“That’s right. Paige,” she said, light and airy just like her sister’s voice. Mrs. Hastings was always so soft-spoken. I recalled our sessions bringing me comfort because of that. She’d allowed me to say and be myself, and I nodded, folding my hands together.
“I was only on the prep team for like a minute,” I told her, chuckling a little. I’d only joined as a favor to her sister actually. Mrs. Hastings said it’d help me, allow me to come out of my shell a little and maybe stop being so angry or something? I’d been really angry then, was angry now.
But that was neither here nor there, and something I was sure Daisy didn’t want to know about.
I moved my jaw.
“So why are you out here?” I asked, unable to help eyeing those soft-toned legs peeking out from beneath her skirt. She was fucking hot, mature, and definitely wasn’t the type to be milling around a bunch of college kids.
Bumping a bit with laughter, she folded her arms. “Bribed to chaperon.” She shrugged. “This whole thing is my cousin’s party. Classic college kid. She needed a house, and I offered up.”
“And what did you get out of the bargain?” I moved closer, and she noticed. With a smile, her eyes drifted away.
“Knowing where she is, I guess,” she said, standing up. I noticed, too, she put a little distance between us. “She can be trouble. I wanted to make sure she was safe. What better way to ensure that than being around for her?”
Something not one person in my life would do for me. Well, besides my guy friends. No mature people in my life outside of them.
My dad was the ultimate heavy, and I couldn’t remember the last time voices weren’t raised in my house. I could never do right by him and probably never would. My dad was just as damaged as me, though someone would have to get him drunk to admit that. Where he took his pain from my mother’s death out on me with words, I ran. I got into shit and was probably just as much trouble as Daisy’s cousin.
In my silence, Daisy returned to my space. I knew because I smelled that warm sugar again.
“These are so cool,” she said, really finding value in my drawings.
I lifted a shoulder. “I dabble.”
“Well, you should do more than that.”
She asked, and I let her see more, the pair of us studying my little dabblings. I liked looking at her more than observing her reactions to the work. Part of that had to do with how goddamn beautiful she was, but the rest, well, her. There was something so raw about her intrigue, genuine and thought-provoking. I must have not seen it when I’d known her before, so much more angry then.
“Can I draw you?” The words fell from my lips before I could stop them. I didn’t want to stop them. I just wanted to be around her, see her.
Daisy glanced up at me, her eyes warm, but then some of that fell a little. She started to cover herself up like she was naked. She dug fingers into her jacket sleeves. “Probably not a good idea.”
“Why not?” I asked, needing to know. “It’s just a drawing.”
“Is it?” she asked, surprising me. She played with her hair. “I mean, I appreciate you wanting to do that. Well, flattered…”
“So what’s the problem?” I got in her space, maybe even a little too close. I wanted to smell that sugar, be around her more. My body leaned into hers, and I noticed this time she didn’t pull back.
“I’m married,” suddenly fell from her lips. She dampened them. “And you’re like what? Seventeen now?”
“It’s just a drawing.” I eliminated more distance and, bold, pinched her jacket between two of my fingers. “What’s the harm in that?”
Maybe I was stupid for getting this close to her, but it was just a drawing.
“Just a drawing,” she said, but didn’t pull away this time. “That’s all it can be.”
Twenty-One
The present
December
The jab hit my side the same time the car screeched to a stop and a second when I squealed. I screamed, bucking, and I was punched this time, so hard my face hit glass.
The impact shot hard heat right into my jaw, my head ringing, as I was told to shut the fuck up. I recognized the voice again, despite the bag over my head, hazing in and out, and fell to hard ground when the door opened and I slid out of the car. My hands bound, I couldn’t help it. They’d been tied behind me at Royal’s house.
“Let me go!” I screamed, a curdled shriek and so loud in my head. A strike slammed into my gut, and I bowed over, the moan falling from my lips. The bag ripped off my head, and my eyes fluttered from the sunlight, a face harsh and angry before me. Like the voice, I recognized it.
I just wished I hadn’t.
Principal Hastings, my principal from school sneered at me, his eyes wild and crazy as they roved over me. He was a shell of a man before me, his normally perfect hair disheveled and his dress shirt untucked with a button or two undone. I think I’d done that, fighting with all I could at the house. I didn’t have my pepper spray, not even thinking about it. I’d been merely going outside for breakfast.
How the hell could I have anticipated this?
I raised my head, my face and stomach searing from blows. Strands of hair fell from my ponytail, and Principal Hastings got
