Page 90 of Unspoken Truths

“No, I’ll be quick,” I breathe as I release my seatbelt, picking up the photos and opening the door.

Hauling myself out of the car, I walk quickly up the stairs and knock on the door, chewing on my bottom lip.

Please don’t let Jared be here. Please…

Not seeing a car in the driveway doesn’t mean much since there’s a garage.

The door swings open to show Jared in a towel, his skin still wet as he looks at me in disbelief.

“What are you doing here?” he asks. “You seriously don’t get enough of my attention at school, you have to follow me home? My dick may taste like chlorine, but an attention seeker like you may enjoy that.”

“Please keep your dick away from me,” I breathe. “I’m just here to see Calvin.”

“I’m right here, Miss Rachelle,” he says, surprising me with the formal name. Jared moves to the side as the older man steps into view. “Jared, I believe you need to remember how to speak to people who come all this way to fulfill a promise to an old man. Are these photos for me?”

“They are,” I admit, handing them to him.

A wide smile pierces his lips as he looks through the two best photos I decided to use. I was really critical about the images, and I still don’t think I’ve done them justice.

“Miss Rachelle,” he breathes. “These are incredible.”

Jared moves to gaze down at the photos in Calvin’s hands, not saying anything for a long time, while I take a step back to head back to the car. I don’t care what he thinks about them, I didn’t bring these for his opinion.

“Is that really what I look like when I swim?” Jared asks. “Calvin is right. They’re decent.”

Calvin grunts in displeasure, and my lips curve into a smile that I actually mean.

“I have to get going. I wanted to make sure I brought them to you,” I tell Calvin. “It felt important.”

“You’ve made my day, Miss Rachelle,” he says.

Turning away, I can feel the weight of their gaze the entire walk to the car. One feels as if he’s measuring me up and trying to decide what he thinks, while Calvin is merely making sure I get into the car safely. It’s only a few steps, but the sentiment is sweet nonetheless.

Sliding into the car, I take a breath as I close the door, glancing at Lili.

“Let’s never do this again,” I murmur.

“You’re a really good person,” she says with a smile, tears in her eyes. “Jared has been nothing but a dick to you, and you still spent all of that time creating art to bring to the man who basically raised him.”

Nodding, I rub Lili’s arm as she puts the car in the drive. I guess things that bring me joy and ones that are confusing can exist together.

CHAPTER16

JARED

What is her deal?Calvin’s face was stern as he walked away from me yesterday, the photos held tightly to his chest. Theo mentioned that she spent a good hour developing these to ensure they were perfect, telling him the steps simply to keep him from asking questions.

Theo can be an asshole when he wants to be, insisting on knowing everything to be a pest, but also since it’s the perfect way to find out more about his new obsession. Rachelle is a new toy he doesn’t understand, which doesn’t bode well for her.

He likes to break his toys before he puts them back together in an entirely different way. I’m going to use that to my advantage today. It’s time to put some pressure on her.

Shoving my hands into my pockets, I leave my car behind in the parking lot, and walk over to Theo as he climbs out of his SUV.

“What’s good, man?” he asks, smirking as he sees the determined look on my face. Grabbing his bag, he pushes his arms through the straps, brow raised. “Did you come over here with something in mind? You look like you either want to blow me or fuck someone up.”

“The first thing would be on my agenda if we had the time for it,” I mutter, jerking my head toward the school. “I need you to fuck with the little mouse’s grades. Can you slowly change all of her most recent papers and exams to zeros and low marks?”

“I’ll run a program to hack into all of the online grade books,” he says with a callous smile and shrug, closing the door behind him. “It’ll continually change every grade without any trail of what the previous one was. Unless a teacher is actually paying attention, the incorrect marks will go through as factual.”

---