Page 168 of Shattered Pieces

Mr. Gillard didn’t look happy about Caden coming with me, but he kept his mouth shut.

Once in the hallway, I let him go. “Why the fuck do you have a gun?”

“Skeet kept training me over the past couple of months. I’m pretty good now,” he shrugged.

“That’s probably a good thing. I have a bad feeling we’re going to need to know how to defend ourselves very soon. The Soldiers have been too quiet,” I muttered, halting as I reached my locker to find it open, the contents thrown everywhere, and the word murderer drawn all over it. “Ah, back to this, are we?”

“It wasn’t there this morning, and Claire didn’t have enough time to do it right now,” Caden replied, looking it over. “I guess we should report it to the headmaster. You know, do the right thing.”

“I don’t keep anything important in there anyway since this keeps happening,” I said dryly, eyeing my wet uniform that was inside. “Do you happen to have a spare set in your locker still?”

“Uh, no. I took it out when you got locked up,” he said sheepishly. “I can run you home, if you want?”

“I’d honestly just like to go home and stay there.”

“Mom will kill you,” he chuckled. “Let’s go to the office and see if they can loan you one. It’s their duty of care anyway.”

“It’s been a long day and it’s not even lunch time yet,” I grumbled, following him to the office.

The headmaster was still dealing with Claire, not at all happy to see me but not being able to do a damn thing about it since I was technically doing the right thing, and once I had a fresh uniform on, minus a bra since mine was soaked, we headed back to class.

Spanish class went well since I just glared at the teacher while she avoided eye contact, and lunch was surprisingly peaceful without Claire there. She’d been sent home for her behavior.

No one bothered us all damn afternoon, and Mr. Franklin was at least happy to see me in English Lit. Mrs. Stuart kept giving me nervous glances, and it made me wonder if she really thought I was a murderer, or if I set up Gunther and Mandy’s murders.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Tyler grinned at the end of the day as we walked towards the parking lot, lifting a hand in greeting to Marco and Hunter, who were sitting on their bikes near the cars.

“What are they doing here?” Jensen grumbled, but I walked a little faster, worried something was wrong.

“Just in the neighborhood,” Hunter said as we approached, my heartbeat slowing at knowing there wasn’t a threat. “Good first day back?”

“Claire got sent home for flipping out at me in class, so that was fun,” I smiled.

“You sound better. The bruising healed?” he asked, reaching out to pull my collar from my neck enough to have a look, loosening my tie in the process.

“Almost gone,” I confirmed, sliding my eyes to Marco to find him eyeing me as he smoked. “Have you been a good boy for Hunter while I’ve been gone?”

He smirked, blowing smoke at me as he climbed off his bike.

“Since when have I ever been a good boy?”

“Very valid, forget I asked,” I teased, stealing his cigarette for a drag before handing it back. “What have you guys been up to?”

“I was practically chained up so I couldn’t break into Gilbert’s to see you,” Marco huffed, glancing at the guys. “We’re cool, right?”

“Not cool,” Jensen scoffed, the guys all nodding their agreement, other than Tyler.

“C’mon, Mark’s fine,” he said to back up his buddy, patting him on the shoulder for support.

“We’re heading to mine,” I said to try and change the subject, Marco grinning.

“We’ll follow you. Unless you want to jump on the back like a good little backpack?”

“How about you walk and I’ll ride the bike?” I asked brightly, Hunter giving me the side-eye.

“Wouldn’t recommend you get on a bike with a skirt on. Go on, people are staring. We’ll talk at the house,” he promised, apparently not wanting to start gossip for once in his life.

People really were staring, and I was grateful that Marco didn’t grab my ass or something to get me in trouble. Especially considering I could see reporters by the gate again.