Page 114 of Science Project

Dad: NICOLE, ANSWER ME.

Dad: I WILL COME FIND YOU AND PUNISH YOU IF YOU STOLE THEM.

Dad: I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU LIKE I KILLED HANNAH.

Dad: ANSWER ME.

My hands trembled as I tried to formulate a thought. But the memories of the past few weeks raced through my mind. He had found out that I’d stolen the video to show Kai and Poison, then erased it from his computer. He knew that … that it was me.

And now, he would really be out to get me.

“Nicole, what’s wrong?” Akio said, walking closer with his brows drawn together.

I swallowed hard, my voice quivering as I explained, “It’s my father, and he’s mad.”

Instead of texting Dad back—because there was no fucking way that I would do that, not after all he had done to me—I created a group chat with Poison to warn them that my father knew. They were the ones who had that recording. Not me anymore.

Me: My dad knows that the recording is gone.

I wasn’t risking João or Kai not seeing my message. I needed them all to know.

Kai texted back almost immediately.

Kai: Get somewhere safe with Akio.

Kai: We’ll release it now.

Kai: Shit is about to go down.

Fear gripped me right down to the very bone.

I stood to my feet and grabbed Akio’s hand. “Poison says we need to get somewhere safe and stay there tonight. Something big is happening.”

I’d omitted the fact that they were releasing the video. I hadn’t told Akio about that yet. If he knew, then he would want to help Poison do whatever the hell they were going to do.

Right now, I needed Akio to be safe and with me because I feared that Dad would hunt me down, and when he found me, he would kill me.

CHAPTER

SEVENTY-ONE

AKIO

Dragon Ball Z played on the TV screen in Jamal Simmons’s small home in the slums. The room was bathed in the flickering glow of the vibrant anime characters battling on their planet. I sat on the couch next to Nicole while Jamal and his siblings lounged on the floor.

Everyone was quiet, even the world outside, and that made me … uneasy. The way Nicole had reacted earlier made it seem like she knew more than she was telling me.

Darkness flooded in through the cheap and thin drawn curtains. Jamal’s brother inched closer to Nicole’s leg, glancing up at her every so often and wiggling his brows.

Yet Nicole didn’t notice as she stared blankly at the screen, her skin a ghostly color.

Nicole’s phone buzzed, and she recoiled as if it’d hurt her. Her fingers shook as she retrieved her phone and stared at the screen. Then, suddenly, Jamal’s phone buzzed, then mine.

Message after message poured in, accompanied by a video. Marquis, Jamal’s little brother, grabbed the phone from Jamal and tapped on the video.

Nicole’s screams and pleas echoed through the room from Jamal’s phone, and Jamal quickly snapped it back from him.

“What was that?” Marquis asked.

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