Page 45 of Surge

Chapter Fourteen

I'd found the list of numbers inside Little House on The Prairie. It had taken me almost an hour of flipping through books on my bookshelves to find the small piece of paper that had three numbers.

The man that answered hadn't said much and we arranged to meet on Tuesday after school.

It had been a week since my life had taken a drastic turn from sitting in the background to being the center of attention. It felt surreal that three teenagers could so easily flip the switch on someone's life.

I still wasn't sure what to do about the video I had recorded in the back of the car. I wasn't sure if it was incriminating enough, and it also incriminated me. If they wanted to turn the tables and say I broke into their house, I'd be in just as much trouble as Jax.

I parked my car and shut my eyes, trying to calm my nerves before facing the three assholes that were making my life hell.

A knock sounded on my window and I jumped. Morgan stood with the paper bag I had left on the back seat of Jax's car. I swung open my door, hitting him with it.

"Ow. What was that for, vixen? I thought we were friends now." He shoved the bag into my hands. "You forgot your clothes. Where are mine?"

"I burned them." I looked into the bag. "Where are my underwear and bra?"

"They're on the bottom." Morgan looked over the top of my car. "Gotta go."

He took off at a jog and at the gate, threw his arm around a girl's shoulder and kissed her temple. I couldn't see who she was from the back, but she had long, bleach blonde hair and shorts that almost showed her ass cheeks. Maybe I'd report her for violating the dress code.

I threw the bag into my car and slammed the door. It's not like he was mine, yet seeing him touch another woman made my blood boil.

I was losing it. Why was I jealous?

"Oh, shit. What happened?" Aiden fell into step with me as I walked toward the gate. "It can't be worse than sand."

"Thanks again for helping me." I looped my arm through his. "I never knew sand was so intrusive."

"We could have just left it and your mom would have a nice surprise waiting for her this afternoon. It could have been payback for not responding to your calls and for taking your money." We got to my locker and I shoved the stuff I didn't need until later into it.

"What if she isn't back when I get home?" My mom was supposed to be back in the early afternoon, but I had been brushing off the idea that she wouldn't be home. Now that I had read her letter, I was leaning more toward her not returning.

"The police said you have to wait twenty-four hours, yeah?" I nodded, and we walked toward English. "Then we deal with it when we get to that point."

"I have to go to the bathroom. I'll see you in class."

We separated and I went into the bathroom. I had needed a pick-me-up after my long weekend and drank coffee even though I didn't care for it. It made me jittery and have to pee way more than usual.

I stepped out of the stall and was washing my hands when I heard the lock and looked up.

Melissa.

With her were the two girls Jax had kissed from the bonfire and the girl who had made the fish breath comment the first day of school. The same girl Morgan had wrapped his arm around before school.

They stood blocking the door with looks on their faces that I thought were only reserved for bitches in mean girl movies.

"Can you please move?" I threw my paper towel in the trash and faced them. There was just the five of us in the bathroom, to my dismay.

"We need to talk." Morgan's plaything stepped forward and I took a step back toward a stall.

I knew the predicament I was in. I wasn't a fighter and there were four of them. I wasn't sure how much locking myself in a stall would help besides putting me closer to becoming a swirly victim.

"Talk?" I could make it into the stall I had just come out of, but wasn't sure I would be able to lock the door in enough time. My body would be able to hold the door shut.

"Morgan is mine. I want you to stay away from him."

"Not a problem. Are we done here?" I was inches from the stall when Melissa lunged forward and grabbed me by the ponytail.

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