Page 83 of Defiant
He was quiet for a while, and what would you know, the first thing spoken about during the announcements was the fact that a group of students had been harmed over the weekend, and that the school was having a few grief counselors stop by this week, to talk if any other student should want to talk about it.
“Yes,” Archer finally whispered, “I believe you.”
My heart practically stopped in my chest when his blue gaze met mine. So warm and steady, unlike Dante’s stare. Archer believed me? Really? It shocked me to hear that, for whatever reason.
Then, almost ironically, the announcements started to talk about the winter formal, which, despite current events, would still be held this weekend. Voting for king and queen would take place in homeroom on Friday, so be sure to be on time! Oh, and apparently anyone who missed school on Friday wasn’t eligible to go to the dance, a way of trying to get kids not to skip, I guess.
Archer believed my innocence. Would wonders ever cease?
The whole choir room was abuzz with chatter. Since it was the week after a concert, Ms. Haber wasn’t too focused on getting us back to work right away. She spent the whole period locked away in her office, which left us to pretend like this was a study hall instead of choir.
Bobbi and I sat in the corner of the room, away from everyone else. She was busy watching me, as if trying to see if I was indeed as guilty as everyone else said I was. “I don’t believe them,” she said. “Everyone is just trying to find someone to blame. I know you were home, getting ready for the concert.” She already told me that Ryan and his friends getting attacked in the park was indeed what had kept her dad away.
Ryan was out in the hospital, but before he’d slipped into a coma, he’d claimed he was meeting someone in the park to buy drugs.
Drugs. Couldn’t have been Dante, right? Dante didn’t do that shit, did he? I guessed I didn’t know him well enough to make a claim either way.
“Yeah, that’s why they’re all saying I hired Dante to do it for me,” I muttered. Fuck. Things just got worse and worse around here, didn’t they? Things could never slow down and let me catch my fucking breath.
Listen to me swear like a sailor. I sounded like Jacob. God, I could really use his ear right about now. Maybe he’d know what I should do.
“I know you’re close to him,” Bobbi whispered, her hazel stare heavy. “Do you think he’d be able to do something like that?” The department hadn’t had enough to arrest him, hence the reason he was here and the subject of school gossip.
Did I believe Dante to be capable of something like that? Definitely. The way he held onto his switchblade made me think he was born with it. However, would I ever admit that to Bobbi? Bobbi, whose dad was a freaking detective with the Midpark Police Department? Hell no.
“Never,” I said. “He might look tough, but he’s a softie, underneath it all.” A softie. Dante. Hah, right.
At least she seemed to believe me. “We’re quick to point fingers at the outsiders. It was the same way a few years back, with Celeste. When things started happening, everyone blamed her.” Bobbi heaved a sigh. “I really hope we’re not on a cycle or something.”
If anything, we were already worse. Kids had died. When Celeste was here, the only thing that happened, besides some bullying, was a kid getting his hands cut off and a girl nearly killing herself by ramming her car into a tree. The level we were at was worse, corpse-wise.
God, I couldn’t believe I just had that thought. What was wrong with me?
Bobbi and I talked throughout the rest of the class period, though my mind was elsewhere. When the bell rang to signal lunch, I was the first out of the class, grabbing my shit and hurrying to my locker. I needed to see Dante, needed to talk to him, to find out if he’d really done what everyone was talking about, or if it was all a mistake. If they were ganging up on him because he was an outsider, because he was my friend.
Well, maybe more than a friend, but the way his hand had felt on my body, between my legs, was the last thing on my mind as I hurried to lunch.
I didn’t even grab my bag. I wasn’t hungry. If I tried to eat anything right now, I’d probably only end up throwing it up soon after.
Vaughn had beaten me there, as he usually did. He sat with a tray of pizza in front of him, though to him it might as well have been chopped liver. He did not look as if he wanted to eat it. I leaned on the table near him, causing his dark eyes to shoot up at me, checking me out all the while, as if it’d been ages since he’d seen me and I was the tallest drink of water he’d ever seen.
“When Dante gets here, tell him to meet me in the bathroom near the science hall.” I said nothing else, pushing away from the table as I left the cafeteria, heading to that same bathroom. Luckily the single-stall bathroom was empty, and I pushed inside, starting to pace the small space.
What would I do if Dante was the culprit? If he was the killer? Would I turn him in?
Fuck me.
My nerves got the better of me, and I wanted to throw up even though I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast—and even that was just a quick little pancake before my mom stuffed me in the car and drove me here in her newly-fixed van.
I had no idea how long it was until I heard someone try the knob to the door. Maybe I should’ve locked it, maybe I should’ve told Vaughn to tell Dante to knock a certain way or something, so I’d know it was him and let him in—
Dante stepped inside, grinning as he saw me, taking a quick moment to appreciate my appearance, his gaze lingering on my chest and my lips a bit too long. “Jaz. Just the girl I was told to see in the science hall restroom. How are you? You finally want some time alone with me?”
“No,” I said. “Well, yes…” What the hell was I saying? “That’s not why I told Vaughn to send you here.”
“Oh?” He took a step toward me, his cocky smirk warming my body in spite of the seriousness of what I had to ask him.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and I need you to tell me the truth,” I said, forcing out a frown. I would not let my hormones get the best of me; not right now. “Can you do that, Dante?” I folded my arms over my chest, giving him the most determined look I could, given the circumstances.
