Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 99766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Me: We’ll talk to her.
Grandma: I know she’s in a lot of pain, Terry. If it’s not a man she’s worrying me over, maybe it’s that ankle of hers.
Me: I promise we’ll get to the bottom of it. I’ll encourage her to see Garrett if it’s bothering her. She trusts him and he’s a good doctor.
Grandma: Thanks. You’re a good boy. I love you.
Me: You’re just buttering me up so you can see Zella.
Grandma: Bring that baby to me or I’ll beat you.
Me: There’s the grandma I know and love. I’ll text you later.
I go through a mental list of everything I still need to get for Zella’s party. Everyone is coming over Saturday for a “river adventure.” Zella pretty much planned her party herself. She’s so sassy as she becomes more comfortable in her own skin. I fucking love that kid. Penny and I will need to swing by Sam’s Club to pick up the swing set I ordered. The guys are going to help me build it on Friday afternoon while Zella and Penny decorate the house. I want it to be a surprise for Zella when she wakes up on Saturday.
My planning gets interrupted when Karen and two officers enter the classroom. I knew this was coming, because Penny confessed this particular secret the day after we got back together, but it still took me by surprise. Both the girls at the back of the classroom stare in horror as the cops approach them. Karen shoots me a grim look and I nod at her.
“Keep it quiet,” I warn the other students who have begun to whisper. “Your test better be done by the time that bell rings.”
Karen winks at me, proud of my no-nonsense, take charge authority. The woman is a hardass herself, so she can appreciate a strict teacher.
Liv and Heidi both start the waterworks as the officers cuff them. They’re eighteen now and the shit they’ve been pulling won’t go without consequence. Liv sobs, shooting me her saddest stare, but I’m immune.
They deserve this.
Penny and Cal are little detectives. After what Penny did to Eli, she made it her mission to continue to take down everyone connected with her humiliation and sexual assault. Cal, a vigilante for justice himself because of what happened with Charlotte, was all too happy to help. Unbeknownst to me, while Penny and I were broken up, my best friend was helping Penny gather her evidence.
Though it was described as a sex crime ring, what those kids were doing was less sophisticated. Brutal and fucked up, but certainly not organized. The law sees it as black and white, though. Penny wasn’t the first girl to get caught up in their shit and certainly wasn’t their last. Grayson, Eli, Aaron, Paxton, Heidi, and Liv will all be arrested today. Between testimonies from other students, video evidence, and texts stealthily gathered by Penny and Cal, the police were given more proof than they could deny. The girls got sick satisfaction in helping the boys by drugging other girls they didn’t like. Grayson and Eli were the main orchestrators, their crimes dating back to the days when they were friends with Ryan and he’d do the same to Charlotte, but Paxton quickly became one of the ring leaders.
Hopefully, these kids will have to answer for their crimes. Only time will tell. It sure sets an example for the other students.
You fuck with the Hoodlums and the Hoodlums fuck you back.
Knowing Cal wants to run this school as principal one day and Penny wants to arrest every-fucking-body, I know my ass will sleep easier knowing the shitheads in Hood River will think twice before they commit crimes.
Karen and the policemen leave quietly, two horrible bitches in tow. The bell rings shortly after and everyone rushes to turn in their papers, already gossiping about what happened. I collect the tests and shove them into my laptop bag to grade later.
I’m tidying up my desk when three familiar faces enter the classroom. Cal has his arm slung over Charlotte’s shoulders, a smug grin on his face. He and Penny high-five before she rushes over to me. I pull her into my arms, boldly kissing her pretty lips.
“School project, huh?” I tease, nipping at her bottom lip.
“I aced it,” she brags.
Cal chuckles. “Those assholes deserve what they have coming to them.”
“I did get satisfaction when someone texted me a picture of Heidi in cuffs,” Charlotte admits. “She was such a bitch to me.”
“What’s everyone’s plans?” Cal asks. “I’m hungry.”
“I gotta run Zella over to Grandma’s so we can pick up the swing set.”
“We can go with you and take my truck,” Cal offers. “Rhetta misses me.”
“The only person my grandma misses is Zella. I swear she forgot we all exist,” I grumble as I pull my bag over my shoulder and take Penny’s hand. “But, yeah, let’s go get Zella from your mom.”