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She purses her lips, outraged that I would speak out loud in this place. I wink at her and leave the library, praying that Yeleen is still around.
“Yeleen!” I shout, running toward her when I spot her in the distance.
She flinches and turns to me, her eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes look tired, her face worried. “Oh, hi, Iris. I’m sorry, I meant to call you tonight.”
“What’s going on?” I cut her off bluntly.
She opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. She puts a hand on the back of her neck and sighs. Can you meet us at Tucker’s tonight?”
What’s all the fucking mystery about?!
“Where’s TJ? Is he…okay?”
She shrugs with a contrite look on her face and I understand that she won’t tell me anything right now. “I have an exam in five minutes, I’m sorry, I…come, tonight, if you want to understand.”
And she turns away without waiting for my answer.
***
A few hours later, my car stops in front of the huge gate of the Bomley property. I don’t think for a second and drive through it to the chapel. This must be the meeting place, since Tucker doesn’t want us to go into the house where his crazy mother lives…
In front of the door, Dan is leaning against one of the ruined walls. He takes a drag on a cigarette, letting the smoke create a halo around his head.
In fact, it’s not a cigarette at all, but a joint. He stares at his feet. He still hasn’t noticed me. If he’s there, then so are the others. I begin to understand, this is a meeting of the Pack. An unfamiliar feeling comes over me, like I feel strangely out of place.
“You should stop smoking that shit or you’ll die young,” I tease him as I approach.
He raises his eyebrows and runs a hand over his shaved head. “Thanks, doc, you can tell me how much I owe you for the consultation,” he replies with a little smile.
“Are they inside?”
He nods and invites me in, crushing his joint under his foot.
“What happened, exactly?” I ask as I descend the steps leading to the basement.
He doesn’t have time to answer. I find Yeleen sitting next to Sam on a couch. Sarah and Sanchez are sitting on a different one. The room is lit by a small light hanging from the ceiling. The place looks so different from the other night, when it was filled with half-drunk students.
Tucker stands between the two couches, arms crossed over his chest. Oh, oh, I think Mr. Grumpy-is-my-second-name was waiting for me.
I quickly look around for TJ, but he’s not there.
Everyone has a serious look on their faces except for Sanchez, who is probably wondering what the hell we’re doing here. Just like me.
“This looks like an AA meeting,” I whisper to Dan as he walks by.
His shoulders twitch gently as he holds back a laugh. I cautiously walk over to the couch on the right, my attention focused on Tucker. So the grumpy has decided to react now? I hope he has a good excuse. Sarah gives me a nasty look, shifting slightly so I don’t brush against her.
Stupid.
“So what the hell are we doing here?” asks Sanchez, rolling his eyes.
Tucker glares at him, and his jaw contracts a little more. He looks tired, at the edge of his nerves. His black eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes are bloodshot. Mostly he looks pissed off, ready to explode at any moment. His arms tense against the sleeves of his shirt as he contracts his biceps, looking for an answer.
“The Pack is a family,” Yeleen says in his place.
I watch her on the sly.
“And when one member of the family is in need, the others help him,” she continues, tapping her lower lip with her index finger.
