Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
She gestured around the hallway as three slim silver bracelets jangled around her wrist. “Look at them. They don’t know what to do. Two big jocks are now buddies with one of the nerds. Classic, Shay. Classic. It’s like all their asses were turned upside down.”
I wasn’t sure about the imagery, but Gus thought it was funny. Just then, as my sister continued to laugh uproariously by herself, Leah and two other girls approached us. Or, well, Leah approached us cautiously. The other two stayed back, a few yards away.
Gus immediately stopped laughing as she eyed Leah down, hostile.
Leah fidgeted with the sleeve of her top. She wore a violet wrap-around light cloth shirt and kept tugging down the end of her sleeve, only to push it back up, and tug it down once more. The girl was terrified.
“Um…” She eyed us nervously and pushed forward bravely. “I was wondering… Do you know where your brother is?”
Gus stood to her fullest height, all five feet and ten inches. Comparing the two, Gus was the supermodel with her willowy figure, but I knew Leah was popular among the school. She was shorter by a few inches, slim, and her hair hung in two brunette braids that rested over her shoulders. There was a reason why Kellan had chosen to sleep with her, more than once.
“If he doesn’t call you, I wouldn’t go calling him,” Gus warned thickly.
Leah backed up a step, but remembered her need. “I need to talk to him. He wouldn’t talk to me yesterday, and I really need to talk to him.”
“Why? If you’re pregnant, it’s not his. I guarantee that.”
Leah flushed. “That’s not what this is about. I just really need to talk to him.” She glanced over her shoulder. I saw both of her friends give her supporting smiles, but neither of them budged forward. Leah was on her own.
“If you think you’re dating him, you’re not.” The hostility increased in Gus, but before she could say anything else, I intervened and pulled my sister behind me.
“This would go a lot easier if you told us what you wanted from Kellan. We might help you.”
Gus growled, which drew attention from every male in the hallway…who wasn’t already watching.
I elbowed my sister as Leah tugged her sleeve down again. “Um, well, Kellan said that he’d help me with this thing if I needed it. And, well, I guess…it’s like, it’s now, you know?”
“Not in the least,” Gus muttered through gritted teeth.
I rolled my eyes, resigned. I understood Gus’ reluctance to help. Bradens didn’t help, not usually. And no one ever sought Kellan out, much less for us to help in his stead. Still…I’d started the day out with a theme of helping. I might as well continue…?
“What do you need help with?” I willed the girl to bolster her courage and just blurt it out.
“Um…” She still faltered and then rushed out, “My stepdad just got home from a business trip. He’s a drunk and he…”
And everything clicked. Even Gus perked up. We both knew what Kellan had offered to do. I finished for her, dryly, “And Kellan offered to rough him up if your stepdad hurt you, didn’t he?”
She nodded, grateful.
I felt Gus’ glee as she asked, “What’d he do to you?”
“Kellan?” Leah asked, confused.
Both of us flinched. “No, you idiot. Your father. What’d he do to you?” Gus cringed again.
“He did some stuff. Could you call Kellan for me? I don’t have his number. I don’t even know if he has a phone, but…I…it can’t happen again. Kellan said he’d stop him.”
“We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.” Giuseppa was all smiles now. It wasn’t a sight Leah was used to, nor myself, but I was pretty sure it shocked Leah the most as she instinctually retreated three steps before she stopped. Her friends quickly moved backward with her.
“I…” Leah wasn’t sure what to say. Her eyes skirted between us again.
I smiled, or tried to smile, though I was a little apprehensive about what Giuseppa had in mind. “He’ll be taken care of by tonight.”
“You’ll talk to Kellan?”
“We’ll do it ourselves,” Gus muttered underneath her breath.
“He’ll be told. Promise,” I tried to reassure her.
“Okay.” Leah jerked a nod before she quickly melted among the rest in the hallway.
“We’re not telling Kellan, right?” Gus asked anxiously. She was the one to eye me nervously now.
“I just told her that he’d be told.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t say when. Let me handle this, Shay. Please. I haven’t had fun in a while.”
I tried to figure out what my sister intended to do. I stared her down, despite the innocent look she flashed my way. I knew my sister, and I knew she wasn’t going to pray for him. I warned, darkly, “Do not kill him. Do not do anything that’ll bring attention to us.”