true colors - jb & ag 《completed》

{twelve}

So both of your parents are out of town?" Zane Ponytail Reed asked for the second time as he typed into his tablet.

"Yes." Justin draped an arm across the back of the Victorian sofa. He'd led Mr. Reed into the formal parlor, hoping the less comfortable environment would make for a shorter visit. So far it didn't seem to be working. "They travel a lot."

"Before you turned eighteen, your mother signed the papers for your discharge but didn't visit while she was there." He glanced up, his expression carefully neutral. "I was under the impression that you hadn't seen your parents during your incarceration. Is that correct?"

Justin forced his jaw to unclench. If Zane had access to Justin's records, he knew the answer to that question. "That's right."

"But they were accepting of you staying here after your release?"

More like they didn't know or care. "It would seem so." Justin answered, working hard to wash the sarcasm from his tone.

"What are you doing to stay busy? I haven't received any calls for employment references."

"I've enrolled full-time at Gilt Hollow High."

"They accepted you?"

"With a nudge from my family's attorney."

Zane sucked in his right cheek, causing his mouth to contort as he paged through his tablet. The silence stretched on until Justin leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Mr. Reed cleared his throat and spoke without looking up. "Do the three individuals who witnessed your crime and testified against you attend Gilt Hollow High?"

"Yes."

Zane blew out a breath and took off his glasses. "This concerns me on many levels. Part of my job as a probation officer"—he sat straighter in his chair as if he were a supreme court judge, not a lowly government official—"is to ensure that after your release you are in no way jeopardizing the public welfare."

"Why would I—"

He raised the hand holding his glasses and cut Justin off. "That remains to be seen, but I'm warning you now, I won't hesitate to pull you out of that school if there is a need. I spoke with Chief Kagawa on the phone, and he seemed concerned that your return to Gilt Hollow could cause . . . conflict."

Justin's suspicions that Kagawa was out to get him confirmed, he pointed out, "Chief Kagawa's son, Isaiah, was one of the witnesses against me, so keep that in mind. Also remember that I pled guilty to my crime."

"Yes, after the other boys stepped forward as witnesses."

This man had no clue what Justin had gone through as a minor shuffled though the justice system alone. All he wanted to know was that Justin wasn't going to hurt anyone . . . else. Justin met Zane's gaze and allowed his face to soften. "I just want my old life back. A second chance."

"I'm well aware that taking a plea bargain doesn't mean you've accepted your guilt. However, your counselor, Mr. Larkin, has assured me of your rehabilitation. So I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt." He replaced the glasses on his face and propped his tablet on his knee.

Silence loomed like a specter, stretching to fill the round two-story room and sucking the air from Justin's lungs. This man, this stranger, held countless words in his hands that summed up the life of a juvenile delinquent. But those words didn't define him—his past or his future.

After what felt like hours, Zane removed his glasses again and raised his blank gaze. His next words sounded as if he recited them from some probation officer's guide on how to be a pretentious stooge. "The court has dictated that we meet every four weeks for the next six months, though it is up to my discretion to meet on a more frequent basis if I deem it necessary. I'd like to return in three weeks." He tapped the screen and then swiped his finger over the surface. "Perhaps if we meet on a Saturday afternoon your parents will be around?"