The discussion that follows is boring me to tears. The panelists drone on. Ozzie talks. Mr. Ly talks. The panelists talk some more. I don’t really understand much of it.
What I do know is I’m kicked out, so I don’t see the point of any of this. I would fight for my rights, but I don’t appear to have a leg to stand on. I pulled a gun. That’s illegal. People saw it. The end.
Sorry, Khaz. I love you, and I tried. But it didn’t work out. I promise I can still be great somehow. But I’m still a deeply flawed human, and humans make mistakes.
My mind stops wandering when I hear, “After considering the evidence and the testimony from Mr. Gwynn, we are happy to inform you, Ms. Jamison, that your status as a student of PMU is restored. Have a nice day.”
“Wait, what?”
Mr. Ly and Ozzie confer for a few minutes before they include me in their huddle.
“What just happened?” I ask.
Mr. Ly shakes my hand, gives me a warm smile, and then leaves in a rush. The panelists file out, chit-chatting about where they’ll go to lunch.
I turn to Ozzie, the only person left in this room with me.
“Well? Are you going to tell me what happened?”
“I intern for his office, and he said he wanted to help when I told him what happened. We took care of your problem.”
“Why?”
He waits, and then he says. “Because I know you have nowhere else to go if you can’t be in school.”
Without missing a beat, I come back with, “What does that even mean?”
No. No, he doesn’t know. He couldn’t possibly know. Unless…unless my wandering mind is correct and he did come here to kill me or bring me back to Jersey.
I square my shoulders. “Ozzie, I can go anywhere. You don’t know the first thing about me.”
He steps toward me, and my heart jumps into my throat. Oh god, what is he going to do to me? I take a step backward.
“Oh, I know plenty.”
I swallow hard. “What do you think you know?”
He takes another step closer, and I back away farther. And now I’m pinned against a marble column. The cold stone chills my back through my top. Ozzie’s breath wafts over my forehead. The cedar and musk scent fills my lungs, and my pulse pounds. What is he doing so close to me? And why do I like it?
“I know you need me to keep you safe. I know you acted in defense of that girl and don’t deserve to get kicked out of school. I know you’re connected to Emil ‘Bulletproof’ Whitman and that this is your safe place.”
Fuck. Fuuuuck.
I swallow, then lift my chin in defiance. “Who? I don’t know anybody by that name.”
“Oh. Ok. Sure, you don’t.”
My stomach twists. “Shut up.”
“You didn’t run away from your graduation party after he went face-first into the cake?”
I’m trying to control my breathing, but it’s coming in short gasps. I hate how my body gives me away.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Ozzie Gwynn.”
“Are you one of Crypto’s goons? Or did he have to hire one of those private security creeps? Did you come here to kill me or take me back?”