Page 84 of As the Rain Falls (Sainte Madeleine #1)
I'LL KEEP HER SAFE
Beckett
Antony, Mateo, and I are supposed to go surfing at one of the beaches further down the coast. Mateo has never surfed before, and I’m supposed to teach him how to do it. I’m fairly good at teaching, but whether I’ll be good at teaching him or not is another story.
Truthfully, Mateo seems overly confident to me about it, and people who don’t have enough patience to learn always get disappointed once they realize surfing takes time. There’s no use in being reckless.
Still, I’m here. Wearing nothing but a light sleeveless shirt, cargo pants, and my flip-flops. It’s about to be a fun afternoon. No stress involved.
“Ouch!” I pause, talking to myself. “Whenever I think something like that, shit always goes wrong.”
Chuckling, I turn the volume up and readjust the AC levels. I’m humming the lyrics to a song when Antony rushes to the car, shirtless, his eyes wide with alarm.
When I roll the window down to see what’s up, he opens the door to the passenger seat before shouting.
“Help me!”
I frown. “What?”
“They fucking—they cut her shirt off!”
I try to pause the music but end up turning the volume down instead. “What?”
“She’s… I can’t believe this is happening!”
“Tony,” I beg impatiently. “Please, find the sentence.”
“She was half-naked in the main hall. They’re not letting her come out. I had to—” His face twists with distress. “I had to give her my shirt, man.”
“Angelina?” I ask because I know Alice has her twisted ways with her.
I wouldn’t put it above her to turn to physical violence again. There’s something wrong with that girl, bad blood between Angelina and her that I clearly don’t know enough about. But to my surprise, Antony shakes his head, looking more troubled than before.
“No, no. Not Angie! it’s Cassandra!” He motions towards the main entrance. “You need to come; she won’t stop crying. I don’t know what to, man. Her father isn’t—”
Cassandra?
Before he finishes, I jump out of the car.
“Where is she?”
“Main hall.” Antony stumbles behind me, trying to catch up.
“How did this happen?”
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “This is about Caleb. Laura thought it’d be fun to teach her a lesson.”
“Laura?” I walk into the school in silence, even though the main hall is buzzing with noise. “Who the fuck is Laura?”
It’s all a huge mess.
I make my way through the hall, finding Angelina snapping at every boy who tries to come closer, and Cassandra is in her arms, looking rightfully so terrified. Mateo is trying to keep them both behind him, pushing people back to prevent them from being stepped on.
They’re all arguing, trying to take pictures of them, and laughing about it like it’s a joke. I shove through the crowd, forcing it apart, and Cassandra’s eyes lock with mine.
We haven’t talked much. I feel like she’s been avoiding me, not even bothering to answer my texts and calls. But when I see her, I see recognition. It’s the kind of look that can only be translated as pure relief.
She starts to move, and the crowd yells louder, pressing in closer. “Beckett!”
“Back off!” Mateo shoves a guy twice his size, snarling at him as he tries to push him back. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”
“Beckett!” Cassandra calls for me, her voice shaky.
I gather her in my arms, looking around to find a group of teachers rushing to our aid. A loud sob tries to break free, but her lack of oxygen won’t allow it.
Where are the fucking adults?
I turn my back to the crowd, holding her tight, watching as Sainte Madeleine’s supervisor runs from an opposite direction, followed by Principal Rivera and two security guards. Too little, too late.
The crowd goes wild after they notice them coming, kids shoving and falling over each other. Mateo is throwing punches without really looking anymore, just trying to hit back at anyone. Antony calls out my name, being pulled further away from us. Angelina gets shoved and falls back.
Cassandra grips me so tightly, and all I can feel is her nails digging into my flesh, leaving bruises.
Get her out of here.
Get her out.
Get her out of this town.
I keep her from the chaos, shielding her from them as much as I can. The hallway is narrow, overcrowded with kids coming out of class, confused as to what’s really happening.
Someone tries to grab my shirt.
There’s no way out , I realize. They’re blocking us .
“Beckett?” Cassandra blurts out. “Beckett!”
“I’m right here.”
“I wouldn’t let her, so she did this, and they all saw me!”
“Shh.” I whisper, pressing my mouth to the top of her head.
Nervous energy radiates from her every move.
She’s on the verge of a panic attack.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t—” Cassandra cries, her teary eyes widening as she stares past me. She shakes her head, her voice so distant. “It’s all over for me. It’s all so… so, so over…”
Never.
Principal Rivera’s voice cuts through the noise, calling her by her name with authority. I hold her tighter, knowing that whatever this is, it won’t end just because he’s here now.
This is only the beginning, and I’m not surprised that out of all the people involved, the one who should be bearing all the fault is not here. Caleb Monteiro is nowhere to be seen.