Page 39 of Sweet Punk
Star nods, a sad look on her face. “Even after I anonymously gave the school a heads-up that he had planned to set the place on fire, no one believed it… until he tried to do it.” She lets out a heavy sigh that I feel right down to my bones. She’s dealt with this asshole for way too long.
On the other side of Star, Ryleigh sets down her pizza and wipes her hands on the napkin sitting in her lap. “Can I ask how long you’ve known he was like this?”
“A long time. And that’s hard for me to admit. Our parents married when we were freshmen in high school. We were kinda tossed together at first. We both like computers a lot and were in the same grade, so our parents thought we’d get along well. Turns out, it’s more like I’m the good hacker to his bad hacker.” Her eyes flick around the table. “The whole Spencer deal is current, public knowledge. But he probably had some real fun digging around to figure out that leaving you guys a note about Landon would hit hard. He’d have been ridiculously thrilled to find something that juicy to use against you.”
Maddox grits his teeth, sliding a look past Raven and Lux to Hawk at the far end of the table. “Fucker doesn’t know who he’s messing with, does he?”
“You can say that again.” Hawk clears his throat. “So, what I want to know is how bad is this going to get? You said something about him being let out of a psychiatric ward?”
“Yeah. He’s eighteen now, but he was a juvenile when all of this started. The agreement that they came to, since he was caught in the act of setting the fire was that he be evaluated by a mental health professional. That doctor advised that he be placed at a facility for juveniles where his behavior could be monitored, and he could be appropriately medicated if necessary.” Star wets her lip and releases an unsteady breath. I hate that this is so unnerving for her. But it’s necessary. I reach for her hand under the table because clearly neither of us has much of an appetite. Our breadsticks sit on our plates, untouched. “I don’t know the specifics because I chose to look the other way. I was just so relieved he was gone.”
Maddox growls. “This guy sounds like a real piece of work.”
“You don’t know the half of it. He’s great at the buildup, too—when he’s decided he’s going to fuck with someone specifically.” Star sneaks a look at me out of the corner of her eye before she continues. “Um. I started dating this guy our junior year. Wayne. Super nice guy. Milo got it in his head that he didn’t want me to date him—anyone, really—and started messing with him. At first it was dumb stuff like threatening notes in his locker, stealing his belongings, and then it started to escalate. Wayne’s car was keyed, then he got accused of cheating on a test. And then there wasthe letter.”The way she says it sounds ominous. My heart begins to thud painfully in my chest. I have a feeling I’m not going to like what she’s about to say.
The entire group stops what they’re doing, giving Star their full attention. “It said something about how Wayne had no business touching ‘his’ girl. It crashed through Wayne’s bedroom window, wrapped around a baseball, going like eighty miles per hour.” She hesitates. “Did I mention Milo was the star pitcher on our high school’s baseball team?”
From the end of the table, on the other side of Ryleigh, Matty groans. “What a shit.”
“It gets worse. When Wayne refused to stop seeing me, his car was run off the road. After that, Wayne broke up with me. Milo got his way. I don’t know whether Wayne spread the word or what, but I flew solo the rest of the way through high school.” She shrugs, dejectedly. “Maybe it was for the best, though. Milo is dangerous, and he can do no wrong in his dad’s eyes. And my mom goes right along with it. He’s like the golden child. I’ve been dealing with this bullshit for years.”
Hawk narrows his eyes. “But wait. How did you know it was him who was doing all that crazy shit?”
“Most of it, he directly told me it was him. He got off on taunting me by taking responsibility for it and then threatening me with bodily harm if I said anything. He made it clear he’d make me regret it.” Star’s fingers clamp down hard on mine. I can tell by looking at her that there’s maybe a little something she’s holding back, but she continues before I think too much about it. “That’s why I kept quiet for so long. I truly thought he would follow through with his threats.” My girl looks down, blinking rapidly, before she quietly says, “I was positive he’d hurt me. And now that he’s out… not only does hehave toknow it was me who ratted him out, but I also got to attend Shadow River, which was his top-choice school until he got caught and fucked everything up for himself.”
“Shit.” Raven nudges my foot under the table “I’m so sorry, Star.”
There’s a murmur of agreement from the group before Star responds. “I’m sorry I kept it from you. I’ve been nervous from day one. I kinda knew he’d be out some time after his eighteenth birthday, which was in late August.” Her eyes flick to Hawk’s. “When you were sneaking in at the beginning of the year, I kept thinking you were him. And there was one time that I swore someone had been in my room.” She sighs heavily. “You didn’t—”
“No.” Hawk doesn’t let her finish. “I never so much as touched the doorknob.” He shoots us a distressed look. “I only ever busted in to see Lux. Promise.”
“Then I’d say we’d better assume he’s been in and out of there and watching from the start.” Star winces.
I can’t fucking believe what she’s been through. But we’ll put a stop to this somehow. “The question is, how are we going to deal with him?”
TWENTY-ONE
KELLAN
When we get back to campus, the fire department has cleared residents to return to the dorm. It wasn’t a huge fire and had been contained to a large trash can. The closer we get to our suites, the more nervous Star seems. I let everyone go upstairs ahead of us, drawing her to a halt. I pull her back against me. “You know you’re staying with me, right?”
She shivers in my arms. “Are you sure?”
I press my lips to her neck, mumbling, “Um, yeah. There’s no way you’re staying alone.”
I feel her deep breath as she relaxes against me. “Okay. I’ll get some stuff from my room.”
Outside her suite, we stop again. Or rather, Star does. She’s hesitating big-time.
“You nervous to go in there?”
“Maybe a little.” Her breath hitches before she quietly says, “Do you think they blame me?”
“I think they probably wish you had said something sooner, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. No one thinks you’re responsible for his actions. Come on. Let’s get your stuff.”
From the looks of things, the other two girls have already cleared out, the suite completely abandoned. My gaze lands on a few charred marks on the carpet. I close my eyes for a moment, to calm myself. But fuck, I can tell from the marks on the floor right where he had her pinned between his legs. Anger blooms in my chest, hot and thick. “Fuck,” I mutter as I look around.
Star stands beside me, unmoving and staring at the same spot on the floor. “He— He was going to do things to me. I know it.” Her gaze flicks to mine, and my brow arches in question. “When I struck him, his dick was hard.”
