Page 27 of Science Project

And waited and waited and waited.

Whatever I’d felt tonight wasn’t real.

Nicole had been using me, and while, in the beginning, I had been okay with that, I couldn’t shake the feeling of how I’d felt tonight. I so desperately wanted it to be real for her too. I hadn’t ever found a girl like her at Redwood—one who was not only pretty, but enjoyed watching anime with me and liked my glasses.

Why had I been so stupid tonight? She had given me a chance to kiss her back, a chance to prove to her that I could be more than just someone she thought she had to use to get a good grade. And I’d ruined it.

Blowing out a breath, I leaned back in the driver’s seat and ran my hands over my face.

Get it together, Akio. She’ll never like you like that.

But to me, it didn’t matter.

All that mattered was that I had her attention. At least until the end of the semester.

Suddenly, the front door opened. After running her hand through her messy blonde hair, Nicole walked to her car, slipped into it, and grasped the steering wheel without driving off. She opened her mouth as if she were screaming and then rested her head against the wheel.

A few moments later, she lifted her head, started the car, and drove off. When her brake lights disappeared down the road, I slipped out of my car and headed straight toward Karmeen Kaiser’s back door.

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

NICOLE

“Dad,” I whispered, staring out my windshield, “someone will see.”

With his hand fondling my breast, Dad leaned back in my passenger seat and stared out the windshield with me. “People will turn blind with enough money, Nikki. Don’t worry about this. I’ll protect you as long as you do everything I say.”

I pressed my quivering lips together and sank down in my car. We were in the student parking lot, an hour before school actually started, and while there weren’t many students here yet, João had parked in the corner of the lot about five minutes ago.

“Have you gotten me any information about Yui yet?” he asked, seizing my nipple.

When he squeezed, my body jerked from the sudden pressure, and he placed his hand over the growing bulge in his pants. I shoved back the tears and hoped that he’d stop, get back into his police car parked beside me, and drive far, far away.

Drive into the Atlantic Ocean. Drown.

“A bit from Joe Santos,” I whispered.

While I’d received the information last week, I hadn’t told him yet because I wanted to drag this out for as long as possible. I didn’t want him pushing me to get closer to Akio for more and more information.

“Joe Santos?” Dad repeated, pinching my nipple even harder. “He’s dead.”

“What?” I asked in a breath.

Then, he used his fingernails to dig into my nipple, like he usually did as punishment.

“You’re lying to me,” he growled. “Where’d you get the information?”

“I-I am not lying,” I whispered.

“He washed up onshore last night. Dead.”

My eyes widened. “S-someone killed him? But I was with him just the other day …”

Dad’s hand snapped around my throat, and he squeezed hard, his other hand dropping between my legs. He shoved his hand up my skirt and thrust two fingers into my dry pussy. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

With stinging eyes, I shook my head. “I-I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

---