Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
The windshield shattered underneath the bat, cubes of glass scattering the ground. With each whack, I swung harder and blamed myself more until sweat covered my brow and my damp shirt clung to my skin like cellophane. I thought laying claim to her would protect her, and in turn, I had set things in motion that ruined her.
I was just as toxic as the city of Dayton. And I didn’t know how to fix it.
* * *
My shoulder ached the next morning from swinging that damn bat, which made it a pain in the ass to turn my bike around the sharp corner that led to the school.
Wolf stood outside the front doors, smirking at the phone in his hand. “Dude,” he turned his device around. I skimmed the headline about the Barrington Star Football Player, Victim of Gang Violence. “Gang violence?” Wolf cackled before cramming his phone in his back pocket. “That’s hilarious. You’re a gang now, Zepp.”
He gave me a congratulatory whack to the back when we started through the entrance. I had threatened Max within an inch of his life if he so much as hinted to the cops it was me. And for once, the dipshit must have listened.
Wolf and I parted ways, and I went straight to Monroe’s locker, waiting against the metal door while the guy on the other side of her door shuffled through his books. I searched the crowded hallways for Monroe’s red hair until the tardy bell rang. Locker doors clanged shut, and the lull of conversation fell silent when kids shot off to their first classes. I sent a text to Monroe: U not coming to school?
The whoosh of the toilet in the girls’ bathroom echoed through the empty hall. “I heard the entire thing all started over her sleeping with their quarterback,” a girl’s voice drifted from the restroom.
I moved away from Monroe’s locker, shifting closer to the open doorway. “She’s dating Zepp…” another girl’s voice floated into the hall.
“Please, Courtney. Zepp Hunt doesn’t date girls.”
“I heard those Barrington guys do some pretty shitty things to Dayton girls—” The roar of the hand dryer cut into their conversation.
My jaw tensed while a helpless, sinking feeling crept through my chest. There was nothing I could have done to change this. The rumble of the dryer cut off.
“Come on. Like you said, she’s screwing around with Zepp Hunt. She has to be a whore.”
It was like someone had doused my body in gasoline and threw a match. By the time they rounded the divider that kept people from seeing into the restroom, I could feel the veins in my forehead pulsing.
“Who would drug a slut?” The girl froze, her mouth still open when both girls stepped into the hallway. The shorter of the two clutched at her friend, eyes wide and cheeks stark white. “I uh…”
“Need to learn when to shut your fucking mouth!”
They both jumped when I slammed my fist against the locker, leaving a dent in the metal before I turned and headed to my class.
Monroe: No
And God, was I glad she wasn’t coming. At least it would give me a day to get the dumbasses in this school straightened out.
14
Monroe
My chemistry textbook was open to the section about covalent bonds, my scribbled notes scattered over my bedspread. The rock music blasting through my earphones made it hard to focus, but I would rather strain through the rift of guitars and drums than my mom’s theatrical moans.
Studying was the only way to keep my mind from tripping over the what-ifs, the only way to keep me from thinking about things I didn’t want to acknowledge. I didn’t realize the time until I got up to use the bathroom and noticed the sky outside my bedroom window was dark.
I had just settled back onto my bed with my calculus book when my phone dinged.
Jade: U around?
Guilt pressed down on me like a lead weight. I hadn’t checked on her, too wrapped up in my own self-pity. God, I was a crap friend.
Me: Yeah. Are you okay?
I felt horrible about what had happened to her. And responsible. Jade was still naïve, and I wasn’t supposed to be, and yet...
Jade: I’ll come get U?
Me: Sure
I shoved my books to the side and grabbed my jacket before leaving. When I passed Wolf’s trailer, I found myself checking the drive for Zepp’s bike, disappointed by its absence. I continued down the dirt path to the entrance of the trailer park, kicking myself for caring where Zepp was.
A lone headlight cut through the dark, followed by the chug of Jade’s run-down Jeep pulling onto the shoulder. I yanked the dented passenger door open and slid onto the tattered seat. An oversized hoody—that I was pretty sure belonged to Wolf—practically swallowed Jade’s tiny frame.
“Are you okay?” I asked.