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IMANI
Friday morning, I sat in the cafeteria, across from Allie, and picked at my food. I had decided to come to school today because I needed to get my mind off things and see Allie. If I had stayed at home for another hour, I would have cried and cried and cried. I didn’t know why this was affecting me so much, but maybe it was because this was the first real death of someone relatively close to me that I had witnessed.
It was obvious that Redwood didn’t care about people. Hell, João didn’t even trust the police enough to have them take away his mother in an ambulance. He trusted his goons more than people who had vowed to protect the citizens of this town.
Maddie walked into the cafeteria right before Alec Wolfe, the guy I believed she was dating. As of right now, it hadn’t been confirmed, but Maddie kept staring at him in the halls whenever she got the chance.
“Do you think they’re dating or … fucking?” Allie said, following my gaze.
“They’re definitely fucking, but … I don’t know about dating,” I said, chewing on the inside of my lip and thinking back to João again. I had come to school in hopes of getting my mind off this all, but I couldn’t.
I glanced over at head cheerleader Nicole, who walked into the room behind Alec. She was dressed in her tight, tiny cheer uniform with a smile that looked so fake. It was funny that after one talk with her, everything seemed so different.
“Do you think Nicole is telling the truth about her being abused by her father?” I asked Allie.
She looked over at the cheer table. Nicole sat at the end of the table, picking at some mashed potatoes on her tray. While I always thought that she was the head bitch of the cheer team, her friends seemed to ignore her.
Shrugging her shoulders, she turned back to her food and frowned. “I don’t know.”
I munched on a carrot and opened my Biology textbook. “My dad wanted me to tell you that he got you an interview for next Monday after school. And when he says ‘interview’”—I did air quotes around the word—“he means that you already have the internship at his company. You just have to go talk one of the HR guys.”
It wasn’t spectacular news, but it was better than talking or thinking about João’s mom.
Allie stared behind me, her gaze far away and her face expressionless. It was how I felt deep inside. Part of me wished that I could’ve stayed home today with João and Landon as they fixed up Landon’s house, but I couldn’t miss another day.
As my mind wandered, my gaze did too, and now, Maddie was outside in the hallway, chatting tensely with Alec.
“Earth to Allie!” I said, waving a hand in front of her face and wanting to talk. When she glanced at me, I nodded to the hallway. “Do you think that they’re banging extra hard, seeing as Alec is Maddie’s brother’s best friend? You know how we love all that taboo shit.” I winked.
She snorted and grinned. “I don’t know, but he’s like a walking hockey god. I sure hope she’s getting it good.”
“Who’s a walking hockey god?” Jace said, walking toward us, arching a brow, and plopping his ass next to her.
“Alec,” I said, sipping on my chocolate milk. “Captain of Redwood’s hockey team.”
Jace leaned closer to Allie. “You think he’s hot?”
Allie gnawed on the inside of her cheek and gave her best awkward laugh. “Um, yes? But don’t worry about Alec. I only date guys who are one thousand percent more asshole-y than he is,” she said, nudging Jace.
Jace arched his brow and grasped her jaw. “Well, this asshole”—he pointed to himself—“expects you to be at Senior Night tomorrow. And you’d better not be late,” Jace mumbled against her lips. “Or I’ll excuse myself from the field to come find your ass.”
“Well …” I said, scrunching my nose at Allie and standing from the table. “I’ll leave you two to get handsy together. I have to get to class. Talk later, Als.”
After packing up my things, I walked out of the cafeteria and down the hallway to my locker. Akio stood next to it, rubbing his hands together and frowning at me when I arrived. I opened my lock and pushed in my lunch box. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” he said, but he looked beyond stressed lately.
“Has anything happened with your parents lately?” I asked, wanting more information.
After meeting his father at the store yesterday, something didn’t feel right. I didn’t know if he had been there to intimidate me or what, but it was really throwing me off amid all this other stuff happening.
He went to open his mouth, then snapped it shut. Pain crossed over his face, and I could tell that he was still hurt from the other day when his parents must’ve kicked the shit out of him for talking to me. This must’ve been risky for him, but still, he was willing to risk another beating.
“What is it?”
“What happened the other night?” he asked me. “My parents were gone and didn’t come home until early morning. When we had breakfast, they were oddly quiet and mentioned Poison the few times they spoke. Do you know anything?”
I looked back at Kai, who lingered in the hallway a few feet away, his jaw clenched. “I shouldn’t tell you. It’s really not my place, but someone close to them committed suicide.”
