“Turn me in to the police,” I offer.
“No one saw you—”
“I’ll turn myself in.”
He furrows his brow. “Are you stupid?”
“No.”
“Because if you’re going to talk to the police about the vandalism, I’m sure you’ll run your mouth about the golf ball and the soup and everything else.”
“No,” I protest.
“No? The cop will ask you why you committed the vandalism, and you plan on saying what? That it was unprovoked?”
“Rob is a legend on campus,” I say slowly. “The rest of you… you’re all untouchable, aren’t you? At least that’s what you all think, how you act.”
“And you think you, a lowly freshman, can put us in our place?”
I try not to react, to say nothing, to just walk around him and leave.
But my big, fat mouth betrays me.
“Someone has to put you all in your place. You aren’t the big, bad men on campus. Real men wouldn’t harass and bully—”
“You’ve been treating Rob like he’s a piece of meat that you can kick to the curb any time you get bored of him.”
“You’re welcome to think that, but that’s not the case.”
“No? You better watch your back, Katie Quake. Your little prank just started a war between us.”
“A war,” I repeat, dumbfounded.
He nods. “If you think we’ve been terrible already, just wait. You just wait and see.”
And he walks off.
Fuck. Fuck me with a rusty spoon.
* * *
I finally make it back to my room. No one is there, and I flop onto my bed. Maybe I should talk to Rob.
And tell him what? That I can’t handle my shit?
Honestly, I shouldn’t have ever let the guys get to me, none of them. I had to deal with a stalker in high school. A senior from another high school would follow me home after school and try to get into the house. Finally, I punched him square in the nose. He hadn’t like that too much, especially since he had been wearing a white shirt that became stained with his blood.
But between everything with worrying about my mom and being afraid that she’ll return to the States and be discovered by Father… learning everything my father did to try to ruin Kyle’s life because Kyle wouldn’t join in the family business… and wondering if my father will ever show up here and demand that I help him find Mom… I’m a mess. There’s only so much I can do for my mom from afar, and while Kyle seems to be fine, I can’t help but worry about him. For a time, he returned home after he and Carla broke up, and that couldn’t have been easy on him because Father had been around. Granted, as Father became more involved in the Thunder Crows, especially after Erika’s father moved to California, Father had been around less and less, but Kyle had to have seen him. How had Kyle managed to keep control? If I were him, I definitely would’ve thrown a few punches Father’s way.
I guess when it comes to Ace and the others, hell, even Rob too, it comes down to control. So much of my life feels as if it’s happening to me and I have no say in the matter. In some areas of my life, I need to be in charge.
I need to be in control.
A knock sounds at the door, and I open it before I can think about whether or not that’s a good idea. Rob knows where my room is, but the other guys shouldn’t.
But I breathe easier when I see it’s Robyn. She shoves a sandwich into my hand and sits at my computer desk chair, swiveling it around so she can look at me.
“Is it true?” she demands.