Page 17 of Homecoming

I subtly glance around, realising there are no other bikes here, and although not all the cars are fancy expensive brands, there are no second-hand, barely running, dented old bangers either. Huh, I am so not going to fit in here.

Ignoring the stares, not really giving a shit either way, what these kids think of me, I take off my helmet, hoping my locker will be big enough to store it. I don’t enjoy the idea of lugging it around all day, and I am sure as shit not leaving it out here where anyone can mess with it. It’s bad enough I have to leave my bike out here. I have trust issues; can you blame me?

Straightening my shoulders and keeping my head held high, I walk toward the school.

“Hey, new girl, I’ve got something you can ride,” a guy snickers from behind me.

I glance over my shoulder, giving the guy a once over; he has got greasy dark hair, mud-brown eyes, and obviously thinks he is worth something at this school.

“I don’t think you do.” I scoff, “I think I'd be very disappointed.” The corners of my lips tilt up as I wiggle my little finger in his direction before giving him the one-finger salute, spinning on my heel, and walking toward the big double doors again. This time, laughter follows me.

Just before I step through the doors, someone steps up beside me. I give her a cursory glance. She is about an inch taller than my five-foot-three frame and dressed in a similar style to mine, but her clothes are in much better condition. She has blonde hair cut into an edgy pixie cut, several piercings in her ears, and bright blue eyes.

“That was fucking brilliant. Ralph thinks he runs the fucking school when the football team is away just because he rides the bench as a wide receiver. He has never even played a game.” She chuckles. “I’m Rylie.” She grins, and I feel myself responding. I can already tell she is good people.

“Ever, and thanks.” I chuckle.

“Nice to meet you. The office is this way,” she points toward a door off to the side.

I smile my appreciation. I am usually more cautious when it comes to new people, but something about Rylie puts me at ease.

Chapter Twelve

Trick

We pull up to the house that we rented for this job, and although the neighbours are really far away, I am still grateful that it is the early hours of the morning and that they won’t be able to see us clearly in the half light of the dawn.

We are covered in blood, and if you looked closely at us, you would easily be able to tell that it’s not our blood. None of us have any injuries. It would definitely raise some questions and probably freak people out, too. With this in mind, we all rush inside just in case there are any crazy neighbors that have binoculars or some shit. If it hadn’t happened before, I would assume that we were being overly cautious, but we almost got caught once because of a nosey neighbor with more equipment to watch people than we have.

“It’s a damn good job that we decided to hire a house for this job,” Jensen says as soon as we are inside.

He heads over to the fridge and pulls out a beer, opening it and taking a swig.

“Yeah, there is no way that we could have gone back home looking like this,” Luc grimaces.

Cash points at him, “We are heading straight to school. We are supposed to be at a football game, remember.”

“Shit, I don’t think I could forget. Coach is pissed that we bailed at the last minute,” Luc replies.

I shrug, “I know. He will get over it though. This job was an important one, and none of us wanted to turn it down.”

“We have just got to make sure that we head into school at the same time as the rest of the guys from the football team,” Riot reminds us.

“Which means we all need to shower and change quickly. We haven’t got long, and we’re going to have to drive straight back to the school.” Rafe signs.

“Do we actually have to go back to school?” Jensen asks, starting to sit down before remembering that he is covered in blood and thinking better of it. “Can’t we just go home and sleep?”

I tilt my head, “I suppose we could. The parents won’t mind if we miss the rest of the day off school, especially if we say that we are tired from the game. Don’t forget they think we’re there too.”

“Let’s do that then,” Luc agrees.

“I still want to leave quickly, so go and get showered,” I reply.

“Yes, boss,” Jensen teases, and I flip him off.

Fortunately, we kind of figured that this job would in some way be a bloody one, and we knew that we would be on a time crunch to get back in time, so Cash booked us a house with enough rooms for everyone and made sure that each room had a bathroom attached. This means that everyone is showered and in the truck in no time at all.

As I am waiting for everyone to get in and sort their shit out, I rummage through my bag to find my phone. This job was a particularly sensitive one, so we all turned our phones off and left them in our bags, and they have been there for a couple of days because we got caught up on location and couldn’t leave, and the job took longer than we expected. The parents rarely text when we are away at football games, and because it’s a school sanctioned event they don’t panic when we don’t reply immediately. Fortunately, the away games tend to last for a few days as we arrive early and leave the day after.

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