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The class immediately erupts in a chorus of oohs and aahs as if we were still in kindergarten. But it’s Peyton’s voice that sends a cold shiver down my spine.

“See you around, Extra Credit,” she singsongs. “Good riddance.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

As if reading the question in my gaze, Peyton just smiles at me. That sick and twisted smile of hers. I hold her stare for a moment longer, waiting for her to say something, but she doesn’t. She just keeps smiling, looking far too pleased with herself for my liking.

Whatever game she’s playing, I have no intention of sticking around to find out what comes next. I grab my books and hurry out of the classroom, my mind working overtime.

First Mr. Collins doesn’t show up, then I’m called into the principal’s office, and somehow Peyton seems to know something about both.

Something feels off.

Then a far more terrifying thought slams into me—Dad.

My brisk walk turns into a run.

What if something happened to him? An accident on the road? Something with the truck? What if someone called the school because—

By the time I reach the front office, I’m flushed and out of breath. I drop my books onto the reception counter.

“Is it my dad? Is he okay?”

The secretary looks up at me and whatever sympathy I expected to find on her face isn’t there. Instead, she looks at me as if I were something she scraped off the bottom of her shoe.

I actually take a step back.

People in Fairhope looking at me with disdain is nothing new. Being my mother’s daughter made sure of that a long time ago. But there’s something different about the way she’s looking at me. Something sharper. Almost hateful.

“You can go in. Principal Hargrove is waiting for you.” That’s all she says before pointing toward his office door.

I knock once before stepping inside, only to feel a rush of relief when I spot Dad sitting in one of the chairs across from the principal’s desk.

He’s okay. Thank God.

My relief lasts all of two seconds. The moment Dad looks up at me, I hurry toward him, the devastation on his face filling me with dread.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my heart pounding. “Dad? Why are you here?”

“Please take a seat, Maxine,” Principal Hargrove says, gesturing toward the empty chair beside my father.

I reluctantly do as he asks, lowering myself into the chair as a dozen terrible thoughts race through my mind. When my knee immediately starts bouncing beneath the desk, I press my palm against it, trying to force it still.

Principal Hargrove folds his hands in front of him and studies me for a long moment, his expression giving absolutely nothing away.

“Before we discuss why you’ve been called in here, Maxine, I want to give you the opportunity to tell your father and me if there’s anything you think we should know. Anything you’d like to get off your chest.”

I stare at him, completely bewildered.

“What exactly? “

“Anything at all,” he says carefully. “Something that may have happened between you and Mr. Collins.”

My entire body goes still.

“I don’t understand. What about Mr. Collins?” I look between the principal and my father, growing more confused by the second. “Dad? What’s wrong? Why do you look so sad?”

Dad reaches for my hand, and it’s only when his fingers close around mine that I notice the tears glistening in his eyes.