The Help (Kings of Linwood Academy, #1)(15)

I press away from the wall. “I do care—”

Lincoln chuckles, holding up a hand. “Save it, Pool Girl. I don’t need to hear your sob story.”

Then he slips through the service entrance and vanishes up the stairs.





6





I spend the rest of the weekend catching up on homework and helping Mom around the house. The cleaning is pretty easy, actually. Mr. Black demands everything be kept pristine, but it’s not that hard to do since the house barely seems lived in.

As I clean the guest bedroom down the hall from mine, I poke around surreptitiously, but I can’t find any sign that anyone was in here at all on Friday night. The bed is made perfectly, and nothing is out of place. If I hadn’t heard Mr. Black and that woman’s voice through the door, I’d never guess that anyone had used this room in weeks.

Lincoln’s gone for a lot of the weekend, which is nice in a way, since it’s easier to breathe when he’s not around. But I also find myself looking for him, expecting to turn the corner and find him staring at me with that intent look he often gets.

On Monday, Max bitches to me about how I should’ve told him I was good at poker, but I just laugh. Serves him right for assuming I wasn’t. He glowers at me as I turn down the hall to head for my next class.

I’m feeling pretty damn good. The high from playing well and winning always lasts a few days.

But it all comes crashing down around me at 3:05 p.m.

I push through the large double doors at the entrance of Linwood Academy, my backpack heavy on my shoulders and a couple books held in my arms. Students are spilling out of the school alongside me, and I ignore the few catcalls of, “Hey, Pool Girl!”

As I walk toward the parking lot, I notice a bunch of people standing around. The crowd around me slows too, and as I step forward, I see—

Mom’s car.

Fuck.

Two windows have been broken, and the car is stuffed full of garbage. Someone scrawled Clean Me, Bitch and drew a dick across the front windshield, and it looks like every single tire has been slashed.

For a second, I just stare at it, trying to comprehend what I’m seeing. The books in my arms hit the ground with a thud a second before I whirl to take in the gathered crowd.

“Who did this?” I yell.

Nobody answers. Savannah and Iris are standing with a group of cheerleaders, arms linked as they laugh. I heard them get into another fight after gym today, but apparently, they’ve smoothed things over again already.

The quarterback, Trent, stands nearby them, smirking.

My gaze scans the crowd for four familiar faces, and I find them too. Dax and Chase are standing side by side, each with their arms folded. On the other side of the gathered crowd, I find Lincoln and River. As they watch me, Lincoln leans over to speak into River’s ear, and River shakes his head slightly.

It could’ve been any of them. Or someone in the crowd whose name I don’t even know.

Kids are laughing, a few people are chucking more trash at my car, trying to get it through the broken windows, and my blood feels like it might combust. I’m so fucking pissed.

This isn’t even my car. It’s my mom’s. And if these rich assholes knew how hard she fucking worked for it, what it meant to us to finally even have a car after years of riding buses and begging rides off people… would they still have done this?

Sadly, probably yes.

“I hope you’re fucking happy.” My voice is low because I’m trying not to cry or fly completely off the handle and start screaming at everyone here. That’s what they want, I know it. To see me lose it. For me to complete the prank by giving them a show to laugh at.

But I won’t do that. I won’t give them the damn satisfaction.

I shuck my backpack and drop it to the ground before I pull my phone out, sinking to a crouch and leaning against the side of the car. A quick Google search pulls up a few different towing companies in the area, and I randomly pick one and dial the number.

“Fox Hill Towing, how can I help you?” a bored female voice answers.

“Hey, um, I’m in the lot of Linwood Academy on Newfield Avenue. I need a tow to a mechanic.”

“All right, we can do that.” She takes down my information and then finishes with, “Someone should be there in half an hour.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I end the call but stay where I am, crouched against one side of the car. Some students have wandered away, ready to get off campus and bored by my lack of tears. But Iris and Savannah linger for a little while, whispering back and forth. And when I glance at Lincoln and River again, I see their gazes darting around the crowd, like maybe they’re trying to figure out who did this too. Or, hell, maybe they did it, and they’re just wondering if anybody here saw them.

The tow truck takes forty minutes, and by the time the guy arrives, the parking lot has mostly cleared out. I haven’t even touched the trash inside the car, even though I know I should start cleaning it out. I just can’t bring myself to do it.

“Oh, wow.” He shakes his head, grimacing. “Somebody really did a number on this, huh?”

Yeah, genius. They did.

“Can you recommend a mechanic?” I ask. “We’re new in town, I don’t know any.”

“Sure.” He dusts his hands off, nodding toward the interior of the car. “They’re gonna charge you extra to get rid of all that though, I bet.”