by Kai Juniper
"I don't recall you asking my permission to leave," he says, tapping the golf club on his palm.
"I didn't want to bother you at work."
"Let me explain to you how to deal with this situation going forward." He steps up to me. "Chadwicks don't walk out on their obligations. School is an obligation, and you will remain there for the entire day whether you feel like it or not. Leaving because you feel ill is a sign of weakness, and Chadwick men don't show their weaknesses. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes." I keep my eyes on the golf club he's holding, prepared to get out of the way if he decides to swing it at me. He seems annoyed I skipped class but not angry, like I expected, but that doesn't mean he won't hit me. I used to be able to read him better and predict how he'd react, but I'm not able to anymore. When my mom moved out, he changed. Now I never know what he's going to do.
A noise comes from upstairs and my dad immediately looks up. "What was that? Is someone here?"
"No. I didn't hear anything."
He grabs my chin, yanking my face up. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"
"No."
"Your mother lied," he huffs. "She lied all the fucking time and thought I didn't know."
He's getting angry, and he's going to take it out on me, with Ella right upstairs. She can't know about this. Nobody can. I need to get away from him.
"May I be excused?"
He takes a step back, pointing the golf club at me, touching the end of it to my face. "You ever lie to me like your mother did, it'll be the end of you. Understood?"
"Yes," I say, but I have no idea what he means. He'll hurt me? Kill me? Who the hell knows? He's capable of most anything.
"Go," he says, lowering the club. "I won't be home until late. I'm taking the clients to dinner after we golf."
I turn to leave.
"Oh, and Briggs."
"Yes?" I turn back.
"See if you can talk to your instructor about finding a new partner for those assignments you've been working on. I don't like you associating with the Quinn girl."
"It's too late to switch partners."
"Talk to your instructor and ask if it's possible. If you're unable to do so, I'll call and ask her myself."
"No. I'll do it. Is that all?"
"Yes."
I go upstairs and back to my room. Ella's not there. I look in the bathroom, but she's not there either.
"Over here," she says from my walk-in closet. I go in there and find her sitting on the floor, looking at one of my travel books. "Is he gone?"
"No, but he's leaving soon. He came home to get his golf clubs."
She jumps up and comes over to me, reaching up to my face. "Why is your chin all red?"
"I didn't know it was." I rub my hand over it. It's still warm where my dad was grabbing it. He does that all the time, so I'm used to the pain. I barely notice it anymore.
"Did something happen?"
"No," I say. "I was just rubbing my chin. Sometimes it gets red when I do that."
She eyes me like she doesn't believe me.
"Did you drop something up here? I heard a noise."
"My phone. Sorry. I dropped it on the bathroom floor. I was checking to see if there were any updates online about the guy, but there weren't any."
I point to the book in her hand. "I can take that."
She hands it to me. "I didn't know you were so into traveling. You have a lot of books."
The books are research. I'm trying to find a place to go after I leave here and finally get my freedom. I have books for all different countries. I haven't decided where I'll go, but the farther away the better.
"I like to read about different countries." I put the book back on the shelf.
"Have you been to many?"
"When I was younger we traveled a lot, so yeah, I've been to a lot of places. And when my grandparents were alive, I took trips with them in the summer."
"You don't have any grandparents left?"
"No. My mom's parents died when I was too young to even remember them, and my dad's parents died a few years ago in a plane crash. It was one of those small private planes."
"I'm sorry."
I shrug. "Nothing to be sorry about. Shit happens."
She smiles. "That seems to be your motto."
"Because it's true. Shit happens and you just have to deal with it."
Thinking that way is how I get through living here. I could shut down or get all depressed about it, but that would just be giving my dad more power over my life. I'd rather just find a way to deal with his tantrums until I can get the hell out of here and take my life back.
"Were you close with them?" she asks. "Your grandparents?"
"Not really. They didn't relate well to kids. They treated me like an adult and expected me to act like one. When I didn't, they'd send me home."
"They don't sound like fun grandparents. No offense."
"None taken. And it's true. They weren't fun, but I didn't really care. I didn't see them that much."
My grandfather was just another version of my dad. Way too serious. A workaholic. Obsessed with making money. I don't know if he had a temper like my dad, but I'm guessing he did. I just didn't see it. He probably treated my dad the same way my dad treats me.
I hear the garage door close and go out to the hall to look out the front window.
"He's leaving." I watch as my father drives down the road to the gate. I want to make sure he's gone and doesn't turn back. When the gate's closed, I go back in my room. "Okay, we're good."
"Can I ask you something?" Ella says. "And I don't want a made-up answer. I want the truth."
This doesn't sound good. I already don't want to answer whatever she's going to ask.
"What is it?"
"Does your dad not want me hanging out with you?"
I decide to be honest, because her question already implies she knows the answer. "No. He doesn't."
"Is that why I was hiding up here?"
"Actually, I wasn't even thinking about that. I just knew he wouldn't believe my story for why I'm not at school if he found out someone was here with me."
"Did he tell you to stay away from me?"
"He didn't use those exact words, but he told me to find a new partner for lab. I told him it's too late, but once he gets his mind set on something he's determined to make it happen so we may not be partners for much longer."
"Are you saying we can't see each other anymore?"
I smile. "You don't know me very well."
"Meaning what?"
I go up to her and bring her into my arms. "I do what I want, even if my father doesn't approve. I play along and let him think he's in charge, but when he's not around, I do what I want." I lean down and kiss her. "And I want to do that again. And do what I did to you in the pool, and on the bed."
Her cheeks flush and she looks down. "We should probably stop doing that."
"Is that what you want?"
She shakes her head. "No."
"Then why would we stop?"
"Because I feel like we shouldn't be doing this, especially with everything going on with the accident. We should be putting our time towards that, not what we were doing earlier."
"There's nothing we can do about the accident but wait and see what happens."
"What about the text you got?"
"I think Finn did it as some kind of joke. He's not even worried about it, which tells me he did it."
"You really believe that?"
"Who else could it be? Nobody was there that night. Nobody saw us."
"What about Parker? Does he think it was from Finn?"
"He said it's not, but he's covered for Finn before. I'm not going to worry about it. What we should be worried about is that guy we hit remembering shit and telling the cops. I need to get Finn and Parker to take this seriously and stop fucking around."
"School just got out. Call them and see if they'll come over so we can talk about this. Oh, wait, you can't. Yo
u have practice."
"Not today. Coach cancelled it." I get my phone out. "We can't let Finn and Parker know about us. Parker already thinks something's going on and I don't want him finding out he's right."
Ella nods. "I agree."
There's a part of me that wishes I didn't have to keep Ella a secret, but that's the world I live in. The two of us aren't supposed to be together like this. We're not even supposed to like each other. Now we do, and I feel like I'm losing control. I never should've kissed her after that first time, but I did, and now I can't stop.
How is this going to end? I still need the valedictorian title to get the hell out of this house, and taking it from Ella is the only way to get it. But now I'm falling for her. I care about her. I have feelings for her. So how do I take something from her that I don't deserve?
Chapter Eight
Ella
Briggs and I go out back and wait on the patio for Parker and Finn to arrive. We decided to meet by the pool, which is probably a mistake since looking at it reminds me of what we did in there, and almost did. I'm still surprised Briggs didn't get mad about that, and that he continued making out with me even after I told him we couldn't have sex. I thought he'd stay away from me after that, especially after getting all worked up in the pool.
I always imagined Briggs being the type of guy who only cares about himself and his own needs, but it turns out that isn't true at all. What he did to me in his bedroom? I can't even put into words how amazing that felt, and he didn't demand I return the favor. I probably would've if I wasn't so out of it after what he did to me.
The back door swings open and Parker appears.
"Skipping class today?" Parker says to Briggs.
"Took the afternoon off. I was tired and didn't want to be there."
Parker's eyes go to me. "What about you?"
How did he know I left? Is he keeping track of me?
"I had a headache so I went home."
"Little Miss Perfect missed class for a headache? And it just happened to be when Briggs took off?" He huffs. "You really think I believe that?" He sits down across from me at the table that's next to the pool. It's a long wooden table with six chairs that's probably never been used since Briggs and his dad never come out here.
"Believe what you want," Briggs says, sitting at the end of the table. "I don't have to prove to you where I was or what I was doing. It's none of your damn business."
"It is if you're fucking someone in the group." Parker glances at me.
"I'm not doing anything with Briggs," I say, like the very idea disgusts me. "You know how much I hate him."
"You used to. You don't now."
"Just shut the fuck up," Briggs says. "I'm sick of talking about this. I'm not doing anything with Ella."
"We're supposed to be together on this," Parker says to Briggs. "And then you go and break up our alliance by fucking Ella?" He shakes his head. "And you're supposed to be the smart one."
Briggs slams his hands on the table and leans forward, glaring at Parker. "For the last time, I am not doing shit with Ella. Accuse me again and you're gonna have my fist in your face."
Finn comes out to the patio. "Why are we meeting out here?"
"Because I wanted to," Briggs says, keeping his eyes on Parker. "Now sit down so we can get this over with."
Finn yanks out the chair next to Parker's and sits down, his eyes bouncing between Parker and Briggs. "What's going on? Why are you looking at each other like that?"
"Because Briggs won't admit that he—"
"Misses Aubrey," Briggs says, sitting back in his chair. "Parker thinks I made a mistake by breaking up with her."
"You did," Finn says. "She's the hottest fucking girl in school. I don't know what the hell you were thinking."
"I was tired of her," Briggs says. "She's a bitch and she complains all the time."
"Every girl's like that," Finn says.
"Uh, no, they're not," I say, annoyed that he thinks that.
"Okay, everyone just shut up so I can tell you why we're here," Briggs says.
"Yeah, tell us, Master," Parker says, rolling his eyes. "Share with us your wisdom."
Briggs bolts up from his chair, leaning over the table to Parker. "You want to take over? Be my guest. Tell us your plan for keeping our asses out of jail."
Parker shrugs. "We go on with our lives. Forget it ever happened."
"And it'll just go away? You really think that?"
"It's worth a try."
Briggs laughs a little as he sits down. "Group vote. Who votes for doing nothing and hoping for the best?"
Parker and Finn raise their hands. Parker notices my hand is down and gives Briggs an I-told-you-so look, like he just proved his point that we've formed some kind of alliance because of our alleged relationship. I don't know how Briggs and I can keep this hidden when Parker's watching our every move to prove we're together.
"So what happens when the cops show up at your door?" Briggs asks. "Or when they take the Range Rover for evidence? What are you going to say when they haul your asses off to jail for questioning?"
"I'll call my lawyer and he can do the talking," Parker says.
"Exactly," Finn says. "The cops can't make us talk."
"If you don't talk, you look guilty," Briggs says. "And what are you going to tell your lawyer? You can make something up, but if it goes against the evidence the cops have, they'll know you're lying."
"You obviously have this figured out," Parker snaps, "so just tell us what to do so we can get the hell out of here."
"I haven't figured it out," Briggs says. "But I know that ignoring it and hoping it goes away isn't a plan."
"We're here because we need to talk about what to do if the guy we hit tells on us," I say. "The investigator is talking to him today and there's a good chance he'll remember something and tell her."
"We already know all this," Parker says.
"Isn't your dad sleeping with the cop?" Finn asks me.
"He's not sleeping with her. They just started dating."
"He's fucking her," Finn says, like it's a fact.
"Ask her what she found out," Parker says to me. "Is she coming over tonight?"
"I don't know, but even if she was, she's not going to tell me anything. I already tried asking her about the case and she said she can't talk about it."
Parker leans across the table to me. "This is what you do. Tell your dad to get the chick wasted, then get him out of the room so you're alone with her, then ask her what she knows."
"That's not going to happen. We don't even have alcohol at the house. My dad doesn't drink."
"Seriously?" Finn laughs. "That explains a lot."
I shoot him a dirty look. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"We're getting off track," Briggs says. "Let's go back to what we're going to do if this guy remembers us. I was thinking we could just deny it and say we weren't even there that night, but we can't do that because of Ella's dad. He knows we picked her up on that road, and he knows when we were there, not the exact time, but close enough."
"So tell your dad to lie," Finn says to me. "Problem solved."
"He's not going to lie," I say. "Even if I told him the truth about what happened, he still wouldn't lie."
"Even to save his daughter?" Briggs asks.
I pause to think about that. Would my dad lie for me? To protect my future? I can't imagine him lying to the cops, but maybe he would. When we talked about him turning himself in if he ever hit a guy and left the scene, he said he wouldn't do it if it would harm his family and their way of life, so maybe he would lie for me.
"I guess he might," I say, "if telling the truth would hurt my future."
"Then that's the answer," Parker says. "If the guy tells them it was us, we deny it and say we weren't on the road that night. The only other people who know we were there are Aubrey and Scarlett, and they were wasted so whatever they tell the cops can't be trusted."
"What if Ella's dad only
lies for her and not us?" Finn asks. "He could say she wasn't with us that night so she gets off while the rest of us rot in jail."
Briggs sighs. "That's not going happen."
"Why the fuck wouldn't it?" Parker says. "He knows all the shit we did to her at school. This is his chance to punish us for it."
"He doesn't know," I mutter, looking down at the table.
I feel Briggs' eyes on me. "You didn't tell him? About any of it?"
"No." I look up at Briggs. "He didn't need to know, and I didn't want him to. But he still doesn't like you guys. He thinks you're always getting in trouble."
"You mean at school?" Briggs asks.
"No. Other stuff. Like he heard that Finn was breaking into boats down at the docks."
Finn laughs. "Shit, I forgot about that. I was so fucking wasted that night. I was trying to find this girl. She was on one of the boats, but I couldn't remember which one. The cops thought I was trying to steal shit until they found out who I was." He looks across the table at me. "How'd your dad know about that?"
"Someone's pool guy told him, or he overhead it. I can't remember. I just remember him saying to stay away from you because you get in trouble." I pause. "Were you the one who put drugs in my locker?"
"That was Parker," Finn says. "But it was from my stash. Did you try it?"
"No! And you better never do it again. I could've been arrested for that!"
Finn shrugs, like it's no big deal. "What'd you do with the drugs?"
"I was going to flush them, but Scarlett took the bag before I could."
"No shit?" Parker says. "Since when does she do coke?"
"You really don't know that girl, do you?" Finn says with a laugh.
"She must've gone through it fast because she asked me to get her more," I say.
"What the hell?" Parker throws his hands up. "So now I'm dating a coke addict?"
"Another reason to dump her," Briggs says. "I'm sure Aubrey does that shit too."
"She was looking for you this afternoon," Parker says. "She asked me where you were."
"What'd you tell her?"
"I said I didn't know. She looked pissed. She's not going to let you go without a fight."
"She can do whatever she wants. I'm not going back to her."