“I’d like that.”
“Shit!” Harper hissed, staring at her phone. We all turned and looked in her direction.
“What’s up?” Nick asked.
Raising her head, she replied. “Nothing, it’s just my brother. He’s on his way to get me.”
After saying bye to the others and heading back the way I came, I started to pick up the pace, worried about being late for dinner.
A horn sounded, startling me, and I stepped back as a Jeep swung in through the gates into Lang's car park. The window was down, and I could see the hulk that I knew as Phoenix in the driving seat. He was alone.
His eyes locked on mine, and I turned away. His expression suggested he had a lot on his mind. There were deep lines formed across his strong brow.
As his tyres screeched against the concrete, I jogged across the road and turned to watch the car pull up next to where Harper was standing. My eyes flew over the scene across the parking lot.
Anticipation bubbled inside me as I watched Harper stomp around Phoenix’s car and climb into the passenger side.
What. The. Hell?
Harper had said her brother was picking her up? And then I put all the strands together.
Harper was Phoenix’s sister? I couldn’t imagine they were blood related, maybe she, too, had been fostered by the Sawyer lady. And then that next thought hit me like a punch in the face. That meant Harper was also the sister of Reed and Micah and, of course, Hudson.
My thoughts travelled back to that first day in the library.
“I’ll speak to my sister, Harper.”
BOOM!
At that point, I wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing to befriend Hudson’s sister. Maybe she could put a good word in for me?
And maybe not.
My intention of walking and getting fresh air had become much more than that. I had gotten to know Harper, found out she was related to the Sawyer boys and had met a few new faces.
So why did I suddenly feel so guilty? Like I had been involved in something I shouldn’t have.
That thought remained with me for most of the night.
ELEVEN
HUDSON
After replying to a message from my friend Tommo, I slid my cell into my pants and waited. I knew Molly had been at school that day as I had seen her sitting in the bleachers during practice.
The bell for the end of the school day pealed, and I leaned my shoulder against the wall and waited.
Doors everywhere burst open, and students scurried out of their classrooms and towards their lockers like the school was on fire.
Rubbing the back of my neck, impatience gripped me as multiple juniors who were not Molly trickled from her classroom. And then, finally, a flash of blonde hair whizzed past me.
Molly darted from the room like she was late for something, casting a worried glance over her shoulder and missing where I was standing.
Where was she going in such a rush?
She’s trying to run from you.
Annoyance vibrated through every muscle as I watched her trot away, my eyes drilling into that pink girly backpack she clutched in her hand. She should know better than to try to hide from me. I run the fucking school princess, there’s nowhere to go.
