Page 89 of Jerk

“Father,” Krystal starts.Father?“I’m only defending myself fromher.”

My jaw almost falls off my face. “That is a lie!Sheattackedmewhile I was on my way to my room!”

“Number forty-six?” he asks, but I’m afraid to answer. When I don’t, he arches his brow in a way that’s kind of sexy. Then his face hardens. “Both of you pack your things.”

My heart pulses against my insides.

If I get kicked out of here, I’m not sure what my father will do next. I’m not sure where I’ll end up.

“You’re going to the isolation bunker,” he says. “Together. That will teach both of you the meaning of loyalty and discipline.”

“Wait, for how long?” I ask. I don’t want to be anywhere near her, much less in isolation together. “And will we be sharing the same room? I can’t be?—”

“Quiet!” Father yells, his voice ripping through my chest as his eyes narrow on mine. “You speak again, and you will face expulsion. You have ten minutes before you're escorted.” He looks between us again. “Time has started.”

THIRTY

HANNAH

Five days.

Five days in isolation with Krystal Rowen.

No classes, no lectures, but a pile of work to make up for it.

As for the space? I didn’t think it would get worse than the dorms. Everything is wooden but painted white, blinding when the sun comes in through the dusty windows. There isn’t much to look at besides a minimalist image of a flower being watered by the weathered wooden door. It’s like we’re meant to sit here with just our work and our minds.

As for privacy? There is none. I can feel Krystal staring at me from across the room on her rickety single bed.

“What is this place anyway?” I ask, my words slipping out with my eyes on a spider in the corner of the stained ceiling. It’s the first words I’ve said to her since we got here hours ago.

“Hell masquerading as heaven,” she replies, those small dark eyes still on my skull.

“And, what are the chances of you killing me tonight?” I ask, weighing what I can sharpen and keep under my mattress.“May I remind you, if you do murder me like you did your father, you will get expelled.”

“That would be too easy. I want to string you up and torture you instead."

Jesus. “You’re as dramatic as your brother.” My back hits the mattress, flimsy enough to feel the wood underneath. “Why the hell are you even upset with me?You’rethe one who killed your father. You belong here. I don’t. I only tried to help you guys.”

“Oh, did you?” Her sarcasm makes me roll my eyes. “By telling my mom? You know how long it took me to get out of the last institute? And this one is more batshit than the last. Be real, Hannah, you did everything you did for yourself.”

Now she really sounds likehim. “I belong in The Hill. Not here. But you sure as hell belong in a worse place than this for what you did.”

“Forfightingyou?”

“For killing your father!” My voice gets louder as I turn my head to her. “You murdered someone, Krystal.”

The room goes silent, the wind whistling through the wood. The paper-thin blanket on the bed is hardly enough to protect from the chill in the air.

“It was either him or me.” Krystal finally speaks. “He tried to kill me. So yeah, I killed him first. I’d do it again.”

My chest pangs, finally hearing her admission. “So you did it.” My mind flashes back to the poker pushed through my father’s leg. “You admit it. Finally.”

“I-I didn’t mean to.” Her voice softens, her knees coming to her chest. “I gave him that choice, his reputation or my brother’s, just like we planned.” A shot hits my gut, reminding me I wasn’t there. “Then there was fury in his eyes. Worse than when he hit me.”

My mind flashes back to the rage I see in my father's eyes all too often. “Like he’d stop at nothing to remain in charge? Even if that meant your life?”

She nods, her eyes dropping from mine. “He charged at me, so I grabbed the nearest thing and swung. And I kept swinging. And swinging.” Her voice shakes. “I felt powerful. More powerful than him, and I couldn’t let that go. I knew if anyone in The Hill found out what I did, it would be?—”