn’t say choked me, begging to be spoken.
Evan’s face darkened, the sweet boy disappearing, replaced by determination.“Ali, what aren’t you telling me?”
