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We share easy conversation all the way to school, where I try to convince him I’m actually older than what my real age would lead people to believe. I can’t share many of the reasons why I think that way, so I tell him losing my parents aged me because I didn’t have them to fall back on. He counters, telling me I play with the ripped holes in my jeans every day while he takes me to school. We go back and forth, him telling me why I’m still young and me coming back with reasons why, even though I’m eighteen, I should be older.
“You can’t drink,” he adds when we pull into school.
I laugh at him. He’s already seen me drink. He’s just trying to pull out anything he can think of. “Who says? Laws are for pussies.”
He grins, pulling the car to a stop. Oscar starts toward the vehicle, and Magnum puts his hand over mine on the seat. “Be careful, and don’t try to grow up too fast.” All the banter dies between us while things get serious again.
I nod, not realizing what he’s trying to say until I get out of the car and come face-to-face with Oscar. He gives me a smile, but I can tell by the shadows under his eyes, he’s tired. He hasn’t gotten much sleep.
Everyone grows up fast in the Heights.
I forget myself for a moment, reaching up to touch his cheek. “What’s wrong?”
He dodges me, taking my fist in his grip and moving his head out of the way. He does it so fast it looks like I was trying to punch him. “There, there, Princess,” he says loudly. “I’m just doing what I’ve been told to.” He glares at me, and I instantly want to kick myself. The drive over with Magnum was just too normal, I almost forgot what world I was living in.
For what it’s worth, Magnum is completely wrong. I’m definitely older than eighteen when we’re talking about maturity. I’ve already gone through things in this life that some people never will. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they won’t. I don’t want anyone to live through the hell I’ve lived through. No one should have to do that.
“Sorry,” I whisper, but I pull my fist out of his grip like I’m actually pissed.
We turn to walk away together, still feeling Magnum’s gaze on us all the way as we bypass security. No one’s alerted to the fact that I have a knife in my bag. I need to ask either Magnum, Oscar, or Brawler to get me a gun. My first instinct is Magnum since hello, his name is Magnum, but at the same time, things are up in the air with him. I’m sure Oscar or Brawler could get me a gun, no questions asked.
“What’s wrong?” I ask discreetly as soon as we enter the halls of Rawley Heights High. It’s as normal as it ever is. At least there isn’t a detective in the hallway ready to ambush me this morning. Not that I think that’s the last I’ll see of Detective Reynolds. He just has to be cleverer about how he approaches me. What he doesn’t realize is that I’ll never be his friend or helper when it comes to taking down the Crew. The Crew is none of my concern. Big Daddy K is. And since I’m planning on murdering him, me and cops won’t mesh well.
Go figure.
Oscar pulls me into the boys’ locker room. There’s no one in here at this hour, but I barely notice that fact before he turns his dark gaze on me. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
I let my bag slip off my shoulder and drop to the floor. “I’m sorry. Fuck.”
“As much as I want to be all over you, Princess, we can’t be that friendly in school. Or anywhere for that matter. Johnny’s a psycho when it comes to his things,” he says dismissively. “No one ever touched Cherry, and she was nothing compared to what you are to him.” He eyes me, questions glaring back at me.
“What?”
“I hear you moved out of his suite. Things getting too hot and heavy between you two?”
He must already know the reason behind it. The higher you are in the Crew, the more you know. “How did you hear that?”
“I heard them discussing it before the meeting last night.” Well, that explains why Johnny didn’t respond to my text this morning and why Oscar looks like shit warmed over.
“Well, it’s none of your business.”
“None of my business? Oh, I’m sorry. I thought there was something going on between us. It was you pressed all up on me when I first came back, right?”
“Don’t be an asshole.”
“Then don’t be dumb. Johnny is not your friend. He never will be. He uses things to get where he wants, and I don’t care if you think he’s in love with you, the fucker isn’t capable of it, so stop being naïve.”
I place my hands on Oscar’s chest and shove him back. All these alphas are driving me fucking insane. “What I do is not up to a panel of judges. If you don’t like it, walk away, Drego. I think you understand what it’s like to live in a shithole of your own. Physically and mentally. Family-wise or otherwise.”
“Alright, alright!” he growls, ceding the point. “I think about his hands on you, and I want to rip them off because here I am, and I can’t even touch you.”
The frantic beating of my heart calms a little. “Well, I have my own suite now.”
“In the tower,” he says. “It’s not like you’re living back at the other place. You’re still under his thumb. Their thumb.”
He’s right, and it’s one of the reasons why I didn’t push Johnny too far last night. Yes, I hate the fact that his father is pulling the strings, but ultimately, my own place works in my favor even if it is still in the tower. I have a little more freedom, yet I’m still in close proximity. Johnny won’t be breathing down my neck anymore, which allows me to think. To make plans. And hell, maybe even possibly open my life up some to explore things with Oscar and Brawler. There is no security on the floor I’m on. No metal detectors or bodyguards waiting just outside the elevator. The security is on the perimeter before you even make it into the building and then they have the extra security to protect Big Daddy K and Rocket.
“But I am safe there though,” I tell him. If there is anyone left in Fonz’s crew, which is information I’m not privy to, they won’t be getting to me. Magnum’s across the hall, and he escorts me around all day. Then when I’m here, I have Oscar and Brawler.