Third-Party Aggression
Harper
The afternoon is more of the same. By the time I’m walking out to my car after school, I feel almost calm. The guys have appeared to back off entirely, but I haven’t quite gotten my hopes up yet.
When I get to my car, my tire is flat. I stare at it for a moment and then heave a sigh. This happens sometimes. One of my tires has a slow leak. I never remember which one it is.
I text Mom to let her know why I’m going to be late and throw my backpack in the car. Popping the trunk, I get out everything I need to change the tire.
Mom made me change my tire five times before she would let me get my license. She didn’t want me to have to rely on the kindness of strangers to get myself out of a jam.
When the tire is off, I notice a slash mark in the sidewall. Either I clipped a curb or…
I stand and look around the mostly empty lot. No one is around. But suddenly it feels like eyes are on me.
I didn’t clip a curb this morning. A smattering of cars are around the parking lot. Of course the horsemen’s cars are stillhere. I don’t know if they would do this to me. I don’t know what it would give them besides me being irritated.
That bound up feeling I had when the knocking happened fills my chest. Trapped and not knowing who is out to get me.
Ugh. Fuck that. I have to finish this and get home. One step at a time. I put the spare tire on and get busy. When I lower my car, I hear a stampede of footsteps running toward me.
I stand and turn to see the football team running through the other end of the parking lot. Oh, joy. I roll my damaged tire to my trunk and lift it to throw it in before returning for the tools.
Someone stops running and stares over at me. I resist the urge to hold up my middle finger at Caden. He glances at where the others have gone but then cuts across the parking lot toward me.
I don’t have any energy left to deal with these fuckers right now. I replace all the tools in their spots and close my trunk.
“What happened?” Caden glances at the spare tire before his eyes dart to my face and then my dirty hands.
“Flat.” I grab a couple of napkins from my car door and scrub my hands with them. Not that they do much for the grease.
“This happen a lot?” Caden glances over his shoulder, but the rest of the team has moved on.
“Sometimes. I have a tire with a slow leak, but this tire—” I stop. Why am I telling him any of this? We’re done. Finished. They’ve made it perfectly clear they want nothing more to do with me.
“This tire what?” Caden’s eyes meet mine. “Harper, what aren’t you telling me?”
He closes in on me, and I swear even his sweat smells delicious.
Fuck it. He’ll leave faster if I just tell him.
“There was a puncture to the sidewall. I don’t think I hit any potholes on the way to school this morning, so…” I shrug andback up against my car to get away from him. “You should get back to practice, and I need to get home.”
His face goes hard, and his eyes narrow on me. “So someone slashed your tire?”
I shrug again. “I don’t know.”
“Show me.”
“Caden—” I start.
“Harper, show me the tire.” He closes in a little more and gives me a fierce look.
Sighing, I head to my trunk. He follows closely. When I open it, he pulls out the tire as if it weighs nothing and squats down to study it. The hole is pretty obvious, so it doesn’t take him long.
He stands and searches the surrounding area like whoever’s responsible will just be standing there with a sign sayingI did it. Then he lifts the tire into my trunk and closes it, taking my keys and pocketing them.
“Come on.” He grabs my arm and starts pulling me toward the school.
