Page 5 of Wicked Nasty

"What do you want?" I ask, annoyed by his sudden appearance.

He takes a seat next to me with a heavy sigh. "She's with him."

"Ally?" I ask, feeling a knot form in my stomach.

"Yeah. She's with him right now and there's nothing I can do about it. This whole situation is sickening," he says with frustration.

"I know we can't kill the bastard, but I wish we could," I say, clenching my fists.

"And risk getting caught? No way. Her dad will just find someone else to marry her off to." He shakes his head in disgust.

"Do you think the old fuck is...?" I trail off, unable to even say the words.

Ryan's face falls solemnly. "No. He'll wait until they're legally married before taking what he wants from her. It makes me sick."

I light up another cigarette, trying to cope with the overwhelming anger and sadness inside me. "Fuck this world."

Ryan nods in agreement. "Are you going back to school tomorrow?"

"Unfortunately," I mutter bitterly. "I have no choice if I want to stay enrolled."

"We're all here for you, man," Ryan says, patting me on the back.

I half-heartedly smile at him and take another drag of my cigarette. "Thanks. I just need to find some way to shake off this funk. What happened... it's just too much."

"I get it. But smoking those cancer sticks won't help. And if Coach catches you, he'll have your ass.”

We both laugh, breaking the tension for a moment. "Yeah, I know. Alright, I'm heading inside. See you tomorrow."

I make my way inside and go straight to my room, throwing open the doors to the attached porch. I roll up a blunt and sink into the chair.

Fuck it all. The last thing I want to do is go back to school, see my friends, pretend like everything is normal. It's not.

My other sister, Delilah, steps out onto the porch from my room. "Mom will kill you if she catches you out here."

"Good. Maybe then she'll finally pay attention to something besides her pills," I mutter bitterly.

"Why are you such an asshole, Danny? Daisy made her own choices," Delilah says sternly.

I blow out a cloud of smoke in her direction. "Fuck off, Del. Not in the mood."

"You and dad both need to shape up or mom is going to leave," she scolds me before storming off.

I just sit back and laugh bitterly. Fuck her. Fuck mom. Fuck it all.

Thesunhasjustrisen and I sit in my car, dread filling me as I contemplate going into school. My heart races at the thought of facing everybody, enduring their whispers and rumors. But I know if I don't go in, my dad will be furious with me.

Sighing heavily, I turn off the ignition and step out of the car. Heading to my locker, I catch a glimpse of Kaiden walking towards me. Panic sets in and I try to turn back around, but he catches up to me.

"We need to talk, Danny."

I shake my head, avoiding eye contact. "No, we really don't."

Kaiden grabs the lapels of my blazer and forcefully turns me to face him, slamming me against the lockers.

"Come on, man. Talk to me. What the hell is going on with you?"

My gaze drops to the floor as I struggle for words. "It's not that simple. You just... you can't understand."

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