“It’s my fault,” I said, raising my voice above the noise. “It’s my fault, okay?”
The room went completely silent.
“Jesus,” Trix said, looking at me and then at her son. “I should have fucking known.”
“Kara,” Draco barked, jerking his head once from side to side.
I snapped my mouth shut, but the words I wanted to say felt like the air inside a balloon, the pressure growing every second that I didn’t speak.
“Cops are here,” Grease announced easily. “You want me to let them in?”
Trix looked at Cam and something passed between them, a sort of silent communication that none of the rest of us understood.
“We’ll meet them outside,” Trix answered.
Draco stood as his dad moved toward him. As they hugged, Cam said something quietly in his ear. Then, with a kiss on the side of Draco’s head, Cam was on the move toward the front door. He and Dragon walked outside, closing the door behind them.
Trix went to Draco.
“Let’s give ’em a minute,” my dad said, pulling me toward the kitchen.
Everything had felt kind of foggy and surreal until that moment, the whole day had been like a nightmare, but as the Aces moved into the kitchen to give Trix and Draco a minute alone, it all came into sharp focus. They weren’t going outside. They weren’t showing a united front to the police at the door. It was like they’d already given in to the inevitable.
“You’re going to let them arrest him?” I asked, pulling away from my dad. “What the fuck?”
“Quiet,” my dad ordered.
“This is bullshit.” I looked at Charlie, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“You’re all just going to let them take him?” I asked, panic making my voice shrill.
“Enough, Kara,” Casper ordered.
“Fuck you,” I spat. The words weren’t fully out of my mouth before my dad’s hand came down on the back of my neck, squeezing in warning.
I jerked, trying to pull away, but it was no use.
Just then, Cam came back into the house. “They wanna talk to you,” he said to Draco. “You’re a minor, so I’ll be there with ya. Say nothin’ until the lawyer shows up, you hear me?”
I couldn’t see Draco from my place in the kitchen, but he must have answered somehow, because Cam nodded.
Pulling a trick I’d learned before I could even walk, I let my body fall like a limp noodle just far enough so that my dad lost his grip on me. I was practically running toward the living room before he knew what I was doing.
“I’ll tell them what happened,” I told Draco, jerking to a stop a few feet from them. “You have your phone, right? I’ll just tell them what happened and it’ll be fine.”
I was panicking. This couldn’t be happening.
“You’ll keep your mouth shut,” Draco said softly. He squeezed his mom’s shoulder and came to me. “You stay out of this completely.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s not fair.”
Draco’s hands came up to my cheeks and gently wiped away the tears I hadn’t even realized were falling.
“Since when did you start believin’ life is fair?” he joked gently. His hands came to rest on my cheeks as he looked at me. Leaning close, he held my gaze. “I’d do it again,” he whispered, so quiet there was barely any sound. “For you, I’d do it a hundred times.”
“Idiot,” I whispered back.
He moved, then, jerking me against his chest in a tight hug. “I’ll have a hearing tomorrow,” he said, his cheek resting against the top of my head. “I’ll be out on bail before you even notice I’m gone.”
“We could just say you’re not here,” I argued, making him chuckle.
“And have them get a warrant?” he asked, giving me a squeeze. “Not gonna happen.”
He started to pull away but I refused to let go, my nails digging into the back of his shirt. If I just closed my eyes and held on for dear life, maybe I could change it. Maybe I could slow time down or stop it somehow.
“Curt,” Draco said. I don’t know what passed between them, but suddenly, there was an arm around my waist, pulling me away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Draco said, reaching up to run his thumb down my cheek as he took a step backward. He looked up at Curtis. “Hold her.”
Curtis’ arm tightened around my waist as Draco strode away, his shoulders back and head straight.
“Stop it,” I hissed, pulling at Curtis’ arm.
Before I could move or call out or do anything to stop him, Draco was stepping out of the front door, his dad following closely behind him.
Looking back later, I would realize that it wasn’t the topless photos of me or the fight afterwards that changed everything. It was the moment I watched Draco step outside, the light filtering in around his broad shoulders that twisted my life into something I no longer recognized.