“Quinn.” He pauses a moment. “The people who live in the trailer?”
It’s not a trailer but I’m not going to argue about it. My father hates Ella’s house, saying it’s an eyesore that should be torn down. When my mom moved out and he bought this house, which is just a couple miles down from the Quinn house, mydad went to city council and demanded they force Ella’s dad to sell the house to the city so they could tear it down. It never happened and he’s still furious it’s there.
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“How the hell did you get stuck with her?”
I shrug. “The teacher assigned the partners. I didn’t get to pick.”
He rubs his jaw, watching me but not saying anything.
“I’m going to bed.” I go around him to the stairs.
“Did I say you were excused?” he asks.
I walk back to him, my muscles tightening as my anger builds. Can’t he go one fucking day without yelling at me? Without telling me what a fuck-up I am?
“Did you talk to your advisor?” he asks.
“I didn’t have a chance.” I look away, not wanting to see the disappointment in his eyes. It’s all I ever see when I look at him — disappointment. In me. His only son, who can’t seem to do anything right.
“I asked you to do one thing today.One. And you couldn’t manage to do the one thing that I asked?” He circles around me, rubbing his jaw. “Why is that, son? Did I not make myself clear?”
“You did, but she wasn’t there today. She took the day off.”
He stops in front of me. “That’s funny, because I called your school this morning and spoke with Ms. Whittaker myself, so I can assure you, she was very much there.”
Fuck, fuck,fuck.
“The office secretary told me she wasn’t. She must’ve made a mistake.”
“I doubt that.” He steps closer, looking down at me. He’s six-four, but at six-two, I’m catching up. I’m hoping I keep growing so I can be the one staring down at him.
“I’ll talk to her tomorrow. I promise.”
He grabs my shirt, yanking me toward him. “What have I told you about lying to me?”
“You said not to do it.”
“And yet you did. You know what that means, don’t you?”
Before I can answer, the back of his hand slams against my face, throwing my head to the side. My skin burns and pain shoots through my cheekbone from his class ring. I swear he only wears it so it’ll hurt more when he hits me.
I stand there, waiting for this to be done. Fighting back will just result in punishments. He’ll take away my car, then my spending account. I’m not willing to give all that up, not when I’m so close to being done with this. May isn’t that far away and then I’ll be out of here. I just need to get through a few more months.
“May I be excused?” I ask.
He lets me go and paces the long open foyer, shaking his head. “Since you didn’t do as I asked and talk to Ms. Whittaker, I asked her myself about your current status. It seems you’re not first in your class, but second. Were you aware of that?”
“No, but I’ll make sure I’m number one by the end of the semester.”
“You don’t have a choice. We had a deal.”
The deal is that he’ll give me the car if I’m valedictorian. It’s a limited edition, custom designed Porsche worth $290,000 and my ticket to freedom from this hellhole. Once the car is mine, I’ll sell it and use the money to move away and live on my own. I’ll never have to see or talk to my father ever again, and I won’t have to spend my life working for his company.
So yeah, I wasn’t lying when I told Ella Ineedto be valedictorian. If she ends up coming in second, she’ll still have her freedom, but if I do? I’ll be chained to this bastard forever.
“I know what has to be done,” I say. “I won’t let you down.”
