Page 55 of Protect

“Tell me she’s full of shit, you two.”

“She’s not,” Jacob says, running a hand through his hair.

I’ve never wanted to hit my best friend before now, but I have to physically restrain myself. Violette is a model student, to use her like this sends a rage through me that I can’t explain. Even in his less than sober state, I can see that he did exactly what Kyleigh accused him of.

“I’m failing trig, man.” He looks over at Max.

“We both are,” Max adds. “I just thought that if we could get our hands on the final, we could both pass, and…fuck, this is my meal ticket. My old man will fucking kick my ass into next week if I don’t get into Oregon State. He’s been bragging about it to all his buddies in the yard. My parents can’t afford shit—this is my only ride.”

I rub my temples. “Maybe you should be taking your classes more seriously then, instead of getting fucking high all the time.” Max looks just as scared as Jacob, but I don’t owe shit to him. “And what’s your excuse? Why didn’t you come to me?”

Jacob puts his head in his hands. “All you do is look at me like a fucking disappointed dad, and I fucking hate it!”

I fold my arms over my chest and eye him up, as if to say,if the shoe fits…

“Look, I know I have to stop partying. I figured you’d just give me shit for failing, and at the time I didn’t want to hear it. I thought I had it under control and I’m in the same boat as Max. If I fail, I’m fucked. They’re barely letting me in as it is with my GPA. Fail my final? I won’t graduate, King, I’ll lose my scholarship.”

I know enough to know that getting into WSU on a rugby scholarship means everything to Jacob.

“That doesn’t give you the right to bring Vi into this,” I tell him.

“I know.” A lone tear falls onto his cheek. “I would never want to hurt her. I wasn’t thinking…. She goes there at night to bring food every week, they’d never even second guess the scan in logs with her ID, and there are no cameras in that part of the school.”

“You never thought about what would happen if you got caught? It would look like shegaveher pass to you, like she helped you, she would be taken off the national honors society, she could be expelled.” I add, pacing the room. “And it would fucking crush her.”

“We’re fucked regardless. Kyleigh was leaving cheer practice when she saw us. She took a video through the window of us using our phones as flashlights to rummage around, she thought you might be with us. I slipped up and told her how we got in. I thought it would be better than her thinking we broke in,” Max says, pulling a pack of smokes out of his back pocket.

“She just said to call you, you were the only one she wanted something from.”

I look out at Kyleigh through the dirty front window under the porch lights, she’s on the phone talking to one of her friends and she’slaughing. Of course, she would want me to be here. She’s been looking for payback for two years. One night. One fucking drunken night we hooked up and she’s never let me hear the end of it. No matter how many times I apologized, no matter how honest I was with her. She even started a rumor that she was pregnant, which Jacob helped me squash by getting close to Carmen and getting her to admit Kyleigh was lying. I already knew she was, but this is a small town, if that got back to my parents? I was only fucking sixteen.

“What’s she want from me?” I ask, turning back to face Jacob.

“Fuck if I know,” he says, reaching down to take a sip of an open beer on the table.

I shake my head. He just got caught in this heap of shit and he’s drinking. I have no idea what’s running through his mind these days.

“Chick’s fuckin nuts,” Max says, lighting his smoke. “Said you owed her a favor.”

Like fuck.

“Stay here and stop fucking drinking,” I tell Jacob.

I don’t know what Kyleigh wants, but I’m gonna find out right now. I’m done playing her game.

AGE 18

I push through the flimsy screen door, leaving Jacob and Max inside, joining Kyleigh on the porch. She turns as soon as she hears me and smiles up at me.

“Did the dipshits fill you in?” she snickers.

“Enough. What do you want, Kyleigh? I don’t fucking owe you anything.”

She scoffs. “You actually believe that, don’t you?”

“It was one goddamn night. We were both drunk. I told you the next morning how sorry I was. I’ve never even drank like that since.”

“You took my virginity, King.”

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