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“Do you promise?” Kaylee asks. “Do youreallypromise?”
Hazel swallows, and her smile feels forced.
Lie to them. You have to.
“I promise,” she says, doing her best to appear genuine.
Kaylee sniffles and nods.
“Okay,” the little girl whispers.
Crisis adverted, for now.
“What if we wrote Connor a card, all signed it, and I gave it to his parents?”
The idea leaves her mouth before she can second-guess it. If she could somehow talk to Connor’s family, maybe they could confirm he’s alright.
There’s no way they would send him tothatisland, right?
Connor, the sweet, smart little boy who constantly asked questions and always played with Kaylee and Allen.
The children agree enthusiastically to write their friend a letter, and the rest of the day goes by without a hitch.
* * *
The bell rings,and Hazel heads to the front of the school, card clutched in her hand.
She runs into the superintendent having a heated discussion with a Beta woman.
Hazel recognizes her immediately.
Connor’s mother.
Whatever she was about to say dies the moment the Beta woman meets Hazel’s eyes.
“You,” Connor’s mother snarls. “You’re the reason he’sgone.”
Her eyes are haunted as she stares at Hazel with malice. “My son would still be here if it wasn’t for people like you.”
A sharp sting spreads across Hazel’s cheek, and it takes her a moment to realize the child’s mother struck her.
“You Omegabitch,” she hisses at the same time the card for Connor falls to the floor.
A school security guard steps in between them, pushing the mother away as Hazel stares on in disbelief and shame, her cheek burning in pain.
“I’m…I’m so sorry,” she chokes out.
“That’s not good enough!” Connor’s mother snaps, her body trembling with rage and heartbreak. “I haven’t seen my son in aweek.You’re the reason they send Alphas away. It’syourfault—”
The superintendent shouts for help while the security guard leads Hazel out the front of the school building and toward the parking lot.
It’s not my fault,Hazel wants to say.I didn’t make the rules.
The guard quietly escorts her to her car and watches as she shakily opens the door, cocking an eyebrow when he notices the pack of cigarettes below the passenger seat.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that,” the officer says quietly.
Any other time, she would roll her eyes. It’s not that it'sillegalfor her to smoke or drink, but it’s generally frowned upon for an Omega.
