AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gabriel: I love u
Mason: Cops arrested him. Nobody can hurt him while he’s in a jail cell. That’s where he’ll be tonight.
Gabriel: I beg to differ
Jameson: Is somebody bailing him out????
Gabriel: I can hurt him anywhere
Mason: We’re not hurting him. He’s not a problem anymore. And Remy’s security was there. He didn’t get to her.
Jameson: Great thx for update
I open the front door of the SUV and toss my phone inside, which is a massive triumph of self-control. I want to snap it in half. My blood is at a fever pitch. How can Mason not see that this shit will keep happening until one of us—
Until one of us—
I get Snowball’s cage from the hood, buckle it into the passenger seat, and throw myself behind the wheel.Yes.Rationally, I know that this unhinged college megafuck didn’t kill our parents. I knowhedidn’t make sure we suffered the maximum amount.
But this is how it happens. Nobody says anything. Nobody does anything. They assume someone else will take care of it. They don’t understand the real problem, which is that judge.
Judge Beaufort Hayes.
He’s the one who blithely signed off on dropping three children and one eighteen-year-old into poverty. He’s the one who let this unbelievable prick keep on living his life until he hurt my sister.
He’s the one who has to be stopped.
“Not unless I stop him,” I tell Snowball.
He tweets as if to say,are you sure?
“I’m done waiting.” I’m talking to a bird, but that’s okay, because my mind is clear now. Sharp. There’s the adrenaline I was waiting for. There’s the plan, springing into my head fully formed. “By the way, how hard do you think it is to burn a house down?”
Snowball tweets what I’m pretty sure is the bird equivalent of a shrug.
“Good point. I need to make sure his house is nothing but ashes when the sun comes up.” I start the SUV and pull onto the road. “It sucks, Snowball, but sometimes you have to make your own justice. The silver lining is that the judge is going to pay.”
4
LILY
Monday is aday.
At our study group, Milliethwacks her hand on the presentation binder she’s set up on our table at the coffee shop. “Thisis how we can walk in on day one with a solid foundation. It’ll be tangible proof that we’re invested and enthusiastic, and, yes, it will involve more work than we’d originally planned. I’m sure you’ll all agree that the benefits far outweigh the sacrifices in terms of time. Lilith, it’s a good thing you don’t have to work, because…”
Because she has three weekly study groups lined up for what she’s calling ourImmersive Scholars Squad.Because she’s put together a list of additional readings and case law to memorize. Because we haven’t sent in our acceptances yet, and she’s ready to deploy a plan for success.
Well…Ihaven’t sent in my acceptance email yet. I have until Friday. Millie asked me whether I’d replied to the invitation from Columbia and took my raised eyebrows as ayes, but I haven’t.
I’d say I don’t know what I’m waiting for, but that would be a lie.
I’m waiting for something to happen that would get me out of this, which iswrong. I take notes on Millie’s schedule, which she’s constructed with military precision, and wish for a sudden change to sweep over the coffee shop. Maybe the entire street. Maybe the entirecity.
I wish for the world to be turned upside down enough for me to escape.
It doesn’t make any sense. This is the future I planned for. This is what I’veworkedfor. Everything is unfolding how it’s supposed to, and suddenly I have cold feet?
“Lilith.” Millie drums her fingertips on the tabletop. “Do you have any suggested changes to the schedule?”
