Page 83 of Science Project

“Now, I want my information on Pick.”

“A deal’s a deal.” Mom nodded. “Pick will be at the football game on Friday night.”

CHAPTER

FORTY-SIX

AKIO

“Go Redwood!” Allie Hall screamed next to Imani on the bleachers.

I stood beside Imani with my arms crossed and scanned the stadium for any sign of Pick. Mom had given me the vaguest description of him, but it was something that I could work off of. At least, I knew that he was a police officer.

Along with the rest of her team, Nicole waved her pom-poms in the air to cheer up the already-excited crowd. When she caught my eye, she smiled softly and cheered even more loudly, as if she wanted me to hear her.

Warmth spread through my chest at the sight of her. All these years, I’d had a crush on the cheer captain, and I was finally dating her … sorta. Until I took care of Pick, she would never trust me with her secrets, and she would never truly tell me what was wrong.

Jace Harbor paced the sidelines—not dressed to play tonight—and walked past Nicole, but she didn’t even spare him a glance. Her gaze was set on me as her blonde hair in a high ponytail.

Imani bounced on her toes next to me, shivering in the late fall air.

I leaned closer to her. “You’re lucky. My mom hasn’t said a word about you since the dinner.” Well, she had said something, but it was because I’d brought it up. “I expected her”—I glanced over her shoulder at Allie—“to want me to kill you.”

“My mom said to drop it,” Imani said, referring to how my mother had brutally tortured hers. She nudged me with a sassy and bratty attitude that she had to have picked up from hanging out with Poison too much. I wondered where they were tonight. “But you know that I won’t.”

“It would be smart if you did.”

“Your mom nearly killed my parents!” she whisper-yelled. “Have you killed anyone?”

“No!” I exclaimed, glancing back toward the game that I had absolutely no interest in. A couple of policemen walked around the track that surrounded the field, but none looked like the description of Pick. “I would never do that. You know I wouldn’t.”

“Touchdown!” Allie cheered beside Imani, jumping up and down.

Imani side-eyed me, as if to say that we’d talk about this later. Instead of pretending to be part of the Bird’s Nest—which was what Redwood Academy students called the fandom that sat on the right side of the bleachers during every game to cheer on the Ravens—I made up some excuse about getting drinks and hot dogs for us at the concession stand.

After walking down the wobbly steps as the students jumped up and down on the metal bleachers, I made it to the bottom, closer to the cheer team. Nicole was the bubbliest of them all with a huge smile that didn’t meet her eyes.

She hadn’t told me much about what had happened, but I could gather from how she’d reacted to my touch that Pick—and possibly others—had raped her. And yet, here she stood in the middle of the stadium, acting like everything was perfect.

“Let’s go, Redwood!” she cheered, scanning the Bird’s Nest with her gaze. “Woohoo!”

My hands tightened into fists by my sides, and I continued down to the concession stand. After ordering a soft drink and a hot dog because I had a feeling that tonight would be a long night, I waited for my food to come out.

Once I grabbed my food from the counter, a buzzer rang through the stadium. I walked to the fence that surrounded the field to keep fans and family members out and leaned against it, my glasses fogging slightly from the cold.

Bright white lights on the scoreboard read 14 to 6. The teams retreated to their sides of the field, packing up to head to the locker room for halftime—or at least that was what a couple of guys to my left said. I didn’t know much about football.

Across the field, a tall policeman stood with his hands on his hips and a tattoo peeking out from underneath his uniform. My eyes widened, and I stood up taller to see if I could get a better view.

Is that Pick?

Just when I thought I spotted him, the stadium lights turned off.

Every single one of them. Even the scoreboard.

A sea of buzzing echoed through the stadium, and then my phone vibrated in my pocket. With my hands full, I decided not to pull it out and kept my gaze on Nicole—or at least what I thought I could see of her.

“What the fuck is this?” the guy standing next to me asked his buddy.

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