Make You Beg

My father turns to me. “Quit fucking talking!”

My vibrating phone pulls me out of that memory. I check to see it’s another text from Law in the group chat.

Law: Your silence proves I’m right.

Scout: Don’t worry. We’ll all get our turn.

Law: Not soon enough.

CHAPTER FOUR

HENLEY

SITTING AS STIFF as a board during class, I’m afraid to move or even breathe. Dax sits behind me, and his thoughts are so loud I can almost hear them. Bitch! Fucking liar! Whore. Those were just a few things I was called on social media once word got out that he had been detained due to an eyewitness—me. We were all underage, but somehow, the information got leaked to the public.

Law, Rellik, and Scout all jumped to his defense. They showed screenshots of previous text messages that Dax was going to be out of town for the weekend, proving he hadn’t been at Death Valley that night Brenda went missing. Of course, the court had their phone records subpoenaed to prove they were telling the truth. What I found odd is that the entire time this was going on, they never pulled Brenda’s phone records. And they never tried to ping her location. If a girl just disappears, wouldn’t they want to know who she last spoke to? Where she’d been? It wasn’t like she left a goodbye note to her adoptive parents to explain the sudden disappearance.

“Miss Greene?”

I jump at the sound of my name. “Y-Yes?” I ask, looking up at the teacher.

The class snickers at me, and I slide farther down into my seat. I fucking hate high school!

“Miss Greene, I request that when you’re in my class, you pay attention.” Her light blue eyes glare at me, waiting for an answer.

I nod quickly. “Yes, ma’am.”

That seems to satisfy her, and she turns back to her lecture on I don’t know what. My previous thoughts temporarily put on hold, I look her over. She looks pretty young to be a teacher. This must be her first year here because I’ve never seen her before. She wears skinny jeans that look painted on and a black, long-sleeve top tucked in. I feel like she wears it that way to show off her ass. She maybe stands at five-three and a hundred and ten pounds. She tops off her outfit with a pair of black knee-high boots that give her two extra inches.

Who the hell hired her?

I look to my left and see the guy sitting next to me staring at her. He’s got his right elbow on his desk with his chin in his hand, and his eyes are focused on her ass. He’s practically drooling.

“Okay, class, that’s all for today.”

The bell rings right as she finishes, and I stay seated, allowing Dax to leave before I do. I feel my desk shift from him hitting it. Then his warm breath on my ear sends a shiver down my spine. “See you around.”

He stalks out of class, and I let out my first real breath since Monroe walked in here.

“Are you okay?” Jamie asks me.

“Yeah,” I lie, knowing I don’t want her to think otherwise.

“I’m sorry.” She stands from her desk. “I should have told you.”

“It’s okay.”

“Miss Greene?” The teacher calls my name as she writes an assignment on the board for her next class. “A moment, please?”

Jamie gives me a sympathetic smile. “I’ll wait for you in the hall.”

I stand, grabbing my bag, and make my way up to the front of the classroom. “Yes, Mrs. Shephard?”

She sits down at her desk, interlocking her fingers and placing her forearms on the wood. “I know the current … situation. I just want to make sure that I’m not going to have any problems in class.”

“Situation?” I repeat the word, trying to figure out how it fits into the events that have led up to this very moment.

“Yes. The trial …” She waves it off, all but rolling her eyes. “And I want to know that you can handle being in class with Mr. Monroe.”

I nod. “Yes, ma’am.” I will not allow anyone to dictate my life and that includes changing up my classes. That’s all I need is for more whispers and rumors going around that I couldn’t stomach the sight of him. Even if it’s true.

“Okay.” She nods and looks down at the papers scattering the surface of her desk, obviously dismissing me.

I exit the class to find Jamie leaning up against the wall. “Hey.” She comes up to me and slides her arm into the crook of mine. “How about we blow off school lunch and go to Jersey’s like old times?”

Our school has a closed campus, but we used to leave all the time for lunch. The school never did much about it. They couldn’t tell who was staying and who was leaving. As long as we were in our seats for fourth period, they couldn’t count us absent.