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JACE
With fury raging through me, I sat in the principal’s office with my arms crossed over my chest and Carter’s blood on my hands. He fucking deserved everything that I gave him, even Allie agreed. She hadn’t stopped me. He had been damn set on getting on my every last nerve since he couldn’t do it in football anymore.
“What the fuck was that, Harbor?” Coach Carol scolded, shutting the door behind him. He dropped my backpack by my chair and walked around what once had been Principal Vaughn’s desk, giving me a look of disapproval. “Shit like this will get you kicked out of Redwood, and everything you’ve worked for will go down the drain.”
I balled my hands into fists and pressed my lips together, glaring at the mahogany desk. I didn’t have an answer for him because I wasn’t going to let Allie get disrespected and touched by scum like Carter. She hadn’t asked for him to touch her, so I hadn’t asked if I could hurl my fist into his face.
Simple as that.
“What’s gotten into you?” Coach Carol asked. “You’ve been hanging out with the Poison boys too much. Something isn’t right with you. I can tell. I know when you’re holding something in, Jace. I’ve coached you for years.”
Growling under my breath, I looked up at him. “What do you want me to say? That I’m fucking tired of all these stupid fucking rumors? That I can barely sleep lately because of my father? That I worry endlessly if Allie and her mother will survive another day in that house?” I snapped, unable to keep it all in anymore.
Coach Carol was the only adult that I had ever really opened up to; the words seemed to flow from my mouth when I was with him. I didn’t know how to shut the fuck up, and he didn’t know when to stop pushing me for information.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved the guy, but some things were better left unsaid.
Almost as if he didn’t know what to say, Coach frowned, leaned back in the seat, and adjusted the Redwood cap on his head. He twirled a pen between his fingers and stared out the window. “You get into another fight, and I won’t be able to protect you next time. Get help, Jace. Don’t do this alone.”
After relaxing my fists, I looked him in the eye. “I’m not doing it alone. Don’t worry.”
Coach looked over. “I didn’t mean ask Poison to help you with … whatever the fuck you’re up to. If you get in trouble, you …” He shook his head and grimaced. “I don’t want to see you dead, Jace. You’re like a son to me, and I know how corrupt Redwood is. People go missing, and nobody says a word about it. You need to be careful with who you trust and what you do.”
Unsure if I should tell Coach about my plans, I clenched my jaw. “I will be, but I can’t endure this anymore. I’m prepared to do what it takes to protect my family from assholes like my father. And you should prepare too,” I warned him, knowing that Redwood was really about to turn on its head tomorrow once that video was released.
“I don’t know if I should ask you what that means, son,” Coach Carol said.
I licked my bottom lip, nerves zipping through me. Allie and I had to get through the next couple of days in peace and without Dad finding out about her mother, so she could get an abortion, and I could finally give Dad everything that man deserved.
Tossing my backpack over my shoulder, I stood up. “Thanks for always being there for me, Coach. But you don’t want to know. Redwood is about to turn into chaos. Protect yourself and your wife. I thought I should tell you that at least because … you’ve been more of a father to me than anyone else.”
