Page 57 of Outcast

She grinned. As a spunky American, she had so much bubbliness, the girls instantly took to her.

"Great. They're catching on really fast. Almost faster than the mid-level girls." She glanced out over the groups, an obvious look of pride on her face.

Esteban joined one of the groups, asking them questions. An eruption of little girl giggles pierced my ears and he shot me a lopsided grin.

Stepping closer, I lowered my voice. "What's going on with Molly?"

Some of the exuberance leaked out of Jewel. "I'm notsure. She's not in trouble today. But there's something going on with the girls. They've pretty much just been snubbing her. It's making her angry."

I glanced over and Molly was still shooting all her ire at the backs of two girls in particular.

"Can you keep an eye on it? Let me know if you hear anything?"

"Absolutely." She nodded.

Walking over to Molly, I waved my fingers to catch her attention. This girl was absorbed in her hate stare. She flicked her gaze my way and her face lit up.

"Ms. Aguilar!" She hugged my waist. Some of the other girls peered over curiously, but no one made an attempt to come over.

There were only a few who felt comfortable enough to show me affection like this.

Esteban noticed where I was and excused himself from his now substantial crowd of tween admirers. He jogged over and stopped a few feet away.

"Who is this badass?"

Molly pulled her shoulders back. She definitely liked his attention too. Or being called a badass. If I was right, it was a combination of both.

"This is Molly. One of our newest girls."

He must have seen how she was separate from her group because he crouched closer to us. "What's the deal? Those girls messing with your vibe or something?"

I laughed. It was weird to hear Esteban speak so...teen girl.

She shrugged, shooting me a look. Molly opened her mouth as the door opened again.

This time it was Parker and Matías.

Matías instantly zeroed in on me and I narrowed myeyes. That motherfucker. He found me so quick, I'd bet that was the whole reason he was here.

Parker wore a shit eating grin as he strolled through the girls. Now he was a favorite. Most of the girls left their assigned bike to jump around him.

Matías got caught up in the circle but the girls didn't seem to even know he was there. That would at least hold him for a few minutes.

"That asswipe," Esteban muttered under his breath. "You want to leave?"

"Absolutely not." He wanted to chase me? Fine. I was still checking in on my girl.

Esteban didn't say anything. He turned to Molly and touched her shoulder. "Now that your group’s bike is free, I'll show you a couple secrets I bet the teacher hasn't gone over." He winked and Molly swooned. I’d never tell her. She’d hate it.

He walked her over to the bike and crouched down. "You like bikes?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're not bad." She bent over, placing her hands on her knees.

"Not bad!" He slapped a hand over his chest. "You wound me." Shaking his head, he pointed to a screw like plug. "Rita tells me you all need to know how to get away fast. You see this? It's the spark plug." He twisted it and popped it off. "It's what starts the engine. You unhook it, which should be easy to do, then they won't be able to follow you. But if it's too hard to twist off..." Esteban trailed his fingers over a line. "This is the fuel line. Cut it, and they'll have a really fucking hard time coming after you too."

Molly stared in wide-eyed shock at Esteban.

I laughed. He'd just ignited a crush and I doubted he realized it.

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