Page 98 of Science Project

“João, it’s Nicole,” I whispered. “Please don’t hang up. I have information that you want.”

CHAPTER

FIFTY-SEVEN

NICOLE

When I pulled up to Landon’s house in the slums, I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea, but I didn’t know who else to go to. If I wanted to prove to not only Akio, but Hannah, that I wanted out, then I needed to do this.

I blew out a breath and exited the car, pushing some tears off my cheeks.

The door’s slam echoed through the slums, and I walked on the dirt driveway to the door I had entered the other day with Allie and Imani. A couple of other cars were parked on the road in front of the house, which meant that more than Poison was here tonight.

Could I tell my secrets to everyone who hated me?

After gathering the courage, I opened the door and walked down the stairs. When I reached the bottom step, the entire room—Jace, Allie, Imani, and Poison—collectively rolled their eyes. I dropped my gaze to my feet, guilt rushing through me.

They all hated me.

“Hey, guys,” I whispered, trying to muster up all the confidence that I had left. I lifted my gaze and met the confused stare of some other girl with red hair that I didn’t even think Poison hung out with, feeling just as confused. “Weird that you’re here, but …” Fuck, can I do this with just random Redwood students here? “Okay …”

Nobody said a word, so I took off my shoes at the door and walked to the couch, where the only free spot was next to Jace. Allie pulled him closer to her so we weren’t touching—which we hadn’t been anyway—and clenched her jaw.

“You said you had information,” she said. “Tell us or get out.”

My eyes widened slightly, the nerves piling up. I hoped that they believed me.

Jace placed a hand on Allie’s knee and squeezed. “We’ll leave soon, baby. Settle down.”

Tears watered in my eyes, and I straightened myself out. “About my father …” My throat began closing, but I forced myself to continue. “This can’t … nobody can know that this information came from me. Please, if you can make it look like you got it some other way, please do it. I don’t want my father to be angry with me. I want him put away.”

If I thought the room had been silent before, nobody even sucked in a breath now.

“He’s using the cheer team to do his dirty work,” I started because I couldn’t lead with …

He rapes me.

Landon rolled his eyes. “God, why is it always the cheer team in the drama?”

I pressed my lips together, feeling a flood of tears about to burst through. Nobody would believe me. They just thought it was all some drama that I’d caused because what the hell else would Nicole do, huh?

“I’m being serious,” I said, voice cracking. “He found out that Principal Vaughn had been taping people in the locker rooms. It started with the cheer squad. He let it slide as long as he was able to take some of the film of the girls. He’s been using it against us and blackmailing us into getting information about people in Redwood for him, threatening to leak the tapes and ruin our lives if we don’t.”

Jace shifted next to me, an unreadable expression on his face.

He and I’d had a fling—nothing too deep—at the beginning of the school year, and he had walked in on me with his archnemesis.

“That’s why I slept with Carter,” I said. “I never loved you. I just … my father wanted me to get information out of you. I knew it was wrong. I fucking knew it.”

“What?” Jace asked. “He’s doing that?”

I wiped tears from my cheeks with a shaky hand. “That’s not all. He’s roped some of the girls into a sex ring, and he was helping pimp them out at one point. He’s doing it all for the money. He’s so … so greedy. He doesn’t care.”

A sob escaped my mouth, and I held myself tighter.

“I-I-I’m one of those girls,” I said, a complete and utter mess of tears and snot. “He used me, forced me to have sex with men sixty years older than me. Just to get a quick few bucks. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. I’m so sorry.”

I collapsed onto someone’s lap, but my eyes were so blurry that I could barely see straight anymore. All I could feel was pain and relief. They wouldn’t believe me—hell, they didn’t even know the extent of it—but I was so relieved that I wasn’t living this alone.

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