Page 19 of The Darkest Note

I rise lazily and slip a hand into my pocket, watching her take off down the hallway. It doesn’t matter how hard or how fast she runs, I’m kicking her out of Redwood Prep. One way or another.

“I can’t wait until the practice room,” Zane says, folding his arms over his chest.

“Too many people are in here,” I say.

“That’s a problem that’s easily solved.” Zane rises to his full height and walks a couple steps away.

Immediately, the kids who are lingering turn to him.

“Everybody. Out!” Zane yells.

The hectic thud of footsteps and squeaking of chairs is followed by an immediate silence.

“There. We’ve got the room to ourselves,” Zane says smugly. He swings his leg over the chair in front of me and mounts it backward.

Finn leans toward me. “Spill it, Dutch. What’s going on with you and the New Girl?”

I face them. “Remember Jinx’s message about Mulliez putting someone in Sol’s place?”

The nod.

“She’sthe reason Sol can’t come back to Redwood.”

Questions jump to life in their eyes.

Finn folds his arms over his chest. “She’s the one who took his spot?”

I dip my chin once.

Zane’s jaw clenches. “That b—”

“If we get her out, Sol can come back.”

“That’s if Sol’s parents evenwanthim to come back,” Finn points out.

Guilt twists inside me again, edging to the front of my mind. Sol took the rap for us. There’s no other option than to return him to his rightful place.

“Of course they want him to come back,” Zane says confidently.

Finn scrubs his chin. “I don’t like this. Sol would have found a way to contact us if he could. There’s something we don’t know.”

“You think Jinx knows where he is?” Zane asks.

I give him a sideways look. “You trust Jinx now?”

“She’s got eyes everywhere. Maybe those eyes extend to Sol.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Finn agrees.

“Contacting Sol comes later. We gotta have something to offer him first.” I hesitate for a moment before I let my brothers in on my plan. “I want to run New Girl out of Redwood Prep and I need your help.”

The statement rings in the air.

The silence echoes.

Both my brothers peer up at me, obviously trying to make sense of what I’m saying.

We get what we want because our dad’s influence is heavy on Redwood Prep. People stay out of our way naturally. And we have our own code. We don’t ever target punks who haven’t done us a personal wrong.

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