Unhinged (Splintered, #2)(67)
Dad had just picked up Gizmo from the tire place when he got the call from my principal. He could never have anticipated what awaited him on the other end of his cell.
“If you get home first,” he says, “you wait for me to get there. I want to be the one to tell your mother you’ve been suspended. All right?” The cautious restraint in his voice grates, as if he’s afraid to yell at me. He thinks I’m too unstable to handle any real emotions.
He looks defeated, hunched against the truck in his work uniform. He’s convinced—like everyone except Jenara—that I collected a ton of ants to sic on the entire student body. Then I accidentally set fire to the gym while trying to regain control of my prank gone awry.
Dad isn’t sure it was an accident at all, although he never said that to the police or me. I can see it in his eyes. He thinks I broke the mirror in the locker room, just like the one in my room. He doesn’t buy the theory that the mirror was hot from the flames and when the icy water ran over it, the glass busted, like what “happened” with the busted lightbulbs.
At least I didn’t have to try to explain the water. According to the firemen, the heat warped the wooden slats until they pressed against the rusted pipes and snapped them. It was a stroke of luck.
Luck. Right.
I’m anything but lucky.
I didn’t deny the accusations about the ants, because on some level, I am responsible. Dad is done suggesting I talk to the school counselor; he’s already made an appointment with a psychiatrist. He sees the broken mirror as the beginning of the same downward spiral Mom took. This time, I’m the mindless victim.
“Alyssa.” Dad presses for my answer to his question.
“I know,” I answer. “If I get home first, Mum’s the word.” It’s a joke, but he doesn’t laugh, probably because he’s never met a certain smug netherling who’s always referred to Mom in his cockney accent. I cough in the awkward silence, my throat raw from smoke inhalation.
“You should count your lucky stars the school thinks this was an accident,” Dad says, proving that even if he didn’t get the joke, he sensed my sarcasm. “And that they took your good behavior over the years into account. A one-day suspension for nearly burning down the gym? Accidental or not, they could’ve pressed charges, and then you’d be taking your final exam in juvie instead of at home.”
I nibble my inner cheek. Of course I’m glad that I won’t end up with a criminal record of vandalism. I’ll even get to attend graduation on Saturday and receive my diploma with my classmates, on one condition: I don’t show up at prom tonight.
Taelor’s father offered to hold the dance at Underland now that the gym is ruined. In the most shocking twist of all, Taelor opted not to press charges against me. She must remember on some level that I tried to help her. All she asked was that I be put under a temporary restraining order prohibiting me from coming within fifty feet of her family’s underground center.
I’m exiled from my own senior prom. Last year, I would’ve thrown a party to celebrate. This year? I’m actually disappointed. Even though I knew in my heart that it would never be.
There’s a battle with my name on it, and I can’t procrastinate any longer. If I don’t get down the rabbit hole fast, Queen Red and her army could come through a portal next—if they’re not already here—which would make what happened in the gym look like a Disney on Ice show.
“Take these.” Dad doesn’t even cast a glance my way as he hands me the keys to Gizmo. “And be sure to clean your face before she sees you. Your makeup is a mess.”
There must be soot on my skin, considering I didn’t wear any makeup. “Can’t you help me clean it off?” Anything to get him to look my way.
He keeps his gaze averted. “Use your car mirror.” The snub aches more than a scolding word or disappointed look would have.
Dad turns his back to unlock the truck and gives me one last instruction. “You won’t be leaving the house today or having visitors. You’re going to finish your last test. And you still have an apology to give to your mother. Go straight home. Understood?”
I nod. It’s not an actual lie. After all, he didn’t specify which home.
I made good use of my time, sitting in the nurse’s office while Dad had a conference with the principal and the counselor. I got the address of Ivy’s studio from Mr. Piero and entered it into my cell.
As soon as I leave this parking lot, I’m tracking down Jeb, finding my mosaics and Morpheus—begging on hands and knees if necessary for his help—and meeting Red head-on in Wonderland.
So yeah, Dad, I’m going home.
Just not to the one you have in mind.
After answering a concerned text from Jenara in which I promise to find her brother, I wait for Dad to pull out of the parking lot first so he won’t follow me. I can’t let myself think about how furious he’ll be or how much he’ll worry when I don’t show up at home. If I do, I will never have the guts to do what needs to be done.
In an attempt to look busy, I take down my braid and rub my fingers through my hair to loosen the waves. I lean toward the rearview mirror to clean the smudges off my face. One look and my stomach flips.
It’s not soot at all. My netherling eye patches have returned—a more feminine version of Morpheus’s, without the jewels. It must’ve happened when I started losing touch with my human side. No wonder everyone was looking at me so weird in the school office.