Page 121 of Science Project

After waving to Jamal, as a sorta thank-you for protecting Nicole, I climbed into the driver’s seat and locked the doors. Even though her father was gone, we still weren’t completely safe. My mother was still alive and well.

“So, how’d it go?” she asked, chewing on her inner cheek.

“You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Her blue eyes widened, and she smiled. “Is he … dead?”

“Yes.”

With the plate of food still in her lap, she reached for my hand and laced her fingers with mine. I started the car and pulled onto the road, heading toward her house. We couldn’t stay for long—the danger was far from over, and she’d been living in it for too long—but I wanted Nicole to grab what she could.

Fifteen minutes later, I guided the car to a stop in her driveway.

“Are you sure it’s safe to be here? There are people still out to get us.”

I cupped her chin. “We’re not staying, but you should grab everything that you want to keep from your house. I don’t know when we will return, and I want you to keep all the memories that you can of Hannah.”

Nicole had opened up to me about Hannah many times since that night, but I had never really brought her up because I didn’t want to trouble Nicole. With her father gone, I felt like Nicole would be okay with it.

Eyes softening, she curled her lips into a small smile and gave me a determined nod. “Okay, but if I’m going inside to grab her things, then I want to do it alone. Can you wait here for me?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’ll only come in if something goes wrong out here.”

After shooting me another small smile, she stepped out of the car. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of protectiveness wash through me when she disappeared into the house, but I trusted her to come right back out if anything looked wrong.

Minutes felt like hours, but my gaze never left the front door.

Finally, Nicole reappeared with her school backpack, a suitcase, and a purse that I had never once seen her carry before. Instead of locking up, she walked back to the car and shoved the suitcase and the backpack in the backseat.

When she slipped into the passenger seat and clicked on her seat belt, I started the car.

“Wait,” Nicole whispered, gazing at her home with a mixture of longing and anticipation.

So, I turned off the car once more and gave her the time she needed to depart with all the memories, anxiety, and heartache that she must’ve felt in her home. While she had been tortured in it for years, I hoped that she had some good memories in it.

Suddenly, a spark flickered through the window of the living room.

I furrowed my brow in confusion, but Nicole grabbed my hand and squeezed as if this was what she had been waiting for. The spark turned into a flame, and my heart raced as I realized what was happening.

In a matter of seconds, the entire house erupted into a blazing fire.

The red and orange flames licked at the sealed windows. Smoke filled the top floor of the house, some escaping through the upstairs windows. Nicole’s face, which had been filled with uncertainty, transformed into a calm smile.

“It’s over,” she whispered, her voice steady and strong. “I’m ready to move on now.”

CHAPTER

SEVENTY-SEVEN

NICOLE

I sat on the bed in Kai’s spare bedroom with Hannah’s belongings spread across the purple comforter. Dim lights flooded into the room from the small Christmas tree that I had put up three days ago with purple and white ornaments.

While we weren’t staying here permanently, somehow, Akio had convinced Kai to let me make small changes to the bedroom to make it cozier. And it really was the first time I’d ever had the chance to decorate the way I wanted.

These past few weeks had been shit, but—let’s be honest—so had my entire life.

Except being with Akio made it all hurt a little less.

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