Page 140

TEMPERANCE
Within thirty minutes, Headmistress McArthur met us in her office to hear the full story, and within ninety minutes Becky, Melinda, and Harper were pulled from Becky’s dorm, and all the parents involved were headed to Crestview.
Rick was the closest, an hour out, and the others showed up within ten more minutes. The moment he walked into the office and saw me sitting in a wheelchair, he glared at Harper. I was in the headmistress’ office, while the three girls sat outside in chairs lined up against the wall. I couldn’t see Harper’s expression, but I could see Rick’s expression through the door as he stood there, staring her down. Things wouldnotgo well for her.
He walked into the office and knelt beside me. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I’m okay, but I’m done.”
His eyes wandered from mine down to my arm, and his brows furrowed. He looked back up at me and nodded. “I understand.” His voice was sad, and I couldn’t figure out if he was more upset for what had been done to me or the future that may be lost for Harper after what she’d done.
“Mr. Blackwell, Miss Kimani, thank you for accompanying Miss Wilder here tonight, and keeping watch over her,” Headmistress McArthur said. “You’ve both done an exemplary job of protecting your friend. The parents have all arrived, so I would like for you to wait out in the hall. Normally, I’d ask you to wait in the main office, but I worry with the girls out there…”
“Say no more,” Justin said. “You don’t want any more issues tonight.”
She smiled, but it was merely polite. “Yes, exactly. Thank you for understanding.”
Justin stood and bowed his head gently before walking out, and Luna did the same.
Before Luna exited, she leaned down and whispered in my ear. “You got this. Take no prisoners.” When she stood, she locked eyes with Rick. “No matter who they are.”
I sighed, and I awkwardly looked over at Rick, who watched Luna leave with interest.
“Does she know?” Rick asked quietly.
I nodded. “We’ll talk about it later. No time now.”
Four other parents walked in, and it was then that I realized Rick was alone.Shocker.Of course, Mommy Dearest didn’t come. When did sheevershow up for Harper?
Why the hell do I care?
“Hello, everyone,” Headmistress McArthur said. “I wish I could say we were meeting under better circumstances, but as you probably gathered by a meeting at nearly 2:00 AM, we are not.”
“What did this girl do to our daughters?” a rather shrewd woman said. She was dressed to kill, and I gathered she hadn’t been pulled out of bed like that. She’d made sure to get fully ready before being seen in here. I had no doubt that was Becky’s mother.
“I’d sit down and listen,” Rick said as he stood. “I have a feeling you’re in for a rude awakening—as are we all.”
The woman huffed. “My daughter has never made less than straight A’s. She’s the co-captain of the cheerleading squad. She’s—”
“None of that is important right now,” Headmistress McArthur cut in. “Your daughters were all involved in an incident tonight. This girl, Temperance Wilder, was drugged inside her own dorm apartment, held down, and tattooed against her will.”
“What does that have to do with our daughters?” the other woman—presumably Melinda’s mother—asked.
The headmistress looked at her incredulously. “Well, given I said they were all involved in an incident, and Temperance is the only one tattooed, I’d say your daughters have a great deal to do with it.”
“Excuse me?” Becky’s father said. “What proof do you have?”
The headmistress gestured toward me. “A firsthand accounting of the incident, of course.”
“And who, exactly, is this girl? Where are her parents?Whoare her parents? I demand to speak to them. Can you even trust the word of this”—he eyed me with disgust—“delinquent?”
“You don’t know her. You havenoright to speak about her like that,” Rick snapped angrily, and it made my breath catch. It was such a fatherly thing to do, and it warmed my heart, but it was also a bad idea. I reached down along the side of the wheelchair to tap his calf. He looked down at me, and I looked at him pointedly, hoping he understood what I meant. “What I mean to say is, she is claiming to be the victim here. I understand you want to believe your daughter is innocent. Trust me, I’m right there with you! My daughter is sitting out there, too! But we can’t insult this young woman just because we don’t like the accusation. Wemusttake it seriously.”
“Spoken like a fucking politician,” Becky’s father spat.
“Yeah. Spoken like a fucking defense attorney,” Rick snapped back. “Defend them no matter the crime, is that right?”
Go, Dad!