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“I don’t know what to do.” I leaned my head back against the wall.
“What’s she got on you?”
“As long as we’re together and I stay away from Miranda, she’ll leave her alone.”
Richard barked out a laugh. “No, she won’t.”
I lifted my head and looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“She’s going to make her life hell until school’s out.” He half shrugged. “It isn’t going to matter what you do. Think about it, man. Do any of her actions make you believe she’ll leave her alone?”
I shook my head. “No. But I think she’ll back off if I do what she wants.”
“I get it.” He shrugged. “We only have a couple weeks left of school.”
“Exactly. I can suck up being Vicki’s toy until graduation. I’ll break things off at the party, where I know she’ll be too drunk to care.”
“Solid plan, bro.” He reached out, and I clapped my hand with his as we stood up together.
“Thanks.”
Miranda
After Richard dropped me and Sophie off, I got my chores done and sat at the table working on my schoolwork while waiting for Grandpa to come home. I didn’t have to wait long; the dogs went nuts hearing his truck, and I braced myself for the lecture.
“Miranda Rose Walker.” He growled my name.
“Yes, sir.” I sighed, looking up from the table.
“What the hell were you thinking, taking the goat to the school? First of all, that is traumatic for her to be taken from her home and locked in a room on a small piece of rope. Second, you know they eat everything! Why? Why would you risk that?”
“It was just a prank.” I felt my bottom lip tremble.
Grandpa’s eyes narrowed. “That you came up with?”
I couldn’t lie to him, but I didn’t want to cause any more problems.
“Miranda.” He stepped closer to the table.
“No.” I let the tears fall. “Grandpa, I don’t want any more trouble. I’ll take the punishment since I was the dumb one whosaid okay.”
He moved to the table and sat across from me. “Henry Walsh is behind this?”
My head bobbed as I shook it. “I don’t care.”
“Well, I do.” He slammed his fist on the table. “I may be an old man, but I know what he came by for.” He leaned over the table. “And I know damn well that you wouldn’t have done anything unless you thought there were feelings.”
“I was wrong.” Snot dripped from my nose as my tears ramped up to a full sob. “He was so nice, and flirty, and made me feel …” I waved my arms around. “And he’s just a bastard like the rest of them!”
My grandpa got up and came over to me, wrapping his arms around me. “Honey. Not all boys are jerks. But until you find out who is good and who isn’t, you should protect yourself.”
“Grandpa, he wah … was so … so … so.” I hiccuped.
His large hand stroked the back of my head. “I know.”
I don’t know how long I sobbed, but eventually I took a deep breath and reached for a napkin to blow my nose.
“If they find out it was him, they’ll hold him back from graduating.” I looked up at Grandpa. “The sooner he graduates, the sooner he’s out of Port Stella.”
