Page 9 of Emerge

I droppedmy sandwich and chips on the lunch table and sat down with a huff. I was still fuming after what happened in the counselor's office, but at least now I had money to eat something other than a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.

"Well, hello to you too." Piper gave me an amused look and opened the container she had brought.

"Sorry." I gave her an apologetic smile. "It's been a stressful morning." I took a bite of my sandwich and resisted the urge to moan. Turkey, mayonnaise, and lettuce just hit the right spot.

"I told you, I'm not hungry." Ivy sat down next to me and glared at Aiden, who gave me a look that said, told you so. "Drop it, Aiden."

There was a moment of silence before Alex cleared his throat, drawing our attention away from Ivy scowling at Aiden. "So, I heard the Tritons are no longer welcome in their circle of friends." Alex leaned forward after sitting down. "Can you believe that? They thought they could walk on water, and clearly they can't."

I ripped open my bag of Takis and Ivy snorted. "Serves them right." She reached for my chips. "Can I have one? Maybe they will make me feel alive again."

"They'll make you feel something, especially since your tolerance for spicy is at negative ten Scoville." I laughed as she made a face after popping one in her mouth. "Don't be such a tuna."

"A tuna?" Aiden laughed. "That makes no sense."

"Sure it does. Tuna is the chicken of the sea." Jax slid into the seat next to me and our table went silent. "Hope you don't mind if we sit here."

"Not at all." I was already itching to put my hand on his thigh.

"We do." Ivy shot him a glare and then gave Blake the same look as he sat down next to Piper.

I wanted to hug Ivy but knew if I did, she would probably burst into tears. I saw it written all over her face. Instead, I took another bite of my sandwich.

"We can go sit somewhere else if it's going to be a problem." Blake shifted in his seat. "I guess what goes around comes around."

"Whatever." Ivy eyed the can of Coca Cola he had before snatching it. "I'll except this as payment."

"So, we were thinking of having a dinner party tomorrow night since we aren't welcome at the bonfire." Jax filled the silence at the table as if it was the most natural thing in the world to him. It wasn't a side of him I was used to seeing. "Morgan is also going to be home from the hospital tomorrow."

I sat up straighter and turned toward him. "I didn't know that."

Jax took a drink of some concoction in a water bottle. It was greenish, and it probably smelled like the ocean. "Just found out last period."

"You guys are now outcasts? Didn't you run the bonfire?" Alex looked skeptical. "I find it hard to believe all your friends just dropped you."

"Yeah. How do we know you aren't just over here to get juicy gossip to spread?" Santina looked over her shoulder at the Tritons’ old table that had welcomed the bitch squad back.

"You don't." Jax put his hand over mine right as I was going for another Taki. "But I care deeply for this woman and will never hurt her again."

My stomach flipped, and not because I was eating chips that were likely melting my internal organs. "Give them a chance. I know they've been assholes, but they've more than made up for it."

"So, they gave you the D?" Santina and the rest of the group laughed.

My face must have been super red because Ivy patted me on the back. "If one can't satisfy you, you have back-ups."

"Hey!" Jax and Blake both glared and then laughed with Ivy. I was hopeful that eventually everyone could get along, despite the past.

People could change for the better, just as people could also change for the worse. I hoped I wasn't the latter, but how could I not be? I was quick to anger now and found myself craving violence when the anger was boiling.

After lunch, Jax hung back and waited for everyone to leave. Officer Thomas had been watching our table the whole lunch period from across the room, and now that most of the students had cleared, he moved closer.

Jax lowered his voice and put his lips near my ear. "When my dad got here, Mr. Gale was gone. The front office and Officer Thomas said they hadn't seen him."

My eyes widened, and I quickly tried to hide my surprise from the prying eyes of who was obviously now on Mr. Gale's payroll, or at the very least, under his spell.

"What about his yacht and truck?" I stood after Jax and we threw away our trash before walking to the opposite side of the cafeteria.

"That's another thing... there is no record at the marina of that yacht ever being there, and when my dad contacted the company that made the yacht, they had no record of him or anyone with a similar name." Jax and I walked out of the cafeteria and ran right into my favorite group of girls.

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