Page 8 of Outlawed

“You excited?”

“Yeah, but also nervous.”

“That’s to be expected. But babe, you’re forgetting one thing.”

“Oh, yeah, what’s that?”

“You excel at everything you put your mind to.” I blush under his praise, not sure if that’s true or not, but lord knows I’ve been trying.

We head toward the town hall, passing a man who hands a flyer to Riggs while scowling at me. I look at the flyer and see the same face staring back at me from the most recent missing-person posters. The guy is gaunt, his skin covered in pockmarks, and the flash of a gold tooth pokes out from his half smile.

“You know this guy?” Riggs asks me.

“No. You?”

He shakes his head. “Is it me, or does this town have a higher-than-average missing-person rate?”

“Can’t say I’ve really paid that much attention. But don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“Of that, I have no doubt.” He grins, crumpling the paper of the smiling man with the gold tooth and tossing it in the trash can as we enter. We’re right on time, but the hall is packed already, making me wonder how early some of these people got here. I suppose for some, this is the highlight of their week, bitching and moaning to a room full of people who are forced to listen.

We slip in the back, in the empty last row, and take a seat as everyone talks loudly among themselves. A few minutes later, Jackie walks in. She scans the back, and when she spots us, she smiles widely before sliding in next to me.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. I wasn’t sure if you’d come or not.”

“I almost didn’t. I got lost in pie-filling ideas,” she admits.

“I have something I want to talk to you about after this if you have time.”

“For you, I have all the time in the world.”

“Alright, let’s bring this meeting to order!” someone yells just as Shepard walks in. My body reacts to him immediately, my nipples hardening under my tank top. Glad I wore a padded bra today. He spots us and slips in beside Jackie.

“Oh, let me swap seats with you,” she offers. Before he can refuse, she gets to her feet and moves past him so he can sit beside me.

He looks tired, but other than that, he seems okay. “Poppy, fuck, I missed you,” he says, kissing me before pulling back and nodding to Riggs. “Riggs.”

We all turn to the front of the room when Harry Lowe, the chair of the town committee, calls for quiet. As the noise dies down, a few people look our way, some with curiosity, some with open hostility. I don’t let it bother me. I notice people seem to hate me a little less than before, or perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.

“To kick things off, Sarah would like to talk about the upcoming festival. We have a signup sheet at the back of the hall waiting for those who haven’t had a chance to put their names down yet. Sarah, you have the floor,” he tells her.

She smiles shyly before getting to her feet and moving over to the podium. She scans the room, and when her eyes fall on me, she waves, making more people turn my way in curiosity. She clears her throat before she speaks up. “I’m sorry, I’m running a little late with organizing everything. As I’m sure most of you know by now, I was involved in a rather unpleasant incident. If it wasn’t for Calliope, well, I’m not sure I’d be standing here in front of you all right now.”

I jolt at that, surprised to hear my name mentioned at all. People start talking as both Riggs and Shepard slide a hand over each of my thighs.

“I heard it was her fault to begin with,” someone rasps.

I don’t see who, but Sarah’s head whips in their direction. “Then you heard wrong, not that it seems to matter in this town. Everything is always Calliope’s fault. It’s funny, really, because she was lovely to me from the moment I met her. She volunteered to help out with the festival by providing not just one stall, but two.”

She takes a deep breath. “And when I was being attacked by a man I should have been able to trust, she protected my body by covering it with her own.”

The whole room goes silent as I reach over Shepard to grab Jackie’s hand.

“I’m not sure there is another soul in this room who would do that for a virtual stranger.”

Her gaze moves around the room. “There is a lesson to be learned here. People I thought of as friends, people I should have been able to trust, turned on me for their own personal gain. I grew up in this town, and even as it slowly withered and died around me, I still loved this place and believed in the people here. Right now, all I feel is naive and ashamed.”