One high school, five teenagers, an unlimited amount of chaos.
After a storm wipes out Wilkinson High, Rowena Salone and the entirety of her classmates are forced to relocate to the next closest school in their district. Being the new girl isn't so...
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"They were with this other guy I never caught a name for. He had a buzzcut and some scruff."
"Dominic Stevens," Dad cut out. He had been staring at the coffee table without blinking, a heavy set in his jaw.
He had been quiet. Dad gets quiet when he's angry. He doesn't yell and he doesn't lose his temper because he's always busy thinking.
So it was quiet for a while as Declan kept pressure on my cut. The plate that shattered by my hand didn't slice too deep. I wouldn't need stitches. We were just stopping the bleeding so we could wrap it.
"Are you sure you told me everything?" Dad asked me.
"Mhm," I replied.
He dropped his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples. He was thinking but whatever he was thinking didn't seem to be going his way.
He took a deep breath after even more silence. Then he finally says, "You're quitting your job at the diner."
"No, I'm not," I said without missing a beat.
"That wasn't an option, Rowena. He knows where you work, it's a very public place, and I have no idea what the fuck he's planning to do. You're not going back there until he's behind bars."
"Dad, Risa just had a baby and we're short-staffed enough already as it is. I can't just stop showing up, they need me." He gave me a heavy glare and I kept talking before he could talk. "You were the one who taught me to how to be a go-getter dad, to not back down under pressure. I'm not leaving my job because stupid dude waved his fingers at me."
"Rowena, this isn't the same scenario as some dumbass kids from school. This is an actual criminal we are talking about here. He takes young girls, girls like you. Do you want to be next on his list?"
Declan went rigid beside me, putting a little extra pressure on my gauze. "Ow," I whispered and tugged my hand a little.
"Shit, I'm sorry," He whispered, blinking out of his thoughts. He readjusted his hold on my hand.
"Rowena," Dad continued. "He has outright admitted that he wants to use you to threaten me. There is absolutely no way in hell you are going back to work until I sort this out."
He was right. I knew he was right, and I hated that he was right. I went quiet for a moment as I accepted this fact.
"So what's your plan then?" I asked. "How quick can we get this guy in jail?"
He breathed out slowly, his shoulders lowering, and rested his elbows on his knees once again. "Well for one, this is an illegal recording. You weren't a party to this conversation so according to law, you had no business to record it."
"It's not completely useless, not with the right judge. And what I mean by that is someone I can trust. Someone who isn't possibly being bitched around by this guy's money. But the only one I can trust..." He let his words hang.
