Page 9 of Her Crew

And what about my things? My fuzzy blue blanket I’ve had since my sixth birthday. The toothbrush I stole last year because I don’t want my teeth to fall out. And my clothes. What the hell would I wear? I can’t squeeze my left thigh into the waistband of those girls’ pants, let alone the legs.

Panic chokes me until I can’t breathe. I’m suffocating on my own spit.

Ace steps closer and wraps an arm around me in a comforting gesture. Apparently, I looked like I needed to be comforted.

“What’s all this about?” he asks. “Do you have a reason to want to stay here in this shithole town?”

No, not really, but the thought of change—a really drastic change—weighs down on me until I can’t move. I can’t even speak.

“Look, I know it’s sudden and you don’t really know us, but you’ll fit right in. I’m never wrong about these things.”

Stacks honks the horn, and Ace raises a finger, though I can’t see if it’s the pointer or the bird. My brain shuffles through pros and cons as time slips through my fingers.

“What about my stuff?” I finally ask.

Ace flashes me a smile that raises those piercings. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”

He’s very convincing. I need to remember that he lies for a living.

I look at the van, then back at Ace. His eyebrows rise in question, and I have my answer. With a nod, I start toward the van and fight back the urge to puke on my shoes. I’ve started something in motion that I won’t be able to stop. Now I just have to hope this van takes me to a better life and not a worse one.

Chapter 6

Alec

There’s no room in the van. I didn’t think this through. There wasn’t room for me on the way here, let alone another person. I just couldn’t leave her there. I see something in her beyond the dirt and grime and who knows what else she’s covered in.

Maybe I see some of myself in her. There are pieces of me in most of the crew. Delia, the red-headed runaway. Tye, the one who has scars on more than just the inside. Rolo, who had to detox from drugs before he was even born. In every single one of them, I find pieces of myself.

They are me.

And I’m them.

But none of us are who we were.

She sits on my lap in the back seat, and we take off from this shit town with our newly acquired package. Will her family call the police and report her missing? Does she even have a family to miss her?

“She’s sitting on your lap?” Delia says with a curl of her lip. She doesn’t hide her disgust.

No one does, really. They’re too far removed from the life she’s coming from. But not me. I remember it all as if it were yesterday. Based on the way Tegan’s posture deflates, she feels every bit of this searing hatred.

I won’t let her feel that way.

Her body odor is . . . rough, I’ll admit that, but not to her or anyone else. For all they know, I’m completely nose blind to her scent. I’ve stunk so many times, from piss and shit, to vomit and old food. Sometimes a combo of them all. Now that’s a smell you won’t forget anytime soon. She just smells like a girl who’s given up.

I won’t let her. I’ll help her find the strength to try again.

“Pull in here,” I say as I lean forward and tap the seat in front of me. The middle row relays my message to Stacks.

“A hotel? Why? We aren’t staying the night here, Ace,” Stacks says.

“Just . . . trust me.”

We pull into a hotel, and people spill from the metal box to smoke cigarettes and weed. I take Tegan’s hand and drag her inside. We avoid gazes and pretend to be existing residents just coming in from their meal out. No one even lifts their eyes long enough to notice us, which is great.

“Why are we here?” she whispers.

“I have an idea.”