Page 102 of Science Project

“Shut the fuck up, Nicole,” Dad spit. “You’re delusional.”

“If you’re going to kill me, just kill me!” I screamed, finally letting it all out. I had pleaded for him to spare my life, and yet all this time, I had wanted it to end. “Please! I can’t take this anymore! Kill me. Kill me. Kill me! Please!”

Snot and spit and tears covered my face and ran down my neck. Dad slammed into me repeatedly as more screams and shouts echoed throughout the room. I didn’t know what to believe anymore, and I just wanted it all to end.

I wanted peace.

I wanted Hannah.

“Please,” I sobbed. “I want to see Hannah again. Please, let me see her.” My lips trembled, and I cried harder than I ever had. “I miss her more than anyone. Nobody believes me. Nobody loves me. Please, just fucking do it, Dad. Please …”

“No!” Akio shrieked. “Don’t touch her!”

“Join me, Akio,” a woman said. “And I can stop this.”

Dad grabbed me by the back of my head and ripped back my hair again, the blindfold slipping off my eyes and falling around my neck. Blinding light pierced through the darkness and stung my eyes. Blinking quickly, I struggled to adjust my eyes. And when I did, the scene before me sharpened into focus.

Akio sat across from me, bound to a chair, both eyes swollen and bruises covering his body. He jerked his body against the chair and the binds, desperately trying to escape, his gaze only on me.

My eyes softened, and I wanted to take it all back.

“Get off her!” Akio screeched. “I’ll do whatever you want!”

Dad slammed my head against the concrete once, and pain shot through my nose. I stared up at Akio, refusing to take my eyes off him because I feared that if I did, then I would … I would lose him forever. He slammed my face into the ground again, and sound faded around me. When my face collided with the ground a third time, Akio disappeared from my vision.

If I made it out of here alive by some miracle, all I knew was that I needed to do everything in my power to help Akio escape too. I didn’t care what it took. They had been holding Akio here against his will, just like Dad had held me.

And while I didn’t have the strength to escape Dad’s wrath, I could try to help Akio.

CHAPTER

SIXTY

NICOLE

After taking a deep breath of Redwood Academy halls, I tightened my grip on my purse and walked into the cafeteria. Students shouted and yelled, the sounds making my ears hurt because they reminded me of Akio’s screams.

My face hurt badly, and a huge bump from last weekend was still prominent on my head from when Dad had continued to bash my face into the ground. It all felt like a dream—like a nightmare. I barely remembered where I had been or what had happened.

But I remembered the salty air. We must have been down by the beach.

I glanced over at the table where the cheerleaders sat—my go-to table—then spotted Allie, Imani, and Poison sitting at their usual table. Since Principal Vaughn had died, the cheerleaders had been giving me the cold shoulder, way more than usual.

Allie offered a soft smile and waved me over, patting the seat beside her.

The past week had both dragged on and blown by in a flash. Allie had actually invited me to hang out after listening to my story, but I barely remember what we had done. All I could think about was saving Akio.

But because nobody believed me, I had to pretend like everything was fine … when all I wanted to do was sob.

Nerves zipped up and down my arms, but I pushed forward and headed toward their table. I wanted—needed—them to believe me. This was my last chance, my only hope. If they didn’t believe the video evidence that I had of Dad and Pick raping me … I’d lose.

I’d lose fucking everything, even Akio, because I didn’t have the money to pay Kai to help me rescue Akio. I would have to try to do that all myself, but Dad had barely let me out of his sight lately.

“Hey,” I said softly, sitting down on the bench.

“What are you doing here?” Jamal, a football player who was Jace’s best friend, said.

Again, Allie gave me a smile, and I faintly remembered going to Imani’s house this past weekend to get my makeup done. It was all too blurry to determine if that was actually what we had done. Why else would she be so nice to me?

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