The Help (Kings of Linwood Academy 1)

For a second, I just stare at it, trying to comprehend what I’m seeing. The books in my arms hit the ground with a thud a second before I whirl to take in the gathered crowd.

“Who did this?” I y

ell.

Nobody answers. Savannah and Iris are standing with a group of cheerleaders, arms linked as they laugh. I heard them get into another fight after gym today, but apparently, they’ve smoothed things over again already.

The quarterback, Trent, stands nearby them, smirking.

My gaze scans the crowd for four familiar faces, and I find them too. Dax and Chase are standing side by side, each with their arms folded. On the other side of the gathered crowd, I find Lincoln and River. As they watch me, Lincoln leans over to speak into River’s ear, and River shakes his head slightly.

It could’ve been any of them. Or someone in the crowd whose name I don’t even know.

Kids are laughing, a few people are chucking more trash at my car, trying to get it through the broken windows, and my blood feels like it might combust. I’m so fucking pissed.

This isn’t even my car. It’s my mom’s. And if these rich assholes knew how hard she fucking worked for it, what it meant to us to finally even have a car after years of riding buses and begging rides off people… would they still have done this?

Sadly, probably yes.

“I hope you’re fucking happy.” My voice is low because I’m trying not to cry or fly completely off the handle and start screaming at everyone here. That’s what they want, I know it. To see me lose it. For me to complete the prank by giving them a show to laugh at.

But I won’t do that. I won’t give them the damn satisfaction.

I shuck my backpack and drop it to the ground before I pull my phone out, sinking to a crouch and leaning against the side of the car. A quick Google search pulls up a few different towing companies in the area, and I randomly pick one and dial the number.

“Fox Hill Towing, how can I help you?” a bored female voice answers.

“Hey, um, I’m in the lot of Linwood Academy on Newfield Avenue. I need a tow to a mechanic.”

“All right, we can do that.” She takes down my information and then finishes with, “Someone should be there in half an hour.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I end the call but stay where I am, crouched against one side of the car. Some students have wandered away, ready to get off campus and bored by my lack of tears. But Iris and Savannah linger for a little while, whispering back and forth. And when I glance at Lincoln and River again, I see their gazes darting around the crowd, like maybe they’re trying to figure out who did this too. Or, hell, maybe they did it, and they’re just wondering if anybody here saw them.

The tow truck takes forty minutes, and by the time the guy arrives, the parking lot has mostly cleared out. I haven’t even touched the trash inside the car, even though I know I should start cleaning it out. I just can’t bring myself to do it.

“Oh, wow.” He shakes his head, grimacing. “Somebody really did a number on this, huh?”

Yeah, genius. They did.

“Can you recommend a mechanic?” I ask. “We’re new in town, I don’t know any.”

“Sure.” He dusts his hands off, nodding toward the interior of the car. “They’re gonna charge you extra to get rid of all that though, I bet.”

“It’s fine,” I mutter.

But it’s not.

On the way to the mechanic, I have to call Mom because I don’t have enough money to pay for the tow. She takes the bus over to meet me at the auto shop, and I wish she could’ve borrowed one of the three cars Mr. Black owns, but I’m not surprised she didn’t ask.

When she sees her Nissan, that’s when I almost cry. The shit kids have been pulling on me at school sucks, but I can handle it. I dealt with a few bullies my freshman year at my old high school, and I’m tougher than most people assume.

But watching my mom read the words scrawled across the windshield, watching her process what’s been done to her car—and the fact that the kids did it to hurt me—breaks my fucking heart.

She gave up her life so I could have one. And somehow it feels like I just let her down.

“Low, are you okay?” As the tow truck driver unhooks the car from his rig, she wraps her arms around me. “Sweetie, if kids at school are—”