Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
“You’re a waste of fucking space,” I spit out, ripping myself off of her body. She disgusts me.
“Yeah, well,” she huffs, dropping to one knee to rummage in her backpack for something. “What are you gonna do about it? Just tell me what my punishment is because I know you have something in store for me.”
“How do you know?” I ask, surprised. Thalia doesn’t strike me as a genius, to put it mildly.
She rolls her eyes, finding an elastic for her hair and wrapping it in a high bun. “If you wanted to hand me over to the police, you would have done so without this showdown. You’ve never had much interest in talking to me. It was more my pussy you were into.”
“You’re going to give me your drug dealer’s deets so I can nail this motherfucker’s coffin and put their ass in jail for a long time,” I start.
Thalia nods. That’s an easy sacrifice. “What else?”
“You’re going to write Bailey a genuine, heartfelt, sorrowful letter of apology for what you did to her.” I continue, “And you’re going to then give it to me to hand over to her when she is out of rehab.”
“She went to rehab?” Her eyes light up. “Actually, I’m glad to hear that. I was…I don’t know, worried after hearing she ended up in the hospital,” Thalia mumbles, shifting her gaze down.
Astonishingly, I believe her. I don’t think Thalia is a horrible person. I think she is misguided, with a side of fucked-up, but she lost herself too.
“And then you will remove yourself from our lives completely,” I finish. “That means I don’t want you to be anywhere in Bailey’s vicinity, ever, for eternity.”
“We live in the same area,” Thalia protests.
“Go out to Carlsbad,” I drawl out. “You gave her drugs that put her in a fucking coma, you moron. It’s jail or staying the hell away. Todos Santos is off-limits to you in eighty-nine days, when Bailey gets out.”
If she gets out. Maybe she decides to stay for longer. Maybe she relapses as soon as she leaves. Maybe she won’t even complete the program.
And what if she decides not to come back here? Needs to start fresh somewhere new?
I need to stop thinking about it before my head explodes.
Thalia takes a deep breath. “And you won’t tell anyone what happened if I do all those things?”
I shake my head slowly. “Oh, and one more thing.”
She stares at me expectedly as I stretch my palm open before her. “Bailey’s dove pendant. Now.”
She screws up her nose, looking around us.
With a huff, she shoves her hand into her pocket and hands it to me. I can’t believe she is brazenly carrying it around like it was given to her, not stolen. For a keepsake.
I put it in my pocket and immediately feel the relief of having something of Bailey’s with me.
This is not the goodbye I had in mind from this girl, who was my first time.
Then again, a lot of shit went sideways in the past few months.
“You know,” Thalia chokes out, “I knew you hated football. And I knew you were lukewarm toward me. But I always thought you’d cave.” She sniffs. “That you would accept what life offered you. It was a pretty sweet deal.”
I perch against the teacher’s desk, crossing my ankles. “It was,” I agree. “But I’ve never had a sweet tooth.”
Three days pass, then four.
I visit Jaime and Mel every day and ask about Bailey. They don’t know much. They get updates through her counselor.
Bailey doesn’t have phone privileges yet. Her counselor says she is making progress.
That she is an excellent rule-follower, and that she enjoys helping others. If this isn’t the most Bailey thing I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is.
In the absence of Bailey, and so close to graduation, I don’t actually have much to do.
I visit our doves. I find a recipe book Mom left behind and decide to memorize it by heart. Learn how to make all of her signature dishes. Stop depending on Bailey.
So I make Mom’s rigatoni, chicken noodle soup, and cinnamon-silan waffles.
Dad complains I’m bad for his six-pack and threatens to kick me out of the house.
Knight and Luna conveniently drop Cayden off every afternoon so I can feed him dinner.
One person I’m not seeing much of is Dixie.
I want to ask Dad where they stand, but I also don’t want to come off as pushy.
Wasn’t that my whole unspoken beef with him in the first place? To each their own.
It’s a random Friday night when Grim finally manages to drag me out.
Only because there’s a fair in town and I’m trash for blue cotton candy. Grim and I patched things up quickly after he became captain, but not before I did some groveling.
Before I go out, I tell Dad I won’t be home before midnight. Grim and I like to knock back a few beers after we go out, and I usually Uber it home.